The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair (1983)

When THRUSH steals a nuclear weapon and demands a ransom delivered by Napoleon Solo, UNCLE recalls him and his partner to duty.

Director:

Ray Austin

Writers:

Sam Rolfe (developer: original series), Michael Sloan

Stars:

Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Patrick Macnee

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Vaughn	...	Napoleon Solo
David McCallum	...	Illya Kuryakin
Patrick Macnee	...	Sir John Raleigh
Tom Mason	...	Benjamin Kowalski
Gayle Hunnicutt	...	Andrea Markovitch
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Janus
Anthony Zerbe	...	Justin Sepheran
Keenan Wynn	...	Piers Castillian
Simon Williams	...	Nigel Pennington-Smythe
John Harkins	...	Alexi Kemp
Jan Tríska	...	Vaselievich
Susan Woollen	...	Janice Friday
Carolyn Seymour	...	Actress
George Lazenby	...	J.B.
Judith Chapman	...	Z-65

Storyline

The criminal organization THRUSH steals the A-bomb H957 and demands $350,000,000 to be delivered within 72 hours by their former antagonist Solo. So U.N.C.L.E. has to reactivate the super agents Solo and Kuryakin after they were 15 years out of business. Equipped in the usual 007 fashion they start to seek the villains.

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Plot Keywords:

friendship | male protagonist | 1980s | 555 phone number | new york city | 

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Taglines:

They're Back In An All-New Motion Picture! Once Again They Have To Save the World from THRUSH. Only Now It's 15 Years Later, And THRUSH is a Nuclear Power.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 April 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Fifteen Years Later Affair

Filming Locations:

Hoover Dam, Arizona-Nevada Border, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Richard Sloan Productions, Viacom Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rather than build a set for the UNCLE headquarters, the production used the office building of the production company. This was to save money on building that would not get enough usage if the pilot did not 'go to series', which is exactly what did happen.

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Goofs

After shooting the Armour plated door in Thrush's headquarters, Napoleon kicks the door in. As he enters, a person can be seen be seen by his feet, in the room beyond. They quickly duck out of shot.

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Quotes

Nigel Pennington-Smythe: You must be an old hand at this.
Napoleon Solo: Actually, I'm new at this... again.

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Connections

References Elmer Gantry (1960)

User Reviews

Early Remake Casualty

First,i have some choice words about this "unique" CBS TV movie from 1983-Nice,,But No Dice!! "THE MAN FROM UNCLE" was a landmark NBC-TV series from 1964 to 1968,as well as being Metro Goldwyn Mayer's answer to the 007 craze of the 60s-and successful enough for MGM to theatrically release most of the two parters as motion pictures. but what was never explained was how Viacom Productions got the rights to do this reunion movie,with out MGM's participation! director Ray Austin did a so-so job-but in all fairness,they still could've used any of the original directors who worked on the TV series,and why they didn't do that,is a very big mystery,with money usually being the main reason! the reunion movie was somewhat nice,seeing Robert Vaughn and David McCallum back as UNCLE's finest-but it would've been better,had MGM participated in this reunion! ironically,Michael Sloan,who later went on to create "THE EQUALIZER" TV series at Universal in 1985,also did the first reunion film of "THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN" and "THE BIONIC WOMAN" in 1987,using an almost exact same story,that was used in "RETURN OF THE MAN FROM UNCLE"-and over the years,i've been meaning to point that out,until now! point being,is that remakes and reunions fall seriously short of being the items they once were,when the originals had their run! pity,that Sloan couldn't get Stephanie Powers to return as "April Dancer" for this reunion,,but then, this movie just wasn't up to speed! about the only satisfying justice that was done,was in a 1986 episode of NBC's "THE A TEAM" series,when Vaughn and McCallum reunited,but was on opposite sides of the law-and the episode,"The Never Say Uncle Affair",was actually WAY better then the 1983 TV movie,because it was clever,and stylish! otherwise,the reunion film,just did not have the flare and wit,of the 1964-68 series, and could've been way better! currently,Warner Bros. is planning to make an UNCLE movie,since they own the rights,as well as the MGM library,but i don't think that their efforts will be any better,which is why the originals will always be the Superiors!