Spooks: The Greater Good [DVD] [2017]

Having been a fan of the long running BBC TV series, Spooks, I hoped that this DVD, Spooks: The GreaterGood would be up to scratch with the storyline and cast. A needless concern. Harry Pearce aka Peter Firth,was back, with Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) playing the newbie, and Hugh Simon, as my favourite technospy, Malcolm Wynn-Jones was back hacking away.Kit Harington may be the new boy to this movie version of Spooks, but his often inscrutable look made himthe ideal actor to play Will Holloway, a character who had a backstory with Harry Pearce.The story centres on the escape of a terrorist during what was to have been a routine handover, but thingsgo wrong from the start, leaving Will to sort it out. The set has changed, no longer is Freemasons Hall theHQ but Pinewood Studios.Brilliantly directed by Bharat Nalluri who directed several of the TV episodes, this film could have been justany other episode of Spooks, but Bharat has given it a new quality of its own.It all made me realise just how much Spooks is missed, and this film version shows up the need for somesimilar drama series, dealing with up to date security issues that can affect us all.Well worth watching.Released in 2015Running time approx 100 minutesExtras include The Making of Spooksand cast interviews.Subtitled in English.

Like many folks still in "withdrawal" from the conclusion of MI-5, I eagerly anticipated any additional installment of "spooks". And I'm happy to report this stand alone film is terrific and only made me wish they would bring the TV series back even more! The film starts fast & furious with a terrorist in British custody being transferred to the CIA, escaping and starting film on its path. The great Peter Firth who was the backbone of Spooks, is the focal point of the film and he is joined by Kit Harrington as an Agent he dismissed from the service previously, and now needs to clear his name. Kit is the one 'weak spot' in the film in my view as he just didn't seem 'tough enough' to be a spy (where is Richard Armitage when we need him?). Harrington aside, everything else great you remember from Spooks is here; the fast pace, the crisp dialogue, the direction, the backstabbing, changing loyalties and ruthlessness--everything you loved about the TV show. Best of all, it has a killer ending that was SO satisfying, SO "MI-5" it left me pumped with happy.

Sometimes it's nice to have a break from super heroes and Avatar style franchise movies and watch a real grounded true story that's a more relaxed slow burn but with an awesome cast that doesn't cost $300,000,000 .👍

Great. True to the TV series. As spooks often comprised 2 parters (2x60 mins), this feels like one of those specials from the TV series but will some of the stunts etc from a widescreen movie. Harry is superb and a number of cast connections to the old TV series which make a smooth link. Disagree with some other reviewers that this is one just for spooks fans - its stands up well as a good British film. Really good - but serves as a reminder that the BBC were nuts to stop the TV series.

Following on from 10 series of Spooks, which was pretty intense viewing, this film carries on with a strong story exactly in the same style. This is what a film from a TV series should be - more quality drama that can stand alone but which has continuity with what went before. Super stuff and even the ending is open to further films. What a pity there are none.

Superb. A most worthy follow-up to the Spooks series, and a challenge to the viewer to stay alert & keep up with the twists & turns of the plot - and the complex, devious and cynical - but totally loyal - mind of Sir Harry Pearce. I really hope that Peter Firth can be persuaded to partake in future Spooks movies, and that said possible movies maintain this high standard.

Whilst I was a fan of the early series of Spooks on TV, I grew less enamoured of the show as it went on. Never the most realistic or plausible of TV shows, by its final few seasons it seemed to have entirely lost its grip on consistent or even logical plotting. Characters who had, for many seasons been entirely and unequivocally on the side of right turned out be double agents all along because it suited the plot and/or the actor wanted to leave the series. Individuals previously and conclusively killed off returned from the dead. The shock deaths of major cast members that the series had specialised in (who can forget Ray McNally, Lisa Faulkner and that deep fat fryer) became so regular that they ceased to surprise. In effect the show became ‘Spooks: The Soap Opera’ and a shadow of its former self.The only element that remained consistently strong throughout, rising above the diminishing tide and often holding the show together almost single-handedly, was the character of Harry Pearce and the actor who played him, Peter Firth. Enigmatic, ruthless and cunning in his defence of the Country and the Service, Pearce was and is an iconic character, and Firth’s portrayal of him was never less than brilliant. The young guns of Spooks, including Matthew Macfayden, Richard Armitage and Keely Hawes would come and go, but Pearce (and Firth) would remain, battered but never out, from start to finish.I was therefore interested to see whether the movie follow-up to the TV show, Spooks: The Greater Good, would be a vehicle worthy of Harry Pearce and indeed whether it would correct some of weaknesses that afflicted the later seasons of the show.The answer is a qualified yes. Whilst Harry, thrust very much front and centre and his usual enigmatic, Machiavellian-self, is on good form and the plot avoids the more implausible plotting of the TV show, it fails to feel much more than an extended, stand-alone episode of original show and lacks the Directorial polish or budget of a genuine big-screen event.On the positive side, it helps that the film’s producers decide to go for a clean slate approach and leave Harry as the only central character from the show returning for the movie. Three minor characters from TV, played by Lara Pulver, Tim McInnery and Hugh Simon, do also return, and others such as Ruth Evershed get mentioned in passing, but essentially Harry is the only major carry through.The immediate benefit of this is that every character, with the possible exclusion of Kit Harrington’s Will Holloway, filling in the role young hotshot role previously covered by Armitage, Macfayden, et al, is a potential mole or traitor. This lends the film the same air of constant paranoia that infected its predecessor on TV.It also makes it generally easier for non-Spooks aficionados to get involved with the plot and characters, as there’s generally no need to know or even understand individual characters backstories. Spooks: TGG is very much conceived and executed as a standalone story.As you would expect with a cast featuring the likes of Firth, McInnery, Jennifer Ehle and David Harewood, the acting is generally top notch, even in supporting roles, and often far better than the script demands. Harrington handles himself competently enough in the central action hero role, even if he lacks the charisma and dangerous edge that his character really demands. The rest of the younger cast members, including Tuppence Middleton and Eleanor Matsuura, are equally good with what are often thinly written roles, and manage to keep you guessing about where their genuine loyalties lie.What lets Spooks:TGG down is the plot and the lack of ambition on display. Whilst there aren't any complete breakdowns in terms of logic or consistency, the plot of Spooks:TGG doesn’t really make a lot of sense. As a way to hunt down a traitor in the service, the steps Harry takes seems extremely convoluted and high risk and results in the otherwise avoidable deaths of a number of entirely innocent people.Now of course this is all part of the ‘Greater Good’ of the title, but when at the dénouement Harry tells the traitor that he has, after the event, uncovered some easily obtainable evidence of their treachery you do wonder if it was strictly necessary for him to go on the lam and put so many lives in danger in the first place. Especially since his ‘plan’, such as it was, was so high risk and relied so much on other people doing things at precisely the right moment and without being prompted.It also doesn’t help matters that Harry’s hunt for the traitor feels less important to the external viewer than catching escaped terrorist Qasim before he can blow up numerous innocent people. For Harry saving his beloved Service and thereby protecting the Country in the long run may seem the most critical mission, but the movie doesn’t really sell this idea to the audience, making Harry seem cavalier and misguided.Not that Qasim story really works either. Chronically underwritten and portrayed by Elyes Gabel more as petulant teenager angry at the world rather than a cunning master terrorist, Qasim never convinces as a palpable threat. Even a punchy (if highly implausible) suicide bombing at a West End theatre instigated by him doesn’t lend the character any extra edge, since the viewer never sees his direct involvement with its planning or execution.With neither of the central plot strands generating much in the way of genuine excitement, and some incidental moments of cross and double-cross by various characters providing only fleeting thrills, the film badly needs some big ‘moments’ to jolt it back to life. Unfortunately, Spooks:TGG is one of those movies made on such a tight budget that bits of it needed to film in the Isle of Man for the tax breaks, so there’s no money for big set-pieces. An early prison escape looks like it was filmed in a carpark under the M40, the previously mentioned suicide bombing is clearly a superimposed special effect and the final shootout looks like it was shot on a set the size of a store cupboard. A short foot chase in Moscow (or London pretending to be Moscow) and trip to the real Berlin mid-movie seem to exist solely to give the film some claim to having a canvas bigger than the TV show. Otherwise the whole film feels very small scale.Not that this would necessarily be a problem in the hands of a more capable Director, one more able to ring more genuine tension and excitement out the script. Scenes such as the search for a sniper, an attempt to hack into MI-5’s computer systems or a meeting/handover with the Russians in an underground carpark could and should be chock full of heart in mouth tension. Instead in the hands of Bharat Nalluri they come across as flat, almost dull, which really is damning for a movie about spies and espionage.So overall, whilst not a complete disaster, Spooks:TGG is not a triumphant return for Harry Pearce. Yes, it’s good to have him back, albeit briefly. It’s just a pity it has to be in such a flat, underpowered movie.

Great addition to the MI-5 (Spooks) TV series (region 2 DVD, so a region free player is needed)action packed movie full of twists and turns

No indication in listing, as far as I can see, that this is a region 2 DVD. Unfortunate.

La serie es maravillosa y la película no se queda atrás. Gran película británica de espías con un guión que te sorprende cada medio minuto, inteligente, con grandes interpretaciones de todo el cast ( destacando a Kit Harington y Peter Firth que tienen una gran química juntos y consiguen emocionar con sus respectivos personajes, seguro que los espías deben parecerse mucho a sus personajes, hombres que no son perfectos, se equivocan y tienen un montón de conflictos internos) escenas de acción realistas, diálogos estupendos, una autentica delicia. Creo que estamos algo "contaminados" con las películas made in USA de espías con un montón de explosiones y escenas de acción imposibles, por eso esta película por lo menos para mi, es un soplo de aíre fresco. 100% recomendable, pero en versión original, el acento británico y los planos de la maravillosa Londres (estupenda fotografía, también) es una autentica maravilla.

Adds to the original series story

La manipulación de la iglesia católica y el poder sobre las autoridades de un país es indiscutible como también hacernos creíbles su dogma a la hora de pensar diferente. Sin embargo, llevamos años donde los curas se han visto implicados en casos de abusos constantes y cuyas victimas han sido en su mayoría fieles incautos. Una película que la volvería ver una y otra vez.