The Company (DVD, 2007, 2-Disc Set)

Excellent movie about the history of the CIA. It goes through the early days
and the forming of the agency and its early trials. It uses a new recruit to
tell the story with the recruit being assigned in Post War Berlin. By picking
up and handling an "asset", the recruit gains experience and rises in the ranks
with the help of his experienced "old hand" teacher. At the same time this
movie sets the stage for the "counterespionage" part of the agency by showing
how the USSR inserts agents into the US agency (the CIA itself) and gets information back to its KGB unit. The story continues useing the same caracters into the 1950s, 1960s and later years. A very good movie and a
good suspenseful experience. The hunt for the Russian "mole" is especially
interesting and will leave you wondering and guessing until very late into the
move as to who the mole actually is. This is definitely a recommended movie.

We didn't realize this was a mini-series. Rarely is it that I can't figure out "who-dunnit!" It is intriguing throughout the entire double DVD. Based on Robert Littell's popular historical novel of the same name, the show co-mingles real and invented characters as it traces the CIA's role in several major events, from the earliest days of the Cold War through the collapse of the Soviet Union, with particular attention given to the division of Berlin into East and West in the 1950s, the anti-Communist uprising in mid-'50s Hungary, and the disastrous Bay of Pigs operation in the early '60s. Yeah, it's historical fiction. But it is a great flick!

In my humble opinion, this is Michael Keaton's finest performance!

I purchased this particular DVD set for my brother for Christmas. It, like so many others, is NOT suppose to be as good as the book. Unfortunately, I haven't obtained the book... but it is on my to-do list! By the way, my brother loved it!

Got it at a great price. Well worth the price and very interesting points on how the CIA operates and how devious and cunning one can be when dealing with certain situations. Good Actors and most of the Stories were well written. Recommend that anyone interested in this types of Movies , get this one.

Mikael Keaton plays role of James Angleton superbly.
TC is the best video so-far on the CIA-cold war roles.
TC explains the rationales for dealing with the setbacks
in the spy-mole games with the Soviet masterminds in their KGB.
Excellent casting, bits of romance, and intrigue, and touching on the
clever schemes of Philby to alert his Soviet-clients.
Could have been more revealing on the Philby-Angleton closeness is the only factor that is lacking in this must-have spy-mole defining video.

The Company is a 2 disc 6 hour DVD. It was awesome. For those who are students of agency history, reading any anthology beginning with Wild Bill Donovan, Burgess and Kim Phiby, James Jesus Angleton, and the rest is one thing. This production brings to life the events and characters before you. This was terrific from beginning to end. It's not one of those mini series productions I could put down. I had originally bought Disc 1 as a close out at Blockbuster. Well, after watching it I immediately went to Ebay and bought the complete 2 Disc set, got it express delivered and finished the 2nd Disc. It was cheaper on Ebay than Blockbuster.

The best "game" is always the one with no rules. The worst "game" is the one where if you make a mistake someone else dies. So as Dickens once said, these were the best of times. These were the worst of times. I loved this production.

The characters were superbly portrayed. The production was first class. The acting was dynamite. The Company is a superbly crafted anthology of intelligence tradecraft history which kept me watching from start to finish.

Do youself a favor. If you haven't seen it, buy it on Ebay and watch it.
It's worth It!
Jack Spring

This 2007 TNT miniseries featuring Chris O'Donnell, Alfred Molina and Michael Keaton will put you on the edge of your seat. This is a great chronicle of CIA missions during the Cold War, including the internal manhunts for double agents. The cast is superb. The acting is first class. Entirely based on true stories, this is an instant classic. There is some violence in this production, as should be expected, but it isn't overwhelming. Although this TV miniseries was not rated by the Motion Picture Association, PG-13 might be the most accurate rating.