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VHS : Reilly Ace of Spies Vols. 1-4In association with Amazon.comstarring: Sam Neill  List Price: $54.98 Price: $29.90 You Save: $25.08 (46%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 0026359973734 Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC Label: Hbo Home Video Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video Number Of Items: 4 Publisher: Hbo Home Video Release Date: January 04, 2000 Studio: Hbo Home Video Sales Rank: 36451 Related Items:
Editorial Review: Description: 1. Prelude to War 2. The Visiting Fireman 3. Anna 4. Dreadnoughts and Crosses 5. Dreadnoughts and Doublecrosses 6. Gambit 7. Endgame 8. After Moscow 9. The Trust 10. The Last Journey 11. Shutdown Amazon.com: Reilly: Ace of Spies is a thrilling dramatization of the fantastic life and exploits of Sidney Reilly, arguably the first modern secret agent and a complex, often unfathomable individual who invented his very name and identity. Sam Neill has never been better as the former Sigmund Rosenblum, an Odessa-born Jew who becomes a freelance spy for the British at the dawn of the 20th century. Calculating, ruthless, and more certain of his own counsel than the wisdom of his superiors, Reilly (he changes his name by the end of the first episode, "An Affair with a Married Woman," to obscure his personal history) can't help but remind one of a particularly determined James Bond. Reilly's reputation as a womanizer--not entirely deserved, but then none of his associates can quite figure out his thriving love life--adds to this historical figure's Bondian mystique. In other respects, Reilly's version of espionage is far more complicated, and has greater historical repercussions, than that of Fleming's superspy. The first half of the 12 episodes in this set concern Reilly's daring work ascertaining and even securing the West's access to Middle East oil and, looking ahead to Russia's possible rise as a major power, determine the extent of that country's oil reserves. At the same time, Reilly always has one eye trained on ethically ambiguous opportunities to accrue wealth or play one friendly interest against another. The oil mission leads him from virtual house arrest in the foothills of the Caucuses (where Reilly sleeps with the young wife of an aging preacher as cover for his escape, leaves her to be arrested, then later marries her) to Port Arthur in China (where he clears the way for British allies the Japanese to invade) to France (where Reilly competes with the Rothschilds over Persian Oil concessions). The latter episodes focus on Reilly's extraordinary attempt to overthrow the Bolsheviks following the Russian revolution, barely escaping St. Petersburg after a botched attempt to assassinate Lenin and later risking his life by returning and advocating the killing of Stalin. Throughout this ever-changing drama, the series' writing is a marvel of historical fact and intriguing speculation about Reilly's whereabouts, exploits, and private passions. The supporting cast is superb, including David Burke as Stalin and Tom Bell as Russia's secret police chief Dzerzhinsky. The series was co-directed by Martin Campbell, who took on Pierce Brosnan's first assignment as 007, GoldenEye. --Tom Keogh Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Neill's Brilliant!!! 5 stars!I saw this originally on PBS years ago, absolutely brilliant! This and "My Brilliant Career", are what REALLY hooked me on Sam Neill. The guy is amazing, locations wonderful and rest of cast remarkably gifted as well. One of the best, if not the best, series ever aired on PBS and any other channel, bar none. A real bonus if you're a history buff. Reilly was just a fascinating character.... Rating: - Reilly-Ace of Spies If I had to choose bond over Reilly. I choose Reilly. This is a wonderful box set and it comes in 4 discs. It's a wonderful and timely gift set. I will enjoy this for years to come. Rating: - just as wonderful as the first time aroundI loved this series when it first came out. Sam Neil is amazing. It was the first time I ever saw him. this is as exciting and well directed as I remember it. If you love espionage and suspense this is your series. You will not be disappointed Rating:  - Reilly - Ace of SpiesThe content of this DVD set has been described by others, so all I have to add is that I enjoyed it immensely. I intended to watch the 10 episodes plus the 30 min biography over 5 nights at 2 episodes a night. Instead I watched over 3 nights and was disappointed when it was over. I will be watching the whole thing again in perhaps another month or so. Perhaps the one episode where a British spy (not Reilly) is discovered in the German docks is a little weaker than the rest; it is also ... Read More Rating: - Great TelevisionOne of the best Television (mini) series of all time, Sam Neill has never been better, the stories are engaging, one wonders exactly how much is fact and how much fiction, could the map of the 20th century really have been that close to being that different? The image quality is unfortunately not much better than the VHS version but it is still worth the upgrade. Browse for similar items by category:
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