Enigma DVD

Advantages: very real feel to it, in the good old traditions of British Spy thrillers.
Disadvantages: Saffron Burrows - weak as the 'love interest'

...the REAL Story behind the Enigma machine! This film is based on the best-selling novel by Thomas Harris and is pretty much an all-English affair. No Hollywood ‘tarting up’ of the story here. So what of the story? It centres around the undercover world of codes, espionage, the occasional British stiff upper lip and lots of clandestine activity. Unlike the American version of how the US Navy managed to break the codes and steal the ‘Enigma ...
...actually did exist. Not that anyone knew at the time, because the whole proceedings were shrouded in secrecy – for obvious reasons! The film follows the fortunes of Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott) - a codebreaker at Britain’s secrets HQ at Bletchley Park during World War II. He is faced with the untimely disappearance of a former girlfriend and an urgent need to crack a Navy code, before three transatlantic convoys run into a whole host of ... Read review

Advantages: good story, solid performances
Disadvantages: little slow, tad boring

...the assistance of a captured Enigma encoding machine, played a great part in shorting the war and thus saving many lives. Anyways the story centres around our anti-hero Tom Jericho. M:I-2’s Dougray Scott, a brilliant mathematician responsible for breaking a fiendish German code, returning to work after suffering a mental breakdown. His collapse is officially contributed to the strain of breaking the code, however it was actually caused by ...
...co-worker, Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows). Tom’s boss isn’t exactly too pleased to have him back, however the team of code-breakers are very chuffed that he has returned as the Germans have changed their code just as the largest North Atlantic convoy sets sail for Europe from the US. The naval chiefs need the boffins to break the code so that they can monitor the U-Boat communications otherwise the convoy will be sitting ducks. At ... Read review

Advantages: Great plot, good suspense, supreb acting
Disadvantages: plot is a deep but good all the same

...of a machine called the Enigma , hence the name of the book/movie, that encodes the messages differently each and every time. It was thought to be unbreakable by any standards, but once the Allies salvaged an Enigma machine, the race was on to crack the riddle of the Enigma to save the convoys of ships from the undectable U-boats. The first person to master the Enigma is the mathematician Tom Jericho (dougray Scott), who goes back to Bletchly to ...
...triggered by getting dumped by his girlfriend, the lovely Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows), who is a very mysterious person in the movie. Tom's the only one who has ever broken one of the codes, and the codebreakers need him back desperately. Later on, the Germans switch their original code, and now he needs to crack it all over again but it isn't as easy as it sounds. He has to do the work that took ten months in four days and failure is not an ... Read review

Advantages: Complex, interesting, well put together
Disadvantages: Keep your head screwed on for gods sake!

...little recreation of what the ENIGMA codes looked like. It hasn't been done by hammering the keyboard, but we'll talk about that later. You may remember tales of the ENIGMA machine from TV programmes like Station X, and the rather historically inaccurate U-571. But this film is more like Station X in it's foundation in historical accuracy, which really helps the film along. - Delving into the past The story of ENIGMA is an interesting and complex ...
...web site (www.bletchleypark.co.uk). The ENIGMA codes were created using an ENIGMA machine. This used a complicated system of wires and rotors to create the code. The rotors were set, and the plugboard was, um, plugged, and then each key pressed would light up a letter on the back of the typewriter-like device which corresponded to the decrypted (or encrypted) letter. However, each press of the key would produce a different encoded letter – pressing ... Read review

Advantages: Its British, Its a spy film and Saffron is cute
Disadvantages: The camera gives it all away

...retell the story of the Enigma machine (which broke the codes of German U-boats) thereby putting history straight and telling the film U571 to bog off. This is quite an elaborate way of doing it though it has to be said. I guess the complexities of the script owe much to Tom Stoppard who is good at weaving difficult fictional stories around historical fact (Shakespeare in love was great for Shakespeare bringing inspiration for his plays from his ...
...WWII story though, combining Romance and Spy novels into one - great stuff, haven't seen a good spy film in yonks. Dougray Scott is a codebreaker for the Government, he enters the scene very haggard looking so you can tell he's had a rough ride. Throughout the film we are treated to flashbacks of his relationship (or lack of one) with Saffron Burrows, a wonderful looking administrative assistant at the base who just happens to have slept with half ... Read review

Advantages: Great Cast and Great Storyline
Disadvantages: Can get lost in the film if you don't pay attention

...and i was shocked by the lenghly detail they've gone into to make this a must have DVD. They have a 35 Minute documentary about the Enigma of the Wicker Man, which i totally loved, all the contrasy, why the film was so powerfull, loved and hated, and the origans of the Wicker Man. Where did they get the idea for such a film. The best bit about the Speical features has to be on Disc 1: A interview with Christopher Lee, and Disc 2: Running Commentary by the actors. Christopher Lee is such a great actor and watching him in this film made him more likeable, despite his role. The documentary deals with how he related himself to Lord Summerisle and what attracted him to the character and the Film Disc 1 Run Time: 81 Minutes Disc 2 Run Time: 99 Minutes Approx Cheapest Places to Buy The Wickerman: Amazon has new and used copies from £3... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Suspense, action, good acting, good sound effects
Disadvantages: Bit slow to get going

...I have to admit, I only watched this movie because I am a big fan of Jon Bon Jovi and probably wouldn't have bothered otherwise. I was pleasantly surprised to thoroughly enjoy it and in fact have bought the DVD and seen it several times over. The basic plot is the American navy disguise themselves in a German U-boat in order to capture the Enigma machine. The film has caused some controversy as the British Navy were in fact the first to capture the Enigma but the films publicists have pointed out that the storyline is fictional. I felt it started off a little slowly, showing the crew at a dance and preparing to sail but after that, it was suspense and action all the way, although I got a little confused in places as to which U-boat was which during the fight scenes. You can identify with the fear of the young submariners... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful