The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

[stephanie]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ryan Gosling, Alexander Skarsgård, Ewan McGregor, Robert Pattinson, Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Michael Fassbender, Bradley Cooper, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joel Kinnaman, Russell Crowe, Chris Pine, Ryan Reynolds and Jon Hamm were all considered to play Napoleon Solo.

[jeffrey]

This film is based on a popular TV series from the 1960s. Previously, Henry Cavill played Superman, while Armie Hammer played the Lone Ranger. Both of these characters were featured in popular TV series from the 1950s.

[eli]

Producer and co-screenwriter Lionel Wigram said of this movie: "One of the ways we put our own spin on it was by making it an origin story about how U.N.C.L.E. was formed. In the series, U.N.C.L.E. already existed. So in the midst of the Cold War you had the CIA and KGB secretly teaming for the greater good at a time when East-West relations were at their absolute worst. How did such an alliance come about?"

[ken]

Some of the costumes in the film are actually vintage clothing.

[nora]

Kuryakin bickers with Solo over how Gaby should be dressed. This refers to The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair (1983), where Kuryakin took up high-fashion designing after leaving UNCLE.

[russell]

One reason that tales of espionage and secret agendas continue to thrill and entertain, generation upon generation, might be the cyclic nature of history and politics. Producer Steve Clark-Hall suggested: "Without going too deep with the Edward Snowden case and the massive amount of recent revelations about the sort of spying that still goes on, I think it's something that people are intrinsically fascinated by - the nature of relationships and the opportunity for betrayal, the complex alliances nations find themselves in, and not being sure who to trust. In some ways today's world is reflective of the tensions of the '60s that the movie plays on."

[scarlett]

The suits that Henry Cavill wears as Napoleon Solo were created by renowned British tailor Timothy Everest, who has also worked on the James Bond and Mission: Impossible film franchises. Solo's suits feature unique details such as covered buttons and squared-off front edges that were referenced from the late 1960s. During one of his costume fittings at Everest's shop, Henry Cavill accidentally broke the change room door off its hinges. The staff kept it as a memento of the time that "Superman" broke their door.

[claude]

Armie Hammer was considered for the role of Clark Kent/Superman in Man of Steel (2013), but that role went to Henry Cavill. He was later considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) but lost that part as well, this time to Ben Affleck.

[frederick]

One of the reasons the film stayed in the 1960s time period was to allow it to have its own world, own reality, and own tone that would set it apart from films like the Bourne franchise and other recent spy thrillers, which take place in a modern time period.

[linda]

When Kuryakin is waiting outside the hotel, there is an Exacta SLR on the roof of his car. The Exacta was made in Dresden, East Germany and would be an appropriate camera for a Soviet spy.

[kenzi]

Henry Cavill plays a CIA agent in the movie; he would later play a CIA agent in Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018).

[jessica]

On this film, producer and co-screenwriter Lionel Wigram was reunited with director, producer and co-screenwriter Guy Ritchie, following their successful partnership on the equally genre-blurring "Sherlock Holmes" films [see Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)].

[nina]

Guy Ritchie's first film since Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).

[wallace]

U.N.C.L.E. is an acronym for "United Network Command for Law and Enforcement". In Latin-American countries, it was changed to C.I.P.O.L., standing this time for "Comisión Internacional Para la Observancia de la Ley" or "International Commission for the Observance of the Law" in English.

[kenneth]

Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer often performed their own stunts. Hammer was more enthusiastic about his stunts, to the point that his stunt double joked that he hardly had a chance to do anything because he was out there doing it all by himself.

[claude]

The weapon Illya uses in the commando assault was not the iconic Walther P-38-based UNCLE Special, but was a Walther GSP target pistol. It can also be seen in the end credits dossier. The shoulder stock is different, as it is curved, whereas the original was a straight tubular design. The chief difference, however, is that the Walther GSP has a magazine forward off the trigger assembly, whereas the P-38 had the magazine housed in the pistol grip. It is also a .22LR, vs the P-38's 9mm parabellum cartridge.

[kenneth]

Production Designer Oliver Scholl said that overall, director "Guy [Guy Ritchie] wanted the look and feel of the '60s to be present, but not obvious or clichéd, with hints of the Cold War. Getting that balance was key. That sense guided not only his choices but those of the entire creative team."

[sylvia]

Napoleon Solo, played by Henry Cavill (Superman in Man of Steel (2013)), was originally played by Robert Vaughn (the villain Ross Webster in Superman III (1983)).

[veronica]

When Steven Soderbergh was still attached as director, George Clooney was cast in the Napoleon Solo role. Clooney dropped out of the project in August 2011 due to health problems he was experiencing at the time, and Soderbergh followed three months later.