James Donovan (Tom Hanks) is a Brooklyn insurance lawyer who is asked to defend a communist Soviet spy Rudolf Abel at the height of the Cold War in 1961.  He is hated by for defending the spy in what is an unfair trial where patriotism triumphs legal rights.   James is soon thrust on a dangerous mission to East Berlin to negate the release of a captured American U-2 pilot Francis Powers as an unofficial prisoner exchange.  

 

Steven Spielberg directs a very vivid portrait of the Cold War as it follows the journey of three men- one a lawyer, another a pilot, and the other being a student caught in the crossfire of Cold War paranoia of the German Democratic Republic (looking to score points with the United Social Soviet Republic).    The details paint the picture of how dangerous it is standing for what is right as people play the patriot and/ or politician.  James Donovan puts it all on the line as he fights what he believes is morally and legally right while the politicians, the CIA, and even the judge in the spy case care about being patriots instead of doing the fairest job they can.  The production design brings 1960s USA and East Berlin to life along with showing what American pilots went through to be pilots for CIA to fly the U-2 spy planes mounted with big cameras and rigged with an explosive charge to destroy the evidence.   The pilots are even given a dollar hiding a cyanide laced pin to prevent capture by the enemy.  BRIDGE OF SPIES is one of my favorite period films from director Steven Spielberg as I like even better than LINCOLN.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

A CASE OF THE COLD WAR: BRIDGE OF SPIES- a look at the film’s characters and the real life people they are based on

U-2 SPY PLANE- a behind-the-scenes look at the U-2 crash sequence along with voice narration by pilot Francis Powers and an interview with his son Francis Powers Jr.

BERLIN 1961: RE-CREATING THE DIVIDE- a behind-the-scenes look at how they recreated the look of East Berlin 1961 by filming in Germany and Poland backed up by witness accounts of the time period

SPY SWAP: A LOOK AT THE FINAL ACT- a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the final act of the movie

 

Also included in the combo pack is BRIDGE OF SPIES in standard definition on DVD and a code to download and stream a digital HD copy of BRIDGE OF SPIES.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  BRIDGE OF SPIES is a very dramatic thriller based on true events with great production detail and acting.  I highly recommended to buy or rent this movie.

 

This review is ©1-28-2016 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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