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Enigma (1982)

Thriller | 122 minutes
2,75 55 votes

Genre: Thriller / Drama

Duration: 122 minuten

Country: United Kingdom / France

Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc

Stars: Martin Sheen, Brigitte Fossey and Sam Neill

IMDb score: 5,9 (1.828)

Releasedate: 28 January 1983

Enigma plot

"He was a man without a country. A face they couldn't trace. A man without a chance. An enigma."

The CIA discovers a Russian plot to kill five people who have defected to the United States on Christmas Day, but does not know where these people are. Turner Alex Holbeck (Martin Sheen) is recruited by the CIA in Paris and sent across the Iron Curtain to steal an Enigma device: an encryption machine used by the KGB to encrypt its messages. As soon as he arrives, Holbeck discovers that the KGB and the East German government are aware of his arrival and that his contacts have been arrested.

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Full Cast & Crew

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Alex Holbeck

Karen Reinhardt

Dimitri Vasilikov

Kurt Limmer

Hirsch, Limmer's Assistant

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avatar van Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs

  • 1393 messages
  • 819 votes

And I thought I was watching the 2001 version, but it's this one because Martin Sheen plays the lead role. Strange, because my DVD has the poster from the 2001 version. It's one DVD with four "top" films on it.

And now about the film: Martin Sheen's acting was decent but could have been better. There were occasional attempts at humor, but it didn't always work. The spy vibe was there from the beginning, but the film remains a bit too one-sided and superficial.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Filmkriebel

Filmkriebel

  • 9955 messages
  • 4647 votes

Spy film in which an agent is tasked with stealing the control card for an enigma machine in East Germany. It's rather clichéd and predictable, including the twists, but Sheen and Sam Neill have enough to keep the film afloat. This one is safe to skip, as there are far more exciting and ingenious films in this genre.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Lovelyboy

Lovelyboy

  • 3906 messages
  • 2920 votes

For the second time this vacation, I started the movie marathon with this '82 Enigma I picked up at the thrift store. And I honestly had no idea if it was anything special beyond the more than decent cast. And honestly, it turned out not to be all that good, as the average vote already reveals.

And on the surface, it doesn't seem all that bad: an ominous soundtrack and Alex's suspicious character as he walks home. But this quickly takes a wrong turn, because how stupid is that paranoia in his own house with things he himself caused—a dripping faucet or the suit behind the shower curtain, or that CIA operative suddenly falling out of the sky and trying to drown him—in his own bathtub and then recruiting him? It's all perfectly logical. Then there's the claim that there was a chip in the German enigma during World War II—I think that was just rotor technology. What unfolds after that is a fairly standard story with various parties trying to outsmart each other, romantic concerns with the necessary other sacrifices. Is it really bad? Perhaps not, but otherwise, it's far from distinctive or special.

The plot is interesting, however, where someone tries to steal the chip and has to fail to convince the Russians they haven't been listening in for ages. But aside from an excellent Sam Neill, it's all a bit wobbly, like when Alex doesn't put the screws back in after swapping the chip—a stupid continuity error in that regard. Or the prison where he frees Karen, where it feels like they're in an institution. What's interesting, however, is that Alex apparently manages to bluff his way into everything. Anyway, by that point, it's already clear that this Enigma is far from a high-flyer and won't get a passing grade.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original