Spy/Master

Fantastic cast, Great delivery and a good portail of the hystoric period. The whole story keep you on your toes. The romanian cast does a great job and so do the american actors. Rythm is good, exposition is organic and the different scenes are blended really well. All in all every aspect really make this a great one to watch.

I don't usually leave reviews but i had to share on this one. Usually romanian films are vulgar and full of forced low brow humor, but this tv show is exactly as it should be and really made me enjoy every minute of it. I can't wait to see the rest of the episodes and see the story unfold.

The true story of Pacepa is much more impressive. I don t understand why the director had to add a lot of non-sense when the trues story is much more impressive. I could say that other than that is a nice high budget small series to watch. The soundtrack is really good and some actors play good. But my good.. how anyone with a ID card can enter anywhere in the US embassy in Germany is truly out of this world. The costums, the cars, the decor, the collors are really awsome. I could add that there is no info about what happend afterwords. And this is very important. Pacepa give to USA not only all the agents of Romania but agents from the comunist block. This was a huge hit to the comunist world. Hundreds being arested. Only about this you could make a movie.

First of all, before watching Spy/Master you should read "Red Horizons" by Ion Mihai Pacepa. Then, you will understand better the Spy/Master. I don't usually leave reviews, but I really liked the story, and definitely it's a lesson of history.

Fictional in a sense, but also inspired by true events, Spy/Master is probably one of the best versions of Pacepa defecting to United States. For many of us he is hero, but for others he is a traitor. The lead actor, Alex Secareanu, is doing a great job. I also like the acting of Ana Ularu. She's one of the best Romanian actress.

There are also some mistakes in the movie production, like the scene shot near the North Station Railway from Bucharest, those trains/ wagons are pretty much from actual days, not from the 70s.

It's an artistic series, not a documentary. They are important details that do not respect the historical truth that deserve to be explored more. The sets and costumes are exceptional, they introduce you to the era but personally I think that the acting is not the best with few exceptions: Ana Ularu (as if the first serie was made for her), Andreea Vasile and Laurentiu Banescu, maybe because it is an international cast. The dialogues are sometimes silly, I feel the actors do not agree with them.

Unfortunately, the actors of the family of the Ceausescu dictators are a disappointment, I did not expect Claudiu Bleont to act so badly. And from the international cast there is no one to remember, maybe Ingrid.

Bottom line: not great not terrible, but I stayed until the end and I'm waiting for the next series, maybe the producer, the director, the lyricist and the actors listen to the reviews and improve the experience.

Wonderful to watch something European - in spirit and in the setting. It's even better to hear Romanian (and German) spoken and not yet more American English - not that I understand it but it's very refreshing and adds a real cold war touch to the whole thing.

The production quality is high, and you feel transported back to the 70s where everything seems just a little bleak and tasteless in an authentic way.

The plot is relatively simple, and sometimes the details are a tad far-fetched. It has American producers and this shows in places where the suave Europeaness gives way to some more brash action and plot vehicles.

In that sense it probably deserves only a 7, but because of the overall classic and classy feel (and because they speak Romanian) I'll give it an 8.