Of the great TV western and spy shows of the 50’s and 60’s only a handful a handful have failed to be revisited in a cinematic remake.
For this writer the shows that come to mind are Have Gun-Will Travel, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Secret Agent, and until now Man From UNCLE. The secret agent shows arose out of the James Bond movie craze of the 60’s although Secret Agent actually preceded the Sean Connery films and its star Patrick McGoohan was an earlier candidate for the role of Bond. The Bond films even took some of the “spy gadget” wizardry from the Secret Agent series.
Now back to the present film: the original series was outstanding for its style and the articulateness of the actors. Only British TVs The Avengers compared with it and the names of the actors and the characters they portrayed are indelibly engraved on my memory: Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo, David McCallum as Ilya Kuryakin, and Leo G. Carroll as Mr. Waverly. I can’t have been the only teenager coming out of the 60’s wearing black turtle-neck shirts in emulation of one of the heroes- even Steve Jobs succumbed to the fashion for longer than I did.
Co-incidentally the TV series was developed by Sam Rolfe who was one of the co-creators of Have Gun-Will Travel. The theme music by Jerry Goldsmith was memorable for as was their arch-nemesis THRUSH, an organization whose aim was to conquer the world.
I pray that the present movie is respectful of its antecedents. Director/writer Guy Ritchie has also done the two recent Sherlock Holmes films with Robert Downey Jr. And Jude Law.
Henry Cavill played in the recent Superman movie Man of Steel and first came to my attention as Charles Brandon in the TV series The Tudors.
Armie Hammer most notably appeared in the Disney remake of the Lone Ranger but also did credible work as Clyde Tolson in Clint Eastwood`s J. Edgar and as the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network.
Hugh Grant needs no introduction but I fear he might be a weak link in the cast. I just wonder if he can bring sufficient gravitas to the role of Mr. Waverly. We shall see…

LINKS
Imdb.com/title/tt1638355
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_U.N.C.L.E._(film)
rottentomatoes.com/m/the_man_from_uncle
Comingsoon.net/movie/the-man-from-u-n-c-l-e-2015#