Spy City (2020) User Reviews

An excellent cold war thriller

[iconians · 8/10 · 14 May 2021]

The setting is Berlin, 1961, when the city is partitioned and one can argue at the time it had most spies per sq mile.

While it's not perfect, it's definitely above average cold war thriller. It starts a bit slow, and takes 2 episodes to get into it, but once you do, I think you will enjoy it.

A love story, a revenge story, spy, lies, betrayals. All are abound. Music is not too bad, but could be better. I would have preferred to have a narrator to clarify a few things early on, but it wasn't too bad or too confusing.

Stick with it, as it's only 6 episodes long and you'll find yourself in a very interesting story.

I'll give it 8/10. I think for it to be 9 or 10, I would probably preferred a bit different ending and perhaps s few more details about certain characters.

Overall, I enjoyed it.

Unconvincing, but stylish Berlin spy story

[jantobi · 6/10 · 27 October 2021]

Starting out as a Cold War spy series, the story sounds promising. Young spy Fielding Scott is sent back to Berlin after killing another English spy (as seen right at the beginning). In addition to his other work, of which we don't hear or see anything, he tries to unravel the mystery behind it. A rather wild mix of love story (with a French spy), the Nazi/SS past of some Germans and of course the Soviet involvement in the 1961 events leading up to building the Berlin Wall is beautifully pieced together, especially with some original material.

Ultimately, all the poor details in the script let this fall flat: After all the spy series like The Americans and the painful details, it is truly shocking to see e.g. A removals van driven by another spy (when a corpse needs to be disposed of) who looks absolutely immaculate in his sharp suit. Wouldn't the neighbors have noticed?

Scott's assistant blackmails him, naively, like almost everybody acts in such a naive way you want to shout at them.

Could have been so much better, really...

Almost

[petergliddon · 6/10 · 5 May 2021]

Another reviewer has said in a negative way, everyone's a critic. Isn't that the point of allowing comments? If someone doesn't like what they saw, their opinion is perfectly valid and if they take the time to explain why, probably even more so.

I have watched two episodes, the second was slightly better that the first.

Not convinced that Dominic Cooper makes the most convincing spy, especially in the first episode fight scene, the choreography was appalling.

I also feel that there is something odd going on, continuity is somewhat questionable, some costume choices strange both for the period and the setting, and I have yet to feel any empathy for any of the characters.

As I said the second episode was a little better and it's probably worth waiting for the next. If there's no improvement I won't care about it enough to carry on.

Entertaining but sloppy

[beatrock-97080 · 6/10 · 6 April 2022]

Spy city tells the story of the secret services in Berlin shortly before the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The story is entertaining and is broadly consistent with the historical facts.

But the realisation was a bit sloppy. Suits, clothes and cars that are a bit too new for the early summer of 1961, a phone box and a record cover from the 1980s and a film that only had primiere months later. Not accurate enough to satisfy the history-minded viewer.

Yes, Spy City is really good.

[salaignac-21757 · 10/10 · 14 June 2021]

An intelligent series, to enjoy without absurd frights, is not for those who are looking for a JAMES BOND, nor for those who want bombs, explosions, wrecked cars, absurd and endless pursuits without sense, it is intelligent action, the real one ..., a very good spy series, and wonderful Berlin setting "Spy City is really good. Go in with pure excitement, leave the dread behind. The best compliment I can pay the show, before we get into specifics, is that it feels like 10 episodes of TV jammed into six. If that sounds like a weak compliment, it's not; it means the people who created the show really, really cared about plot, have a lot of ground to cover, and are not going to futz around in telling their story. This is a welcome change from shows that can't be bothered to have more than four really critical dramatic beats, but take 15 episodes to get there and fill the empty space with ridiculous, intelligence-insulting twists. So that's the other very good compliment I should give: The writers of Spy City trust that you're smart, they write to your level, and if you're not smart and you fall behind or drop off? Too bad.

Awesome

[chrisrosenkreuz · 10/10 · 3 July 2021]

It's not LeCarre but if you're into LeCarre, this has a strong vibe to it, in the sense that it's not action-oriented but more grey matter stuff. The only thing that threw me off a bit was the decorum (it didn't feel 60s enough, I don't know, maybe that's just me). All in all, it was an excellent production and the acting is also spot-on. Some didn't like the lead but I think he was a good fit in with the role. I must say I resonated most with the character of Ulrike. Really enjoyed, do indulge!

Could have been good

[calle-eng · 5/10 · 11 March 2022]

• So. For the main character. Should we go for a good actor that would make a plausible spy or a guy with big hair?

• Lets go with big hair.

Other than that, some good acting and a good story with some well made 60:s Berlin settings.

Outstanding period thriller

[markfstpierre · 8/10 · 9 May 2021]

Convincing performances, tightly woven script, beautiful "retro" cinematography takes you back to the tense and grim Berlin of 1961 Berlin... the only shortcoming is that there are only 4 episodes--- when do we get season 2 ???

What Happens when Writers, Directors, and Actors are Historically and Subject illiterate.

[pkcasimir · 2/10 · 2 June 2021]

A British Agent meets another British Agent in a closed men's room somewhere in Berlin in 1961 to make a document transfer but neither British Agent knows the other is a British Agent. One British Agent armed with a gun and a silencer tries to murder the other British Agent who then kills him. Huh? No one in British intelligence apparently knows that they are meeting in this mens' room in Berlin. And apparently the writers have never heard of dead-drops. Which is the way professionals pass on documents. The British Agent who kills the other British Agent is apparently to be tried for murder but is given a reprieve to go and find out what is really going on in Berlin because no one else in the British Secret Service is capable of finding out what is going on. Yeah, right. Oh, and the British Agent walks around with a two day growth of beard in 1961 looking scruffy but no one calls him short for it. Oh, and he walks around "sunny" Germany with sunglasses on all of the time.

I stopped having my intelligence insulted rather quickly.

How any spy or mystery drama should be done

[larmo · 8/10 · 6 August 2022]

August 6, 2022 - Spy City really made it worthwhile for me continuing to subscribe to the service I viewed it on. I didn't know anything about the series but gave it a try and was extremely pleased with it. What I liked about the series - 1) The acting is very good,2) good directing, 3) the production values are very good, including extremely short video clips of street scenes and News footage from the 1960's. Which is the time period the plot takes place. 4) Very good and involving plot. 5) None of the usual tropes and memes that are seen in most drama series currently being produced. 6) While the actors making up the main cast are apparently well known. I didn't recognize any of them. This made the series more interesting to me, because there were no actors that seemed to be in every other film and TV series. I was stationed in Germany during the time that the events in the series took place, and I think the production company did a great job of recreating the time period.

Sapio-TV, Berlin espionage shenanigans, similar to Das-Re-Boot.

[NinaCu · 9/10 · 7 December 2021]

A moderately complex plot of quasi-realistic Berlin espionage shenanigans, with extra bullets provided just for juvenile video gamers. Both character and story development take more than the first episode. Give it three episodes to get sucked in. If you enjoyed Das-Re-Boot, then you will probably like this, which has more broad appeal, and fewer subtitles.

Dominic Cooper gives quite an enjoyable performance of serious material, unlike the disjointed ad-hoc goofball malarkey dished out by Seth Rogan in Preacher.

All the casting and performances are very good. The production values are top grade for TV -- a big nod of approval to the Czech crew. Locations and set design are excellent, but furniture and wardrobe design are exceedingly up-scale for the setting, as if being the only options available in the prop warehouse.

There are wonderful transition pieces with brief clips of Berlin from the actual story time frame. However, the color temperature / white balance, gamma curve, and color saturation of the old footage could have easily been adjusted to look closer to the image parameters set for the production.

For me, it was a binge watch -- sapio-tv. I wish there were a second series.

Has potential, but unfortunately odd and unsympathetic

[Stefan-drawert-2 · 4/10 · 23 April 2021]

The show's idea is barely new - spy stories in cold war Berlin come by the dozen - but with a good cast and an interesting new take it could be right for me.

Unfortunately this show did not deliver.

I have seen the first episode only, but I do not have much hope for the rest of the season.

The good:

It looks good. But even this has some negative implications. The production tries to show cold war Berlin in every detail, eg furniture, clothing etc.

Using native actors eg for the german roles.

Non english speaker do often speak in the native language, with english subtitles. This is a relief from most US-productions is which everybody (but the Klingons) is supposed to speak english, even to other non-english speakers.

The odd:

Soundtrack. Some strange choices - right in the opening scene the soundtrack is oddly unfitting the scene.

Insertion of historical videos. Several times scenes from the archives are used to set the scene in Berlin. Due to other technical standards back then they do look quite different. A choice often used in movie introductions, but spread over the whole episode it is a bit strange.

Cuts. There is a scene where 6 people sit around a table. Cut - there are only 3 left and it seems lots of time has passed. Why? How? What?

Looks. On one hand the production tries hard to be realistic in setting details, but on the other hand the protagonist heads towards a secret meeting in daylight wearing a fashionable suit and sunglasses in East-Berlin's working class district. That scene is laughable and makes no sense at all.

The bad:

Pacing. The story's pacing is uneven and bumpy. It feels strange, like "not finished".

Characters. There is close to no connection to any of the characters, none of the cast is likeable. The protangist remains unsympathetic to a degree that I did not care about him at all. The actors are not really accountable for this, I think it is more bad direction and a bad script.

To sum it up:

The first episode of this show is maybe the strangest episode of all TV shows I've ever seen.

It just feels "off" and it does not get together at all.

Not worth your time, even if you are a fan of spy movies.

Ideal early 60s vibe, from costumes to cars

[robgrant-93826 · 10/10 · 22 October 2022]

One of the major attractions of this show, apart from its cerebral approach (more Ipcress File than Dr No), is the perfect 1961 setting. The period costuming, which is rarely better than average, here is perfect. Scott's dress - solid coloured suits with narrow lapels, narrow knitted tie etc - is exactly what was worn in that period...and is of course what has now returned to fashion. Cars are easy to produce but not so easy is the bleak Cold War atmosphere of Berlin, which was excellent. The reticence Scott displays as an agent is the opposite of the unrealistic gung-ho, wisecracking nonsense of James Bond, a series whose implausibility means it really should have ground to an ignominious end years ago. Michael Caine's Harry Palmer, on the other hand should have continued. Spies, I imagine, do not engage in endless fights, one-night stands and car chases. On the other hand, unlike Bond's ludicrous self-confidence, they would be constantly struggling with moral dilemmas. Of course, being good and intelligent, Spy City is sure to be cancelled in favour of another puerile dismal Disney display.

Worthy Watching, Enjoyment, Satisfaction.

[DjCharliiOne · 9/10 · 20 August 2021]

Well, if you're intelligent enough to understand what's going on in this series, then, congrats, you're a Diplomat. You're probably gonna enjoy every inch of it, from the very first episode, or the second.

Despite the plot is simply pale, but we must say that the characters, Wardobe, Props and the ones who did the setting in genersl did pretty good job, really..so amazing.

You will find yourself amazed on how 60's really looked like, especially in Berlin.

I was having a hard time catching up with the characters until Kovrin's attention came up in a meet with Udo olf, at the Russian HQ on east Berlin ep.3. To be frankly, I really like kovrin's character, its really keeping the series alive.

Too sad for the French lady, Madam Bloch she really deserved some more screentime, Lol.

Yah, and the ending...should be better than that, but, its just an end for a new season, so, no big deal😌😌

He is wearing wrong costume, dude

[housearrestedever · 6 February 2022]

It just turned me off immediately after I watched the 1st episode. How could it possible that the guy wearing such trendy late 20th Century to 21st century suit like that?! It's just too modern, too unrealistic for the 1950s. If a drama series failed to do the correct costume; such a basic requirement, then the whole series is just a bust!

Very ones a critic!

[baggie-82603 · 10/10 · 25 April 2021]

Very ones a critic! I enjoyed it. No wonder shows get cancelled with these negitvate reviews, get back in you box, just because it's not for you, it's for others so stop putting people off!

My point is excellent programmes get cancelled because of critics, Professional critics who have the ear of the production team. I have now watched them all and enjoyed every minute, tightly shot, not a frame missed, West is excellent mean and moody with the sharp killer touch. Still 10/10.

Best TV thriller for some time

[cwqfck · 10/10 · 31 December 2021]

Great atmosphere created, style, good acting, the lead character has understated menace, storyline flows, haven't seen this type of TV series for many a year. Roll on a following series.

Good Cold War series.

[rossanova · 10/10 · 9 January 2023]

I am a sucker for anything do with spies in Berlin during the Cold War so this series scratched an itch. I lived in Berlin as the wall was coming down so it's intriguing watching it go up. Also, I'm a fan of Prague where the show was actually filmed. The whole thing feels authentic.

No one is reinventing the wheel here but it's all good genre fun. Double-crossers, guns fitted with silencers, vintage cars and stock footage circa 1961 that's interspersed with the new narrative footage. It's all really well done.

It's quite cat and mouse with the added jolt of not really knowing who the cats are. I dug it. Hope the make another season.

With the sobriety and effectiveness of the classic

[danybur · 8/10 · 24 August 2022]

Summary

Spy City is a great series that recovers the classic and sober spirit of the spy movies and series of the time and place in which it takes place, the divided Berlin of 1961, in the middle of the Cold War, with all the secret services in dance and characters remarkable.

Review

Fielding Scott, an English spy (Dominic Cooper), is sent to Berlin in 1961 to rehabilitate himself as an agent and oversee the defection of an East German scientist to the West. This mission will give rise to the search for a traitor within the secret and diplomatic services of the allies.

Obviously, Spy City refers to Berlin, the city occupied and divided between the US, UK, France and East Germany under the orbit of the USSR, a key scene of the Cold War between Western powers capitalists and Soviet socialism.

The series remarkably recovers the spirit and style of the espionage stories of that time. The period reconstruction is so successful that at times we seem to be watching a Bond movie or an episode of The Avengers shot in that decade. The story is sober, the description of the characters adjusted, the plot intriguing, there is no self-awareness, the murders are very crude but without relish in the violence and the dialogues can reach moments of great subtlety for what they suggest. And something fundamental at this point: the characters speak in their native languages.

The story is a true festival of secret services and diplomats from the UK, USA, France and the Soviet Union: agents from MI6, the CIA, French spies, the Stasi (the secret service of the German Democratic Republic) will be present. , the KGB and recycled Nazis, with their approaches, negotiations and misgivings. Agent Fielding Scott's original mission derives from the unveiling of increasingly important and compromising issues with enormous political scope. His painting conforms to the genre, is far from Manichean, depicts very well the changing links between spies and their services and presents interesting characters, such as the French spy Madame Bloch (Romane Portail), Eliza Hahn, a Stasi spy (Leonie Benesch, de Baylon Barlin y The Crown), the photographer Ulrike Farber (Johanna Wokalek), the CIA agent Conrad Greer (Seumas F. Sargent), the head of the KGB in Berlin Viktor Kovrin (Nark Zak) and Scott himself, obsessed with clarifying the incident with the one that opens the series.

Great series about upholding Liberty and Freedom - makes me proud to be a French Agent :)

[Dr_Mark_ODoherty · 10/10 · 26 November 2022]

A British spy is sent to Berlin in 1961 to uncover a mole in the United Kingdom's Embassy or among the Allies, shortly before the construction of the Berlin Wall - which causes some challenges in the International Intelligence Community.

Indeed, double agents are still a big problem today in the UK - according to my mates from DGSE (Directorate-General for External Security) and we have all hands full, to maintain good diplomatic relations with our friends from British Intelligence. So occasionally we have to do stuff, that goes beyond the call of duty - such as making love to England - as depicted in this fine series.

So this is a great spy story - combined with important human rights work in Berlin during that time; such as bringing war criminals to justice.

It also shows that when things really get tough, French and British agents stick together - and do what is required to maintain Peace and Prosperity in the world - together with our dear friends in Berlin, of course :)

On that note we would like to encourage the German government - in particular Chancellor Olaf Scholz and influential Leader Angela Merkel - not to give up on making Peace with Russia. Indeed, I'm quite sure that the majority of the Russian people aspire Peace and Harmony in the world, just as much as we do :)

So even though mistakes have been made in the past, I'm sure we will manage eventually to manifest Peace and Prosperity in Europe, and the International Community at large :)

Catchy and versatile thriller about an era not too known

[BeneCumb · 8/10 · 1 February 2023]

Bearing in mind split Germany and Berlin, there are not too many films and series depicting the events just before building the Berlin Wall -- so the benchmark/background excited my interest already. And the events began rolling immediately: killings, lies, cover-ups, disguises and many other things intrinsic to a good thriller... It did not bother me at all that the pursuit for a certain envelop was the backbone of the Series - there were so many other interesting angles and I was unable to surmise the content of that envelope.

Members of the cast were rather unknown to me (apart from Rupert Vansittart and Adrian Lukis in minor roles), but I found them definitely above average, and it was also to my liking that the performers of different nationalities/ethnicities were used for corresponding performances (although the Russian language had a rather heavy accent, apparently spoken by emigrant actors).

PS I am really surprised that many viewers here have rated this Series so low. I can only suggest them to watch different ones on similar topics, particularly from U. S. and Canada, and then you may want to revise your rating :)

Good story, wonderful period cinematography, Sloppy Dressing

[richard-llewellyn-jones · 8/10 · 19 March 2023]

I watched the series in one session. After reading the reviews and watching the first episode I nearly abandoned it. First the beefs. The hero's suit was awful really out of place by 50 years. Blue synthetic suits were only worn by crass uncultured Americans in the sixties. His uniform would have been the sort of woollen baggy suits that were clearly visible in the period clips and worn by most of the cast. Seeing his suit grated every time. Then the bad boy hair would not been worn by a diplomat in his position. Spies are supposed to blend in so they live a little longer.

The next Beef was the dreadful continuity, where a roomful of people vanished and then random scenes of sex and violence. After the first dodgy two episodes we got into the story, which was excellent. The film suffered from too much explicit sex and violence but was most enjoyable in terms of seeing the Berlin of the sixties and a realistic story that could be easily transferred into the current time. The film is worth watching but has been nobbled by the distributors.