Search - The Falcon and the Snowman on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Profanity Movie Release: 1985 DVD Release: 12/07/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 12 mins Studio: MGM Total Copies: 16 Genres: Spy Film, Docudrama, Unglamorized Spy Film

John Schlesinger directed this fact-based drama - adapted from Robert Lindsay's bestseller of the same title -- about two Californians, friends since boyhood, who are caught selling government secrets to the Soviet Union. Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) is an all-American boy, studying for the priesthood in a seminary. But Boyce decides to drop out of school, and with the help of his father (Pat Hingle), a FBI agent, he gets a job working for the CIA in a message-routing center. While reading the messages, Boyce is shocked to learn that the CIA is involved in fixing Australian elections. Watching the Watergate hearings on television, he feels an ever-mounting sense of outrage at the arrogance of the U.S. government and decides to do something about it. Deciding to supply the CIA messages to the Russians, he enlists his childhood friend Daulton Lee (Sean Penn) to help him. Lee is to deliver the CIA secrets to a Russian operative (David Suchet) at the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City. But Lee is an unreliable drug dealer, and his sloppy spy trail leads the two old friends into more trouble than they bargained for. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Timothy Hutton - Christopher Boyce
Sean Penn - Daulton Lee
David Suchet - Alex
Lori Singer - Lana
Pat Hingle - Mr. Boyce

John Schlesinger's taut espionage thriller The Falcon and the Snowman arrives on DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The closed-captioned English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Surround, and English and French subtitles are accessible. The only bonus feature is a collectible booklet. Though the film has sparse extras, the intense performance by Sean Penn -- far and away the highlight of the film -- loses none of its intensity in the transfer to the small screen. Fans of the film and of Penn's body of work will find this DVD worthy of a look. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide