BBC News Online: Entertainment: Reviews

Enigma: Your views

Scott, Burrows and Winslet play WWII code-breakers

James Bond director Michael Apted takes the reins with a screenplay adapted by Tom Stoppard from the Robert Harris best seller.

BBC News Online's Ian Youngs says "it does not fall into the common trap among British films of feeling like it was made for a Sunday night slot on BBC Two".

But what do you think? Are there enough thrills? Does it capture the tension of the period?

Having read every book on the subject, I intend to be first in line when it reaches these shores. But I also anticipate being the only one in the theatre. Unless the screenwriter and director have managed to make something "box office" out of the laborious nightmare of cryptanalysis, this will definitely be caviar for the general.
Robert del Valle, USA

I felt rather disappointed by Kate Winslet's performance - she was nowhere near as strong in this film as she has been in others.

The general ambiance of the film reminded me of the old Agatha Christie movies I used to watch on Sunday afternoons as a child and I half expected Michael York or Simon McCormack to turn up on screen at any moment.

The film's pace was sporadic, swinging from tedious to confusing and i often found myself bored.

Don't pay for the cinema experience, wait until it is on TV and you have nothing else to do on a wet Sunday afternoon.
Sharon B, UK

Dreadful film! Apart from a boring plot, which was not easy to follow, I could not get used to seeing Chichley Hall in place of the main building at BP. Please someone produce a film that will do justice to the role BP actually played.
Nic, UK

Noting the objections of the Polish community to the portrayal of the Polish spy in the film, nobody seems to care how the English are portrayed in the numerous historical re-writes in Hollywood. It seems that the American public cannot stand to see any other race than their own portrayed in a positive light, and only then if they are subservient, maybe the Poles and everbody else should get used to it!
Gary, England

I thoroughly enjoyed it as a film, even if the film-makers have beefed up the excitement rather than stick to historical facts. Dougray Scott gives a sterling performance and for once his Scottish accent isn't out of place! Kate Winslet does a good job, too. Overall, a nice film, but it will probably do better in the video market than in the cinemas!
J Alford, Ireland

I wanted to like Engima. The project was ambitious, but it was a badly made film. The flashback sequences were pure Mills & Boon, the plot was badly constructed and we didn't care enough about Winslet and Scott in time for the clichéd denoument. This was Sunday night TV drama and nothing more.
Kenneth Wright, UK

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It was very different from the book, but I found it to be a much better story. I too have read many factual books on the subject, including Station X and Ultra Goes to War, and after reading how hard the film crew had worked to ensure that the huts and equipment were realistic, it was educational to see how the bombs and the Enigma machine itself actually worked.
Rosie, England

Saw the film last night. Really enjoyed it. Don't go expecting lots of cryptic analysis, though there is a little. This is a romance set in the background of Bletchley/Enigma/WWII, not a film specifically about Enigma itself.
Alison Rimmer, UK

Wow, it was superb.
Nishant, Nepal

It's no doubt an entertaining film and accurate in the small period detail; but it deserves condemnation for its revision of the larger historical picture, particularly the omission of Alan Turing.
Ray, UK

I thought this was a brilliant film. It may not have been exactly historically accurate (it was taken from a novel for gods sake!), but it was great to see a film that doesn't need explosions or superfluous love stories (the one in this film is a back story) to make a good film - just a great plot with more twists than I thought possible! Brilliant!
Ian Griffiths, England