Regarding the "Darker and Edgier" entry: This comparison is really most accurate for seasons 1-3 of the original show. Several of the episodes in season 4 - indeed, the overall tenor of the final season - were much more serious in tone, indeed grimmer, than what had gone before, particularly in contrast to the campy, over-the-top season 3. "The Summit Five Affair", for example, has Napoleon being taken into custody and interrogated in a very ominous pitch-dark room (leavened only by the piped-in sound of twittering birds) by his own U.N.C.L.E. colleagues. The final episode, "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair", has an ending that can only be described as Bittersweet, indeed - considering that it's the last show - possibly even a Downer. ("The Minus X Affair", in Season 2, was a striking contrast to the generally cheerful tone of that season due to its Downer Ending.)
Edited by jadmire
Regarding Reconstruction: the movie can be seen as having the same playing-it-straight-with-tongue-firmly-in-cheek spirit that marked the episodes in the first season of the original show, which many fans regard as being the best year of the series. Likewise, many U.N.C.L.E. fans consider the third season, where the show went "campy" in order to try to keep up with shows like "Batman", to be the worst year of the series (though still with some good moments). In that regard, the movie's having been in Development Hell for so long can be considered to have turned out to be a good thing in the end; if it had been produced during the 1990's, as per the original plan, it might well have turned out to be a self-parody-mockery along the lines of Wild Wild West.
I deleted the entry for 'Captain Obvious' because Illya wasn't actually being Captain Obvious in that scene - neither, technically, was Waverly, since his deadpan explanation was an answer to Illya's genuine question.
Instead, I added Critical Research Failure; I believe a Russian spy should know what an aircraft carrier is, considering NATO, the Soviet Union's main opponent during the Cold War, had deployed several types of aircraft carriers since before WW 2.