The War Lord [VHS] Summary 'Not received' Review I have not received this item as yet. When the order was placed, it sounded like I would receive it within a 2 week span. That was on July 22nd. I inquired as to the time to expect it and was told agian it should be within 2 weeks. Upon review of the order confirmation, I saw where it said it was due to arrive by September 7th. I haven't sent you a comment about it as yet, but, I have to say, the delivery date expectation was presented unclearly. I hope I receive the DVD by September 7. Not real happy, Jan | |
Kings of the Sun Summary 'One of Heston's best' Review What a crime this isn't in stock anymore, and that people have to pay userous prices from private parties. This SHOULD be as easy to obtain as The Ten Commandments, but that dreck is widely available. I hope this sees DVD release again. | |
| The Agony and the Ecstasy Summary 'Gone But Not Forgotten' Review I would love to give a review,but it is somewhat difficult since this DVD has still not arrived.According to an email I received it shipped from Brazil(no less) on January 15th.I have been watching the news to see if a ship sunk there recently or that maybe the Somali pirates had expanded their range of activities.The only other logical explation is that it was absorbed by a black hole. | |
| The Long Ships Summary '"I took that sword. I've lived twenty years with that cold wife."' Review A flop on its initial release and rarely revived since, The War Lord is one of the most interesting Sixties historical pictures. Dealing with the doomed love affair of a Norman knight and one of his vassals, Charlton Heston spent several years trying to get the picture into production (even approaching such unlikely potential directors as David Lean, Laurence Olivier, Carol Reed and Peter Ustinov) only to see it hacked down to two hours from final choice Franklin J. Schaffner's 171-minute rough cut to make it more of an action picture and highlight the siege finale. There are obvious holes in the narrative, which may or may not be due to the cutting: it is never made clear why the dwarf turns against Chrysagon, while Rosemary Forsyth disappears for much of the last third of the picture while the battles rage. Budgetary limitations also make themselves felt in the unconvincing back projection. Similarly, while he maintains an imposing physical presence, Richard Boone gives the impression of having walked onto the wrong set by mistake every time he opens his mouth, but the rest of the cast fit their roles well, although the clash of accents makes itself felt on more than one occasion (Niall MacGinnis' Shire tones are wildly at odds with 'son' James Farentino's American, but thankfully no-one attempts a French accent). Yet these can forgiven in light of many of the film's achievements. Although by no means at his best, Heston gradually impresses as the pauper knight who loses what he has fought his whole life to regain, ending his family line in the process over the only thing he has ever wanted for himself. Heston is well countered by Guy Stockwell, who mostly manages to prevent his role as his discontented brother spill over into cardboard villainy, while Joe Canutt's action scenes are well-staged. Jerome Moross' superb, vividly romantic score is one of the best of the Sixties and the visual design of the film is particularly impressive and intriguing. Not only do his Scope compositions make the most of the Norman arches of the castle keep to contain the drama, but Schaffner imaginatively separates the lovers by foreground obstacles - a tree, a beam -in the early scenes, while in a later scene, as the war lord foregoes duty for love Heston is reduced to a silhouette, a shadow of his former authority and nobless oblige, while Forsyth remains perfectly lit. The DVD transfer is not entirely satisfying but acceptable, though the only extra is the rather confused theatrical trailer that only highlights Universal's indecision over how to sell it, or indeed on what they were selling - even Heston's narration of it is uncertain of what kind of picture he's pitching. While a full restoration is at best unlikely, with its for the most part successful attempt to recreate a past world largely ignored by Hollywood (though one of the film's central plot devices was reused in Braveheart) the film retains an uncommon flavour and texture of its own that separates it from its contemporaries. It may not be the masterpiece it wants to be, but The War Lord is an admirable and unique piece of work. | |
| El Cid (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection) Summary 'One of the greats!' Review I've loved this film from my youth. Richard Boone plays a wonderful character. Like _Paladin on a beer budget. | |
| 55 Days at Peking Summary 'Outstanding movie' Review This is one of those movies that never got noticed when it came out, but really deserves to be at the top of the listings. No splashy special effects, no amazing stunts, but a good, solid, well written movie which tells a good story, is superbly directed, with an amazing cast. Naturally, with Jerry Goldsmith providing the score, the background music is also excellent. This movie should not be confused with the Jean-Clod VanDummie movie that came out at the same time. If you don't trust me, put it in your netflix queue. Then come back here and buy it when you're done. | |
| Lionheart Summary 'The Dark Prince vs The Lord of the Orphans' Review Lionheart was a bit of a disappointment, considering the historical theme of the movie and the presence of Gabriel Byrne among others, though by no means is it a terrible movie. The story unfolds as the Third Crusade a.k.a. the Kings' Crusade (1189-1192), is about to head to the Holy Land for a showdown with Saladin's forces. A young (a little too young) knight disgusted with the purposeless wars and killings taking place in Brittany and Normandy decides to find King Richard II, the Lionheart, as he journeys through France and join his crusade. It's not long before he comes across orphaned children in need of protection from slavers roaming the area, led by a fallen knight and crusader calling himself "The Dark Prince." In short, the setting is good, the plot is average, the dialogues and the costumes are below average, the acting/casting is really bad, while the battle scenes/tactics are just terrible. Though the potential for a good movie was definitely there it fails to take off, primarily due to the writers and the poor acting and casting. If you interest lies with the Crusades, start off with the 1954 movie King Richard and the Crusaders, and then proceed with Kingdom of Heaven. In a nutshell, it's an ok movie and that's about it; no masterpiece here... | |
| The Flight of Dragons Summary 'Interesting failure undone by bad casting and editing' Review Lionheart - The Children's Crusade was an interesting find in a bargain bin at a video shop - a medieval epic that I'd never even heard of from the director of Patton, produced by Coppola and with music by Jerry Goldsmith. Looking it up on the IMDb, not many others have either: it only seems to have played a week in Detroit! Why? Well, the obvious reason is it's not very good. Its got a solid script about a disgraced young French knight who finds himself leading a bunch of abandoned children to the Holy Land to join King Richard's crusade and coming up against Gabriel Byrne's disillusioned crusader turned child-slave-trader. But it often looks like chunks are missing, and the kids are pretty awful: Eric Stoltz very effeminate and uncharismatic as the lead, Dexter Fletcher irritating as the lovable Artful Dodger type and Nicola Cowper a one-woman petrified forest as the love interest - I've never, ever seen an actress stay as rigidly immobile or as impervious to emotion as this gal. It's like watching a beautifully made up corpse in early rigor mortis for 105 minutes. Only Deborah Moore seems to give it a bit of wellie as a tomboyish female whose far more manly than the hero. Bits of it do work, and Byrne's dark knight character is genuinely interesting and gets all the best dialogue, but the main interest is Jerry Goldsmith's astonishingly good score, one of the best I've ever heard for an epic even if it disappears towards the end. Worth a look but set expectations on low. | |
| Summer Fling Summary 'A beautiful coming of age story' Review I saw Lionheart on my local channel and instantly loved it. I bought the video but was disappointed that it wasn't on DVD. Eric Stolz and Nicola Cowper had great chemistry together. It was a heart-warming movie of young people coming of age. In a time when children were seen as exploitable resources and could be sold off or abandoned, here we see a young knight throw off the confines of his "class" and take the responsibility of leading a group of Paris orphans to the Holy Land. As he tells one of his friends "Do not bow to me. I am no man's Lord." The class barriers between nobility and peasant are broken down as the group journeys south to find King Richard. Love becomes a more powerful force than social status. Robert and Blanche,(the Knight and the Circus Girl) become the Father and Mother figures to their charges. So too the headstrong and rebellious female knight at last finds a man worthy of her (how can I love a man who cannot stand up to me?) in the form of Michael (Blanche's brother). The characters find their strength, courage and love in the face of fear, death and pursuit. The villian (Gabbriel Byrne) gives a solid performance as the Black Knight. It is more than just a flash- in- the- pan knight's tale. As a Literature Teacher, I think this movie has many levels to it. The thematic expressions delve into love, greed, compassion, inhumanity, gender relations, class relations, slavery, and the impact of the Crusades (historical, religious,economic and social)on Europe. It is a refreshing glimpse into the deep human drama that can be played out on the most humble of stages. | |
| Tales of the Gold Monkey: Complete Series Summary 'A Piped-Piper Kind Of Story' Review I really enjoyed this movie. It had a very uplifting theme, and feel good ending that made you smile. I'm not going to go over what its about exactly, but speak of what made me like it so much. What spoke to me about this movie is the overall feeling and theme. Its an idea, a concept about hope and the human spirit. Like a dream of Camelot, or the dream of American it is rag tag bunch of children whose future is no brighter than the moment they are living in reaching for something else despite all odds, and living in the darkest circumstances of their lives. Its about knights, and dreams and hope when you have no tangilbe reason to hope. Its about desperate need to find something better, even knowing you are bound to fail. It is an overall idea, concept, tacked onto the legend of Richard The Lionheart. It's pied-piper kind of story. If you like fairy-tales there is also that feel about it. If you like Knights tales you definately get that from it in a somewhat different manner. If you like tales of the human spirit and faith that is also there. Overall it made me smile. It made me feel good watching it, and I like Eric Stoltz who is the lead. There is none of the heavy darkness that you find in many of the Knight like tales we find today. It is fun, light hearted movie. | |
| K-9 - The Franchise Collection Patrol Pack (3 Movies) Summary 'Not received' Review Where myth and history meet, where good vanquishes evil, the heart of a lion beats in the body of a child. Eric Stoltz and Gabriel Byrne star in this epic adventure set in the time of the Crusades. En route to join Richard the Lionhearted's forces bound for the Holy Land, young knight Robert Serra (Stoltz) discovers his destiny elsewhere: as champion of the children of the Crusades - the hungry, tattered, orphaned and forgotten little ones victimzed by the war. And as foe of the Black Prince (Byrne), a ruthless warlord who wants to sell the children into slavery. Graced by the craft of two Academy Award? winners*, director Franklin J. Schaffner and composer Jerry Goldsmith, Lionheart fills its screen with grand vistas and sword-clanging clashes, yet also finds time for boisterous bursts of humor and lyrical romance. Take the journey. This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.\r\n This disc is expected to play back in DVD Video "play only" devices, and may not play in other DVD devices, including recorders and PC drives. \r\n | |
| The Losers Summary 'One of Heston's best' Review I have not received this item as yet. When the order was placed, it sounded like I would receive it within a 2 week span. That was on July 22nd. I inquired as to the time to expect it and was told agian it should be within 2 weeks. Upon review of the order confirmation, I saw where it said it was due to arrive by September 7th. I haven't sent you a comment about it as yet, but, I have to say, the delivery date expectation was presented unclearly. I hope I receive the DVD by September 7. Not real happy, Jan | |
| The Warlord Summary 'Gone But Not Forgotten' Review What a crime this isn't in stock anymore, and that people have to pay userous prices from private parties. This SHOULD be as easy to obtain as The Ten Commandments, but that dreck is widely available. I hope this sees DVD release again. | |
| Kings of the Sun Summary '"I took that sword. I've lived twenty years with that cold wife."' Review I would love to give a review,but it is somewhat difficult since this DVD has still not arrived.According to an email I received it shipped from Brazil(no less) on January 15th.I have been watching the news to see if a ship sunk there recently or that maybe the Somali pirates had expanded their range of activities.The only other logical explation is that it was absorbed by a black hole. | |
| The Agony and the Ecstasy Summary 'One of the greats!' Review A flop on its initial release and rarely revived since, The War Lord is one of the most interesting Sixties historical pictures. Dealing with the doomed love affair of a Norman knight and one of his vassals, Charlton Heston spent several years trying to get the picture into production (even approaching such unlikely potential directors as David Lean, Laurence Olivier, Carol Reed and Peter Ustinov) only to see it hacked down to two hours from final choice Franklin J. Schaffner's 171-minute rough cut to make it more of an action picture and highlight the siege finale. There are obvious holes in the narrative, which may or may not be due to the cutting: it is never made clear why the dwarf turns against Chrysagon, while Rosemary Forsyth disappears for much of the last third of the picture while the battles rage. Budgetary limitations also make themselves felt in the unconvincing back projection. Similarly, while he maintains an imposing physical presence, Richard Boone gives the impression of having walked onto the wrong set by mistake every time he opens his mouth, but the rest of the cast fit their roles well, although the clash of accents makes itself felt on more than one occasion (Niall MacGinnis' Shire tones are wildly at odds with 'son' James Farentino's American, but thankfully no-one attempts a French accent). Yet these can forgiven in light of many of the film's achievements. Although by no means at his best, Heston gradually impresses as the pauper knight who loses what he has fought his whole life to regain, ending his family line in the process over the only thing he has ever wanted for himself. Heston is well countered by Guy Stockwell, who mostly manages to prevent his role as his discontented brother spill over into cardboard villainy, while Joe Canutt's action scenes are well-staged. Jerome Moross' superb, vividly romantic score is one of the best of the Sixties and the visual design of the film is particularly impressive and intriguing. Not only do his Scope compositions make the most of the Norman arches of the castle keep to contain the drama, but Schaffner imaginatively separates the lovers by foreground obstacles - a tree, a beam -in the early scenes, while in a later scene, as the war lord foregoes duty for love Heston is reduced to a silhouette, a shadow of his former authority and nobless oblige, while Forsyth remains perfectly lit. The DVD transfer is not entirely satisfying but acceptable, though the only extra is the rather confused theatrical trailer that only highlights Universal's indecision over how to sell it, or indeed on what they were selling - even Heston's narration of it is uncertain of what kind of picture he's pitching. While a full restoration is at best unlikely, with its for the most part successful attempt to recreate a past world largely ignored by Hollywood (though one of the film's central plot devices was reused in Braveheart) the film retains an uncommon flavour and texture of its own that separates it from its contemporaries. It may not be the masterpiece it wants to be, but The War Lord is an admirable and unique piece of work. | |
| The Long Ships Summary 'Outstanding movie' Review I've loved this film from my youth. Richard Boone plays a wonderful character. Like _Paladin on a beer budget. | |
| El Cid (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection) Summary 'The Dark Prince vs The Lord of the Orphans' Review This is one of those movies that never got noticed when it came out, but really deserves to be at the top of the listings. No splashy special effects, no amazing stunts, but a good, solid, well written movie which tells a good story, is superbly directed, with an amazing cast. Naturally, with Jerry Goldsmith providing the score, the background music is also excellent. This movie should not be confused with the Jean-Clod VanDummie movie that came out at the same time. If you don't trust me, put it in your netflix queue. Then come back here and buy it when you're done. | |
| 55 Days at Peking Summary 'Interesting failure undone by bad casting and editing' Review Lionheart was a bit of a disappointment, considering the historical theme of the movie and the presence of Gabriel Byrne among others, though by no means is it a terrible movie. The story unfolds as the Third Crusade a.k.a. the Kings' Crusade (1189-1192), is about to head to the Holy Land for a showdown with Saladin's forces. A young (a little too young) knight disgusted with the purposeless wars and killings taking place in Brittany and Normandy decides to find King Richard II, the Lionheart, as he journeys through France and join his crusade. It's not long before he comes across orphaned children in need of protection from slavers roaming the area, led by a fallen knight and crusader calling himself "The Dark Prince." In short, the setting is good, the plot is average, the dialogues and the costumes are below average, the acting/casting is really bad, while the battle scenes/tactics are just terrible. Though the potential for a good movie was definitely there it fails to take off, primarily due to the writers and the poor acting and casting. If you interest lies with the Crusades, start off with the 1954 movie King Richard and the Crusaders, and then proceed with Kingdom of Heaven. In a nutshell, it's an ok movie and that's about it; no masterpiece here... | |
| Lionheart [VHS] Summary 'A beautiful coming of age story' Review Lionheart - The Children's Crusade was an interesting find in a bargain bin at a video shop - a medieval epic that I'd never even heard of from the director of Patton, produced by Coppola and with music by Jerry Goldsmith. Looking it up on the IMDb, not many others have either: it only seems to have played a week in Detroit! Why? Well, the obvious reason is it's not very good. Its got a solid script about a disgraced young French knight who finds himself leading a bunch of abandoned children to the Holy Land to join King Richard's crusade and coming up against Gabriel Byrne's disillusioned crusader turned child-slave-trader. But it often looks like chunks are missing, and the kids are pretty awful: Eric Stoltz very effeminate and uncharismatic as the lead, Dexter Fletcher irritating as the lovable Artful Dodger type and Nicola Cowper a one-woman petrified forest as the love interest - I've never, ever seen an actress stay as rigidly immobile or as impervious to emotion as this gal. It's like watching a beautifully made up corpse in early rigor mortis for 105 minutes. Only Deborah Moore seems to give it a bit of wellie as a tomboyish female whose far more manly than the hero. Bits of it do work, and Byrne's dark knight character is genuinely interesting and gets all the best dialogue, but the main interest is Jerry Goldsmith's astonishingly good score, one of the best I've ever heard for an epic even if it disappears towards the end. Worth a look but set expectations on low. | |
| The Flight of Dragons Summary 'A Piped-Piper Kind Of Story' Review I saw Lionheart on my local channel and instantly loved it. I bought the video but was disappointed that it wasn't on DVD. Eric Stolz and Nicola Cowper had great chemistry together. It was a heart-warming movie of young people coming of age. In a time when children were seen as exploitable resources and could be sold off or abandoned, here we see a young knight throw off the confines of his "class" and take the responsibility of leading a group of Paris orphans to the Holy Land. As he tells one of his friends "Do not bow to me. I am no man's Lord." The class barriers between nobility and peasant are broken down as the group journeys south to find King Richard. Love becomes a more powerful force than social status. Robert and Blanche,(the Knight and the Circus Girl) become the Father and Mother figures to their charges. So too the headstrong and rebellious female knight at last finds a man worthy of her (how can I love a man who cannot stand up to me?) in the form of Michael (Blanche's brother). The characters find their strength, courage and love in the face of fear, death and pursuit. The villian (Gabbriel Byrne) gives a solid performance as the Black Knight. It is more than just a flash- in- the- pan knight's tale. As a Literature Teacher, I think this movie has many levels to it. The thematic expressions delve into love, greed, compassion, inhumanity, gender relations, class relations, slavery, and the impact of the Crusades (historical, religious,economic and social)on Europe. It is a refreshing glimpse into the deep human drama that can be played out on the most humble of stages. | |