The Man Who Would Be King (Widescreen Edition)

I will give you three reasons why:
1) Sean Connery: one of the best actors. Period.
2) Michael Caine: another of the best. And he looks good in that hat.
3) Kipling: you just can't beat that for a writer.

ARE WE CLEAR?


GREAT Movie - but a BAD DVD release!   April 3, 2005
Serious Movie Buff (New York, NY USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I first saw Huston's "The Man Who Would Be King" in a 2$-a-show movie theatre in Philadelphia in the summer of 1976 when, as a young actor, I was going to the movies (usually at this cheap theatre) almost every day. I was completely bowled over by it. Even in 1976, it was clear that this was the kind of movie we weren't likely to see again. Production costs were simply becoming too prohibitive.

Over the years, I've tried watching it again a few times on TV, but with the small screen, canned sound and frequent commercial breaks, I never finished it. Now, in these home theatre days, I bought this DVD release looking forward to renewing my acquaintance with this true epic from a great master of the movies.

How disappointing it was, that halfway through a slightly-over-two-hours-long movie and at a most inopportune moment, the movie stopped, the screen went black and I had to flip the disc to continue. In a longer movie with a planned intermission break this would not be a problem, but here it is simply unfathomable. It would seem that any intelligent production company would have put the complete movie on one side of the disc and then, if necessary, put the special features on the other, but no - here we have half the movie and all the special features on one side, and the other half of the movie (again with all the special features!) on the other. While this doesn't completely ruin the experience it does damage the continuity and lessen the viewing experience.

That warning having been given, this is a magnificent movie. (And a "movie" it is, rather than a "film" - exciting, entertaining, moving, but with no pretensions, nothing of the gritty artiness of the mid-seventies films that today can look so dated.)

The casting is as near to perfect as you could imagine. Huston uses both Connery and Caine brilliantly as a brace of thoroughly amoral yet endearing con men, getting the maximum advantage out of each actor's strengths. Plummer, in the smaller supporting role of Kipling, shines as an intelligent and compassionate man, if a little slow on the uptake.

But it is Huston who, to my mind, is the real star. A screenwriter-turned-director, he excelled at taught, intimate dramas like The Maltese Falcon and Treasure of the Sierra Madre. (TotSM, despite being virtually all exteriors, still feels as claustrophobic as Hitchcock's Rope.) However, often when he took on larger projects he seemed to lose focus. Not here! This movie is brilliantly paced, with its flashback narrative structure, building to its sweeping climax and then its heartbreaking, slightly chilling denouement. Even more reason to be disappointed with the unneeded interruption lessening the dramatic flow of the story.

Buy the DVD. Revel in this, one of the greatest movies of the action/adventure genre. But please forgive my anger at Warner Brothers for botching what should have been a great DVD release.



Connery and Caine: how can you go wrong?   March 7, 2001
Kyle Slater (Fort Worth, Tx USA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is by far one of the most impressive movies my eyes have ever seen. The magnificant scope is truly amazing. Caine and Connery live up to their names by their performances.

The two men head off to become Kings of unchartered lands. What befalls them are humor, triumph, greed, and loss. The individuals and circumstances the men become involved in are one of a kind.

The magic of Huston is clearly seen by the images presented on screen. Shots that are near impossible in today's filmmaking world should be savored in this movie. You can almost hear his booming voice giving the men advice on their roles.

As with many other films, greed does play a key factor in the shaping the Peachy and (more importantly) Daniel. Their quest began for riches and then the tastes of power began to emerge. Never wanting to let go or knowing when to leave becomes a dangerous issue for the two.

This is film for all to see. My only complaint is that the DVD actually had to be turned over in the middle of the film. This is a throwback to the early laserdisc players of the 80's.


My favorite movie   May 11, 2000
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Everything that you need to know about friendship, ambition, and freemasonry (hey, I needed a third thing, ok?) is contained within this film. Sean Connery and Michael Caine are, of course, brilliant. John Huston directed, so you know this ain't gonna be "Waterworld". The pacing is great and the characters feel real. I think this film achieves, in the end, more than it set out to. What starts as a nice retelling of a Kipling short story ends up as a meditation on what it really means to live one's life to the fullest. Strongly recommended.