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The Wind And The Lion

chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
edited November 2013 in Actors Posts: 17,691
Thoughts on this film? Sean's version of Lawrence? Better? Worse? Totally different?

Comments

  • minorMajor9thminorMajor9th
    Posts: 157
    Obviously worse, but I love Jerry Goldsmith's score.
  • WillyGaloreWillyGalore
    Posts: 6,396
    Worse. Much, much worse. If it didn't star Connery I wouldn't ever bother watching it.
  • Matt_HelmMatt_Helm
    Posts: 908
    Like so many of Connerys 70s Movie this one got it all. Tragedy and humour abound, adventure, real grandeur and some sense of self awareness of western history. that's actually -together with the arabian setting- the only thing it has got in common with the completly different Lawrence of Arabia (which I love and admire!). Lion ( just like "Robin and Marian" and the fantastic "Man who would be King") is one of those films you can't even imagine without Connery who really managed to get a unique take on each of his charakters and fills them with overwhelming vitality. It is because of these movies,that I still rate him as the best actor ever to play Bond. Also, I find it very stunning,that it was penned by John Milius, who is the guy infamous and responsible for the likes of "Red Dawn" and such.
  • identigraphidentigraph
    Posts: 1,052
    Does he play it Scottishhhh?
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    edited November 2013 Posts: 17,691
    It's the one & only Connery film I've not seen... yet!

    This review makes it sound like a good deal of fun:

    http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/windandlion.php

    "If you ignore the breathtaking license that Milius takes with historical fact—the film is (very) loosely based on actual events—and view the film strictly as a fantastical adventure, The Wind and the Lion is a pretty engaging ride."
  • 00Ed00Ed
    Posts: 140
    I've always enjoyed The Wind and the Lion a great deal.

    When I was in United States Marine Corps Officer Candidates School, they showed us a clip from this film at the start of a class on Marine Corps History. The clip was the scene in which the Marines run through town and assault the palace. It's still one of my favorite movie scenes, and it inspired me to see the whole movie as soon as I was able to get my hands on a copy.

    It's true that the film is only loosely based on historical fact. If I'm not mistaken, the real incident occurred during the Presidency of Chester Alan Arthur, but in the movie, Theodore Roosevelt is President. Even so, it's a wildly entertaining romp of a film. And besides, who wants to watch a movie about Chester Alan Arthur?

    Waiting impatiently for this one to be released on Blu-Ray.
  • CraterGunsCraterGuns
    edited December 2013 Posts: 615
    Yeah, as history it's pretty much hooey... The American hostage held by El Raisuli was a man in real life -- not a woman (much less one that looks like Candace Bergen).

    But as a rip-roaring adventure film it is first-rate. And the Goldsmith score is magnificent.

    Re: Chester A. Arthur -- He may have been a forgettable president, but his mutton-chop whiskers were awesome!
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    One of the 'New Age Dudes' in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure wanted to contact Chester A. Arthur at the seance- he must have been a little bit cool...
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    00Ed wrote:
    Even so, it's a wildly entertaining romp of a film.

    Oh man, I just watched the first 30 minutes of the film and found it so cartoonishly hokey... apart from Goldsmith's WONDERFUL score, it just turns me off. I see what's coming; Bergin will come to see what a magnificent man of honour Connery is by the end. What tosh. His character is a dopey butwipe, and I can't continue watching a movie whose main character deserves to be killed like the dog he is.
    I'll just get the soundtrack.
    :-<
  • WillyGaloreWillyGalore
    Posts: 6,396
    chrisisall wrote:
    00Ed wrote:
    Even so, it's a wildly entertaining romp of a film.

    Oh man, I just watched the first 30 minutes of the film and found it so cartoonishly hokey... apart from Goldsmith's WONDERFUL score, it just turns me off. I see what's coming; Bergin will come to see what a magnificent man of honour Connery is by the end. What tosh. His character is a dopey butwipe, and I can't continue watching a movie whose main character deserves to be killed like the dog he is.
    I'll just get the soundtrack.
    :-<

    Yes, Lawrence of Arabia it ain't!
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    edited December 2013 Posts: 17,691
    WillyGalore wrote:
    Yes, Lawrence of Arabia it ain't!

    I got suckered into buying a copy because I sampled the score on Youtube. I was like, WOW, I guess I need to see it! But right from the beginning Raisuni's men are killing indiscriminately and laughing, then Raisuni beheads two followers for not praising his name while drinking from his well, and then orders the cutting off of some girl's finger somewhere to send to Roosevelt in place of his hostage's finger. Gee, what a nice guy.
    I guess I'm just monumentally culturally insensitive... :))
  • Matt_HelmMatt_Helm
    Posts: 908
    chrisisall wrote:
    WillyGalore wrote:
    Yes, Lawrence of Arabia it ain't!

    I got suckered into buying a copy because I sampled the score on Youtube. I was like, WOW, I guess I need to see it! But right from the beginning Raisuni's men are killing indiscriminately and laughing, then Raisuni beheads two followers for not praising his name while drinking from his well, and then orders the cutting off of some girl's finger somewhere to send to Roosevelt in place of his hostage's finger. Gee, what a nice guy.
    I guess I'm just monumentally culturally insensitive... :))

    So you criticize the movie for not painting its characters merely in black and white. Well, to each his own.
  • timmertimmer
    edited December 2013 Posts: 4,622
    I saw this film back in the day and did enjoy it, but its been so long, I barely remember it.
    Sean seemed obsessed with doing big historical period pieces in his '70s post Bond years. Reveling in his middle-age baldness it seems.
    Eg Wind And The Lion, Man Who Would Be King, Robin and Marian. Even A Bridge Too Far and Murder On The Orient Express too.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    Matt_Helm wrote:
    So you criticize the movie for not painting its characters merely in black and white. Well, to each his own.

    No, actually I don't like the movie for its subject matter. AND the fact that if they were going to play with actual history so liberally, why not give us a rousing adventure with a hero we can like? Otherwise just stick to the facts. This movie wanted it both ways, and that I cannot abide.
  • NapoleonPluralNapoleonPlural
    Posts: 512
    Can't abide it? Why not carve a swastika into its forehead then? ;)
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    I'm missing the movie reference...
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