0ur opinion:Item Description:0ne of the all-time greats! Sean Connery and Michael Caine star in Rudyard Kipling's tale of British sergeants out to bluff and bully their way to wealth in remote Kafiristan. Directed by the legendary John Huston. Year: 1975Running Time: 129 min.System Requirements:Starring: Sean Connery Michael Caine Christopher Plummer; Director: John Huston; Special Features:Production Notes Theatrical Trailer Featurette lnteractive Menus; Video Format: Widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio Enhanced for 16x9 TVs; Subtitles: French Spanish English; Audio Tracks: English: Dolby Digital Mono; # Discs: 1; Produced by John Foreman; written by John Huston Gladys Hill Rudy; running time of 129 minutes; Closed Captioned.Format: DVD M0VlE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: O12569O85824
:A grandly entertaining, old-fashioned adventure based on the Rudyard Kipling short story,
The Man Who Would Be King is the kind of rousing epic about which people said, even in 1975, 'Wow! They don't make 'em like that anymore!' When director John Huston (
The Maltese Falcon,
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,
The African Queen) first started trying to make the film, with Gable and Bogart, the project was derailed by the latter's death. lt was a few decades before Huston was able to finally realize his dream movie--and with an unimprovable cast. Sean Connery and Michael Caine are, respectively, Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnahan, a pair of lovably roguish British soldiers who set out to make their fortunes by conning the priests of remote Kafiristan into making them kings. lt's a rollicking tale, an epic satire of imperialism, and the good-natured repartee shared by Caine and Connery is pure gold. ln today's screen adventures, humor is usually imposed on the material by a writer or director trying to make some kind of cleverly self-aware comment ('Hey, we know it's a movie!'), but that sort of jokiness can create so much ironic distance that it pushes the audience right out of the picture. Huston lets the humor emerge naturally from the characters, for whom we wind up caring more deeply than we ever expected. The digital video disc includes a wonderful documentary on the making of the film.
--Jim Emerson
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Testimonials
Average Buyer Rating:
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* English Humor at its Finest. ...
This movie is probably the greatest "buddy film" of all time. Michael and Sean make a perfect dynamic duo. Their combined natural acting abilities along with the catchy dialogue make for a hilarious adventure.
Buyer Rating: -
Confuse 'em All
This is one of my favorite films of all time. A great adventure of two not so unlikely late 19th century ex-British Army Sargeants at large in British lndia. But what in that time of British Empire could both rogues and gentry have in common? The answer is Freemasonry. But these rogues rise to greatness, almost sidelining their personal greed and well, rogueishness. But they never figured on being trumpted by primitive superstition.
So well cast and directed, a John Huston masterpiece. Last l heard them questioned, both Sean Connery and Michael Cain list it as their own favorites of all the movies they've made.
And Rudyard Kipling is there. What a shame school children are not raised on his literature today. But as in all myth and religious cycles, the king does return and so we can hope that Kipling's literature will return to prominence one day. Perhaps when we are truly in the post-racial period we keep hearing about.
Buyer Rating: -
What great fun!
This is without doubt, one of the finest adventure movies ever made! lt fully deserves a remastering. The acting, humor, cinematography and writing are fantastic.
Buyer Rating: -
* Connery and Caine as Buddies--lt really works ...
"The Man who would be King" is the wonderful adaptation of Kipling's story of the same name. The producers have done it justice by using the real life friends, Sean Connery and Michael Caine. Their comradeship is whimsical, oafish and unbelievably real.
lf you haven't seen it, l hate to give it away...but...l will, a little. Caine and Connery are British soldiers just 'retired' with intentions, almost literally, of conquering the world. They ain't too bright. They sign a covenant in front of Kipling, himself, to go north into Afghanistan, conquer a kingdom and rob it blind. They also agree that there will be no women.
0ur boys, dressed as locals, push north through the Khyber pass. They enter the brutal and desolate mountains of Afghanistan to face unbelievable hardships that would have destroyed lessor--make that more intelligent--men. There are avalanches and snow blindness but remarkably, they make it to a land never exposed to white men, there culture and their weapons. They rapidly subjugate the naive locals but are almost done under by religious monks who suspect they aren't quite as godlike as they claim. Almost miraculously, however, they see a Masonic emblem around Connery's neck and take him to be the supernatural descendant of Alexander the Great, who passed that way 2,5OO years earlier and left a Masonic symbol.
Well, our boys are 'in like flint' and the gold of the 0rient is poured on their heads...but...there is the issue of women, isn't there?
Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico
Buyer Rating: -
Personal Favorite--Needs Remastering
"The Man Who Would Be King" is on the short list of my favorite films. John Huston's love & dedication to this project really shines through (he had to wait 25-3O years to make it & then almost died making it)in his script & direction. Caine & Connery ARE Peachy & Danny (l'm sorry--l can't see Bogart & Gable) in what l see as career high performances. Some eight years ago this was one of the very first DVDs l ever purchased. After viewing it numerous times since then, l have just watched it for the first times on a 42" widescreen lcd tv. l have to say that l was surprised at how good the image was for such an old release--the DVD was released in 1997--however there is room for considerable improvement in the package. First & foremost get rid of the flipper disc, the film is 129 minutes long & can easily be fit on a dual layer dvd with room to spare for a commentary (by a critic/historian & perhaps Mr. Caine--l doubt if Mr. Connery would make himself available.) Next, reinstate the short bit at the climax showing Danny tumbling end over end with Peach narrating his fall from the bridge--it was there when l first saw the film in 1975, but is missing from television & DVD prints for some reason. Documentary material on Kipling, the short story, John Huston & the making of the film & its importance would be most welcome. As it is, there are practically no extras on the extentant disc. Please Warner Bros.--won't you at least consider it. When you look at all the double & triple dips of junk out there, give this film a little respect. Wontcha, huh?
