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DVD Lion of the Desert:25th Anniversary E
Destined to remain a dubious footnote in books of movie trivia, this occasionally impressive epic from 1981 was financed with a budget of $35 million by Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, who previously attempted the role of movie producer with the critically roasted Mohammad: Messenger of God. This effort didn't fare much better (it grossed approximately $1 million worldwide), and although some of its wartime action sequences are intelligently filmed, it's not likely to gain much more of a reputation on home video. Under a shaggy Muslim beard, Anthony Quinn stars as Omar Mukhtar, the Arab hero and guerilla fighter who defended Libya against Benito Mussolini and Italy's attempted conquests during World War II. As straightforward biography, the movie's got an admirable epic sweep, but a cliché-ridden script and uniformly bad performances (from a cast that includes John Gielgud, Oliver Reed, and Rod Steiger) make this little more than a curiosity for those wanting to learn more about Libyan history. The DVD "special edition" presents the film in its complete 162-minute version. --Jeff Shannon
Review(s): DVD Lion of the Desert:25th Anniversary E
They don't make them like this anymore
Disregard the controversy associated with this film's funding (which came from Libyan director Muammar Gaddafi) and some oblique criticism of the movie itself, and what you are left with is a surprisingly good yarn about a heroic leader heading a desperate struggle against foreign invaders in his motherland.
This film, in fact, is even more relevant in this age of the US-led intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq, giving a nice and unbiased view of Arab politics and history.
Anthony Quinn turns in a magnificent, nuanced performance as Omar Mukhtar, the Libyan teacher-turned-guerrilla leader who lead a 20-year struggle against the military might of Italian dictator Mussolini, whose forces had invaded his country.
Rod Steiger hams it up as Mussolini (but is prevented by director Moustapha Akkad from going over the top) and Oliver Reed is quite good as General Rodolfo Graziani, the man sent by Mussolini to put down the rebellion in Libya.
Thanks to Syrian-born Akkad, who is probably best known as the producer of the "Helloween" series, this movie provides a different insight into the troubled relations between the Arab world and the West, and Antony Quinn's Mukhtar is probably the first Arab hero who has been sympathetically portrayed in a big budget film.
By the time this film was released in 1985, such big budget epics had gone out of favour in Hollywood and the bad publicity about the funding from Gaddafi didn't exactly help its box office prospects. But to Akkad's credit, he has never denied taking funds from Gaddafi, and said that he never allowed the dictator to influence the film in any way.
Shooting on locations in Italy and Libya, Akkad traces the confrontation between Omar Mukhtar and Graziani, juxtaposing the quieter moments with massive, well-mounted battle scenes featuring hundreds of extras and big explosions. The action might not be up to the standards of CGI-created extravaganzas like "Saving Private Ryan", but it is impressive nonetheless.
The supporting cast, largely featuring actors from Europe like Takis Emmanuel and Irene Papas, is uniformly good, bringing a much needed human touch to their characters which are not very well fleshed out.
The film uses loads of historical background and some old black and white footage of actual events like Bedouin tribespeople beingh herded into concentration camps set up by Graziani, but never handles its subject matter in an overtly sentimental way.
Director Akkad takes a few liberties with history - Omar Mukhtar and Graziani probably never had the conversation depicted in the film but it is to the credit of Anthony Quinn and Oliver Reed that they manage to pull off this sequence brilliantly - and the end result is entirely satisfying.
Anchor Bay improves on its previous release of this movie for its 25th anniversary edition by making the panoramic widescreen vistas available in anamorphic video and including a commentary from Akkad.
There is also a wonderful documentary this is definitely not a fluffy making-of piece with everyone saying nice things about each other. The documentary captures the lengths that Akkad and his crew went to shoot on the desert locations, enduring high temperatures and ardous conditions. It also details the problems the filmmakers faced in obtaining authentic 1930s era Italian military equipment, including tanks.
A snippet in this documentary shows how closely Quinn resembled the real Omar Mukhtar, and has the actor talking about the reasons which drew him to the role.
If you like historical epics, this one is definitely for you.
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