Review: Last Valley
12-16-99, 11:41 PM
#1
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I asked for a review of this awhile back, no one responded so I can only assume no one knew anything about it. IMHO that's your loss 
All I can say is WOW! Written/Produced/Directed by Jame Clavell. Starring Michael Caine & Omar Sharif (the only two names I recognize off hand). The time is the 30 years war in the early 1600s. A group of mercenaries are lead by the "Captain" (Caine) into a secluded valley where they decide to bunk for the winter. They "recruit" the services of Vogel (Sharif), a wandering beggar who is running from the war, to act as intermediary between the soldiers and the villagers.
The acting is really good, there is little "action" though if that's what you are looking for. The cinematography is great, for what I read somewhere, they essetially built a 1600s style village in a valley and shot most things on location.
If you like character dramas and/or historical fiction you owe it to yourself to at least rent this. The video looked good, I didn't see any imperfections in whatever they used for the source. Only once did I notice a patch of black that looked a bit too digitized. The audio was only DD, but then again did they even have 5.1 back in the last 60s/early 70s? The DVD itself though is SEVERLY lacking in extras. The main menu options are "Play" and "Scene Selection" ONLY
Here's what some other people have to say:
Amazon's review
IMDB's review
All I can say is WOW! Written/Produced/Directed by Jame Clavell. Starring Michael Caine & Omar Sharif (the only two names I recognize off hand). The time is the 30 years war in the early 1600s. A group of mercenaries are lead by the "Captain" (Caine) into a secluded valley where they decide to bunk for the winter. They "recruit" the services of Vogel (Sharif), a wandering beggar who is running from the war, to act as intermediary between the soldiers and the villagers.
The acting is really good, there is little "action" though if that's what you are looking for. The cinematography is great, for what I read somewhere, they essetially built a 1600s style village in a valley and shot most things on location.
If you like character dramas and/or historical fiction you owe it to yourself to at least rent this. The video looked good, I didn't see any imperfections in whatever they used for the source. Only once did I notice a patch of black that looked a bit too digitized. The audio was only DD, but then again did they even have 5.1 back in the last 60s/early 70s? The DVD itself though is SEVERLY lacking in extras. The main menu options are "Play" and "Scene Selection" ONLY
Here's what some other people have to say:
Amazon's review
IMDB's review
12-20-99, 04:09 PM
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I saw this movie as a kid (15). I was very upset by the witch hunt segment and it got me into looking at the cruelity of the Inquisition. I remember it being a very well made movie at the time (1971) and different from anything else that came out at that period.
[This message has been edited by pagansoul (edited 12-20-1999).]
[This message has been edited by pagansoul (edited 12-20-1999).]
