Review of The Man Who Would Be King (1975) by Issac L — 17 Aug 2011

From the writer of The Jungle Book and brought to you by the brilliant John Huston, The Man Who Would Be King stars the fun duo of Sean Connery and Michael Caine in a fun, adventurous, and ultimately thrilling tale of pride and greed.

Two British Soldiers devise a plan to move out of India to become kings in the Middle Eastern lands, and take all the treasure they can get. They cross the harshest of terrains and weather, but eventually meet their goal of leading one village from one victorious battle to another. But their goal to become King of another nation grows into something much more than they can handle. What starts out as fun and pretty hard to understand because everyone speaks so British, turns into a fantastic and thrilling adventure that no one would expect. Connery and Caine star as Daniel and Peachy, two men who will learn their lesson by disrespecting another culture than their own. Both Connery and Caine are incredible in this movie. it begins as a sort of off-beat comedy, but the story grows into something that the two of them can really get into. And as short as his part is, Christopher Plummer is a pleasant addition to the cast.

John Huston once again writes and directs another winner. This movie is a fantastic adventure movie, full of the best sights and sounds filmed in the day. The shooting locations of the desert terrain and cold, winter mountains are incredible to look at. But what is even better is when our two main characters enter the villages of Kafiristan, who's culture and traditions seem cruel and uncivilized, but they must obay their laws. And we get a big heap of the customs of dancing, music, and battle. Costumes and props are top notch, and the footage in the Holy City looks really impressive. Huston's cinematography and direction adds so much to this adventure movie, making it something like no other. The camera angles and pacing of the movie makes the journey look a lot brutal and less glorifying than what we were lead to believe.

The Man Who Would Be King caught me by surprise. It starts off fun but becomes something more serious to think about. And when it's told by John Huston it's even better. This story of culture, greed and fate is one like very few and definitely a must see.