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From Amazon.co.uk
Set in the expanse of the Sudan desert in the midst of holy war, Khartoum (1966) plays like an attempt to work the Lawrence of Arabia magic on the (mostly) true story of eccentric British general Charles "Chinese" Gordon in 1884 North Africa. The magnificent opening desert battle suggests David Lean's epic sweep, at least until the film settles into a more modest story of political games, military standoffs, and a battle of wits and wiles between two fierce leaders. Charlton Heston plays the Christian soldier as cocky, unconventional maverick, and Laurence Olivier (behind heavy make-up and a thick black beard) is almost as good as his cagey nemesis the Mahdi, the Islamic holy warrior on a mission of annihilation. More talk than spectacle, the film falls short of Lawrence but is nonetheless a compelling story of colonial politics, cynical manoeuvring and the unconventional heroics of another colourful British maverick abroad. --Sean Axmaker
Product Description
dvd import parlato italianoper riportare le tribu' arabe sotto il controllo inglese, viene mandato il generale gordon (heston) che finira' sotto assedio, fino alla morte
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By websurfer
Format:DVD
On this 1966 epic film Charlton Heston plays the British general Charles Gordon, who died figthing the upraise of the Mahaidi muslim fanatics in Khartoum.
Heston gives a very convincing portrayal of the Brithish hero and Laurence Olivier plays an impressive Mahaidi. Also with Ralph Richardson and Nigel Green, this Basil Dearden film is a very nice epic story filled with strong and interesting carachters, action sequences and beautifull sceneary.
The DVD presents a 2.35 widescreen format print with very nice colors and stereo sound.At this price it's a must!
Heston gives a very convincing portrayal of the Brithish hero and Laurence Olivier plays an impressive Mahaidi. Also with Ralph Richardson and Nigel Green, this Basil Dearden film is a very nice epic story filled with strong and interesting carachters, action sequences and beautifull sceneary.
The DVD presents a 2.35 widescreen format print with very nice colors and stereo sound.At this price it's a must!
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
Though the historical events in this film took place in 1884-85, there are aspects of it that remind one of today's headlines; this is a sadly underrated film, with a fantastic cast, massive battle scenes, and a beautifully written script about an extraordinary man.
There are scenes that take "artistic license", but the film is quite accurate in its facts on General Gordon; a military genius who hated war, a deeply religious man who worked to end slavery, and who fell in love with the desolate scorching sands and the people of the Sudan.
There are scenes that take "artistic license", but the film is quite accurate in its facts on General Gordon; a military genius who hated war, a deeply religious man who worked to end slavery, and who fell in love with the desolate scorching sands and the people of the Sudan.
The pairing of Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier is fabulous, and their scenes together are riveting. Heston is gaunt in this film, to closer portray the slightly built Gordon, and speaks with a subtle but excellent English accent; Olivier is the fanatic who calls himself The Mahdi ("The Expected One"), waging a holy war with his followers to destroy anyone who opposes his beliefs, with the aim of conquering the world for his fundamentalist faith.
Other wonderful performances come from Richard Johnson as Col. Stewart, Ralph Richardson as Prime Minister Gladstone, Nigel Green as Gen Wolseley, and Johnny Sekka is a delight as Gordon's servant Khaleel.
After British-led Egyptian forces are massacred by The Mahdi's insurgents, the British government asks Egypt to give up the Sudan, and General Gordon is called to evacuate the European and Egyptian civilians from the Sudan; he stays to ward off the terrorists and the siege of Khartoum takes place.
... Read more ›13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:DVD
Khartoum brilliantly portrays General Gordons struggle as he attempts to defend the ancient city of Khartoum. It also shows the British government's struggle in convincing Gordon to leave. The Mahdi (played by Laurence OLivier) is shown as an extreme, unstoppable nutter.
Khartoum has everything a good colonial film should contain. Set in an exotic location, has charm, desparation and never forgetting the action!!!
Khartoum has everything a good colonial film should contain. Set in an exotic location, has charm, desparation and never forgetting the action!!!
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love this movie, but what I don't like is paying for a UK DVD and finding the quality of the MGM Region 2 PAL disc is poor. It's not from a restored print so there are flickering lines (scratches), dust and other foreign objects, and so on. It's also rather soft and lacking in detail. What makes this really infuriating is that the Region 3 NTSC DVD you can get in S.E. Asia looks *absolutely fantastic*. Once again the UK/European arm of a major studio greedily and lazily offers its customers 2nd best, even though a high quality version already exists. The NTSC rip I downloaded from pirate bay at no cost is better quality than the PAL DVD I just paid for. I wish that was unusual but it's normal for us suckers here in the UK. The studios apparently don't like bittorrent, but not enough that they'll stop insulting *paying* customers with 3rd rate offerings. Guess where I'm going for my next MGM classic movie.
Khartoum the movie has an exciting story, extraordinary historical characters played by a star cast, great performances, good photography and locations. It's worth 4 or 5 stars. MGM's PAL DVD is not, being something of an insult to everyone from the performers through to the people who buy and watch the DVD. If you have low expectations or a small TV screen and cataracts this DVD might appear fine, otherwise look elsewhere and try to get hold of the NTSC version.
Khartoum the movie has an exciting story, extraordinary historical characters played by a star cast, great performances, good photography and locations. It's worth 4 or 5 stars. MGM's PAL DVD is not, being something of an insult to everyone from the performers through to the people who buy and watch the DVD. If you have low expectations or a small TV screen and cataracts this DVD might appear fine, otherwise look elsewhere and try to get hold of the NTSC version.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
With any movie a couple or more generations old you have to allow yourself to be transported out of today and into the past. There are no graphics, pretendy explosions, computer-generated hordes or sillilly big handguns, etc. here. This is a raw action movie with that lost aspect: excellent actors. And it is one feast of a movie!
The setting and camerawork are both excellent. The hordes of extras play up and play well, adding wonderful realism to the tale. The acting from the two leads is powerful. Not a wooden moment, even if Olivier is a bit stolid and camera-facing. Heston is truly wonderful. He is Gordon. Heston indeed eclipses everyone else, even Ralph Richardson, who does his English bit in his usual powerful way.
The spin of the tale is well-written. Two messianic figures head-to-head in the desert. Both are religious fanatics and eccentrics. Gordon as the self-made original diy religion man (more than a tad reminiscent of Tony Blair with his pocket full of Bibles and Korans). And the Mahdi as a Bin laden of his time leading Islamic insurgents across the Muslim world. In many ways, such a modern tale.
But, watch for the subtlety of how the British can't handle Gordon, and the Arabs can't cope with the Mahdi either. Religious self-belief is a powerful tale for all ages. OK, in this case Gordon out-thought the Mahdi - who knows what really happened? - and Gordon lost, but also won whereas the mahdi won but died soon after.
As a movie this is a winner, and one to return to. Can't think why it has been so easily forgotten and lost in the huge amount of sword'n'sandal dust. Great actors, great tale, well told. But, skip the rubbish dramatic music at the start and in the middle. Its what the >> button is for!
The setting and camerawork are both excellent. The hordes of extras play up and play well, adding wonderful realism to the tale. The acting from the two leads is powerful. Not a wooden moment, even if Olivier is a bit stolid and camera-facing. Heston is truly wonderful. He is Gordon. Heston indeed eclipses everyone else, even Ralph Richardson, who does his English bit in his usual powerful way.
The spin of the tale is well-written. Two messianic figures head-to-head in the desert. Both are religious fanatics and eccentrics. Gordon as the self-made original diy religion man (more than a tad reminiscent of Tony Blair with his pocket full of Bibles and Korans). And the Mahdi as a Bin laden of his time leading Islamic insurgents across the Muslim world. In many ways, such a modern tale.
But, watch for the subtlety of how the British can't handle Gordon, and the Arabs can't cope with the Mahdi either. Religious self-belief is a powerful tale for all ages. OK, in this case Gordon out-thought the Mahdi - who knows what really happened? - and Gordon lost, but also won whereas the mahdi won but died soon after.
As a movie this is a winner, and one to return to. Can't think why it has been so easily forgotten and lost in the huge amount of sword'n'sandal dust. Great actors, great tale, well told. But, skip the rubbish dramatic music at the start and in the middle. Its what the >> button is for!
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Recommended.
Charlton Heston proved himself to be a very good actor on many occasions. I have heard him affect an English accent before and he did it very well both times. Read more
Published 1 month ago by H. Galloway
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gordon of Khartoum
Recommend for anyone who likes historical action movies with a good script and great actors. Very interesting story. Excellent film
Published 1 month ago by Viv
5.0 out of 5 stars
Khartoum.
Another DVD to add to my collection. So look forward to watching this one over and over again. Thank you.
Published 2 months ago by Mrs. Jennifer Warden
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delivere in good time and in good condition.
Charlton Heston stifles his American accent to give a sterling performance. No one does films of this nature better the Charlton Heston.
Published 2 months ago by Derek Oliver Sibthorpe
5.0 out of 5 stars
the other gordon's alive!
i disagree with heston over "cold-dead hands" but he was an heck of an actor: el-cid, ben-hur 10 commandments this is a very tense and shocking
Published 3 months ago by Michael A. Young
4.0 out of 5 stars
Love it
I've enjoyed this film for many a year & was so pleased with the quality of the DVD. Charlton Heaston is superb in the main role. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Azrael
4.0 out of 5 stars
A "Boy's Own" adventure film
Directors Basil Dearden and Eliot Elisofon had a great group of stars in Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Richard Johnson, Ralph Richardson and Alexander Knox to portray this... Read more
Published 18 months ago by RR Waller
3.0 out of 5 stars
God go with you. And I don't envy God.
Khartoum tells the story of British general Sir Charles Gordon (Charlton Heston) who accepted the assignment of liberating English citizens and Egyptians from the Sudan city of... Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2011 by Spike Owen
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Visual Desert Feast
What a wonderful film that never fails to enthral as Gordon, a most devout follower of his own faith, opposes another, the Mahdi - the Chosen One, whose own zeal is portrayed with... Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2011 by Casuist
5.0 out of 5 stars
The desert at it's best
Saw this in the cinema on release and a few times over the years. Was unprepared for the Interval but enjoyed as much this time as the last time I saw it.
Published on 29 Dec 2010 by Mrs. P. R. Bugg
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