Mountains of the Moon

Starring:Patrick Bergin, Iain Glen, Richard E. Grant, Fiona Shaw, John Savident, James Villiers, Adrian Rawlins, Peter Vaughan, Delroy Lindo, Bernard Hill, Matthew Marsh, Richard Caldicot, Christopher Fulford, Garry Cooper, Roshan Seth, Jimmy Gardner, Doreen Mantle, Anna Massey, Peter Eyre, Leslie Phillips
Director: Bob Rafelson
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Product Type: DVD

Product Description

In the 1850's, two British officers, Capt. Richard Burton (Patrick Bergen) and Lt. John Speke (Iain Glen) set out on a spectacular adventure to discover the source of the Nile. They are warned that great dangers await them, but against all odds they push on deeper and deeper into the magnificent, untamed African wilderness, where no western man had ever gone. As the difficult journey takes its toll, Burton and Speke forge a strong bond. A bond that one will eventually betray. But history will be the judge as the two intrepid explorers venture into realms perilous to both body and soul in their quest for the secret of the Nile.

System Requirements:

Running Time 140 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

Mountains of the Moon.......2007-05-13

Truly enjoyed the DVD. Excellent quality, good price, and fast turnaround from Amazon. Having read accounts of the various "search for the source of the Nile" expeditions, including Speke's diary of the final expedition to Lake Victoria, I can see that some poetic license was taken with the movie. Still, most of the trail of this epic adventure is factual and I'm surprised that the movie wasn't received more enthusiastically in the U.S. Possibly because it didn't star Bob Redford or Brad Pitt.

History well told..........2007-03-31

As other reviewers' have stated, this film about Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke, and their explorations in search of the source of the Nile, their troubled relationship and their ultimate estrangement, ending tragically in Speke's controversial death, (suicide or a mere hunting accident) has been certainly underrated.

As both men lived extraordinary lives, a film can only touch on the "highpoints" and turn the story into something akin to a Hollywood tested "entertainment piece", however, this particular historical narrative requires no embellishments, because their lives and experiences have become the stuff of legend.

One of the numerous reasons Mountains of the Moon is such a great film is its historical accuracy, beginning with Burton and Speke's first meeting and the subsequent tragedy on expedition in the African territory now known as Somalia. On a mere Survey expedition, late at night their camp was attacked, ending with a spear through Burton's cheek and jaw and Speke being taken prisoner, tortured and his legs broken. Because the natives ran scared over a superstition, (not conveyed in the film) the two managed to escape. Because Captain Burton headed this particular expedition, its failure would haunt his career for many years.

The director and producer(s) aimed for the epic grandeur of a David Lean film such as Laurance of Arabia or Doctor Zhivago and, when one listens to the beautiful sound track and the breathtaking cinematography of the African landscape will see that they achieved their outcome, as the film's quality is absolutely superb.

Having grown into a Burton admirer and completes, studying and gathering everything known about this unusual and fringe genius, Mountains of the Moon is a worthy addition because of its quality production and its genuine attempt at historical accuracy on the lives of these (R) romantic individuals, the last truly earthbound explorers (Aside from the Australian and European Explores of Antarctica) who have been forgotten in the chaos of triviality in the 21st century.

If you haven't had the opportunity to see this film, do so, as it is a well produced piece created by people who care about history and the value of a story well told.

A little more care, Amazon.......2006-06-17

Wonderful movie - but certainly NOT close captioned as advertised . Disappointing if you expect so .

Finding the source of the Nile.......2005-12-25

The story of Richard Burton's and J.H. Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile. With great hardship (disease, injury, warring tribes), they make their way; on the last leg Burton is held captive by a tribe of natives, and Speke goes on alone. He discovers Lake Victoria and travels back to England two weeks ahead of Burton with the news. Speke doesn't have a great deal of proof that the lake is the source; indeed, Burton doesn't believe it. He and Burton are to debate their opposing points of view before the Royal Geographical Society when Speke dies in a hunting accident. It took another 12 years to prove Speke's assertion.

The real-life Richard Burton squeezed into one lifetime more adventure and scholarship than a half-dozen men could ever hope to collectively attain, and the movie captures that feeling perfectly. Emphasis is on the violence and difficulty of the expedition and little on the ensuing controversy, so the movie skews toward being an adventure story only. One wishes for more in-depth character development, but the movie is an excellent one all the same. [Burton was an incredibly fascinating person and I recommend people reading any of the many recent biographies on the man.]

an excellent adventure movie.......2005-08-06

If you'd like to know about African expeditions. THIS IS YOUR MOVIE

Average customer rating:

an old-fashioned adventure
How dare a white man say he discovered Africa?
Wasn't worth the hype
Patience well rewarded
Orientalist Extraordinaire

Mountains of the Moon
Starring: Patrick Bergin , Iain Glen , Richard E. Grant , Fiona Shaw , and John Savident
Director: Bob Rafelson
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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Similar Items:

Mountains of the Moon
The Man Who Would Be King
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography
Gosford Park
Khartoum

ASIN: 6305261504
Release Date: 1999-03-16

Amazon.com

How did Bob Rafelson, the director of small-scale American studies such as Five Easy Pieces and The King of Marvin Gardens, find himself helming an old-fashioned adventure story such as Mountains of the Moon? Whatever the reasons, Rafelson invested this 1990 epic with passion and professionalism. The hero is one of the greatest British explorers of the 19th century, Sir Richard Burton (played by Patrick Bergin), a fascinating figure and a man out of time: a modern in the Victorian era. Mountains of the Moon is primarily concerned with Burton's trek into East Africa to discover the source of the Nile, accompanied by fellow adventurer John Hanning Speke (Iain Glen). Rafelson is at least as interested in the tricky psychological jockeying between the two men, as he is in the grueling conventions of the adventure movie, but he delivers well on both counts. The brawny Bergin is sensational in a role that should have made him a star, but didn't (though he had a shot, menacing Julia Roberts in Sleeping with the Enemy); the film disappeared quickly. Perhaps audiences were put off by the lack of marquee names and confused by the title, which refers to a piece of African landscape. Providing solid support are Fiona Shaw (another should-have-been star), Richard E. Grant, and Delroy Lindo, as an African warrior. A very satisfying excursion into the National Geographic pith-helmet genre. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

an old-fashioned adventure.......2006-12-26

This is one of the better adventure movies produced in Hollywood. Based accurately on the true story of Burton and Speke's search for the headwaters of the Nile, actors Patrick Bergin and Iain Glenn seem to forge a strong bond while enduring some awful hardships during their journey. It's up to the viewer to judge what occurs when these two valient explorers return to the UK, but all in all, this is a great movie that anyone interested in action-adventure-history will appreciate //

How dare a white man say he discovered Africa?.......2003-05-07

Is what Sir Richard Francis Burton (Patric Begin) tells his wife Isabell (Fiona Shaw ) after she rushes in to their London home exclaiming: " Newspapers! Mr. Speke again! "

At which point one of the most intelligent and best written love scenes ensues---in one of the most intelligent and best written films of all time---as Isabell demands that the hitherto heroic Burton--who has given in to drink and despair, publically confront his former friend, John Speke (Ian Glen) who is damning him in the press, and fight to vindicate his good name.

Irony of Ironies! In the Victorian age, Burton, for all his dashing bravery was considered less 'respectable' than Speke. Burton had been the first European to enter Mecca, disguised as an Arab (he was fluent in 23 languages), a swordsman who published manuals on the use of the saber in combat, and translated The Kama Sutra and The Arabian Nights into English. He had a reputation for wildness in an age of conformity.

Speke, of the other hand, was a British officer, a member of a prominent family, and a discreet homosexual.

The irony continues. This is perhaps the best foreign film that ever bombed at the American box office. Why?

1. The heterosexual ends happily, the homosexual does not. Furthermore another homosexual, Larry (Richard Grant) plays the part of 'Iago' lying and separating the two friends into bitter rivals. Worse still, unlike, say, "Kiss of the Spider Woman " Speke, does not get his sexual fantasies fulfilled. That part of his love for Burton goes unrequited.

2. Africans in the 19th century are not represented as 'Noble Savages ' living in egalitarian harmony with each other. Rousseau would have been disappointed.

3. Outside the aforementioned outburst "How dare a white man.say he discovered Africa! Africans discovered Africa! " There is no apology for British colonialism. In fact, it's rather unimportant to the main focus of the film.

4. There were no STARS, that brought in an audience, only great actors.

( One shudders at the thought of a Hollywood remake with Tom Hanks and Tim Burton in the leads and Whoopi Goldberg delivering an impassioned speech at The Royal Geographical Society. )

This film is a glorious, true life, adventure story about the discovery of the source of the Nile. Yes, it is an "epic" , wonderfully photographed. David Lean would have loved it.

Especially since the plot is driven by the characters, not the outside world, exotic as the surroundings may be. There is a tone of melancholia, a bittersweetness that prevails throughout. It is a tragedy about the friendship of Speke and Burton. The first gay as a breeze, the second a raving heterosexual but both, (without any excuses to audiences trained to expect that only 'ordinary folks' are believable ) presented for what they were: Heroes.

Indeed if the word 'hero' did not apply to Speke and Burton, it would have no meaning. I lost track of how many time they saved each other's lives. A brilliant, subtle and touching film.

Wasn't worth the hype.......2002-03-09

A great movie if you like to see grime and only grime. For me, it is a disjointed movie. The story wasn't melded enough. The characters did not connect with each other enough to create the drama. The sex scenes are so bad that they look like afterthoughts. Poor editing. I see why ordinary mortals like me would not go ga-ga over this.

Patience well rewarded.......2002-02-11

I came to this film knowing almost nothing about Burton, Speke, or the search for the Nile; in fact I only picked it up because I heard Roger Rees was in it (he's great as always, by the way, but he only has a two-minute part at the end). However, I came away entranced and fascinated by the subject, and more especially, by the characters. Although the film is a little slow moving for ignorant types like myself, it merely requires patience for the first 20 minutes or so, before the powerful storytelling and acting overcomes any pacing problems. Patrick Bergin creates a truly memorable character, and Fiona Shaw is wonderfully...Victorian, only not. A character of true intelligence and humour, yet undeniably a product of her time. My favourite though, is Iain Glen as John Hanning Speke, who did the whole tortured/ambitious/second-fiddle-and-hating-it/sexually frustrated part very convincingly. His relationship with Burton is intense enough to unify the film as it sprawls accross two completely different continents (how civilized Africa seems next to London) and keep us caring right up to the final frames (and the belated but welcome appearance of R. Rees)!

Orientalist Extraordinaire.......2002-01-19

Sir Richard Burton was the most interesting traveler/explorer of the Victorian era. You might not come away from this film with that impression. The film focuses on just one event in Burtons event filled life and that is the films one flaw, though its a pretty big flaw its not fatal. The African part of the film is very exciting. Burton and Speke mount an expeditionary force and with a large amount of exploring goods and native carriers get raided on the beach one night(excellent battle scene)before they even begin. After regrouping they again set out to find one of the nineteenth centuries geographical prizes, the source of the Nile(mountians of the moon). Who saw it first and who could best map exactly where it was takes up the second half of the movie. That aftermath section which shows the debate of the former friends become enemies as it played out in the geographical society journals of the day is not the most riveting cinema mainly because Speke is just not that interesting a figure and so no real contest for Burton and since there is never any doubt who will win as a drama it has no teeth(what were you thinking Rafelson?). The real drama in the Burton story is the one between his very groundbreaking and often illicit work(he translated and introduced the Kama Sutra to Victorian England) and ultra conservative Victorian England.Still any film about Burton is worthwhile. A better movie would have been exclusively about Burton and his very unusual character. He was at least as unusual as Lawrence of Arabia and perhaps even more complex. He combined great learning(languages, religions, weapons, erotica...)with a great amount of first hand experience in a number of rarely trodden lands. He was the first non Muslim visitor to the holy city of Mecca(he arrived in Arab disguise).
Bergin plays Burton as if he were just slightly unconventional which is fine for a Hollywood film but the truth is this guy was a real cultural chameleon. Perhaps one day another director will try his hand at this material. Until then this is not a great but a good introduction which may lead you to want to know more. I liked the scenes which show the interior of Burtons house especially as he was a collector of tribal artifacts, knives, spears, texts. And his wife is played by a lovely actress who plays Isabel Burton as if she were just a very liberal minded Victorian. In actuality Isabel burned many of Richards manuscripts after his death forever earning her the wrath of the Orientalist community. You won't get accuracy or depth of vision here but you will get an eyefull of Africa which is beautifully filmed, those grand vistas and some grand moments make the trip worth your while.

Average customer rating:

Mountains of the Moon [Region 2]
Starring: Patrick Bergin , Iain Glen , Richard E. Grant , Fiona Shaw , and John Savident
Director: Bob Rafelson
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0000AGVPQ

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