Excellent
Added 7/19/2009
This movie is beautiful. It's a true story and that's why I love it. The actors were great in that movie. The great director Mustapha Akkad made a smart choice by chosing a great stars like Anthony Quinn to play as the great Libyan leader, Omar Mukhtar. Also he chosed another great actor, Oliver Reed to play the fascist Italian General Graziani. Generally the whole work is great, and it deserves two thumbs up !!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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lion of the desert
Added 6/3/2009
Was expecting a DVD,di not realize I ordered a VHS.The sound quality was poor,could not hear all the dialogue and the color quality was not good.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Thanks Jeff
Added 4/2/2009
Thanks Jeff Shannon for the spectacularly tasteless editorializing. This film was recommended to me by a dear friend whose taste in films is impeccable, and judging by the user reviews (5 stars from the overwhelming majority), the film has its merits.
There are a lot of good things to mention about this film, but instead you simply drone on about how vaguely crappy the movie is if not for any other reason than it was produced by some icky foreigner from Africa and that the lead actor looks like a Muslim. You implicitly describe Muslims as shaggy--as one would describe a dog. Disgustingly ignorant comments like that ought to cost you your job.
Next time spare us your xenophobic hackery and go write a review of some Hollywood film that isn't an affront to your European sensibilities. I've seen better reviews given to much of the mindless drivel that constitutes the American filmscape, whereas this film competes in a totally different arena.
Please Amazon, give us a competent review!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Lion of the Desert
Added 4/2/2009
Super fast delivery and an excellent DVD. A true classic about little known incidents rarely even heard of. Anthony Quinn at his best!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Approach it with an open mind....
Added 8/27/2008
If you want to know what Jihad meant in the Arabic world, when the world still had values, this movie, by the brilliant filmmaker Akkad paints a spectacular mural of that world; approach it with an open mind.
Omar Mukhtar's story, one of several masterpieces Akkad created during his life, was a great choice by him. Mukhtar the old man, who led the resistance against the Italian occupation for 22 years, is a living legend in the Arabic world. Thanks to Gratiziani's obsession with media, all confrontations with the small number of Libyan fighters, as well as the concentration camps that Gratisiani established in Libya, were thoroughly documented.
When Akkad produced and directed this movie in 1981, there was no misunderstanding about what Jihad was, and the association of terrorism with Islam did not exist. Jihad in every nation, not necessarily Arabic nations, is about struggle in life. The movie simply portrayed documented traits of Mukhtar. Mukhtar demonstrates the true meaning of Jihad by showing wisdom, patience and honor. Mukhtar's fight was a self defense act directed against an invading army not civilians.
Mukhtar's fighters' struggled against the Italian Army, just like Native Americans struggled against invaders. Any nation's right of independence is a right that doesn't need justification.
The Libyans tying their legs when fighting until death instead of running away, is a heroic act not a suicidal one. Like Mukhtar said: "to choose death when defending your land, your freedom, is to choose life for ever".
It's about time we separate religion from people, political games from faith; pedophiliac priests are not an indictment against all of Catholicism, fascist governments are not always a true representation of a nation's people, Fanatical religious Israeli settlers do not define Judaism, radical zealots beheading unarmed civilians does not pertain to Islam. We need to understand the good vs. the bad, terrorism vs. Jihad, life vs. death, Moustapha Akkad vs. Osama bin Laden.
Moustapha Akkad, an educated, open minded Syrian man, who chose to live his life using his wealth to educate people, and enrich the entertainment industry by making movies such as Lion of the Desert. Bin Laden chose to live his life fighting civilians and teaching how to defeat armies by killing civilians (in the name of religion), which brought widespread opprobrium to Islam. Was it a coincidence, that Akkad was killed in a terrorist attack in Jordan in 2005? Akkad, the man of peace and love went there to meet his daughter for a family wedding, but they both died when the wedding hall was bombed.
What can I say about Anthony Quinn? Does a man who portrayed Zorba in "Zorba the Greek"
need any praise from Medusa? Lion of the Dessert, which Quinn blessed with his acting genius helped make the movie a complete masterpiece. Even the best story is uninspiring if not properly told.
I hope this movie will be an eye opener. It is a thought provoking movie directed by a man of peace, who worked with a large number of fabulous artists all over the world to tell the story of Libya's struggle against the Italian invasion. A struggle that was coincident with suffering of the Italian people under Mussolini's dictatorship.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Excellent
Added 7/19/2009
This movie is beautiful. It's a true story and that's why I love it. The actors were great in that movie. The great director Mustapha Akkad made a smart choice by chosing a great stars like Anthony Quinn to play as the great Libyan leader, Omar Mukhtar. Also he chosed another great actor, Oliver Reed to play the fascist Italian General Graziani. Generally the whole work is great, and it deserves two thumbs up !!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
lion of the desert
Added 6/3/2009
Was expecting a DVD,di not realize I ordered a VHS.The sound quality was poor,could not hear all the dialogue and the color quality was not good.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Thanks Jeff
Added 4/2/2009
Thanks Jeff Shannon for the spectacularly tasteless editorializing. This film was recommended to me by a dear friend whose taste in films is impeccable, and judging by the user reviews (5 stars from the overwhelming majority), the film has its merits.
There are a lot of good things to mention about this film, but instead you simply drone on about how vaguely crappy the movie is if not for any other reason than it was produced by some icky foreigner from Africa and that the lead actor looks like a Muslim. You implicitly describe Muslims as shaggy--as one would describe a dog. Disgustingly ignorant comments like that ought to cost you your job.
Next time spare us your xenophobic hackery and go write a review of some Hollywood film that isn't an affront to your European sensibilities. I've seen better reviews given to much of the mindless drivel that constitutes the American filmscape, whereas this film competes in a totally different arena.
Please Amazon, give us a competent review!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
