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Whistle Stopper - Dark of the Sun
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $54.50
Your Save: $ ( % )
Availability:
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Starring: Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Peter Carsten, Jim Brown, Kenneth More
Directed By: Jack Cardiff
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786303091921
Format: Color
ISBN: 630309192X
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Release Date: 1994-06-22
Running Time: 101
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 1968-07-03
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Forget this VHS, where is the DVD?
Comment: I had seen this movie years ago and just borrowed a VHS. It looks like it was cut/edited.
Amazon, this would be a great unabridged feature on DVD. Where is it? What is the holdup? And where is The 7th Dawn? Another classic.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Mercenary Movie with a Stellar Cast
Comment: From Wilbur Smith's classic story of uprising and strife in the Belgian Congo, "Last Train from Katanga", this movie is as dark as the title implies. No doubt, Mr. Smith had some heartache over Adrian Spies' screenplay - a script that was truly one of the first up-and-coming forms of political correctness (very different from the book). Jack Cardiff provides a spectacular vista to the warfare that most people find repugnant and would like to ignore - the war of the soldiers of fortune. Rod Taylor and Jim Brown provide a wonderful sounding board for the politics behind their endeavor - Brown was just making his move from a brilliant football career to acting - and it shows (a flag on the play!). Fresh from "The Dirty Dozen", Brown - who portrays Sgt. "Ruffo" - improved considerably as his acting career progressed. Yvette Mimieux is a welcome relief as the beautiful eye-candy in a world of stark carnage and suffering. Kenneth More provides his gift of refined British appeal as the troubled Dr. Wreid. Peter Carstens plays the hardened career soldier who takes Taylor's character, Bruce Curry, to task.
Leading a train into the heart of the Congo, Captain Bruce Curry and his band of mercenaries seek to rescue the inhabitants of an isolated village surrounded by rebel Simbas - oh, and a cache of diamonds secured in their vault. This theme is supported by the eerie tempo of the great soundtrack by Jacques Loussier and the wonderful cinema vistas that one would expect from Jack Cardiff. One of my personal favorites, this is probably not for anyone who isn't weened off of Disney! Currently, this is only available on VHS tape. It would really shine on DVD.
Customer Rating:
Summary: PLEASE GET THIS MOVIE UN-CUT & ON DVD!!!!
Comment: Although at first glance, Dark of the Sun (1968, starring Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, & football star Jim Brown)seems to be your typical fiction book made into film, it is, in fact, a very realistic portrayal of similar events which ocurred during the Katanga rebellion in 1964 in the newly created Republic of the Congo. It was about diamonds, it was about a proxy war between the East and the West, and Jim Brown's acting, although a bit stiff at times, actually comes off quite well. Rod Taylor was a veteran actor by this time, and it shows clear through as he takes on the portrayal of the tough and hardened, veteran mercenary soldier.
The Simbas DID eat their victims, they did kill hundreds of foreigners (mostly Belgian). The only thing that is not portrayed in the movie is the fact that the Simbas actually used some French mercenaries on their side (although very few), but this historically unknown bit of data is OK to be missing from the movie, since it would only confuse the viewer.
I am sorry to say that I paid $40 for my VHS copy and that the movie's gory scenes were completely deleted - but that is because the producer of the 1994 video (MGM) wanted to sell this movie to as wide an audience as possible.
Perhaps in the future someone in the movie industry will decide to release this film (1) in its entirety as it deserves and (2) on DVD. I for one would be in line to buy a copy or two! The only other mercenary movie that is as realistic is "The Dogs of War", which is, thankfully, on DVD and un-cut.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dark of the Sun based slightly on truth
Comment: I agree on most of the reviews, except that I believe the main person in the book is based on Colonel Mike Hoare and his white Mercenary Soldiers. In July 1964, after four years of uneasy Independence, the Democratic Republic of the Congo was engulfed by an armed rebellion which spread through the country with the speed and ferocity of a bush fire. The 'Simbas' - the rebel soldiers - doped with heroin, proceeded to strike terror into the hearts of civilians and National Army alike, raping, looting and burning. Faced with this situation, Moise Tshombe enlisted the aid of Colonel Mike Hoare and his white Mercenary soldiers. He and his men took Stanleyville and helped save most of the white population. It is therefore Mike Hoare's saving of these people in Stanleyville that the book by Wilbur Smith and the film is based on. P.S. I notest that Amazon have a book, Congo Mercenary (Paperback)
by Mike Hoare, in stock. If it is the same book I have, it's worth reading. Gus
Customer Rating:
Summary: An explosive movie!
Comment: A Congo mercenary is hired with a double goal: to rescue a group of citizens in a besieged twon and bring back some valuable diamonds with ulterior proposals.
There are several highlights worthy to mention; the action sequence on the train, is filled of histamine: The ominous presence of the hated officer (superbly played by Peter Carsten) who still carries the Nazi symbol will radicalize the conflict and will originate crucial dialogues along the train journey, the first one concerns with the inquiring answer of Jim Brown about the final destiny of Congo and the other is the extraordinary fighting between the Nazi officer and Taylor: the anger displayed for Taylor have been one of the top rage expressions in years. Ad all we know the mission will be unfinished without the expected conflict between these two wills.
After a long sequence of explosions and murderers, there will be a passionate bet of Brown trusting in Taylor words, when the gas jeep is over and the rest of the group must remain in the middle of the jungle waiting for the promised rescue once Rod arrives to the final destiny.
Jim Cardiff made an entertained and vibrant picture without major pretensions but leaving opened doors to a further discussion, the honor sense believe or not will be present in Taylor's soul, that eventually will become his particular redemption in the modern times: A War Council.
Above the average.
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