Dirk Bogarde - The Screen Icons Collection (Box Set)

Advantages: Based on a true story, lovely scenery
Disadvantages: Largely filmed at night, a bit boring

...such as the atmospheric Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes, but this film does not show the same eeriness and ends up falling a little flat. I was interested to see that Captain Moss was one of the writers of the film and wonder if perhaps his desire to keep the film as close to the truth as possible resulted in the lack of atmosphere. On the whole, I thought this film was okay. The story, simply because it is based on a true one, is interesting, but it just wasn't carried over to the screen as well as it could have been, which is a great shame. I watched it on television and would recommend that anyone interested in seeing the film waits until it is shown on the TV again - I really don't think that it is worth buying the DVD unless you are a big fan of Dirk Bogarde, who really doesn't get the chance to shine. The DVD, if I haven't put you off, is available... Read review

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Advantages: Swash and buckling. What more do you need? Action? Adventure? Humour? It's all here.
Disadvantages: Nothing serious enough to spoil the fun.

...and this does translate across onto the screen. Penélope Cruz, as Eva Rojas, is a modern woman and holds her own when the danger levels rises (and in Sahara, this is a frequent occurrence). Where Sahara really wins is with Steve Zahn's Al Giordino. The reason I liked Al so much was not simply because he was the comedy sidekick (which Zahn seems to specialise at), but because when the going gets tough, Al's as much in the thick of the action as Dirk is and is able to handle himself. It's a feature of action/adventure flicks that doesn't happen enough in my opinion and this made Sahara that little bit different to other films of this genre. From the very start, I was drawn into the story as I watched the Texas escape and disappear into the fog. Soon after, the action kicked off in the present day and didn't really let up for the next two hours... Read review

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Advantages: Great true to action....
Disadvantages: None.

...military gambles in history to date. THE CAST Lieutenant General Frederick"Boy" Browning-DIRK BOGARDE, Staff Sergeant Eddie Dohun-JAMES CAAN, Lieutenant Colonel"Joe"Vandeleur-MICHAEL CAINE, Major General Robert Urquhart-SEAN CONNERY, Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks- EDWARD FOX, Colonel Bobby Stout-ELLIOTT GOULD, Major General Staislaw Sosabowski- GENE HACKMEN, Lieutenant Colonel John Frost- ANTHONY HOPKINS, General Karl Ludwig- HARDY KRUGER, Doctor Spaander- LAURENCE OLIVIER, Brigadier General James M.Gavin- RYAN O'NEAL, Major Julian Cook-ROBERT REDFORD,Lieutenant General Wilhelm Bittrich- MAXIMILIAN SCHELL, Kate Ter Horst- LIV ULLMANN. And with a star cast like this you can understand why this was a war movie that was to end all war movies. A Bridge Too Far charts the largest airborne assault in military history-and one of the costliest... Read review

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