The Last King Of Scotland DVD > Reviews > The Best Movie I've Seen In Years

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Powerful, Passionate movie with an outstanding cast
Disadvantages:	Does contain gore and distressing scenes

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

**What Is It?**
The Last King Of Scotland is based on the real life of the presidency of Idi Amin. This is a semi-fictional story based in Uganda, with big connections with Scotland.

**When Was It Released**
Released in January 2007 and released on DVD on 14th March. So it hasn't been out for very long. It is one of the most successful movies of 2007.

**Charactors/Actors**
James MacAvoy (Becoming Jane, Narnia) - Dr. Nicholas Garrigan- The main charactor behind the Last King of Scotland. This story is pretty much based on his characterisation throughout the movie. A fantastic performance from him.
Forrest Whittaker (The Marsh, First Daughter) - Idi Amin- The president of Uganda whos ruthless regime kills 100,000's of Ugandans. You see his relationship with Dr Garrigan go to excentric levels. A breath taking performance from Whittaker.
Kerry Washington (Mr & Mrs Smith, Fantastic 4)- Kay Amin- She is the love interest in the film. Also Adi's wife. She comes to a very sad end.
There are also alot of characters which twist in and out of the plot. There are also thousands of extras involved to make this film.

**The Plot**
Based on the best seller book. Set in 1970's Uganda, newly qualified Dr Nicholas Garrigan from Scotland craves action and excitement. So he heads off to Uganda by chance using his globe and spinning it onto a random spot. So he heads of on a mission to help the less fortunate.
The first couple of scenes are very happy as you see Garrigan travelling to Uganda, getting to know the locals (a little to well if you know what i mean!) and just having an adventure. He finally reaches the surgery he would be walking at. You can feel his shock as he enters the hospital. It is dirty and highly under eqipped. This is one of the most powerful scenes.
You then meet the doctors etc and see him treat patients, and just generally doing good. You then get to see the new president of Uganda Adi Imin. He is introduced with a dramtic speech, saying he will change Uganda and how he loves the people. You can't help but not blink, you don't want to blink.
Then in my opioin the best scene comes up where Idi and Nicholas finally meet. It is very tense as Garrigan has to bandage up the presidents hand. You then see the connection they have as Amin is the biggest scottish lover ever! His quote "If i could be anything else apart from a Ugandan, i would be a Scot"
Not going to say anymore but the general plot is the Amin hires Dr Garrigan to be his physician. He then depends on Garrigan more and more and he becomes his "most trusted advisor" and as Amins behaviour becomes more erratic, Garrigan is finding it hard to keep up and being depended on to make national desicions. It has alot of smaller plots to do with murder, affairs and hatred. Dr Garrigan then becomes in the situation where he is in life and death situations. Not the sort of adventure he was hoping for.

**The Real History Behind It?**
The film is quite historically accurate. Idi Amin definately exsisted and was just as ruthless as he is put across in the movie. The only bits that are inaccurate are there was no Dr Garrigan as he is a fictional charactor. Also about Kay Amin, one of Idi's wives, as she did not 'leave' in that way. Idi was passionate about his country and Scotland and tried to incourparate so of Scotlands traditon into Uganda. Even titling himself the Last King of Scotland. He did kill over 300,000 ugandans which he thought was right as they were "traitors" showing his parenoya. Also in the movie they have original footage of the man himself (who Whittaker looks so much a like) and an obitury of his life, giving you a hint that alot of this happened.

**DVD Extras**
This DVD has quite alot of extras which i like. It has a fantastic 'making of' documentary and the 'directors' doc which pretty much blew me away. It is incredible how much work was put into this film that i'm afraid i didn't realise. It also goes into how Whittaker took on the challenge to create Adi and keep the originality of the characteristion through the story. A must watch and if you have the DVD and haven't seen the documentaries then seriously have a look as they are great. It also has interesting deleted scenes which i really liked. Alot of them are just snippets but all the same really good.
It also has english subtitles for hard of hearing etc.

**Classifcation**
It is a 15 and believe me, no one under 15 should see it. As a 15 year old myself i only saw this movie a month ago. It contains alot of violence, strong language and some sex scenes. It also has some very disturbing murder scenes which may disturb some people. It has a classfication for a reason.

**Awards**
Where do it begin! I has done exceptionally well.
OSCAR- Forset Whittaker- Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
2 BAFTAS- Forest Whittaker-Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Screenplay
2 British Independent Film Award- Best Director, Best Technical Achievement
And lots of smaller awards but it did amazingly well. as you can see Forest Whittaker obviously hit the right strings with his perfomance.

**Price**
I bought mine for only £5.99 out of HMV in the sale. The RRP is £19.99 which i don't really expect anyone to pay that. If you get it for less than $15 then you've got a bargain! Have a look around as Amazon are doing deals on it at the moment.

**Whats Right With It**
The movie is an incredible heart thumping adventure. I have only ever been at the edge of my seat in one other film (Braveheart) and this really was incredible. I can't really right how much i love it. It has an amazing plot, fantastic performances from the cast and a hard hitting history lesson! When i watched i couldn't take my eyes off the screen. A really outstanding movie, loved it.

**Whats Wrong With It**
There isn't actually a flaw in the movie or the DVD. I may point out that this movie isn't for the faint hearted and does contain some very distressing scenes which include murder, violence, sex etc. So if you don't like that sort of thing then this isn't really for you.

**Conclusion**
A fantastic movie. I can't find a single weakness. The Movie is just amazing, the DVD itself is great and easy to use. A great buy and if you don't have it in your DVD collection i would strongly recommend it.

Janie x