The Thief Of Bagdad (DVD)

Advantages: Good direction – enjoyable to watch
Disadvantages: Very basic and linear story

...Thief (1981) Through the opening credits sequence it quickly becomes clear that Frank (James Caan) is the safecracking thief in question, and no doubt a professional with a taste for diamonds. Frank has been a thief all his life, spent over ten years in prison and is ready to pack it all in once he makes enough money to retire with a wife and kids. After a snag in his most recent job he attracts the attention of the local mob’s godfather, who would like to put Frank on his books. Can Frank tame his independent streak long enough to work with them on what would be his largest and last diamond job? And will the corrupt cops get off his back long enough to do it? This is one of Michael Mann’s (Heat, Collateral) earliest features as director, and is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Mann wrote the script himself, basing it on Frank... Read review

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Advantages: Caroline Goodall's okay as Ida
Disadvantages: Dreadful acting and direction, a patronising script and a dearth of excitement

...Orphans Prosper and Bo run away from their nasty relatives and take refuge in the backstreets of Venice. There they fall in with the Thief Lord and his kid gang, who live in an abandoned cinema and make their money from stealing to order. But the boys' aunt and uncle won't let them get away so easily. Soon they have a private detective on their trail and a whole heap of trouble brewing when they are asked to nick a wooden wing for a shadowy count. Cornelia Funke's novel has already sold more than a million copies in the US alone. So you would have thought the film companies involved in the production of the film would have spent more money on it. There's obviously a market for it. Sadly the whole movie comes across as a cheap made-for-TV affair and at some points it even recalls horrific seventies' tat like "The Double Deckers... Read review

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Advantages: Highly entertaining cinema
Disadvantages: Not a thing

...version that well, as I watched it in the cinema and it was before the days of VCR and DVD players. But I do remember thoroughly enjoying it (as I do most Steve McQueen movies) which is the reason I had avoided watching this remake for so long, studiously avoiding it on the shelves of the local video shop and in the Sky Movie listings. But a cold, wet December evening and a dearth of anything else decent to watch on the gogglebox led me to view it for the first time during the past week. I’m very glad I did. Isn’t it a real bonus when you begin to watch a movie with no real expectations of it being anything special and then it turns out to be an absolute gem? ~ ~ The plot is relatively simple, although the convolutions and twists in the storyline are not, keeping you guessing to the ultimate outcome right up to nearly the end of the movie... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful