First and foremost- This movie is enormous fun.
If you're a fan of the books (as I am - and if you're not then I heartily recommend them) then this film admirably captures the sense of fun and adventure that the books have. It has a lot of slap stick in it which doesn't necessarily translate well from the books, but it does capture a sense of (for lack of a better term) light-hearted love of fun that is pure seventies and just would not and could not be replicated now. Cinema just isn't in the right frame of mind for this anymore. It's either too serious or too dumb but it couldn't achieve this in it's wildest dreams in these morose joyless days.
Malcolm McDowell is young and at the top of his game as his charismatic persona in "A Clockwork Orange". Olly Reed is pure, toe cringing (but love-him-really) badness as Otto Von Bismark. There's so much comedy but there are also scenes where your swashes will never be so buckled! Don't expect a Citizen Kane or anything even remotely close, just sit back and enjoy a classic "Saturday afternoon" romp (and never has a word been so well used) through a classic Flashman story- great baddies, exotic foreign locales and wenches ripe for Flash's advances! Enormous fun if you approach it in the right frame of mind- it will leave you shouting HUZZAR!
If you're a fan of the books (as I am - and if you're not then I heartily recommend them) then this film admirably captures the sense of fun and adventure that the books have. It has a lot of slap stick in it which doesn't necessarily translate well from the books, but it does capture a sense of (for lack of a better term) light-hearted love of fun that is pure seventies and just would not and could not be replicated now. Cinema just isn't in the right frame of mind for this anymore. It's either too serious or too dumb but it couldn't achieve this in it's wildest dreams in these morose joyless days.
Malcolm McDowell is young and at the top of his game as his charismatic persona in "A Clockwork Orange". Olly Reed is pure, toe cringing (but love-him-really) badness as Otto Von Bismark. There's so much comedy but there are also scenes where your swashes will never be so buckled! Don't expect a Citizen Kane or anything even remotely close, just sit back and enjoy a classic "Saturday afternoon" romp (and never has a word been so well used) through a classic Flashman story- great baddies, exotic foreign locales and wenches ripe for Flash's advances! Enormous fun if you approach it in the right frame of mind- it will leave you shouting HUZZAR!