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Tarfumes.com - Lord Jim
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $22.70
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Starring: Peter O'Toole, James Mason, Curd Jürgens, Eli Wallach, Jack Hawkins
Directed By: Richard Brooks
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302797510
Format: Color
ISBN: 6302797519
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: 1994-06-28
Running Time: 154
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1965-02-25
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Editorial Reviews:
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Three years after Lawrence of Arabia, the largely impressive Lord Jim (1965) finds Peter O'Toole again essaying a self-doubting but remarkable, white Englishman who leads a foreign people against their oppressor. Based on the Joseph Conrad novel, Lord Jim is the story of a British maritime officer, Jim (O'Toole), who takes a brief post on a tramp steamer and flees in terror during a storm at sea. Dogged by a reputation for cowardice, Jim attempts to reinvent himself in his own eyes, commanding an attack against a feudal warlord (Eli Wallach) in a distant, Southeast Asian village and basking in god-like glory afterward. A sinister plot by a gentleman pirate (James Mason) sets the stage for Jim's confrontation with his true destiny. Simplified and adapted by writer-director Richard Brooks (In Cold Blood), Lord Jim sometimes feels rushed and obvious, but O'Toole's golden performance and legendary cinematographer Freddie Young's 70mm footage are outstanding. --Tom Keogh
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: First-rate film version of classic sea adventure
Comment: Joseph Conrad's novel is a classic and Richard Brooks made a first-rate film version, with a great cast headed by Peter O'Toole in the early years of his career. Filmed in Super Panavasion 70 on locations in South East Asia, the film looks breathtaking in this excellent DVD transfer that has been remastered in high definition. Jack Hawkins narrates as well as appears (sadly, after he had had operations for throat cancer so his rich voice has lost some of its magic) and just when you think the story is reaching a conclusion, James Mason turns up for another chapter. Bronislau Kaper's music score is one of the greats (also including lots of Asian gamelan instruments) and decades ago was a collector's item LP. This anamorphic transfer recreates the visual impact of the film's initial theatrical release and the Dolby Digital sound is knockout. O'Toole heads a fine cast and the film's uncompromising finale will surprise many. First-rate sea adventure!
Customer Rating:
Summary: An old friend
Comment: It was nice to watch this film again, an old friend from my teen years. Fans of the novel know the story so I won't repeat it here. The film is true to the book for the most part, with an altered ending that brings comprehendable closure. Brooks' screenplay allows Jim redemption and purification through death, suitably in the Malay ritual of his adopted people, a nice touch. I also took as a compliment to the story the stereotyped portrayal of the Malays, as a sort-of wallpaper for the European characters. This captures the essence of Conrad and it was refreshing to see this in this 1965 pre-PC film. I hate to think how a modern director would present this story; no doubt it would be transformed into "Apocalypto" or "Dances With Wolves", white-man-bad-brown-man-good. Very un-Conrad. I was struck by the similarities in music, set and overall feel to the Kurtz native army scenes from "Apocalypse Now", another Conrad-based story that obviously inspired Coppolla. Overall, a 4-star film with beautiful photography, a good pace and well-developed characters. A minor minus for me are O'Toole's effeminate mannerisms which I could accept in "Lawrence", true to the alleged sexual orientation of that character. Here, they're simply annoying.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Much better than I expected
Comment: I wouldn't have chosen this for myself, but a friend loaned it to me because the setting is Thailand, which is where we live. It's based on the novel by Joseph Conrad. Of all the authors I read in high school, I always considered him the most boring.
I haven't read this novel, however. And since it's a movie, and in Technicolor at that, why not start watching? There's no law saying I have to finish.
What we quickly learn is that Peter O'Toole, eyes so blue, is a hero wanting an adventure, Lord Jim who waits for something to happen. So he joins the merchant marine in search of adventure, holding himself above the anonymous human wreckage.
Idealism is contrasted with reality, using dry subtle wit. I love that.
Perhaps, in hindsight, that high school class made us read as much as possible in order to destroy my love of reading. If so, it failed. Or perhaps, since the movie stayed so true to the novel, this is one of those rare cases of a novelist whose work is better as a film.
The themes aren't happy here. Fear, hatred, honor, racism, trust. Until Lord Jim no longer wanted to dream at all, but only to forget. And then he moves beyond that, although it never ceases to haunt him. Lots of quotable nuggets of macho philosophy. It's a very male movie. How male? There's only one female in it, and she's billed in the credits as "The Girl." But fear not, she remains chaste AND does a hero turn.
We see all the people that Lord Jim meets and affects as he does, through the eyes of an outsider. This gives us a realism that Conrad probably felt was missing from adventure novels. Also, when faced with the unknown, it's easier to invent racial stereotypes. They belong in the context of this book/movie, but they also fed into Hollywood's "look at those crazy Asians" mentality. And hey, we can even view other westerners through the lens of the stereotype. Racism, sexism, ageism, alcoholism.
In the end, a very watchable movie, one that you can enjoy and think about, with a good old fashioned good vs evil war worthy of Rambo, minus the blood, and scenery that matches what I see when I look out my very own windows. I'm happy.
But wait! There's more!
I do enjoy a charismatic villain with screen presence. When our hero kills him off, and Conrad moves into one of the most ham-handed attempts at romance I've ever seen, the movie was only halfway over. Prequel and sequel packaged into one, with yet another charismatic villain, for 155 minutes of fun, with a good twisty plot to keep you alert.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Same class as Mutiny on the Bounty
Comment: As a child I was quite fascinated by this movie. It had all the ingredients to make it an excellent movie where one uses imagination. Made an impression on me as a boy and after seeing it again it is still enjoyable. They do not make movies like this any more. Those in the same ganre are based on special effects, this one (like Mutiny on the Bounty) are based on good story line. Gripping stuff. Highly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: lord jim
Comment: How thin the line between cowardice and honor? I think this DVD does a very good job of examining that question. A story of personal failure and the measure this one man was willing give to be able to feel his life had meaning and to find redemtion. What is your honor worth? I enjoy this movie each time I see it because it makes me ask some very tough questions.
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