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Shout at the devil - The movie (some spoilers)

PostPosted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 4:30 pm
by Danny Ramone
Well i just finished watching the DVD of Shout at the devil (1979) and i was actually pleasantly surprised.
I wanted to write a quick review mainly on the adaptation but also on the movie itself.

According to the credits Wilbur Smith himself has a hand in the screen play which probably accounts for why the script wasn't bastardized too much.

As you can expect there were pieces of the plot that were chopped and changed but this was mainly to make the story easier to tell on screen, all the back stories were still told accurately which was good to see.

I was a bit apprehensive with Roger Moore as Sebastian, he definitely made the character impossibly English but lacked the simple almost stupid nature that Sebastian was supposed to have. Overall it felt like Moore was still trying to play James Bond and as a result it felt like watching a JB film.

Lee Marvin was brilliant as Flynn o' Flynn. (rhymes with gin) and succeeded in appearing drunk most of the movie. The only gripe is that sometimes his American accent turned into a British one.

As i mentioned the film followed the plot of the book faithfully but it felt like the watcher was supposed to have read the book first as it didn't really explain why the Blucher was hiding, or why the Germans were wheeling steel through Tanzania. The film started with a slapstick feel which it never really lost ( i Imagined an about turn with the film getting heavier after baby maria is killed)

As can be imagined the ending was disney-fied. Flynn doesn't die when he is supposed too but later on when he can be a hero. And Sebastian and Rosa make it off the ship. I think this one little change almost ruined the film as the sad ending really made the book.

The only other gripe is that my version wasn't subtitled. So i couldn't hear the dialogs in the German language scenes. However, a basic understanding of german coupled with having read the book allowed me to fill in the blanks.

over all a 7 out of 10 for adaptation (the ending really killed it), and a 8 out of 10 for the film as a film (if judging by 1979 standards)

It is worth a look if you enjoyed the book.

Re: Shout at the devil - The movie (some spoilers)

PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:38 am
by Twoscoops
I gave it 1/10. The pair of eyes peeping out of the jaws of the laughable crocodile suit did it for me.

Re: Shout at the devil - The movie (some spoilers)

PostPosted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 9:31 am
by delby
I just watched this on tv a couple of days ago and i loved it purely because it was a wilbur film admittedly the book was infinitely better and Roger Moore's Bassie really didnt do it for me but Marvin made a fantastic flynn I would love to see more wilburs made into film.