The Wind and the Lion

Great movie I hadn’t seen in years!! It was even better than I remembered it was when I saw it years ago!!

This is one of the best Sean Connery films ever!

great actors and good story line, older movie but good quality and great to watch

The Wind and the Lion has finally come to DVD, and it's a fine production that thankfully boasts an engaging commentary track from director and scripter John Milius, an underappreciated Hollywood maverick (who is also terrific fun along with Ahnold S. on the "Conan the Barbarian" Collector's Edition commentary).Times change and times stay the same ... when I saw this on its initial release, Arabs/Muslims were definitely the Bad Guys (it was the mid-Seventies, the Israelis and their neighbors were coming off another war, there were lines for gasoline, and rampant inflation caused by skyrocketing oil prices was wrecking the world's economy) but the post-Vietnam mood in the US was very much against all manifestations of foreign military intervention. This film was discordantly out of place in the prevailing attitudes. Then things cooled off, the Middle East didn't seem to be as threatening after awhile, and America began to start sending soldiers abroad again (carefully, against enemies who couldn't really fight back). Now, in the last decade, we've come full circle in many ways. Once more the Islamic world is a bogeyman and "robust", even pre-emptive, military intervention is an official doctrine of the Bush II crowd. This film ought to be wildly popular now -- for all the wrong reasons.Milius is an unapologetic but conflicted imperialist, as he ruefully but honestly notes in his commentary track. On the one hand, he glories in naked American power (personified in this movie in the figure of the bearish Teddy Roosevelt, played masterfully by Brian Keith), but on the other, he recognizes that it is el Raisuli (Sean Connery) and his Moroccan bandits/jihadists whjo are the true heroes of the story, fighting patriotically to rid their country of foreign invaders. While Milius never resolves this conflict within himself, it does enable him to portray both sides honestly and respectfully, and even see the humor in the opposing attitudes: it is sometimes not clear if the hawkish American diplomats and soldiers, soberly toasting "World War", are meant to be buffoons or are in deadly earnest, the humor is so dry and the acting so sincere. A little of both, in all likelihood, just like Roosevelt, who is whimsically shown in constant physical activity while pursuing a shrewd, if belligerent, approach to foreign affairs.Connery's Raisuli (based on a real figure) makes a marvelous freedom fighter. He's proud, passionate, fearless, and incorruptible, which is why he's probably doomed in the end, as the film's coda implies. His feelings toward his captive (Candice Bergen's Eden Pedecaris) grow into an abiding but chaste love (which is reciprocated), a subplot that hearkens to the grand old romantic adventure movies of old but that is never allowed by Milus to distract from the central storyline of action and intrigue. Some people seem to think that "Big Tam's" alleged Scottish accent is intrusive -- I do not hear this myself; to my ears Connery makes a very convincing Muslim, and besides, I have read on good authority that Arabic-speakers are the world's best imitators of the Scottish accent, so the casting makes a curious sort of sense.TW&TL is full of movement and sweeping panoramas, with the Spanish locations subbing for Morocco used to good effect. The cinematography is superb, and truly shines in this widescreen release, and it is accompanied by one of Jerry Goldsmith's most stirring and evocative soundtracks. Milius' dialogue is economical and never too anachronistic (always a problem in most period movies); he creates believable larger-than-life characters and leavens the swashbuckling with deft humorous touches. Viewers will come away with many favorite lines that will enter their everyday conversation (e.g., "Real men prefer to fight with swords, so they can see each other's eyes," "You like-y speech-y?", "Why spoil the beauty of the thing with legality", "It goes double for Berbers", "The ease of others is not the concern of the Sultan", and "You've made this fine specimen of a grizzly look like a hairy cow").It's all a tremendous spectacle, full of dash and glory, from the last few "innocent" years before the vaunting anthems of the European powers were muted by the mud of trench warfare and imperialism lost its attraction to a war-weary Old World. (Whether America will follow in its footsteps remains an open question.) Milius, a devotee of Kurosawa and a keen student of the military arts, directs some of the finest combat sequences ever to grace the screen. Bergen is surprisingly effective (it's hard to imagine Faye Dunaway in this role, as the commentary suggests nearly happened), the support players render sterling service, and there's even an unexpected touch of poetry at the end. Stand-out cinema entertainment that leaves you thinking, laughing, and applauding at the same time.

When this movie was first released in theatres, my husband and I saw it about four or five times. We even bought a copy of the poster to display in our home.We liked it that well.However, my current husband (yes, a different one) had never seen the film.I wasn't sure if it (the film, not the marriage) would hold up well if we watched it so many years after its release.Nervously, I set it up with our large-screen projector, to see it large on our home theatre screen.And then...It was even better than I'd remembered. The scenery, the music, and the styling of it were all breathtaking. The dry humor adds to it, and Sean Connery actually plays the role convincingly.It's like being immersed in a magnificent setting, in a cultural context from a century ago, but where everything seems seamlessly odd and logical at the same time.If you've seen this before, it's worth revisiting. And it's best on the largest TV or screen you have. The scenery is still astonishing and grand.

So happy to watch this film again and introduce it to a few others. It's one of my favorites.Terrific acting, plot and score. We had a good evening enjoying. That it's loosely based on a true story added to the enjoyment.

This is an incredible film. It's old fashioned adventure epic film making. The kind of film I thrived on seeing, and wanted to see, and wanted to see more of, and, some day, wanted to make. This is what movies are all about.This is one of the gold standards for all films. Films like this are far and few between these days. Today it's all flash and no substance. Today it's all about pornographic violence with sensationalism and no context. Today it's all about dealing with psychological states, and not about addressing values of right and wrong. Today films like this simply aren't made anymore.And it's a shame.But, to the film. We're talking derring-do, dashing heroics, international conflict and maneuvering. This movie is about when men stood up like men for ideals that men cherished, and to get the woman at the end in a deep and profound way.From my namesake, Raisuli the Magnificent played by the superior Sean Connery, to the brilliant performances by Candice Bergman, Brian Keith, and John Huston and others. Incredible old fashioned studio film making. The story, the acting, the production values on all levels.There is no hip-hop soundtrack. There is no exaggerated CGI or other phony looking SFX (save one matte painting of the Atlantic Squadron during the beginning of the ever-famed marine sequence).I wanted to see this film when I was young, but, for whatever reason, I couldn't when it hit the theatres. I wanted to see it badly, but was steered away from it by narrow minded ivory towered left wing jerks who were friends of my parents, thinking that the political message was probably bad for young minds.This film is about a man's quest and mission to roar in defiance in the face of overwhelming and uncontrollable forces. "The sand stings my eyes...", hence the title.There's some deep messages here, but they're pretty basic and plain. Not overwrought like other movies. Not overworked. Not overplayed. This is man at his basic best. You fight for what's right, regardless of the odds. You use cunning and guile when appropriate, but in the end you must face the opposition, and fight to your upmost.The huge number of cavalry scenes, the beautiful and heart felt montages, the detail to scenery, the panoramic views of vast wastelands that are the lands of the Berbers, the piratical desert nomands who rule the desert. Opposing Raisuli's domain are the European Imperial powers, who are in turn opposed by the upstart nation The United States of America.John Milius, one of the great film makers of all time, has made a magnificent film. There is no cinematic trickery here. This is magnificent studio film making at its finest. Even today when the west is in dire contention with the fundamentalist Islamists, this film shows the scum of Islam who kill woman and children how their leaders of old behaved.As another reviewer stated here and elsewhere, Raisuli would not have allowed today's barbarous acts of terrorism. He would have slain those people himself before they could initiate their plan.For all that, it is a warped truth of what really happened with the Pedicaris affair, as many have pointed out. Even so, it is a magnificent film.Enjoy it for all that it is.

A real fun film in every sense. All the scope and excitement of Lawrence of Arabia with first class performances. Sean Connery as the Barbary sheikh finding it difficult to come to terms with a feisty no nonsense American woman who can beat him at chess and a great performance from Brian Keith as Teddy Roosevelt. If you want good old fashioned entertainment this is it

Looked for this film for quite a while, now I have it. Have watched it several times and sure I will watch it again. Highly recommend it to anybody who likes action/adventure type films.

J'ai hésité avant d'acheter ce coffret collector car je suis persuadé qu'un transfert 4K eut été bien meilleur sans être forcément plus cher : toutefois nous sommes en présence d'un film épique réalisé par John Millius que je considère comme un réalisateur, certe irrégulier, mais majeur et qui n'a jamais tenu compte des effets de mode. Dans un autre registre on lui doit Conan le Barbare et le vol de l'Intruder que je considère comme des classiques. Je disposait déjà d'un DVD de qualité à l'époque avec la bande son française d'origine. Et le Blu Ray de ce collector est largement meilleur d'autant qu'il s'adresse comme celui de "l'homme qui voulu être roi" à un public de cinéphiles qui va en s’étiolant en 2020. Je serais étonné que le tirage puisse être à plus de 5 000 exemplaires comme ce fut le cas en 2019 pour "Khartoum". Npus retrouvons Sean Connery impérial dans le rôle d'un chef Berbère qui décide d'enlever une femme américaine et ses enfants pour tenter de faire démettre de ses fonctions le sultan en titre du Maroc qui est le jouet des puissances coloniales européennes, tout cela sous le mandat du bouillant Theodore Roosevelt une homme d'action au courage peu courant. La scène d'entrée du film est l'une des plus marquante du cinéma, avec une chevauchée endiablé et un consul du Royaume-Uni qui s'interpose avec un revolver britannique de fort calibre (probablement un Bull Dog en 450 ou 455 Webley) et montre comment un sujet de sa gracieuse majesté meurt l'arme au poing dans une scène ultra réaliste. A cette époque les revolvers de fort calibre compacts avaient beaucoup de succès...L'antagonisme entre Mohammed El Raizouli et La forte femme joué par Candice Bergen sublime est un grand moment de spectacle avec la beauté des paysages. Par contre le spectateur doit être conscient que Millius introduit beaucoup de faux dans la situation géopolitique du Maroc à l'époque des faits : les Allemands n'ont jamais été présents même s'ils le souhaitaient fortement (incident du croiseur Guépard qui vient mouiller en rade de Tanger...) : la France sous l'impulsion du maréchal Lyautey ont fait du Maroc un protectorat qui respect assez bien les intérêts du Sultan, tandis que les Espagnols occupent au nord une forte enclave et conservent de nos jours deux villes qui sont Ceuta et Mellila. Dans la pratique les puissances coloniales ont bien failli être chassées du Maroc par la rébellion dirigée par le chef Berbère Ab El Krim et la France sera obligée d'envoyer un corps expéditionnaire de 100 000 hommes sous la direction de Philippe Pétain . En clair la réalité dépasse la fiction. Mais le film est excellent et mérite vraiment de figurer dans votre collection si comme moi vous êtes nostalgiques de films d'aventure qui ne se réduisent pas à voir des musclés dégénérés molester des personnes sans défense. Super Blu Ray et magnifique film. Bonnes séances à toutes et à tous.

top value

Sean Connery, Brian Keith and Candace Bergen are marvellous actors in this costume epic. It embodies early 20th CGunboat Diplomacy concerning the abduction of an American upper class woman and her lovely kids, by a gallant Berber chieftain who is a figure out of the Arabian Nights. In reality, as the late American historian Barbara Tuchman pointed out, the historical victim of the real abduction was a naturalized Greco-American--a Mr. Petticarus--not a glamourous , young blonde woman with precocious children.