Product Description

One of the all-time greats! Sean Connery and Michael Caine star in Rudyard Kipling's tale of British sergeants out to bluff and bully their way to wealth in remote Kafiristan. Directed by the legendary John Huston. Year: 1975Running Time: 129 min.System Requirements:Starring: Sean Connery Michael Caine Christopher Plummer; Director: John Huston; Special Features:Production Notes Theatrical Trailer Featurette Interactive Menus; Video Format: Widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio Enhanced for 16x9 TVs; Subtitles: French Spanish English; Audio Tracks: English: Dolby Digital Mono; # Discs: 1; Produced by John Foreman; written by John Huston Gladys Hill Rudy; running time of 129 minutes; Closed Captioned.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 012569085824

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1846 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 1997-11-19
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, HiFi Sound, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 129 minutes

Amazon.com
A grandly entertaining, old-fashioned adventure based on the Rudyard Kipling short story, The Man Who Would Be King is the kind of rousing epic about which people said, even in 1975, "Wow! They don't make 'em like that anymore!" When director John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen) first started trying to make the film, with Gable and Bogart, the project was derailed by the latter's death. It was a few decades before Huston was able to finally realize his dream movie--and with an unimprovable cast. Sean Connery and Michael Caine are, respectively, Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnahan, a pair of lovably roguish British soldiers who set out to make their fortunes by conning the priests of remote Kafiristan into making them kings. It's a rollicking tale, an epic satire of imperialism, and the good-natured repartee shared by Caine and Connery is pure gold. In today's screen adventures, humor is usually imposed on the material by a writer or director trying to make some kind of cleverly self-aware comment ("Hey, we know it's a movie!"), but that sort of jokiness can create so much ironic distance that it pushes the audience right out of the picture. Huston lets the humor emerge naturally from the characters, for whom we wind up caring more deeply than we ever expected. The digital video disc includes a wonderful documentary on the making of the film. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews

Personal Favorite--Needs Remastering
"The Man Who Would Be King" is on the short list of my favorite films. John Huston's love & dedication to this project really shines through (he had to wait 25-30 years to make it & then almost died making it)in his script & direction. Caine & Connery ARE Peachy & Danny (I'm sorry--I can't see Bogart & Gable) in what I see as career high performances. Some eight years ago this was one of the very first DVDs I ever purchased. After viewing it numerous times since then, I have just watched it for the first times on a 42" widescreen lcd tv. I have to say that I was surprised at how good the image was for such an old release--the DVD was released in 1997--however there is room for considerable improvement in the package. First & foremost get rid of the flipper disc, the film is 129 minutes long & can easily be fit on a dual layer dvd with room to spare for a commentary (by a critic/historian & perhaps Mr. Caine--I doubt if Mr. Connery would make himself available.) Next, reinstate the short bit at the climax showing Danny tumbling end over end with Peach narrating his fall from the bridge--it was there when I first saw the film in 1975, but is missing from television & DVD prints for some reason. Documentary material on Kipling, the short story, John Huston & the making of the film & its importance would be most welcome. As it is, there are practically no extras on the extentant disc. Please Warner Bros.--won't you at least consider it. When you look at all the double & triple dips of junk out there, give this film a little respect. Wontcha, huh?

Regal Chemistry...A Peachy Movie
This is my all time favorite movie. Mix in two great actors, add British imperialism with a dash of human greed and you end up with a recipe for an outstanding, humorous adventure story with a tragic ending.

It doesn't get any better than this. If you have to buy one DVD, this is it.

Buddy film extraordinaire
Connery & Caine combined for what is quite possibly the greatest "buddy film" of all time. 33 years later & it has lost none of its appeal!