Product Description

Studio: Acorn Media Release Date: 03/26/2002 Rating: Nr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74602 in DVD
• Brand: Acorn
• Released on: 2002-04-09
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 94 minutes

From the Back Cover
On holiday in Deauville, a French seaside resort, Poirot savors the cuisine while Hastings works on his golf game. The famous detective is soon recognized, however, and drawn into a case of abduction and murder. Challenged by an arrogant French detective, Poirot stakes his reputation, and his moustache, on his superior sleuthing skills. A quick trip back to London clarifies Poirot's memory of a similar crime that captured headlines in Britain ten years earlier. A beautiful young chanteuse - and prime suspect - captivates Hastings. Glamorous 1930s Europe sets the stage for Poirot's brand of elegant crime-solving. As played by David Suchet, Agatha Christie's brilliant Belgian became television's favorite detective. A PBS Mystery! phenomenon and A&E smash hit, the series also stars Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings. DVD SPECIAL FEATURES AND EXTRAS INCLUDE: biographies of Agatha Christie and David Suchet, interactive Poirot trivia, cast filmographies, Agatha Christie materials and scene index.

Customer Reviews

Murder on the Links
A wealthy millionaire is found stabbed in the back in a bunker on his golf course, Poirot is betting his moustaches against the second-most arrogrant and clever detective in France, and Hastings has actually fallen in love...with someone that loves him as well?

Murder on the Links is great for several reasons. First, Poirot. Here we see his annoyance at golf (a great scene is when Poirot finds out which hotel they are staying at), his compassion for his friend Hastings, his persistence (thinking through everything and hanging on as long as possible without destroying even one hair on his moustache), his brilliant reasoning (of course) and his love for matchmaking.

Hastings. He has fallen in love several times, but this time he has actually found an interesting catch. Will this love affair actually work out? And at what lengths will he go to protect her?

The mystery is quite ingenious. I remember watching this and classifying it as one of the best Poirot's I had ever seen, and definitely one of the best murder mystery movies I have ever seen. This time, Poirot has very little evidence to go on and nothing to convict the murderer. Catching the killer takes an ingenious move on his part. Some complain that you cannot determine who it is. Personally, I believe it is doable. The first time I saw this mystery, I was definitely surprised by who did it.

The acting (on all sides) is superb. The costumes and scenery are terrific. Overall "Murder on the Links" is a great Poirot mystery.

Poirot makes a wager he can't afford to lose...
I was very clever this time, I had the whole thing figured out fairly early on...or so I thought! Absolutely nothing is as it seems when Poirot and Hastings take a holiday to a quaint coastal town in France and - shocker - get embroiled in a most puzzling murder.

Most Poirot mysteries have twists, turns, and your classic Christie red herrings, but this episode was extraordinary. And - not to say too much - this time things hit a little too close to home, and the result is something much more poignant and moving than I had expected.

The scenery is wonderful, the acting as always is top-notch, and for once the perfectly brilliant David Suchet is almost upstaged by Hugh Frasier.

With a diverse cast of characters, a very daring wager with a belligerent French detective, a plot that twists so much it makes your head spin, and an ending that just makes you want to stand up and applaud, this is Poirot (and Hastings) at their absolute best.

Almost as good as The ABC Murders. And that says a great deal!

The series, complete at last
This is it! The last of the longer Poirot mysteries is now available on DVD and VHS formats (as are the last three of the shorter ones on VHS), thereby completing the Acorn Media releases of the entire series (except for those later ones issued on the A&E label).

Although the acting is (as almost always in this series) superb, the solution itself does stretch credulity a little too much. The "crowded murder scene" is a standard of many mysteries as is the "But I thought YOU did it" situation in which characters cover for other characters and false confessions are rife.

Christie also strains things a bit by having one set of characters repeat a setup done a decade earlier by another set of characters--I am trying not to give too much away by naming any of them--and hoping that certain parties would be fooled by the ruse. At least the real murderer does come as something of a surprise.

What adds spice to this story is the subplot of an egotistical French detective whose motto is "I am never wrong" betting his famous pipe against Poirot's mustache. And for once, good old Hastings is not only attracted to a femme fatale but actually ends up in love with her--and she with him.

So all in all, this episode is a good deal of fun without too much padding as sometimes is the case in the longer episodes.