The Mountains of the Moon (Full Screen)

Made by one of America's best directors, Bob Rafelson, this story of Burton and Speke's quest for the source of the Nile is one of the last best of the great historical epics made pre-CGI and shot on location and ranks right up there with Lawrence, Zulu, etc.

The film makes plain just what a dangerous and crazy enterprise this kind of effort was with both men nearly killed on the first outing. Speke is captured and speared in arms and thighs and Burton has a spear shoved through one side of his face and out the other. They barely manage an escape and return to England. And yet, they go back and try again!

The second attempt is an arduous and ghastly journey as well, with danger, death and disease plaguing every step. The character of the two men is revealed in these travails, and the film is an exploration of the bonds of friendship and loyalty and the strains that can bind or tear them apart.

This is wonderful stuff with two daring and mad white Englishman traipsing around uncharted Africa in search of a river's source for the adventure, discovery, thrill and fame of it all. They endure unimaginable hardship only to have a falling-out on their return to England.

Sir Richard Burton , translator of the Arabian Nights and various erotic literature, swordsman, rake, linguist was a brilliant, unorthodox and unconventional man. He is wonderfully played by Patrick Bergin, with vitality, humor and charisma to spare. John Hanning Speke is shown as a disciplined and courageous explorer & friend, but troubled and conflicted sexually and emotionally. LLain Glen is wonderful as the tightly wrapped Speke, severely suppressing his (probable) homosexuality.

The supporting cast is fine, and the photography and location filming exceptional. The complications of the relationships: Burton and his wife, Burton and Speke, Speke & his probable lover, are limned with taste and intelligence.

Nineteenth century Africa would be a forbidding and hazardous place for native and non-native alike. It would take exceptional men to leave behind all they knew and venture into a completely unknown and uncharted vast continent, without communications and without a supply line and completely on your own. Lunacy if you think about it. Well, whether historically accurate in every detail or not, this film captures the essence of this mad quest and the extraordinary men who made it! Well worth your while.

Anyhow. I think if you watch this film with a non-judgmental mindset, you'll be sure to enjoy it immensely. It's just so well made. As others have written, the cast and performances are top-notch, as is the directing and photography. The numerous scenes using what appear to be real native Africans are mesmerizing. The sense of adventure that exploration of this type embodied, both good and bad, is brought through very clearly. Yes, it makes you want to go off to Africa and discover something great. Not a bad idea.

Historically accurate? I don't know. What's more, I don't care. This is a great movie.

Now if only we could expect the release of the equally superb 1972 docu-drama series "The Search For The Nile" it would make the perfect companion to this great film.