Customer Reviews

The Four Feathers (Widescreen)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

This one is close to reaching epic level, but it really doesn't quite make it. Heath Ledger does a fair job, but one of the problems is that there are a couple of really decent actors who are not given nearly enough scope. One of them is Djimon Honsou, who nearly manages to steal the show anyway. The other is Wes Bentley, who was brilliant in American Beauty but is given absolutely no room to maneuver in a terribly wooden role.

The cinematography in this film is absolutely stunning, and at times the film can approach a truly epic scope, but perhaps a part of the problem is that we are too culturally distant from the values we see expressed, and the director's attempts to bridge that gap are clumsy and awkward. The connection that is drawn between the rugby pitch and the battlefield is rather well done. Enjoyable, but not a must see by any means.

This movie has a little of everything: Romance, Action, Drama with friendship being the main theme. My wife and I enjoyed this movie very much. Set back, in the time of the "Holy Wars", between England (Catholic Church) & the Middle East. All the actors are great and the photography awesome. Some scenes may be a little dull, but necessary to build up the drama.

Cinematography is wonderful. The story is as the story is - with the usual Hollywood changes, but stays essentially with the book. I'm disappointed that it mirrors the idiocy of post 9-11 America, but the social commentary on war and man is there. The blood-lust of the Christian Church is certainly shown (pleased to see that comment on religion's blessing on genocide).
It did lack a certain passion throughout though, which was disappointing, although the strong cast carried the movie very well. There were a couple of places in the film, I didn't quite understand the transitioning from one point to the next, but that could be just me.
I enjoyed the film. The music and the 'visual' were stunning. I wish it could've whipped me up into more of an emotional bond with the characters, but it just fell a bit short on that scale. I would still recommend for a pleasant night's viewing though.

It will take a long time for me to read this novel because of language problems,so I prefer to watch this movie in order to understand our lecture.The movie is great,even though it has some weaknesses.
First of all, I like this movie because its music is wonderful.The music starts blandly and then becomes vehemently with massive battle scenes. Music plays an important role in a movie and most of the great movies have amazing music.In this case, the music not only really fits the action but also suits the psychology of its audiences.
In addition,the acting is really great. Especially,when Harry hears the news that he will join the war,his expression shows his scare and despondence. After he receives four feathers and he decides to come to Sudan by himself,his acting also shows his "Attic faith".
Thirdly,the movie uses the symbolizing of white feathers to stand for craven,however,there is lack of romanticism. The most important factor to make Harry change his mind comes from the fourth feather which is sent by his fiancee--Ethne,so the fourth feather should not be sent together with other three.
Finally,the ending is not long enough that audiences can not have strong impression about the end of this movie.
Thus,the four feather is a great movie,for example,there is wonderful music,and great acting.But it still has some weakness,such as the short ending and lack romanticism.

An Entertaining Movie for Modern Interpretation

The Four Feathers movie is based on the novel by Alfred Edward Woodley Mason. A novel about a cowardly officer who abandons his friends and fellow troops just as war breaks out. Although in the movie they make the main character Harry Faversham out to be more of a conscientious objector then the author probably intended. The movie shows us the rigorous world that a young gentle man at the time would have to live in, a world of rules and expectations that one would have to live up to, to be accepted in society as a man.

The director of this film was Shekhar Kapur, and the movie was made in a post 9-11 world in which Middle Eastern's were being portrayed as those who committed great acts of evil, so this movie held a lot of weight as a possible social commentary on the world at the time. With the imperialism of the British as a mirror to that of the United States one could gather a lot from the movie in which they director and auteur of the film was trying to convey to the audience. He added a lot of his own culture into the story although he chose to make Abou Fatma an African rather then an Arab as he was in the book, which he might have done to appease the then American sentiment at the time to no overly push the Middle Eastern goodliness quality, but rather let the film speak for it self in that matter.

All in all the film gives the viewer an accurate view of the societal ways during the late 1900's in British society. The movie was quite enjoyable and easy to watch.

l would give 4 white feathers to the following who were involved with this remake: 1 to the Editor for a lack of coherence and choppy scenes; 1 to the writer for incompetent plotting; 1 to the director for losing control over the basic plot; and the 4th to the studio for releasing this bombastic bomb, an insult to the book and for releasing a movie vastly inferior to the wondrous, compact 1939 version.
As usual for movies of this ilk, the production values were superb, but the poor writing and worse editing ruined its viewing.lt virtually became nonsensical at the end.

Let me start out with this: If you are looking for a movie with Victorian British action, a la Zulu, but with a more modern touch, this is your movie. However, this movie is not in the class of, say, Zulu, Gunga Din or The Man who Would be King. I suggest all three of those movies over this one. I have not seen the older version of the book, but I am told it was better as well. There are a couple reasons why this movie is outmatched. First of all, while it uses the basis of the book, it does not go to far in to it. The book is more a social piece than an action movie, and while I do recomend the book, it is not for you action fans. This movie has some incredible action scenes in it, most notably the square formation bit, which you can see heavily centered on in the trailer. It's not to great on the plot side. It simply doesn't take enough time to go through what's going on, and I have a feeling if you haven't read the book, you'll be slightly confused. Third or fourthly (I've lost count) this movie is not to spectacuarly acted. Wes Bently, Heath Ledger, and Kate Hudson all do their jobs adequatly, but the one to truly stand out is Djimon Hounsou, but his character, Abou Fatma, isn't even in the book, and this African Mistic bit that he has in The Four Feathers gets redundant.
Once again: If you are looking for a movie with Victorian British action, a la Zulu, but with a more modern touch, this is your movie. However, this movie is not in the class of, say, Zulu, Gunga Din or The Man who Would be King. I suggest all three of those movies over this one.

Four Feathers was a nice surprise-we just kind of found it on the video rental shelf and had never heard anything about it. It is clean-no swearing, no sex (one scene it is intimated, but not really shown), and the violence is not gory/bloody in the extreme. The story line is very well done and a good example of heroism at work. I highly recommend it to both men and women-you won't be sorry you saw this one!

This movie moved me to tears on several occassions. The soundtrack is very moving itself - particularly when using surroundsound headphones, which I strongly suggest. The cinematography is nothing short of artistic. The family can watch it, good friends can enjoy it. It would make a greatly inspirational gift for anyone in the military. The comparison to world events [of our time] is noticable and sobering. This one is a keeper.

i found this movie to be great with nothing wrong with it.
can't believe the low ratings given. i rented it on a whim,
and found another movie to add to my collection.