Cheap Mountains of the Moon (DVD) (Patrick Bergin, Iain Glen) (Bob Rafelson) Price

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Customer Reviews of Mountains of the Moon

Whatever happened to Patrick Bergin?
This movie is fantastic, that is until it decides to roam aimlessley through history, picking up bits of plot from Speke's consequent journey, and discarding the events of the first expedition entirely. This movie should by seen by people whoe either have no idea of what actually occurred, or by people who have a complete idea of what occurred, otherwise one would become completely lost. The viewer has no sense of time or place, only through casual reference, sometimes none at all, is the chronology or place of events given to the viewer. Anyone who thought the plot of this movie was good should immediately read "The White Nile" by Alan Moorehead for more casual reading, or the journals of Burton and Speke themselves to realized the travesty of diverting the plot. Why do screenwriters insist on changing history when the history is far better than anything their pea brains can come up with? I will never know. However, despite the historical indolence, the movie does have superb casting, dialogue, and cinematography, I know why the Coen brothers always use Roger Deakins as their DP, the man is a genius. But what the hey ever happened to Patrick Bergin? He is fantastic in this movie, it seems to me that "Sleeping with the Enemy" killed his potentially great career. But then again I havent seen any of his other work, so maybe his career is as great as it should be. Mountains of the Moon, although badly titled, since the movie has absolutely nothing to do with the Ruwenzori mountains(mtns. of the moon), is a good movie, but the divergence of history cannot be overlooked says me. When are they going to make a Samuel Baker movie? That's what I want to know.

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It is a MOVIE you know
Ken Burns makes documentaries, Bob Rafelson doesn't. To the people who complain about the alleged historical inaccuracies of this film, I say, "relax". First of all, as is mentioned in the script, no one knows exactly what the relationship between Burton and Speke was except them. So I think it acceptable for the filmmakers to take liberty there. If a film isn't entertaining...well, it won't get made in the first place. And considering how un-Hollywood films like this are, I consider it a minor miracle that it got made in the first place. Same can be said about many others.

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.

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Full screen vs. Wide screen
Several other reviewers had commented that this was a widescreen edition mis-labeled as a full screen DVD. They are 1/2 right. It is a letterbox edition that thinks it is full screen. I had difficulty getting a wide image on a 16x9 screen (black bars on top bottom and sides), but on a regular TV got a letterbox image. Black saturation is not great on the image. I think it was probably transfered to DVD from a letterbox videotape. It would be nice if Artisan re-did this movie as a widescreen anamorphic DVD from the original 35mm print. The movie has spectacular scenes of Africa and it is a shame that the image quality is not the highest.