I'm surprised no one has mentioned the "silliest" African movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy III, in this one a Chinese vampire falls out of the sky! The scene of the Taoist priest riding the ostrich is almost worth the price itself.

I am going with "Beat the Drum", it's about a Zulu boy and his travels to Joburg. It deals with the aides epidemic in Africa and how the people are not dealing with it. It is sad but has uplifting moments. Pretty much all of them are good to me as they make me want to be there.

Jorge:

You mention Richard Harris in a movie about the Rhodesian bush war. My own recollection of Richard Harris in an African movie was when he co starred with Richard Burton in a movie entitled (I believe) "The Wild Geese" or something like that and as I recall it dealt with the collapse into anarchy of the former Belgian Congo -where European mercenaries are going to put some dummy in as head of a new government because mineral interest groups want to retain control. As a side mission they also rescue white civilians being butchered in the interior. Good movie as I remember -and totally "politically incorrect" nowadays. (Probably why I doubt it will ever be shown on TV again in my very "blue" state)

gerry: See Bwanabob's post about five up from mine. The movie wasn't the Wild Gesse, but that was a good one as well. You are right about "your state" though, Schumer AND Hillary. That whole state needs to move somewhere east of the Urals... jorge

Jorge:

I missed Bwanabob's post about "Game for Vultures". What astonishes me even more is that I, a lifelong movie fan (I'm 76) never heard of the movie! That really bothers me because I was always a Richard Harris fan and can't figure out how I missed that one! (BTW,I always loved that guy after he gave an interview once where he (born in Northern Ireland, I believe) said that when he won his Oscar, the London papers had headlines: " BRITISH Actor wins Oscar". When he was in a bar fight (Richard Harris was not known for refusing a drink)the same London papers reported in headlines: " IRISH actor in pub brawl!") (As an Irishman myself, I laughed) As to your other point about moving us New Yorkers east of the Urals - What do you do about us whose never voted for Schumer or Hillary? Just kidding - but remember that there are a lot of New Yorkers who don't like either of that pair anymore than the rest of the country does - It's simply that I got outvoted by the people standing in line to vote.

obviously tongue-in-cheek my friend. I fully understand your plight, especially in light of watching the goings on on the TV today. But hey, if you find that Ricahrd Harris movie, let me know because I think I would like to see it. jorge

The new movie with Matt Damon " Blood Diamond "
intense and violent...

Mike

Game for Vultures...here is some info ....

Mike

http://xploitedcinema.com/catalog/game-vultures-p-7479....bb22e69d9b790f55cc06

I think I will get a DVD and watch some african movies in the next few weeks.After reading the posts, there does not seem to be one that stands apart from the others.I think I'll try Hatari or Mogambo first.

My favorites are: Hatari, Out of Africa, Wild Geese, Zulu, Ghost and the Darkness, Tears of the Sun, and all those old Jonny Weismiller (sp) Tarzan movies. I've never been to Africa so I have nothing to compare these movies too but I enjoy watching them. I haven't seen the old Tarzan movies in over 30 years, it would be interesting to see them now, with all the advancements in technology.

Is the movie with Robert Ruark out on the market yet on dvd ?

The documentary about his hunting tour in Tanganyika with Harry Selby and his crew ?

I'll only watch african movies with real african peoples,real african scenery,and real african wild animals.

For me it's:
1. Zulu
2. Ghost and the Darkness

Another old one: "Ashanti".

Wife of European is kidnapped by slave traders. He tries to get her back.

That sounds like a good one NitroX, have you seen it and if so, who is in it?

quote:

Originally posted by M70Nut:
That sounds like a good one NitroX, have you seen it and if so, who is in it?

Michael Caine is the doctor whose wife is kidnapped. William Holden plays a Merc who helps him out. I can't remember who plays the kidnapped wife but it might be Shakira Caine. Oh, the slave trader, who kidnaps the wife is played by Peter Ustinov and the slave buyer is Omar Shireef.

Mr Rigby,
To the best of my knowledge, Robert Ruark's "Africa Adventure" has never been on the market. I have gone to several video stores with the name of the production company, etc. but they have no listing for it. This movie was made back in the 1950's.A friend of mine, when he was alive, was an insomniac. He used to sit up half the night watching movies. He caught this one entirely by accident on a late, late movie, stuck in a video tape, and recorded it. I made a copy of his and that's how I got mine. I've had this discussion before on the net and of course there are many out there who would like to get their hands on a copy. One fellow used the production info which I supplied to find out that there IS a copy in the Library of Congress but it's not available to the public.

For anyone who may be willing to invest some time in trying to find a copy, here is the best info that I can provide:

Title: Robert Ruark's Africa Adventure
Producer/Director: Jay Bonafield
Cinematography: Chester Kronfield
Narrated by: Robert Chester Ruark
Running time: 64 minutes
Distributed in USA by: RKO Pathe, the newsreel division of RKO Radio Pictures
Year of Release: 1954

The New York Times reviewed the movie on September 29, 1954. On that date, the movie was being shown at the "Trans-Lux Normandie", a movie theatre in NYC, located on 57th St., east of 7th Ave.

I'd be very interested to hear if anyone ever comes across a source for commercial copies of this movie.

quote:

Originally posted by Nickudu:
"Sands of the Kalahari" is right up there with "Naked Prey" & "Zulu", IMO. Enjoyed most all of those mentioned except for the Eastwood movie.

[clipped]

Those are the first 3 I think of, too, with Zulu and The Naked Prey on top. Then, in no particular order: Breaker Morant, Mogambo, The African Queen, King Solomon's Mines (S. Granger), Snows of Kilamonjaro, The Ghost and the Darkness (correct title).

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Caretaker:
"Nowhere in Africa". It MUST be seen. Spoken in German and Afrikan...subtitled in English. I highly recommend.

OH, Yeah! Ditto!

Dave

I guess African Queen, Zulu, Shaka Zulu, and Snows of Kilmanjaro would be my favorites. I used to like the Tarzan movies when I was a kid, and must admit that I even liked Howard Hill junk back then.
I loved the book by Conrad, Heart of Darkness, and the movie was somewhat less loved. Perhaps shot at and missed, but s45t at and hit best describes it.

A new one is "The Last King of Scotland", about Idi Amin Dada. Forest Whitaker should get an Oscar for his chilling performance as the dictator.

Zulu, The African Queen and The Gods Must Be Crazy.

"Dark of the Sun" 1968 starring Rod Taylor and football great Jim Brown was also quite a good adventure movie for its day.

Belive it or not, the Ruark picture was sold through Cabelas for a while, thats how I got my copy. Apparently some yahoo bought a copy of it and thought that gave him reprint rights. During that time, he added an introduction, replete with the word 'imperfections' spelled wrong and sold it as though he owned it. I just happened to buy a copy during that time. This was a black and white copy.
Turner owns the real one now and you can see a short preview on their website. i have asked them if they would sell a copy on DVD but all they say is, 'It is not currently in our 'for sale' library.'.

_Baxter

BaxterB,
That's odd that both your copy and my copy are in black and white, The New York Times review of the movie, in 1954, advertised it as having been filmed in "washed out" Pathecolor.

Ron,

The film was indeed in color... we have bootleg copies :-)

I don't think anyone has mentioned "Duma" yet. It came out about two years ago starring George C Scott's son. It's about a boy and his pet cheetah (raised from a cub after its mother was killed by lions). The adventure starts when the boy's father dies and the son starts on a journey to return his now grown Cheetah to the wild. A little sentimental, but the nature of wildlife and the Cheetah were treated in a sensible realistic way. It is a South African movie that would be great for kids.


You can borrow money, but you can't borrow time. Go now.

Baxter,
Mine was video-taped off a late, late movie being broadcast by a major Toronto TV station. I really doubt that they were using a bootlegged movie.

Ron, You gotta lighten up man... I am sure the fine prople of Toronto would have access to the real stuff... :-) However, Ruark does say, '...and gentlemen with faintly blue hair.'(As well as other color references) Indicating the thing was in color. Also, check out the website for TCM. Now if we could just band together and get them to print a few thousand copies we'd be in business...
Cheers,

_Baxter

1. The Gods Must be Crazy - I love the 'mechanical humor' in this one. It's the only movie I know of in which a Landrover is one of the lead characters.....Every time I watch this I pick something new out of it. (The Blues Brothers is like that too). Gods 2 doesn't do it for me.

2. Breaker Morant - Rule .303 - say no more.

3. Four Feathers - enjoyed it.

I haven't seen too many others but those ones stand out for me.

Ghost in the Darkness

This one was a veritable masterpiece compared to "Ghost and the Darkness":

Born Free has some of the best lion footage I've EVER scene.

How they got Elsa and the Warthog to do what they did...

The elephants were incredible....

S

My favorite is "The Last Safari" starring Stewart Granger. Also starring Kaz Garras (who??) and Gabriella Lucidi who's , apparently, sole claim to fame in the mid-60's was that she would take her top off on camera.

Zero redeeming value. No deep insights into Africa. But it amuses me.

The latest movie i saw is Bloody Diamonds with Leonardo Di Caprio about war in Sierra Leona i recommend seeing it after reading War Dog by Al Venter.Juan

Another vote for Blood Diamonds with Di Caprio

He has double tapping down pat

And the classic is of course, ZULU.

Michael Caine is fantastic, but his portrayal of Lt. Gonville Bromhead VC is completely inaccurate.....as is the that of Harry Hook VC.

My favourite African movies are:

Out of Africa
The Ghost and the Darkness
Zulu
Zulu Dawn
Mountains of the Moon

Although not necessarily my favourite African movie, The Four Feathers has a remarkable areal shot of a British Infantry Square under attack. We're talking about the most recent remake here. The movie has been done several times.

This is a great discussion. I've got a whole new list of movies to see.

quote:

Originally posted by JefferyDenmark:
Nick
How could I forget good old Frank Buck

"Bring'em Back Alive"



Cheers,

André

Per the book "White Hunters", these films were actually shot in India. And looking at the promo photo, pretty bloody obvious too!

quote:

Originally posted by ErikD:

quote:

Originally posted by JefferyDenmark:
My favorite African mivies are:

Out of Afrika
Hatari
The four feathers

Cheers,

André

Here are a few pictures for you André from where "The four Feathers" actually took place:

Fort:


English war graves:


Winching out a stuck local guy:


The funny thing was that we where exploring this area of Sudan, and found the fort where the movie battles actually took place before seeing the film (which was filmed in Morocco btw). A couple of months later when we got to Uganda, we went to our first movie in about 6 months. Without knowing what the film was about before seeing it. It was "The Four Feathers"...

Amazing the someone was able to visit the scenes of these old battles, and the movie. The old stone forts etc.