The Last Valley

Amazon.com

James Clavell's heartfelt film of paradise found and lost in the midst of the bloody Thirty Years War, a senseless religious conflict long since degenerated into a rabble of looters preying on peasants, is a triumph of passion over style. Michael Caine stars as the Captain, a happily tolerant leader whose army of mercenaries, a mix of Protestants and Catholics, murders, pillages, and rapes side by side for whatever faction is paying more this month. Omar Sharif is Vogel, a lone refugee whose flight from the marauding band leads them all to a beautiful village in the mountains. The Captain and Vogel make an unlikely pair, the shrewd mercenary with the dream of peace, and the philosopher peasant hanging on to his own life in the face of certain death, and their alliance to preserve this Eden and her people stands in contrast to the soldiers who soon become splintered by greed, lust, and religious zealotry. Clavell isn't exactly subtle, but his sense of irony is biting: one Christian soldier is ready to lead an mob in righteous battle after a perceived blasphemer, and in the next scene attacks and rapes an innocent Christian maiden he's sworn to protect. The film falters in clumsy battle scenes and awkward dramatic staging, but Caine's complex characterization of the guarded Captain and Sharif's haunted performance keep the story alive, and the beautiful photography sets the film like a jewel into its setting. --Sean Axmaker

Description

From acclaimed writer James Clavell (Shogun) comes this stirring war epic starring OscarÂ(r) winner* Michael Caine as a soldier who knows nothing but battle until he rediscovers the possibility of love. Co-starring Omar Sharif, this powerful film is both a magnificent spectacle and an intensely personal story of love, friendship and loss. The Thirty Years' War rages through 17th-century Germany, and a fierce captain (Caine) lays waste to any village his army encounters. But when he arrives in an undisturbed valley where he meets a beautiful peasant girl, long-dead memories of peace and happiness are reawakened. Inevitably, though, the war is closing in. Will he heed its call or fight for the new life he has found? *Supporting Actor: The Cider House Rules (1999); Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Customer Reviews:

One of my absolute favorite movies..........2007-09-11

This movie was made a bit before my time (nine years before, to be exact), and I'd never even heard of it until my dad requested it as a Christmas present one year, saying it was an old favorite of his. I found it for him and figured, well, Michael Caine and Omar Sharif--it has to be pretty good, right? I watched it with him, and I was absolutely blown away. It's now one of my favorite movies of all time.

My dad likes it because he says it's an action movie (I somewhat disagree...this movie has only a fraction of the action found in a typical James Bond movie, much to my relief); I like it because of its exploration (and criticism) of various religious ideas. Michael Caine is absolutely brilliant; I noticed another reviewer mention that one of the criticisms of this movie when it came out was his accent...I'm not sure what was being criticized, but his staccato-style delivery of lines was, I thought, fantastic.

I'm also a big fan of the movie "The Crucible"; if you like that (specifically if you like it for the religious theme) you'll probably like this as well. Such movies seem to be few-and-far-between; people on the whole seem to prefer action, special effects and scantily-clad, big-name actors and actresses to any sort of meaningful, thought-provoking story these days. Such a pity.

A forgotten epic well worth remembering.......2007-09-03

Filmed under the incredibly unwieldy and oh-so-Sixties title Somewhere in the Mountains there is a Last Valley and hindered by financing problems, The Last Valley marked the end of screenwriter James Clavell's directorial career and the beginning of the end of the thinking man's epic genre. Which is a great pity, because this almost completely forgotten Shangri-La tale set during the Thirty Years War, the last of the great European religious wars, deserves to be much better known despite the potentially disastrous miscasting of the two leads. Omar Sharif is no more anyone's ideal casting as a 17th Century German schoolteacher trying to talk his way out of a premature death than Michael Caine is anyone's idea of a German mercenary captain, yet despite a few moments unease at Caine's aksent (a dry run for the one he used in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), within moments you realise that against all odds both actors are delivering surprisingly sincere and well-judged performances.

From the main title animation that sees a cross split into two sword-wielding rival soldiers, it's not always a pretty picture, making few bones about the dirt, ugliness and squalor of the times, with Sharif's schoolteacher wandering from village massacre to plague pits before literally stumbling upon an unspoilt and unlooted valley. Unfortunately he stumbles across it at the same time as Caine's [...]-ugly ragtag band of mercenaries, cutthroats, murderers, rapists, Papists, Protestants and atheists pillaging the countryside for supplies. Convincing them to spend the Winter there in comfort rather than see the valley's food gone in days if they share it among their army, he finds himself cast as an uneasy go-between trying to improvise and keep the fragile peace between the mercenaries and the villagers. But for all its beauty, the valley is no idyllic haven but just as riven with suspicion, prejudice and duplicity as the outside world as the two sides engage in a constant subtle power struggle: ultimately it is not the valley that is destroyed by the soldiers but the soldiers who are destroyed by the valley as they are reminded of the people they almost were. Even Sharif's intermediary has more to fear from the villagers than the soldiers.

A huge box-office flop in 1970 (in the States it quickly ended up as a second feature), it's far from a conventional epic. There are only a couple of action scenes, and only one of them qualifies as spectacular, while its characters are not major figures but human driftwood caught up in the wake of greater events and gradually rejecting the accepted religious and moral beliefs of their time. Instead of a triumphant tone, it's a melancholy picture about people trying to survive in the worst of all possible worlds, where moments of beauty are merely reminders of how much has been lost in the past rather than what could be in the future. John Barry's superb score, possibly his best ever, reflects this beautifully, alternating the savagery he displayed in his earlier The Lion in Winter with an incredibly beautiful theme for the valley. It's not a film for all tastes, but there's a melancholy magic there willing to look for it.

It's a shame that none of the extras-free DVD versions available do justice to the 65mm photography (though the sadly extras-free Region 1 MGM and Anchor Bay releases are at least widescreen, unlike the clumsily cropped UK release), but it's still a film that deserves to be sought out in its original widescreen ratio.

Brilliant Acting and an insight into the future of war.......2007-09-01

A brilliant movie set in the Thirty Years War. The drama between the multi-ethnic mercenary soldiers, the peasants, the rich landowner, the priest and the educated man play themselves out in a time of superstition and religious wars. In many ways our current wars are heading back to this type of conflict in a more 'high tech' way. Read Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization to see what I mean.

Bad Transfer?.......2007-08-12

I remembered seeing this on television a long time ago, and ordered the DVD hoping to see a long lost classic.

I was deeply dissapointed by the quality of the transfer. It was so pixelated that I thought there was a problem with my DVD player. I swapped out DVD's and found it was my copy of "The Last Valley." It was so bad I only watched the first 30 minutes or so.

I haven't seen this comment before, so I'm wondering if I somehow got a bad copy(?)

slow and humanistic.......2007-07-19

Caine is a GREAT actor and the premise of the movie is very intriguing, but, like a lot of 70s movies, it is slooow. There was also a strong anti-church message, which really chapped me. Sharif's over-acting is magnified next to Caine's fine minimalist performance.

Average customer rating:

One of my absolute favorite movies...
A forgotten epic well worth remembering
Brilliant Acting and an insight into the future of war
Bad Transfer?
slow and humanistic

The Last Valley
Starring: Michael Caine , Omar Sharif , Florinda Bolkan , Nigel Davenport , and Per Oscarsson
Director: James Clavell
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Adventure | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: 6305650535
Release Date: 1999-11-16