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The Worst Film Ever

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

(89%) A mostly forgotten gem of a film that truly deserves to be more widely seen as it doesn't even have an English region 2 DVD release, which is a travesty owing to the British talent involved. Rod Taylor is perfect playing a tough soldier-of-fortune with a good heart, likewise big Jim Brown as his sidekick and Ken More as the missions alcoholic doctor. If you can get hold of a region 1 copy, which probably won't be cheap, but it will be worth it, as this is one of the best war films ever made, with fantastic direction, gut wrenching tension and brutal action. A theatrical re-release would be a real treat as the film hasn't hardly aged at all.

One of the reasons "Dark of the Sun" is now considered a cult classic, why directors Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese are unabashed fans of the film, is that underlying its relentless violence is an exploration of the moral and philosophical ambiguities of men on a dangerous mission."Dark of the Sun" is the third in a trio of collaborations between director Jack Cardiff and actor Rod Taylor. The three films, and the characters played by Taylor could not be more different, a testament to the range and talent of both. The first was "Young Cassidy", a study of the early life and career of Irish writer Sean O'Casey (introducing Julie Christie and the first of two pairings with Maggie Smith). The second was "The Liquidator", a clever and funny James Bond spoof in which Taylor plays Boysie Oakes, a mild-mannered womanizer mistaken by British Intelligence for a cold-blooded killer.Neither "Young Cassidy" nor "The Liquidator" has been released on DVD. Each, in its own way, is an outstanding film worthy of finding a wider audience.

"The Long Ships" director Jack Cardiff made one of the greatest (and most rugged) mercenary movies of the 20th century when he helmed the Rod Taylor & Jim Brown actioneer "Dark of the Sun" in 1968. Rough-hewn mercenary Captain Curry (Rod Taylor of "The Time Machine") agrees to take a specially made-up train 300 miles into the war-torn Congo to retrieve $50-million in diamonds before a savage, bloodthirsty Simba army can laid their hands on it. Congolese president Mwamini Ubi (Calvin Lockhart of "Uptown Saturday Night") offers to pay Curry $25-thousand dollars when he delivers the ice. Curry demands $50-thousand. Ruffo (Jim Brown of "Rio Conchos") is a Congo-born mercenary soldier who serves as Curry's sergeant. We learn that his character went to the University of Southern California, and didn't have his teeth filed according to the custom of his tribal ancestors. This dangerous mission represents more than a matter of national interest for him. Anyway, Ubi tells Curry that the train is designed as public relations ploy to save a number of whites trapped in enemy-held territory. However, neither Ubi nor corporate interests are interested in saving anybody. The diamonds are priceless to Ubi and company because the banks in Europe are calling in his loans. Curry takes 50 elite soldiers from the nation's army. Unfortunately, the commander, Henlein (Peter Carsten of "Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever?"), decides to come along after he learns about the fortune in uncut diamonds. Carsten makes a memorable villain. Curry hates Henlein because Henlein is a former Nazi soldier who loves to parade around with his swastika displayed conspicuously on his chest. At one point, in the Turner Classic Movies' version that I saw, Henlein finds two small Congo children, a little boy and girl, in the jungle near the railway tracks. Curry and Ruffo question them and turn them back over to Henlein. Curry orders him to give them some food and turn them loose. Instead, the ultra-paranoid Henlein guns them down in cold blood. We don't see Henlein shoot them, but we do see their blood soaked bodies. This is a rather grim scene. Meantime, Curry has to enlist the aid of an alcoholic medical doctor, Dr. Wreid (Kenneth More of "Flame Over India"), but Wreid refuses until he learns he will receive a case of good whiskey and a $100-a-day for sewing up bullet wounds. No sooner than our heroes made up their train and pulled out than they run into a United Nations fighter plane cruising the area. Although they received United Nations clearance to embark on their mission, they find themselves pitted against a conscientious pilot who knows nothing about the agreement. The pilot strafes the train. Curry and company blaze away with their machine guns and eventually bring him down. By now Dr. Wreid awakens to learn that Curry has pitched the case of liquor and expects him to start doing his job. Along the way, they pick up a passenger, French refugee Claire (Yvette Mimeux of "The Time Machine"), and chug into the town. Meanwhile, the sadistic leader of the rebel Simbas--General Moses (Danny Daniels) is closing in on Curry. The catch is that the diamonds are locked up in a bank in a time vault that will not open for three hours. Reportedly, "Dark of the Sun" was inspired by a real event that occurred in the late 1950s in the Belgian Congo. Despite being made in 1968, "Dark of the Sun" pulls no punches and gets pretty grisly at times. Cardiff lensed this film on location in Jamaica. The heroes rarely catch a break in this movie in this harrowing, action-packed thriller.

This is what you can call an old-fashioned boy's own adventure with a mind-set on a mammoth task, scathing violence and the dark underbelly beneath it of what length someone would go. While being lean, aggressive and tough, the primitive material is idealistically confronting and daring with interesting complexities of character reworking. Watching how certain characters tick was just as compelling as the hazardous trek with thrilling fire-fights, brutally intense one-on-one combats (which one includes a chainsaw!) and slam-bang explosions. Dominating the screen are the presences of a mighty Rod Taylor, Jim Brown, Peter Carsten, Kenneth More and the alluring Yvette Mimieux. All the players come across humane and well-rounded that we do get caught up in the plight and of their true intentions for the job. Some dry humour is drilled in too. Even being long in length, never does it flag about and Jack Cardiff's sturdy direction is well-timed and constructed. The agile camera-work spaciously frames the action and the striking African locations. Jacques Loussier's music score is characteristically layered in an uncanny grandness and enliven by a truly stirring current. It always seemed to match the mood and images to great affect. Familiar and gruff, but a very well done and technically efficient action/adventure joint that at the end has something boldly important to say on the human nature.