Shout at the Devil

Great for Lee Marvin & Roger Moore Fans.

I bought this on tape because of the actors and story line. I am not a critic on all the technical aspects of film making so I judge a movie on entertainment value. This one I found very enjoyable. The time period is approx. 1915-1918 and the war in Africa between the British and Germans. It has some very funny parts with the drunk Marvin and gullable Moore. The love interest adds just the right touch and unlike some reveiwers I think was needed to spice up the plot. It even has some flying for aviation buffs and a battleship for the navy fans. I found it fast enough paced to hold my attention from start to the grand climax. For an enjoyable evening without trying to disect the movie in all aspects it's a fun movie. September 4, 2008

USA DVD EDITION???

This is one of Lee Marvin's best movies and it's a shame that it is only in a Region 2 format, what about us poor schmucks that live in the USA and need a Region 1 release, what are we "Chopped Liver"? February 23, 2008

They don't make them like this anymore.

I recently saw the movie again after a gap of 20 years and was only disappointed in the quality of the DVD - as pointed out by another reviewer. Yes - the acting is a bit overdone and the tone of the movie does " darken" - but I saw that as a natural progression of the plot. I would love to see this film restored. It is pure sprawling, constant entertainment, in a style that still leaves today's CGI special effects movies for dead. December 15, 2007

Gung ho adventure in 70's mould

This is far from a classic, but fans of Lee Marvin will be well rewarded with a flamboyant performance, and fans of Roger Moore with.. well, a standard Roger Moore performance.
Story is based on Wilbur Smiths novel of the same name, and loosely based around real events, albeit with fictional characters. Roger Moores Englishman forms an unlikely alliance with Lee Marvin's alcoholic rogue, firstly in the poaching game, and latterly in the fight against the Germans, 1914 style, in Zanzibar. One of the oddest casting decisions is Ian Holm as a loyal mute native!
The story has some appeal for looking at a time and location seldom visited by the cinema, but is hampered by vacillating wildy in tone - what starts as a light hearted buddy movie becomes something more grim as the war against Fleisher the German sadististic local officer becomes revenge, and ultimately climaxes in the battle on the German battleship.
The directing by Peter Hunt, who directed On Her Majestys Secret Service, has its own style, but has dated - and even then does not settle on side of farce or thriller. It is best however when skulking around and mounting tension in the final scenes. It is somewhat of an irony to see how Hunt would have directed Moore in a Bond movie! Hunt also pulled along another Bond veteran, John Glenn, who directed the action scenes for Hunt as second unit director and fulfills that role again here. He rightly went on as a successful director of Bond movies in his own right. Also present from Bond movie lore is Maurice Binder, who famously designed the titles for Bond movies - he performs the same function here albeit in more workmanlike fashion.
If you are thinking of buying - beware - the movie is washed out in colour, and sound is of low quality. Bizarrely, the German speaking scenes which were originally in English, have been dubbed into German - but not subtitled in English! Since many key scenes are in German, this is a near fatal flaw.
Basically it is a gung ho action movie with buddy movie elements, but is uneven in tone and lacking in clarity of vision, although illuminating an intriguing era in WW I history. February 8, 2007

Epic, huh

Shout at the Devil is tauted as a sizzling epic of love, war and revenge on the back of the tape's box. It did have have war and revenge, but not quite of epic proportions. It did have a love angle. That love angle, spliced with the war and revenge, slowed down the action and the plot considerably. The director used Africa's scenery to a capital advantage. Too bad scenery can't win an Oscar. One scene even required a WWI airplane surveillance; better to show off more of that scenery. Marvin, as a Cat Ballou style drunk, was at his acting best. Moore handled his role superbly as a Britisher duped by Marvin. It was a dandy Adventure film with long love scenes that give you time to make popcorn or visit the chalet de necessite. I would have given this movie five stars, but the love angle--with a John Wayne style brawl between Marvin and Moore-- was a bit overdone. February 28, 2002

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