Hatari! (1962)

Light Hearted Fun with John Wayne

Hatari! is an outstanding John Wayne movie. Set in east Africa Sean Mercer, (John Wayne) stars as part of a team of big game hunter who capture animals for shipment to zoos around the world. But the fun of the movie is the arrival of Dallas,( Elisa Martinelli) a photographer from the Baliz Zoo sent to photograph the capture of the animals only to be a total pain in the butt for John Wayne who really wishes she wasn't there.

This movie is a full of action and a lighthearted comedy to boot as Dallas just seems to be a natural around the animals, particularly baby elephants who just seem to flock to her. While probably not known to most movie fans, Hatari! is famous, not as a movie, but for a well known tune "Baby Elephant Walk", by Henry Mancini.

The movie is long; over 2 and ½ hours but it is well worth seeing for the scenic beauty of Africa and the fun and humor of the interplay between the cast members.
January 3, 2009

Fun,Funny and Exciting.

I first saw this movie when I was a little kid and enjoyed it immensely.Now that I am an adult,if anything I enjoy it more.It is the story of a group of adventurers who capture animals for zoos,a job desription that is pretty much extinct in the 21st century.John Wayne does his usual bang-up job as the leader with the delicious Elsa Martinelli(the reason why I enjoy the movie even more now)as his love interest.The co-stars include Hardy Krueger,Red Buttons and Wayne's often used friend,Bruce Cabot.The story is very episodic,but,laced with humor and action and a bit of romance,it never lags and holds your interest from the opening scene to the last.This is quite simply one of the most fun movies the Duke ever filmed.If you are looking for some fun time spent in front of the TV,this is a great way to spend a couple of hours or so. December 2, 2008

Classic John Wayne

A classic John Wayne film. This film takes place in Africa where Wayne and company have a business capturing mostly large animals for zoos. The action sequences are well done and it's great to see the abundance of African wildlife. My 7 year old loves this show and loves the "pockets" character (played by Red Buttons) in particular. October 6, 2008

Romance, Laughs, & Family Entertainment: A Light-Hearted Adventure About Chasing/Capturing Zoo Animals In (Tanganyika) Africa

"Hatari!" has long been a personal favorite for its adventure, excitement, thrills, laughs, cinematography, sound track, and overall entertainment. "Hatari!" was the first movie I ever went to see more than once; I wore out two sound track records listening to Henry Mancini's marvelous music; and the film was the first VHS I ever purchased. As my tapes were starting to go bad, I finally purchased the DVD. I was quite relieved that all 157 minutes are on one disc, and in wide screen. (How I long for more movies that dare to defy the establishment and release films that take their time to evolve). Having just watched it, I felt compelled to write a review for this epic movie.

"Hatari!" (which means "danger" in Swahili) is in some ways a "modern" day western: jeeps and trucks have replaced the horse, but the "cowboys" are still using ropes to capture (or round up) the animals to take to "market" (the zoo, in this case). But "Hatari!" is also a bit of a documentary (and lampoons this through Elsa Martinelli's character Anna Maria 'Dallas' D'Allesandro, who is there to photographically "document" the catching of the animals). And it is very good; albeit the portrayal of the local native populations and the attitudes of the non-Africans are aloof and condescending (a "portrait of Africa still dominated by non-Africans").

True to nearly all of John Wayne's movies, the actor did nearly all of the scenes himself--for which much of the audio had to be re-dubbed due to John Wayne's cursing while wrestling with the animals--which inspired the other actors to be fully involved as well:

"According to director Howard Hawks, all the animal captures in the picture were performed by the actual actors; no stunt men or animal handlers were substituted on screen. The rhino really did escape, and the actors really did have to recapture it--and Hawks included the sequence for its realism." (IMDb)

"Hatari!" utilized an international cast (unlike many westerns that really should also have multiple nationalities representing the "cowboys"), reflective of the types of people that actually worked in the "business" at that time. "Hatari!" gathers its several characters (roles) from different parts of the world: "Sean Mercer (John Wayne), Anna Maria 'Dallas' D'Allesandro (Elsa Martinelli), Kurt Mueller (Hardy Krüger), Brandy De la Court (Michele Girardon), Charles 'Chips' Maurey (Gerard Blain), Luis Francisco Garcia Lopez (Valentin De Vargas) are, respectively, from USA, Italy, Germany, France, France and Mexico (Wikipedia)." Through this cast, as well as the use of locals (stereotyped or not), "Hatari!" rings out the excitement of the chase, the comradely interpersonal relationships, and the wonderful world of animals. (According to IMDb, "Jan Oelofse, the animal supervisor, captured and tamed all the animals in Africa; the elephants, leopard, the cheetahs, and flew with 40 animals aboard a DC6 across Africa, through South America to Hollywood to continue scenes shot in Hollywood). As with many other "less popular" movies, John Wayne exhibits an unexpected ability to keep up with the comedy in the film.

Indeed, in the final analysis, "Hatari!" is about the animals; first and foremost. As such, it is a wonderful movie for the whole family (the only real "violence" is when "the Indian" is slightly "gored" in the leg by a rhino at the beginning of the film). I introduced my sons to John Wayne with my favorite, "Stagecoach," but they were less than thrilled, being in black and white. So, I showed them "McLintock!" (See my review of the later for more comments on this), and they were sold. They then chose "Hatari!" to watch, and it remains their favorite John Wayne movie. I have since loaned "Hatari!" to others with children, and unanimously, they have all enjoyed it. And why not? John Wayne, baby elephants, wondering cheetahs, feisty ostriches, towering giraffes, stampeding animals and lots of laughs, all in one movie! (And don't forget the great musical score!).

Please Note: If this review was not helpful to you, I would appreciate learning the reason(s) so I can improve my reviews. My goal is to provide help to potential buyers, not get into any arguments. So, if you only disagree with my opinion, could you please say so in the comments and not indicate that the review was not helpful. Thanks. August 13, 2008

Hatari!

This is one of my all-time favorite movies. It has adventure, comedy, romance...and Henry Mancini's music. What's not to like?

January 19, 2008

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