Ashanti (1979)

Dr. David Linderby and his wife Anansa are carrying out an inoculation program in a small African village when Anansa disappears. The police can do nothing to find her and David has almost given up hope when he hears a rumour that Anansa has been kidnapped by a slave trader called Suleman, to be sold to an Arab prince.

The authorities deny that the slave even exists, so David must find unofficial organizations to help him; a shadowy world where the rescuers of the slave are just as futhless as the traders themselves. Enlisting the help of Malik, a nomad whose family were stolen by Sulelman, David must leave civilization behind and travel across the desert to find Anansa.

There's a reason you've never heard of this movie

"Ashanti" has loads going for it: Released in 1979, it was directed by Richard Fleischer and stars Michael Caine with an impressive supporting cast, including Peter Ustinov, Omar Shariff, William Holden and Rex Harrison (the latter three in very minor roles). If you're into exotic women there's Beverly Johnson, not to mention great exotic locations -- Israel, Kenya and Sicily (although much of the story takes place in the Sahara Desert). Caine's co-star, Kabir Bedi, is impressive as well.

The story addresses modern-day slavery. Caine's black wife is apprehended by slave-traders and he chases them across the Sahara Desert all the way to the Red Sea. I know of two beautiful women who completely disappeared abroad. What happened to them? Were they apprehended by slavers? Did they become sex slaves? No one knows. The film illustrates this very-real possibility.

"Ashanti" plays like a wannabe "Lawrence of Arabia" but doesn't even come close. It's marred by a horribly dated 70s score whereas the score to "Lawrence" is timeless (even though it's older by about 17 years!!). Plus, "Lawrence" is believable from beginning to end, whereas I found myself mumbling "Yeah, right" numerous times while watching "Ashanti." In other words, too many scenes come off unconvincing or slightly awkward.

BOTTOM LINE: "Ashanti" sounds great on paper but they needed to take more time in the creation process to work out the kinks in the writing, acting, directing and score.

Still, the locations are great, there is a lot of action and the film provokes thought on an important subject. It's definitely worth picking up if you're a Caine fan or if you're into desert-survival flicks, especially since it's so cheap. Same thing if you favor Beverly Johnson (who's not the greatest actress). It's quite a bit better than caine's similar African adventure "The Wilby Conspiracy" (1975).

The dvd features only a full screen version but the picture is quite good. Unfortunately the menu is cheap, featuring only "Play Movie" and "Trailer;" there isn't even a scene selection option.

GRADE: C August 8, 2008

Interesting......

story of people in an unusual setting under peculiar circumstances. Several dilemmas are presented here.....love/revenge, self/others, need/want and fortune/misfortune. How far will one go to get what they want or what think they need. July 14, 2008

Slave to Love

This is a dull, full-screen version of a 70s international thriller that might merit some attention if it looked better. It's pretty lame, but not really cheesy save for Ustinov's buffoonish clowning which belongs in a different picture. The great William Holden shows up for maybe a day's work -- he's supposed to be a cynical mercenary and crack helicopter pilot, but comes across more like a craggy old-timer going 40 in the fast lane oblivious to the fact that his turn signal's on. Much better is Rex Harrison turning in a tart cameo. He seems to have wondered in from a Graham Greene adaptation and he's welcome. Caine wears a Paddington Bear hat for the first third. You'll note his final confrontation with the villain of the piece is almost the same as in The Wilby Conspiracy. April 29, 2008

Not quite Michael Caine's worst

It's strange that a man with the likes of Jaws - The Revenge, The Jigsaw Man, Blue Ice, The Holcroft Covenant, On Deadly Ground and Bullseye, not to mention two Harry Alan Towers movies on his resume should dismiss Ashanti as his worst picture, because Michael Caine's done a LOT shoddier. Not that it's particularly good, but even though it comes from the late Richard Fleischer's I'll-do-anything days and features cameos from actors out to top-up their pension funds (Rex Harrison) or who just happened to be in Kenya anyway (William Holden), this somewhat pedestrian modern-day slavery picture that sees Caine's WHO Doctor (insert pun here) tracking down his kidnapped wife (model-turned-very-bad-actress Beverly Johnson) before comical slave-trader Peter Ustinov can sell her to Omar Sharif is at least watchable in a wallpaper kind of way, and always looks good thanks to Aldo Tonti's photography, though Don Black's cheesy lyrics for the end title song are typically laughable. Be warned that the DVD is very shoddy - not only a poor panned-and-scanned transfer of a Scope film but one taken from a very heavily and visibly cut TV print. February 16, 2008

Great Acting, Great Story!

Michael Caine and Peter Ustinov are great in this intriguing film that is full of beautiful scenery and great adventure. As Michael Caine's character searches for his wife who was kidnapped by slave traders, Peter Ustinov's character is busy making it difficult. The story is relevant to this day as slave trade continues throughout the world. There is some insight into how these slave trading groups work and renders the need to this day for more international attention to the problem. A great movie! February 9, 2008

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