Reviews (139)

"Remember - The Spy Who Loved Me"
On July 7,1977 (7-7-77), The Spy Who Loved Me roared into theaters across the country to become one of the most financially successful Bond films of all time. The tenth in the series, TSWLM marks the begining of the big Bond films, a trend that would continue (with the exception of For Your Eyes Only) throughout the rest of the series. In this film, James Bond (Roger Moore) must join forces with Soviet secret agent XXX (Barbara Bach) as they track down two missing nuclear submarines. Their search takes them to Egypt, Sardinia, and Atlantis, a giant underwater city owned by the shipping mogal Stromberg. Stromberg wishes to use the two submarine to start World War III by launching nuclear missles at New York City and Moscow. If successful, he wishes to start a new civilization under the sea. This is a grand movie. The action, gadgetry and the sets themslves are absolutly wonderful. Two more reasons to see TSWLM: the villanous Jaws (7-foot 2-inch actor Richard Keil) and "Nobdy Does It Better" the title song is arguably one of the best Bond songs of all - it's my personal favorite. So anyway, see this movie. It's the biggest. It's the Best. It's Bond. And B-E-Y-O-N-D.

Moore's best
The Spy who Loved Me was awesome.This film had the best settings,Roger Moore performance,and musical score.Atlantis was SWEET.Stromberg gets 3 out of five stars as a villain,while Jaws gets 4 and a half.Barbara Bach was great as agent Triple X.I love the car chase on land and the part were the Lotus Espirit turns into a submarine is awesome. The trapdoor in the elevator that led into the shark room was really cool.A good pre-title sequence with the ski chase.This movie takes place in Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.I liked the part when Jaws and Bond fought in the shark room. Kind of gruesome when he kills the shark though.

Great Bond Adventure
This is the 10th film in the long-running "James Bond" series and the third to star Roger Moore as Bond. This entry is also my favorite in the series (well, so far it is as I have only seen five Bond films).

007 is on another mission to the save the world (what else?) in "The Spy Who Loved Me." A pair of nuclear submarines from England and Russia have strangely disappeared and Bond...James Bond, is assigned to retrieve a microfilm that has recorded the movements of the British sub. The Russians send their own spy, the beautiful Anya Amasova, to find the film as well. At first, Amasova and Bond attempt to outwit each other to get the film but eventually the pair are ordered to team up to get to the heart of the problem. The trail they follow leads them to billionaire Karl Stromberg who has a dastardly plan to destroy the Earth...

This Bond episode works well thanks primarily to some good direction from Lewis Gilbert. Though the film is not well paced, Gilbert makes up for that with some excellent set pieces. I thought the fighting sequences on Stromberg's boat were particularly well done. There are some other good moments too, including the chase in the Lotus Espirit (which can transform into a submersible), the opening ski-chase, and Bond's dueling with steel-toothed bad guy Jaws. The acting here was serviceable, though I felt it left something to be desired. This happens to be the first Bond film I've seen in which Roger Moore is carrying the 007 moniker. Moore gets the job done but he seems to lack the edge of the two other Bond's I've seen: Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan. Meanwhile, Barbara Bach has the looks for a typical Bond-girl but is a bit stiff in her role. Still, she gives an effective performance. One more thing worth noting is the theme song by Carly Simon, "Nobody Does It Better." I really liked it and it seems to complement the James Bond character well.

This is a great entry in the 007 series. If you're a Bond fan (or even a non-fan) and haven't yet seen this episode, then be sure you do so. This movie will be a fresh reminder that indeed "Nobody Does It Better" than James Bond.

moores franchised bond
roger moore gets knocked around a lot for the way he played bond.
now, come on, lets be frank, bond is the stuff of pulp fiction and moore knew this.
by the time live and let die was being filmed the bond movies had become a franchise (only the first three stand out as non franchise movies). connery could not co-exist in a franchise.
he was too stubborn an actor to merely be 'one of the special affects'.
when roger moore came around he decided not to take any of it seriously and he was right to do so.
it is moores little boy sense of humour that makes these movies work.
spy who loved me and for your eyes only are the best of the moores, with this one having the slight edge.it has the necessary balance to make it a mmeorable entry. classic scene:
when moore is in a van being attacked by jaws he smiles, and charms his way through a series of puns that only he, in his all too cool superficiality, could pull off.
makes for a fun night.

the underrated moore in the best of his bonds
roger moore gets picked on a bit too much as of late for making bond too cartoonish.
puleazee!
we are talking about a pulp character here.
there is no doubt that he did not have connery's edge, but. hell, connery no longer even had his edge.
the lame, bored connery of diamonds are forever is not the gritty connery of dr.no or from russia with love.
we wouldn't see that type of grit again until dalton's brief stint, which DID work, but was flawed by two films with a miami vice feel.
moore refused to take any of it seriousely and by doing so, at least for a while, he gave a new vigor to the franchise.
unfortunately, moonraker followed this, but then moore did one have one last hurrah with a more subtle performance in 'for your eyes only '(and he did prove to the producers in that film that he could take it seriousely).
but here, is moore at his best. this is His interpetation and all the elements come together to support moore in his styling of the character.
a potent remionder that moore kept this franchise alive and going and did it well for some time. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Britain's Ealing Studios was at the top of its game when this classic comedy was released in 1951--one of the all-time best crime-caper comedies and a quintessential example of the witty and subtly subversive Ealing style. Alec Guinness stars as a mild-mannered transporter of gold bullion who has spent 20 years moving gold bars to banks in an armored truck. Then one day he simply decides to help himself to a million British pounds' worth of the gold, but to pull off the heist he enlists and old friend (Stanley Holloway), who sculpts and manufactures paperweights. Once the gold is hijacked, it's molded into souvenir miniatures of the Eiffel Tower and shipped off to Paris, right under the noses of British customs officials on alert for the missing gold. Panic ensues when six of the gold miniatures are mistakenly sold to a group of English schoolgirls, and just when the amateur thieves think they've finally pulled off their heist without a hitch ... well, let's just say this classic comedy has a few climactic tricks up its sleeve. Guinness is in peak form here, and director Charles Crichton (who scored a late-career hit with A Fish Called Wanda over a quarter-century later) keeps the action moving with impeccable British efficiency. Along with The Ladykillers and The Man in the White Suit (both starring Guinness), The Lavender Hill Mob represents the golden age of British comedy, and it's still delightfully entertaining. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Black and white heist flick bathed in purple and gold
I'm usually not a fan of movies featuring bumbling innocents trying to do right, brought down by an endless series of accidents and mistakes. The futility of the whole exercise frustrates me, and I can't find any room for humour in the whole endeavor. "The Lavender Hill Mob" nearly falls into this trap, but thankfully doesn't. The reason it doesn't -- and it's a reason I can't go into without ruining the wonderful surprise ending -- preserves the comedy of this delightful little heist movie.

It's a very subdued comedy. The word on the street led me to believe that wacky hijinks and silly shenanigans would be the order of the day. Not true. Actually, there's a lot of quiet dignity here. Which makes the moments of action that much funnier. Alec Guinness as the mob's "boss" Henry Holland, a 20-year vet of the straight and narrow, is a desperate man, but he always does his best to maintain control in stressful situations. He screws up his face, peers (with glorious wide eyes) knowingly from behind his glasses, and does his best to understand and analyze the predicaments he finds himself in. When he's successful in that endeavor, the proceedings are funny. But when he isn't... well... they're that much funnier. Stanley Holloway plays his cohort, Pendlebury, a disgruntled manufacturer of cheap souvenirs. He's a less menacing, almost innocent Sydney Greenstreet-type, who gets roped into a situation that appears foolproof. Too bad these men aren't fools; they'd have gotten away scott free. It's their intellect that does them in. They're joined by a couple of charismatic career criminals, who may dress the part but seem more at home sipping tea than casing joints. The scene where the four men meet, while simultaneously trying to rob a payroll safe, is a wonderful moment of manners in the face of criminal activity. A joy to watch.

The giggly English schoolgirl scene (a classic) is creepy and disturbing. It's hilarious how a group made up of innocents can be turned menacing in a certain context. Combine the danger of the heights (they're at the top of the Eiffel Tower) with their high pitched giggling, and their tragic effect on the plot, and the girls turn into a dangerous phenomenon. It's quite ludicrous, and very funny. This is followed by a wonderfully surreal chase scene, in which Holland and Pendlebury chase them down via a spiraling staircase. Even though the special effects are cheap and obviously fake, it felt like a ridiculous version of Hitchcock's "Vertigo". It's combination of the stuffy Englishman, the Tower spinning around them, and a wind-whipped trenchcoat tossed overboard makes for some great fun. And the finale, a romp through a police exhibition, has a cool Keystone Cops quality to it that had me giggling with glee.

Unfortunately, at times, deteriorated audio tracks and murky, fuzzy video marred some of the action. Wading through the thick accents would have been tough enough, but when you can't hear their voices (or at worst see their lips move), understanding these men was a trial. Too bad, because what I did manage to hear was charming, witty, and terribly funny.

Classic British Caper Film.
This will be a short review, since I concur with the other positive comments on this classic Ealing comedy, as well as the extensive plot summary ( actually a little too extensive for people who have not seen the film ). I gave it four stars only because I consider "The Ladykillers" to be superior.

As always, Sir Alec shines in the lead role, with fine support from Stanley Holloway and Sidney James, years before his "Carry On" fame. The humour here is dark and subtle, and of course there is a delightful "twist" at the end, an Ealing trade mark.

I found the quality of this DVD to be more than acceptable for a 50 plus year-old film. Some of the location scenes in London are interesting, with areas damaged by the "blitz" in World War II still very evident.

So--if you like comedy with genuine wit and style ( very rare today, in the era of teen-oriented gross-out movies ), you will enjoy this one. Recommended.

A marvelous DVD version of a great Ealing Brothers romp
This marvlous film unites the talents of two of the greatest English comedians of the forties and fifties (Guinness more or less ceased doing comedy in the sixties on): Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway. Guinness is, of course, one of the most famous and distinguished actors of the past half century, but Holloway is primarily known in the United States for a single role, though by no means his most representative, that of Alfred P. Doolittle in the film version of MY FAIR LADY. In this film we see him at his more typical, more akin to his performances in movies like PASSPORT TO PIMPLICO and BRIEF ENCOUNTER. Guinness, who was so versatile that he had no particular role that was typical of him, shines as a long suffering, faithful bank clerk of whom the old expression "still waters run deep" is especially true. Behind his nonexpressive, stoic face is the soul of a thief who intends to rob the bank of a small fortune. Holloway plays the owner of a very small company that makes tourist trinkets for souvenir shops. They team up to form the Lavender Hill Mob (named for the address of the boarding house in which they both live).

As in so many movies, it isn't the getting there but the going there that's good. The plot takes a definite second place to the performances of the leads. One of my major complaints with Guinness is that the further he went in his career, the more he foresook comedy for drama. He was a subtle and brilliant commedian who excelled in subdued performances. Guinness could get more mileage out of a sly grin and his eyes than most actors can in their entire body. Holloway, on the other hand, is the master of broad comedy: exaggerated facial expressions, horrified poses, distraught reactions. Together they balance one another out perfectly. In scenes like their frantic and futile dash down the steps of the Eiffel Tower they are used to perfection.

Ealing Studios made a string of utterly superb comedies in the 1940s and 1950s, and this is one of my favorites. I actually prefer this to the deeply cynical and dark KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS, and consider it on any grounds to be superior to THE LADYKILLERS (oddly marred by Guinness's inexplicable impersonation of Alastair Sim, down to false teeth, body padding, and a hair-do that mimicked Sims's--when you go that far, why not just hire Sim instead?), and an honorable companion to films such as PASSPORT TO PIMPLICO, THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT, and THE TITFIELD THUNDERBOLT).

Audrey Hepburn had a number of walk on roles in British films in the very early 1950s, but didn't achieve real success until her stage work brought her to the attention of Hollywood. She is easily spotted in a bit role in this one, as the radiantly beautiful woman who stops to say hello to Guinness in the opening scene of the film.

Minor classic of Ealing comedy
I do not rate this as among the great Ealing studios comedies and it trails behind such movies as Kind Hearts and Coronets ,The Ladykillers and The Man in the White Suit as examples of that genre.It is however ,an enjoyable and diverting piece of work ,solidly in the traditions of comedy established by the studio.
Th framing scenes depict Alec Guinness as Holland ,clearly a luminary of the expatriate English set of Rio De Janeiro ,relating the tale of how he came to acquire his wealth and postition .His audience is a soberly dresssed man clearly also English.
We then are taken back to the execution of a gold bullion robbbery ,masterminded by Holland ,a long serving ,meek and decorous Bank of England employee who has dreamed of robbing the vehicle containing the gold .He enlists the aid of Pemberton (Stanley Hoilloway)who owns a small souvenir making business ,and that of two small time professional criminals -played by two British comedy stalwarts in Sid James and Aldie Bass.The robbery is executed without violence and the ingots melted down into replicas of the Eiffel Tower which Pemberton and Holland go to Paris to rescue .Alas, some find their way onto the market and the duo are forced to try buying back the models from the schoolgirls who have purchased them .

There is a lively car chase -again comedic in tone rather than an exercise in screeching rubber -before the twist ending in Rio.

This is a gently amoral comedy -the larceny perpetrated is without violence or malice and is shown as the revenge of the timid and passed over in an age of drabness and austerity.It is a tale of the "little man "who rebels .In contrast to more recent caper movies these are not vicious professional criminals but opporunists who shrink from violence .It is thus a period piece and miles removed from the unappealing specimens deopicted in the modern British crime movies like those of the morally null Guy Ritchie.
Beautifully acted by Guinness and Holloway in particular this is a gently satiric ,nicely written comedy of the worm that turns.

Truly a "Classic" Comedy
I recently purchased The Horse's Mouth (1958) from Amazon as well as "The Alec Guinness Collection" which includes The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) plus four others: Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Man in the White Suit (1951), The Captain's Paradise (1953), and The Ladykillers (1955). Frankly, I was amazed how well each of the six films has held up since I first saw it.

This film was directed by Charles Crighton. Noteworthy in the first scene is a brief appearance by Audrey Hepburn, identified in the credits as "Chiquita." After she departs, Henry Holland (played brilliantly, as always, by Guinness) begins to recount the Lavender Hill saga to his companion. As he explains, he was a mild-mannered fellow who supervised the transportation by van of gold bullion. His boss, the armed guards who accompany him, and those who receive the shipments all respect his fastidious (albeit anal retentive) attitude toward his duties. Holland seems to have no private life except for his friendship with Alfred Pendlebury (played by Stanley Holloway) who owns a company which manufactures paperweights. For reasons which will not be revealed here, Holland and Pendlebury decide to steal a shipment worth (in 1951) several million pounds. They realize they will need help so they recruit two smalltime Cockney crooks, Lackery Wood (Sidney James) and Shorty Fisher (Alfie Bass), and thereby create the Lavender Hill Mob. In my opinion, how they plan and then complete the heist is far less entertaining than what happens afterward. T.E.B. Clarke received an Academy Award for his script which, paradoxically, is quite simple and yet wholly unpredictable. The acting is consistently first-rate. Also, while recently seeing this film again, I enjoyed the exterior shots London and Paris more than 50 years ago. This comedy is indeed a "classic." ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Book better
I read the book before I saw the movie and the book was quite good. The movie isn't as good as the book but the never are. But it is a very good movie. It is also quite violent.

It starts out with Dax as a young boy & in the movie we watch him grow up and see some of the hell he had to live with. In the
end he is a man still fighting for what he believes is right.

good cast.

The adventurers
I saw this movie when it first came out,and really enjoyed every aspect of it. It is sad, but its content is being played out this very day.

It's Not That Bad, Really It's Not
I caught this movie in theatres a couple of times when it was first released in 1970. It impressed me then and still does, for several reasons. First, it has a very good cast. And they are not completely wasted, only 75 percent wasted. Second, it has plenty of sex, violence, and the other human failings that make watching other people so much fun. Third, sure, it's overly ambitious, and falls well short of its grand intentions. But, it is a trip worth taking even if you know you're headed down a dead-end street. Don't listen to the so-called experts. This movie is one that is worth making up your own mind. I'm still enjoying this film some 30 years later, and I think you will, too.

Never mind the acting, hear the music
I saw this movie when it came out and I have never forgotten it, though I don't remember the acting or the script. What I remember is that it has great music, an original score by the now legendary Antonio Carlos Jobim. Worth seeing for that reason alone - wish I could get a soundtrack CD. Jobim wrote scores for several movies, most of which were never seen in English. Black Orpheus is the only well known one.

Atrocious soap opera set in a lamebrained fictional country
Moth-balled, laughably atrocious soap opera set in a lamebrained fictional country in South America, with revolutions, protests, chemistry-less romantic triangles, and embarrassing performances thrown in for equal measure. Tries to be a serious political drama, but fails to conjure up any emotion or offer anything new. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Sink the Bismarck! recounts one of the most famous battles in thehistory of naval warfare. Shot in semidocumentary style, the black-and-whitefilm covers all sides in the famous hunt for the powerful German warship thatterrorized the sea for eight days. The story and combat are rendered asfaithfully as possible to C.S. Forester's novel. There are a few historicalerrors and some other minor liberties taken for dramatic license, both of whichthe viewer will easily be able to overlook. The only major addition tohistorical fact is a fictional romance between leads Kenneth More and DanaWynter, which never gets in the way of the action. Edward R. Murrow cameos, andone of the founding fathers of movie magic, Howard Lydecker, assists with thespecial effects. The film is a compelling wartime drama that deserves a viewing.--Mark Savary ... Read more

Reviews (37)

An all time favorite
I'm not entirely sure why I like this movie so very much, but I have loved it from the very first time I saw it more than 20 years ago and still watch it often. It is a dramatization of the true story of the short-lived first cruise of the German battleship "Bismarck", of the destruction it wrought and of the hunt to find and ultimately destroy it. Yes, there are some inaccuracies in the details of which ships took part in the hunt, as well as in the portrayal of German Admiral Gunther Lutjens, but the fact that this is a British movie, made while the scars of war were still a strongly living memory, should be borne in mind in this regard.

Among the things that make it worth viewing are: the presence of Edward R. Morrow recreating the atmosphere of his wartime London radio reports, the recreation of the Naval command center underneath the Admiralty building and the highly believable performance of Kenneth More (himself a wartime naval officer) as the deeply wounded Captain Shepherd. Dana Wynter also gives a delicately nuanced performance as Second Officer Anne Davis. The moment when she enters Shepherd's office and realizes that he is crying is beautifully done.

The highly restrained romantic undercurrent doesn't interfere with the main story line and is very believable for wartime professionals. One comes away from this movie knowing that a great menace to the eventual survival of Britain has been eliminated and that there may be hope for both the UK and for two lonely people.

The inclusion in the new DVD of some newreel footage of the actual event is a nice little bonus. The subject of the hunt for and destruction of the "Bismarck" has also recently been the subject of some recent documentaries. The story retains its impact, even after more than 60 years.

Honorable Men in Desperate Battle
Honorable Men in Desperate Battle

In May 1941, Britain stood alone against Nazi tyranny. The German blitz had devastated much of the English industrial base. The lifeline to America across the North Atlantic was critical to England's survival. In an effort to cut this lifeline, Hitler built the Bismarck, the fastest and most powerful battleship the world had ever seen. "Sink the Bismarck" is the story of a desperate 6-day naval engagement to find and destroy the German battleship. The British initially dispatched the pride of the Royal Navy, the H.M.S. Hood, to intercept the Bismarck. A single shell from the Bismarck penetrated a magazine on the Hood, instantly destroying the British ship.

The film depicts the subsequent efforts of the Royal Navy to locate and attack the Bismarck with overwhelming fire power. As often happens in war, the most unpredictable bad luck was counterbalanced by miraculous good fortune. The film evokes the grim resolution, the desperate gambles, and the professional skills of the British command to bring the Bismarck to bay. Kenneth More is well-cast in the role of Captain Jonathan Shepard, a man who conveys both iron will to duty, yet vulnerability to personal human loss in his pursuit of the Bismarck. The film teems with excitement and suspense as it records one of the great naval battles ever fought.

Classic 1960 film tops most war films
1st of all Dana Wynter is a real "looker".
For all you losers who think the 1969 film The Battle of Britain is a good film, well, you are total easily manipulated fools. This film tells all. Nuff said.

A Great Movie About the Hunt for the Bismarck
This fine film, made in 1960, does a fine job of re-creating the events surrounding the search for and eventual destruction of the pride of the German navy: the Bismarck. Veteran British actor Kenneth More stars as Captain Jonathan Shepard, a new officer who gets placed in charge of the hunt for the Bismarck in Britain's Naval Operations center. Shepard has a personal stake in seeing the Bismarck sunk. Bismarck's commander, Admiral Gunter Lutjens, played by Karel Stepanek, sunk Shepard's vessel earlier in the war. Dana Wynter stars as 2nd officer Anne Davis, an assistant to Capt. Shepard. A fictional implied but never shown romance develops between Shepard and Davis throughout the course of the film. Carl Mohner stars as Bismarck's Captain Lindemann.

The battle scenes are excellent. One must remember when viewing this film that the special effects are from the 1960's, but that does nothing to detract from the excitement of the ship-to-ship combat scenes. The fight between the HMS Hood and Bismarck is the high point of the film. It was exciting to see the ships being straddled by the other's shells, and seeing the Hood blow up was especially thrilling.

The historical correctness of the film was excellent except for a few minor details. For example, during the attack on the Bismarck by the British Swordfish torpedo planes, the movie shows two being destroyed when in reality none were lost. Also, the movie depicts a British destroyer being sunk by Bismarck. This is also incorrect as the Hood was the only British loss. Finally, the movie depicts Admiral Lutjens as being a staunt supporter of the Nazi party. This is also false. Lutjens was against Naziism, and refused to give the Nazi salute, instead preferring to use the old German navy salute. The movie also depicted a rather close relationship between Lutjens and Lindemann. This was also not the case. In reality, the two German commanders disagreed on many topics, and at one point during the heat of battle, Lindemann said to Lutjens that he refused to sit by while his ship was shot out from underneath him. Aside from these points, the historical aspect of the movie is very well done.

I highly recommend this film. The acting is excellent and the battle scenes will keep you on the edge of your seat. Watch this great movie and experience the hunt for the most feared ship in the German navy.

The story and acting carry you
In this era of elaborate SFX, a 1960 B&W movie of the war at sea might be expected to come up poorly. But the superbly crafted story and steady acting carry you along. While history has been modified here and there, the main points are solidly grounded (reality is almost always more compelling than fantasy: compare the struggle for Tarawa with Helm's Deep). Even though all but the brain dead know what the outcome will be, the level of tension achieved during the hunt for Bismark is remarkable. Viewing this film ought to be compulsory for all directors - story and acting are far more important than SFX. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Joan Crawford's Second To Last British "Horror", Film
"Berserk!", always comes in for a great deal of flak along with Joan Crawford's last film made two years later "Trog". Certainly they couldn't even begin to compare to the efforts from Joan's glory days at MGM, and Warner Bros. When titles such as "Grand Hotel", "The Women", "Mildred Pierce", "Possessed", and "Sudden Fear", come to mind these later British thriller/horror efforts from the late 1960's definately look poor indeed. However I always believe that "Berserk!" is an enjoyable outing to watch and Joan Crawford, being the real pro that she always was gives this little effort her absolute all like she still was starring at MGM.

In "Berserk!" also known by its English title "Circus of Blood", Crawford plays Monica Rivers the owner and mistress of ceremonies of a travelling circus. She is a woman hardened by the school of hard knocks common in circus life where beneath the fun and the bright costumes there exists a hard and cold existence. Monica rules the circus with a firm hand and always with an eye on increasing her profit margin on the acts she has perform at the circus. When a series of fatal accidents begin occuring during the performances Monica sees that behind these tragedies is a way to increase publicity for the circus. The rest of the circus performers become very scared with what is going on among them when it is revealed that the fall suffered by Gasper the Great from the tightrope was no accident and that his line had actually been cut. Monica comes into direct conflict with her business manager/sometime lover Dorando (Michael Gough) over how to handle the investigation into the "accidents". When he wants out from the circus Monica refuses and Dorando also finds himself jealous of Monica's attraction to much younger replacement Trapeze artist Frank Hawkins (Ty Hardin) who has turned up at the circus looking for work, replaces the deceased Gasper in the show and worms his way into Monica's affections. Shortly Dorando is also found murdered in the Big Top further scaring the circus performers, in particular the brassy Matilda (Diana Dors), who is one half of an act where she is sawn in half. She blames Monica for the murders but before she can prove anything she too dies while performing. To complicate matters for Monica her unruly young daughter Angela suddenly turns up at the circus having left her school. She joins the knife throwing act. Monica's romance with Frank however runs into rough seas when he begins blackmailing her for a share of the circus profits and then he too finds a stray knife in his back while he is performing on the high wire. After an investigation by Scotland Yards Superintendant Brooks (Robert Hardy) it is revealed that Angela is the murderer and has long harboured an insane hatred of her mother after years of neglect. To get her total attention Angela has been "removing" those that take up her mothers time. Finally losing the last of her sanity Angela attempts to kill Monica however she herself is struck down by lightening outside the Big Top and dies in the rain.

Vintage melodrama perhaps but "Berserk!", has a whole series of talented British performers to create interest in a fairly ordinary story. Michael Gough as Monica's tired business associate has a wonderful rapport with Joan Crawford and his few scenes in the first part of the story are very well acted. Diana Dors, just starting to move out of her earlier glamour girl roles that often hid the fact that she was a very fine actress is excellent as the cheap, tarty circus performer who meets a grisly end under a cutting saw. Judy Geeson in her first film role is effective as the young daughter who is finally revealed as the villianess of the piece. Her innocent playing of her part is well enough done to create the right suspense when all is revealed at the end. Joan Crawford of course is the focal point of "Berserk!". In the first of her two Herman Cohen British based movies, Joan has often been accused of having no judgement in excepting this low budget feature. However as she said in a number of interviews, she quote, "wanted to remain a working actress, not just an ex performer plugging softdrinks (Pepsi)" unquote. In the absense of any better roles being offered to her "Berserk!" at least kept her in the limelight. The rich colour and great circus atmosphere of the film is well done and although not totally exciting there were far worse films made in that decade both before and after "Berserk!". Joan certainly looks the part of a glamourous ringmistress.Even in such a low budget production long after her great years of stardom Joan still showed that she was a true star in the old meaning of the word by insisting that famed costume designer Edith Head be especially hired to create her sensational two piece leotard outfit that she wears throughout the picture.

While far from the best horror circus thriller you will see "Berserk!" is not the total mess that alot of people make it out to be. I enjoy it for the lively later day Joan Crawford performance is contains but also because of the fact that no matter how cheap the production was Joan tackled it with the same commitment and seriousness that she did her great productions from earlier decades. "Berserk!", is a good little mystery to spend 90 minutes with. Enjoy

Better than I expected
I was half expecting this video to be yet another horrible anime, but it surprised me. It was quite actually fairly well done. The animation isn't all that great and consists of a lot of comic book style freeze frames. A lot of the blood spatter effects look really stupid too. The fact that it has subtitles allows for better dialogue and takes away the chance of some American "dubber" to ruin the film. Plot wise, the story begins in the "present day" I guess and then goes back into a long series of flashbacks, which will explain everything up to said present day. Aside from the frist episode, which appears to make little sense, the plot for Berserk is very well crafted and fast paced. It is the story of an orphan boy who is raised a mercenary and becomes a reknown warrior fighting for an army called the Band of the Hawk, led by the white hawk, Griffin. This first video basically shows Guts' (the main character's) first few years and battles with the Band of the Hawk, but ends before anything else can happen. This isn't the best anime I've ever seen, but it's enjoyable and worth seeing.

NOT THE JOAN CRAWFORD MOVIE OF THE SAME TITLE
Some of the reviews of this movie seem to be about the film that Joan Crawford starred in. This is not that film, but another with the same title.

This series just keeps getting better and better!
Berserk hasn't let me down yet and these set of episodes are a great. Gutts is thinking about leaving the Hawks!!! Yikes!
Also the violence has gotten a bit stronger lately.

Caska is getting mixed feelings towards the two and the Band of Hawk are soon to meet there fate. I don't want to spoil anything for the people who haven't seen these episodes But I will tell you that they are great. This is why I love this series. It has everything. Drama, Violence and lots of it, the story it self is great, though these are pretty much flash backs.

Still it is a must have for any fan that likes sword and sorcer with lots of violence and a really good story.

I can't wait for DVD 5.

This series is getting better by the minute!

Later...

Be warned, after this one there is no going back
As this series progresses we dive deeper and deeper into the motivations, fears and inner demons of the main characters. The episodes in this disc show two opposing pictures. On one side the happiness and joy from the ascent of Griffith and the Band of Hawks as heroes of Midland due to their success in the challenges they have faced so far. On the other hand, the pain and despair Guts and Caska show because they do not see their path as clearly as before. The reasons behind this uncertainty are different. Guts is bothered by not having a personal goal, but just the one he borrowed from Griffith instead. Caska suffers because she has mixed loyalties between Guts and Griffith, something that had never happened before.

In the first episode of this installment we find Guts fighting by himself against one hundred men of the Chuder army trying to give Caska time to run away to safety. However, Caska has been reached by her pursuers and is facing a tough situation. The rest of the action has mostly to do with the decisive battle between Chuder and Midland. The White Knights, Midland's leading battalion has been defeated, and the only hope left is for the Band of Hawks to beat the Purple Rhino Knights in a battle for the control of Doldrey, a key fortification. The Hawks are facing their toughest challenge yet, fighting against a well-armed opponent, going against a fort that is impeccably placed in terms of war strategy. As an added attraction, the governor of Chuder in Doldrey is the man that had a relationship with Griffith a few years back.

I am very pleased with Berserk, not only because I like the storyline and the action, but also because the characters are completely mesmerizing. I thought it would be extremely hard, even almost impossible, to develop three-dimensional characters in the anime genre, but the creators of Berserk have succeeded. Finally, a warning for those of you who are getting one DVD at a time, the end of the last episode in this set will leave you biting your fingernails, so make sure that you will be able to keep going soon! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Extremely disturbing film adaptation--chilling and brutal
I've nothing to add regarding H. Pinter's play as I'm not familiar with it. Therefore, I may only safely comment on the film adaptation. The film is structured so that the viewer is aware that terrible things have happened, are happening, and no doubt will happen quite soon. All the action takes place at a rooming house ran by Meg and Petey Bowels (Dandy Nichols and Moultrie Kelsall). Their only tenant is Stanley Weber, a former piano player that is perceived by most to be a "washout". His past is dubious and it is rather impossible to form a true picture of his character.

Robert Shaw portrays Stanley as a hideous wreck of a man who is gradually transformed into something credible. Throughout he is bitter, defensive, and contrary to everything in the world he has adopted as his own. There is nothing he likes, nothing he takes pleasure in. He's just a nasty sort of person who seems destined to do something ill-conceived to get his head caned in. Then two men, McCann and Goldberg, appear and take a room for a couple of nights. They clearly know Stanley and proceed to rough him up a bit when they get him alone. Stanley acts as if he has been expecting these two for quite some time. His resignation to maltreatment at their hands is quite disturbing, but not entirely unsurprising.

Patrick Magee, who played the Marquis de Sade in the film adaptation of "Marat Sade" is truly threatening as McCann. His sheer presence on screen is demonic. His eyes steel into you and you feel fixed in your place by his animal stare. There aren't many actors who do this bit as well as he. As Goldberg, Sydney Tafler is actually far more dangerous than McCann. His diabolism is shrouded in a hyper-friendly, articulate, obsessively well groomed mensch. He insists that Stanley celebrate his birthday with all his friends. The arrival of the dippy, highly impressionable Lulu (Helen Fraser) does nothing at first to calm Stanley's nerves. Eventually, however, she wakes him up into his Self, after a fashion. It is quite a shock seeing Lulu all tarted up amidst the sexless crowd at the party. More than anything else, she is the one who terrifies Stanley the most. Her lack of self-consciousness about her body further puts the spike in his neck.

This is simply a great film for observing how daily routines can come to get at some people. Also, how being removed from your safety zone can sometimes shock you into behaving like an entirely different person provided the elements are all in place. It really is a horror film of the highest order. It demonstrates the sinister aspects of the every day quite wonderfully.

A brilliant film. 5/5.

One of Pinter's best
This film version of one of Harold Pinter's best plays, made ten years after the play opened in London in 1958, is greatly enhanced by a stellar cast including Robert Shaw as the "birthday boy" and Patrick Magee at his menacing best. It's interesting to note that both the director--William Friedkin-- and the producers--Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg--were all associated, at one time in their careers, with horror films.

And a horror film this is, really. Pinter himself wrote the screenplay; it's a faithful adaptation of his stage play, and does not need to be "opened up" for a cinematic treatment. The reason for this is its intensely claustrophobic story, a character study with the focus on dread and disintegration.

Shaw, who begins as a sloppy, angry, down-on-his-luck drifter in an unnamed British seaside resort, undergoes a startling transformation in the course of the work, thanks to the ministrations of Magee and another character of insidious intent played by the well-known British stage actor Sydney Tafler.

The action is confined to the interior of the resort, run by a middle-aged woman--another excellent stage actress, Dandy Nichols, does a great turn in this role. It's Pinter's "weasel under the cocktail cabinet" psychology operating at full blast that gives this work its tremendous power. The fast, dark and frequently blackly funny verbal exchanges provide a momentum that does not flag, straight to the end.

A powerful film indeed. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Malayan Adventure
Better than average adventure/drama and romantic triangle involving an American rubber plantation owner, Malay school teacher turned political activist and the daughter of a British diplomat. Lots of beautiful scenery showing the plantation and jungle. William Holden fans and those who like stories/films that take place in exotic locales will enjoy it. Although Capucine did an admirable job as the Malay school teacher, I've always found it distracting to use a European or American actress to play the part of an Asian - when there are so many extremely talented and beautiful Asian women. But alas, this was filmed in the early 60s, before we "discovered" that the best person to play the role of an Asian is an ASIAN! That's just a personal complaint of mine for all movies that did this and not a slam on this particular movie. As I mentioned, Capucine does a very convincing job and if you can convince yourself that she's perhaps Eurasian, then you're home free. I had seen the movie a couple times (theater, TV) and found it interesting enough to buy it on VHS, so that every few years we can slilp it into the VCR for another viewing. If you like movies like: The Year of Living Dangerously; Elephant Walk; The Naked Jungle; The Emerald Forest; - you'll enjoy this film. ... Read more

Reviews (37)

An all time favorite
I'm not entirely sure why I like this movie so very much, but I have loved it from the very first time I saw it more than 20 years ago and still watch it often. It is a dramatization of the true story of the short-lived first cruise of the German battleship "Bismarck", of the destruction it wrought and of the hunt to find and ultimately destroy it. Yes, there are some inaccuracies in the details of which ships took part in the hunt, as well as in the portrayal of German Admiral Gunther Lutjens, but the fact that this is a British movie, made while the scars of war were still a strongly living memory, should be borne in mind in this regard.

Among the things that make it worth viewing are: the presence of Edward R. Morrow recreating the atmosphere of his wartime London radio reports, the recreation of the Naval command center underneath the Admiralty building and the highly believable performance of Kenneth More (himself a wartime naval officer) as the deeply wounded Captain Shepherd. Dana Wynter also gives a delicately nuanced performance as Second Officer Anne Davis. The moment when she enters Shepherd's office and realizes that he is crying is beautifully done.

The highly restrained romantic undercurrent doesn't interfere with the main story line and is very believable for wartime professionals. One comes away from this movie knowing that a great menace to the eventual survival of Britain has been eliminated and that there may be hope for both the UK and for two lonely people.

The inclusion in the new DVD of some newreel footage of the actual event is a nice little bonus. The subject of the hunt for and destruction of the "Bismarck" has also recently been the subject of some recent documentaries. The story retains its impact, even after more than 60 years.

Honorable Men in Desperate Battle
Honorable Men in Desperate Battle

In May 1941, Britain stood alone against Nazi tyranny. The German blitz had devastated much of the English industrial base. The lifeline to America across the North Atlantic was critical to England's survival. In an effort to cut this lifeline, Hitler built the Bismarck, the fastest and most powerful battleship the world had ever seen. "Sink the Bismarck" is the story of a desperate 6-day naval engagement to find and destroy the German battleship. The British initially dispatched the pride of the Royal Navy, the H.M.S. Hood, to intercept the Bismarck. A single shell from the Bismarck penetrated a magazine on the Hood, instantly destroying the British ship.

The film depicts the subsequent efforts of the Royal Navy to locate and attack the Bismarck with overwhelming fire power. As often happens in war, the most unpredictable bad luck was counterbalanced by miraculous good fortune. The film evokes the grim resolution, the desperate gambles, and the professional skills of the British command to bring the Bismarck to bay. Kenneth More is well-cast in the role of Captain Jonathan Shepard, a man who conveys both iron will to duty, yet vulnerability to personal human loss in his pursuit of the Bismarck. The film teems with excitement and suspense as it records one of the great naval battles ever fought.

Classic 1960 film tops most war films
1st of all Dana Wynter is a real "looker".
For all you losers who think the 1969 film The Battle of Britain is a good film, well, you are total easily manipulated fools. This film tells all. Nuff said.

A Great Movie About the Hunt for the Bismarck
This fine film, made in 1960, does a fine job of re-creating the events surrounding the search for and eventual destruction of the pride of the German navy: the Bismarck. Veteran British actor Kenneth More stars as Captain Jonathan Shepard, a new officer who gets placed in charge of the hunt for the Bismarck in Britain's Naval Operations center. Shepard has a personal stake in seeing the Bismarck sunk. Bismarck's commander, Admiral Gunter Lutjens, played by Karel Stepanek, sunk Shepard's vessel earlier in the war. Dana Wynter stars as 2nd officer Anne Davis, an assistant to Capt. Shepard. A fictional implied but never shown romance develops between Shepard and Davis throughout the course of the film. Carl Mohner stars as Bismarck's Captain Lindemann.

The battle scenes are excellent. One must remember when viewing this film that the special effects are from the 1960's, but that does nothing to detract from the excitement of the ship-to-ship combat scenes. The fight between the HMS Hood and Bismarck is the high point of the film. It was exciting to see the ships being straddled by the other's shells, and seeing the Hood blow up was especially thrilling.

The historical correctness of the film was excellent except for a few minor details. For example, during the attack on the Bismarck by the British Swordfish torpedo planes, the movie shows two being destroyed when in reality none were lost. Also, the movie depicts a British destroyer being sunk by Bismarck. This is also incorrect as the Hood was the only British loss. Finally, the movie depicts Admiral Lutjens as being a staunt supporter of the Nazi party. This is also false. Lutjens was against Naziism, and refused to give the Nazi salute, instead preferring to use the old German navy salute. The movie also depicted a rather close relationship between Lutjens and Lindemann. This was also not the case. In reality, the two German commanders disagreed on many topics, and at one point during the heat of battle, Lindemann said to Lutjens that he refused to sit by while his ship was shot out from underneath him. Aside from these points, the historical aspect of the movie is very well done.

I highly recommend this film. The acting is excellent and the battle scenes will keep you on the edge of your seat. Watch this great movie and experience the hunt for the most feared ship in the German navy.

The story and acting carry you
In this era of elaborate SFX, a 1960 B&W movie of the war at sea might be expected to come up poorly. But the superbly crafted story and steady acting carry you along. While history has been modified here and there, the main points are solidly grounded (reality is almost always more compelling than fantasy: compare the struggle for Tarawa with Helm's Deep). Even though all but the brain dead know what the outcome will be, the level of tension achieved during the hunt for Bismark is remarkable. Viewing this film ought to be compulsory for all directors - story and acting are far more important than SFX. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Passport to laughter
This blissful flim is set im Miramont Place, Pimlico (a district of South London). When an unexploded bomb left over from WW2 goes off, local shopkeeper Stanley Holloway discovers an ancient trasure hoard, including a mysterious document. An eccentric university professor (Margaret Rutherford) translates the document, and it proves that Miramont Place was the site of a palace given to the exiled Duke of Burgundy by King Edward IV, making the inhabitants of Miramont Place natives of Burgundy rather than Britain. The locals go wild, tearing up their ration books and keeping the local pub open all night, they have a great time until the government turns nasty and starts cracking down on them. Enter a dishy Frenchman who turns out to be the present Duke, come to claim his inheritance and save his subjects from the iron hand of beurocracy. Under seige, the defiant Burgundians take to stopping subway trains and making the passengers go through customs, the government retaliates by turning off their water supply, who will win in the battle of wits? If you are a fan of eccentric British comedy, this film is a classic in the genre.

Great movie - shame about the "Audio described".
An all-time classic movie and, after all, how distracting can an audio description be? Well, taking a chirpy, rather piercing Canadian voice over the austere English environment certainly rammed home my mistake. I would like to review the rest of the movie but 10 seconds was all I could take which didn't even reach the end of the credits.

Perhaps when I can get hold of a non-dubbed version, I can offer a fuller review.

Fun in post war London
Funny a brilliant. A wonderful portrait of Britain in the austerity years, a brilliant satire of British politics, and a laugh aloud funny plot about what would happen if a small part of London discovered it was really part of medieval Burgundy. With the immortal Dame Margeret Rutherford, at her jowl juddering best. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

In this extremely grim comedy, Michael Caine plays a ne'er-do-well who never does good. The rakish Alfie moves from woman to woman with the emotional maturity of Bill Clinton, and even less morality. Alternately talking up to the camera and talking down to his sexual conquests, Alfie maneuvers through the minefield of emotions by remaining aloof, until of course, he is left alone. A fine performance by Shelley Winters as the wealthy woman Alfie seeks to court rounds out this well-aimed attack on the lady's man lifestyle. Nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award. --James DiGiovanna ... Read more

Reviews (21)

ALFIE!
Altoghter now..."What's it all about...ALFIE?" This 1966 film directed by LEWIS GILBERT stars MICHAEL CAINE as Alfie, a wonderfully shallow WOMANIZER who is trying to figure out what life is, well, all about! Actually this is an excellent SATIRE of the SWINGING SCENE in England in the SIXTIES! Also featuring SHELLEY WINTERS and DENHOLM ELLIOTT, along with MILLICENT MARTIN, JULIA FOSTER and JANE ASHER as the women left in Alfie's WAKE! Unfortunately, there are NO EXTRAS besides the trailer on this DVD, because this film deserves more than the bare minimum treatment!

The Movie That Launched Michael Caine
Most huge movie stars have a movie which launched them onto a bigger career path where they never had to look back again. "Alfie" was that movie for Michael Caine just as the "The Graduate" did it for Dustin Hoffman in that same '60s era. Caine plays a Cockney philanderer who flits from woman to woman in one night stands. He is not attractive necessarily though to female viewers who will find his lower class bent offputting. His lifestyle will come off as tawdry at best to many of these viewers. Caine's brilliance in this role though is that his way of talking to you the viewer, speaking directly into the camera conversationally throughout the movie, draws you into the character of Alfie, wanting to know what makes him the way he is. ("What's It All About, Alfie?" was its famous song and is the question which occupies the viewer.) Although you do not sympathize with Alfie, you come to be fascinated by him. Shelly Winters also renders a noteworthy performance as a well-to-do woman Alfie dallies with for her money. I've read that Michael Caine himself in real life comes from origins similar to Alfie's and that the Cockney voice he uses throughout was the dialect he grew up with as a boy.

A pointless grim tradgedy, No comedy here. A waste.
Just as the pseudo protagonist wastes his life and those around him, he spreads the misery to the audience. To spend 2 hours with a man that refers to woman as an "it" rather than she wastes 2 hours of your own life. The good performances only serve to highlight the bad writing of the flick.

The enduring sport of pursuing the tenderest prey
Alfie is the quintessential cad. He's so charming and good-looking that foolish birds flutter about him as soon as he speaks. Very few actors have the charisma to effectively pull this kind of magentism off. Michael Caine makes trashing the dreams of his conquests into a veritable science. He knows he doesn't want to have to work for anything these hungry gals will eagerly do for him. He gets good as long as the getting's good--and then he gets out. Of course, this film doesn't let him flit about. He faces danger, terror, and the hurtful side of human existence he's been so desperate to stave off. It gets him like it gets all of us eventually. It is this development that lends Alfie a dash of wisdom to go along with his easy manners and flashy grin. Of course he always had it. It just wasn't useful before. In other words, suffering has allowed him to actually feel like a person. Still, there is no doubt that he's going to give it another go as soon as he sees one he fancies. He isn't reformed. He just went through a rough patch. Birds are his game. Nice suits, decent food, a bit of money. He doesn't have to ever grow up and take responsibility for anything as long as he plays the game the right way. He'll never have to face his Self and what he is really worth. What it means to be alone with nothing to solve it. He's already accepted the emptiness of what he does. His coldness. His fear of their pain. He'll says he's not a wolf, but he devours them just as ravenously as if they were his prey--discarding their carcasses as soon as he's sated his appetite on their white, quivering flesh. Some men were born to be so loved because of not despite their abject cruelty. It is a gift, perhaps.

Vivien Merchant ("The Maids", "Accident", "Frenzy") radiates prim carnality as Lily. She is easily the most "proper" lady in the film--and subsequently saddled with a sick husband and three kids. She's too much for Alfie--and far too hungry. Shelley Winters is a scream as the hostess with the mostest. She commands the screen with as much veracity as Caine. Her fangs prove to be a bit too much for Alfie once they are bared. Denholm Elliot as the abortionist has a few minutes of screentime--but he makes the most of them with a solid, commanding turn.

This is exquisite entertainment. It gets terribly dark in places but such is life. 5/5.

Overall, a fine film.

'Alfie' is one of the best British 60's films
Michael Caine plays the title role to perfection. Alfie is an attractive, sexy, but shallow and obnoxious playboy who goes about his business of womanizing while frequently turning to address the audience with his views, philosophies, justifications, etc., so that you get a sense of shadowing him like an invisible imaginary friend he's always talking to. He has very little respect for women and he's every mother's nightmare of the type of fellow she would not want her daughter involved with. Some may find the film disturbing because Alfie is such a rotten person, but the unfortunate fact is, he is realistic. Almost everyone has known men who behave just like him, just as everyone has known wonderful 'nice guys' like several of the male characters who appear in contrast to Alfie's type.

Alfie seems to be in a constant battle with himself to remain insensitive, uncaring, and focused only on an 'empty sex is everything' point of view. He carries on affairs with married women who yearn to run away with him, and at the same time with single girls who'd do anything to pry a commitment from him, and he makes a few people pregnant along the way. Every female he meets is desperate to get him for a serious partner and he is indifferent to them all. Irony comes when he meets and finally falls for someone, at last wishing to commit himself. The object of his desire is a flashy, worldly older woman (Shelley Winters), and the problem is, she is a female replica of himself who uses men and views them with the exact same disregard he has for women. To her, Alfie, 'the bloke all the other gals are dying for', is just another meaningless piece of sexual action, and thus, he ends up getting a good dose of his own medicine.

The DVD is beautifully clear, almost 3-dimensional. I've never seen it with such clarity! And yes, as someone asked below, the great hit song 'Alfie', sung by Cher, is indeed played with the end credits. I've heard that the British release of the film had it sung by Cilla Black, but the American DVD has Cher's version, as did the American theatres. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Best movie ever
My roommate and I watched this movie at four in the morning one night and absolutely loved it. The baby was so adorable and Warren Beatty was hilarious. I could watch this movie over and over again and never get sick of it. I recommend this movie to all insomniacs and cheesy-but-good movie lovers.

Great!
This movie is one of my favorites! What the guy does to get the girl is just hilarious! A must-see, especially for Warren Beatty fans. You won't be disappointed. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Joan Crawford's Second To Last British "Horror", Film
"Berserk!", always comes in for a great deal of flak along with Joan Crawford's last film made two years later "Trog". Certainly they couldn't even begin to compare to the efforts from Joan's glory days at MGM, and Warner Bros. When titles such as "Grand Hotel", "The Women", "Mildred Pierce", "Possessed", and "Sudden Fear", come to mind these later British thriller/horror efforts from the late 1960's definately look poor indeed. However I always believe that "Berserk!" is an enjoyable outing to watch and Joan Crawford, being the real pro that she always was gives this little effort her absolute all like she still was starring at MGM.

In "Berserk!" also known by its English title "Circus of Blood", Crawford plays Monica Rivers the owner and mistress of ceremonies of a travelling circus. She is a woman hardened by the school of hard knocks common in circus life where beneath the fun and the bright costumes there exists a hard and cold existence. Monica rules the circus with a firm hand and always with an eye on increasing her profit margin on the acts she has perform at the circus. When a series of fatal accidents begin occuring during the performances Monica sees that behind these tragedies is a way to increase publicity for the circus. The rest of the circus performers become very scared with what is going on among them when it is revealed that the fall suffered by Gasper the Great from the tightrope was no accident and that his line had actually been cut. Monica comes into direct conflict with her business manager/sometime lover Dorando (Michael Gough) over how to handle the investigation into the "accidents". When he wants out from the circus Monica refuses and Dorando also finds himself jealous of Monica's attraction to much younger replacement Trapeze artist Frank Hawkins (Ty Hardin) who has turned up at the circus looking for work, replaces the deceased Gasper in the show and worms his way into Monica's affections. Shortly Dorando is also found murdered in the Big Top further scaring the circus performers, in particular the brassy Matilda (Diana Dors), who is one half of an act where she is sawn in half. She blames Monica for the murders but before she can prove anything she too dies while performing. To complicate matters for Monica her unruly young daughter Angela suddenly turns up at the circus having left her school. She joins the knife throwing act. Monica's romance with Frank however runs into rough seas when he begins blackmailing her for a share of the circus profits and then he too finds a stray knife in his back while he is performing on the high wire. After an investigation by Scotland Yards Superintendant Brooks (Robert Hardy) it is revealed that Angela is the murderer and has long harboured an insane hatred of her mother after years of neglect. To get her total attention Angela has been "removing" those that take up her mothers time. Finally losing the last of her sanity Angela attempts to kill Monica however she herself is struck down by lightening outside the Big Top and dies in the rain.

Vintage melodrama perhaps but "Berserk!", has a whole series of talented British performers to create interest in a fairly ordinary story. Michael Gough as Monica's tired business associate has a wonderful rapport with Joan Crawford and his few scenes in the first part of the story are very well acted. Diana Dors, just starting to move out of her earlier glamour girl roles that often hid the fact that she was a very fine actress is excellent as the cheap, tarty circus performer who meets a grisly end under a cutting saw. Judy Geeson in her first film role is effective as the young daughter who is finally revealed as the villianess of the piece. Her innocent playing of her part is well enough done to create the right suspense when all is revealed at the end. Joan Crawford of course is the focal point of "Berserk!". In the first of her two Herman Cohen British based movies, Joan has often been accused of having no judgement in excepting this low budget feature. However as she said in a number of interviews, she quote, "wanted to remain a working actress, not just an ex performer plugging softdrinks (Pepsi)" unquote. In the absense of any better roles being offered to her "Berserk!" at least kept her in the limelight. The rich colour and great circus atmosphere of the film is well done and although not totally exciting there were far worse films made in that decade both before and after "Berserk!". Joan certainly looks the part of a glamourous ringmistress.Even in such a low budget production long after her great years of stardom Joan still showed that she was a true star in the old meaning of the word by insisting that famed costume designer Edith Head be especially hired to create her sensational two piece leotard outfit that she wears throughout the picture.

While far from the best horror circus thriller you will see "Berserk!" is not the total mess that alot of people make it out to be. I enjoy it for the lively later day Joan Crawford performance is contains but also because of the fact that no matter how cheap the production was Joan tackled it with the same commitment and seriousness that she did her great productions from earlier decades. "Berserk!", is a good little mystery to spend 90 minutes with. Enjoy

Better than I expected
I was half expecting this video to be yet another horrible anime, but it surprised me. It was quite actually fairly well done. The animation isn't all that great and consists of a lot of comic book style freeze frames. A lot of the blood spatter effects look really stupid too. The fact that it has subtitles allows for better dialogue and takes away the chance of some American "dubber" to ruin the film. Plot wise, the story begins in the "present day" I guess and then goes back into a long series of flashbacks, which will explain everything up to said present day. Aside from the frist episode, which appears to make little sense, the plot for Berserk is very well crafted and fast paced. It is the story of an orphan boy who is raised a mercenary and becomes a reknown warrior fighting for an army called the Band of the Hawk, led by the white hawk, Griffin. This first video basically shows Guts' (the main character's) first few years and battles with the Band of the Hawk, but ends before anything else can happen. This isn't the best anime I've ever seen, but it's enjoyable and worth seeing.

NOT THE JOAN CRAWFORD MOVIE OF THE SAME TITLE
Some of the reviews of this movie seem to be about the film that Joan Crawford starred in. This is not that film, but another with the same title.

This series just keeps getting better and better!
Berserk hasn't let me down yet and these set of episodes are a great. Gutts is thinking about leaving the Hawks!!! Yikes!
Also the violence has gotten a bit stronger lately.

Caska is getting mixed feelings towards the two and the Band of Hawk are soon to meet there fate. I don't want to spoil anything for the people who haven't seen these episodes But I will tell you that they are great. This is why I love this series. It has everything. Drama, Violence and lots of it, the story it self is great, though these are pretty much flash backs.

Still it is a must have for any fan that likes sword and sorcer with lots of violence and a really good story.

I can't wait for DVD 5.

This series is getting better by the minute!

Later...

Be warned, after this one there is no going back
As this series progresses we dive deeper and deeper into the motivations, fears and inner demons of the main characters. The episodes in this disc show two opposing pictures. On one side the happiness and joy from the ascent of Griffith and the Band of Hawks as heroes of Midland due to their success in the challenges they have faced so far. On the other hand, the pain and despair Guts and Caska show because they do not see their path as clearly as before. The reasons behind this uncertainty are different. Guts is bothered by not having a personal goal, but just the one he borrowed from Griffith instead. Caska suffers because she has mixed loyalties between Guts and Griffith, something that had never happened before.

In the first episode of this installment we find Guts fighting by himself against one hundred men of the Chuder army trying to give Caska time to run away to safety. However, Caska has been reached by her pursuers and is facing a tough situation. The rest of the action has mostly to do with the decisive battle between Chuder and Midland. The White Knights, Midland's leading battalion has been defeated, and the only hope left is for the Band of Hawks to beat the Purple Rhino Knights in a battle for the control of Doldrey, a key fortification. The Hawks are facing their toughest challenge yet, fighting against a well-armed opponent, going against a fort that is impeccably placed in terms of war strategy. As an added attraction, the governor of Chuder in Doldrey is the man that had a relationship with Griffith a few years back.

I am very pleased with Berserk, not only because I like the storyline and the action, but also because the characters are completely mesmerizing. I thought it would be extremely hard, even almost impossible, to develop three-dimensional characters in the anime genre, but the creators of Berserk have succeeded. Finally, a warning for those of you who are getting one DVD at a time, the end of the last episode in this set will leave you biting your fingernails, so make sure that you will be able to keep going soon! ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Joan Crawford's Second To Last British "Horror", Film
"Berserk!", always comes in for a great deal of flak along with Joan Crawford's last film made two years later "Trog". Certainly they couldn't even begin to compare to the efforts from Joan's glory days at MGM, and Warner Bros. When titles such as "Grand Hotel", "The Women", "Mildred Pierce", "Possessed", and "Sudden Fear", come to mind these later British thriller/horror efforts from the late 1960's definately look poor indeed. However I always believe that "Berserk!" is an enjoyable outing to watch and Joan Crawford, being the real pro that she always was gives this little effort her absolute all like she still was starring at MGM.

In "Berserk!" also known by its English title "Circus of Blood", Crawford plays Monica Rivers the owner and mistress of ceremonies of a travelling circus. She is a woman hardened by the school of hard knocks common in circus life where beneath the fun and the bright costumes there exists a hard and cold existence. Monica rules the circus with a firm hand and always with an eye on increasing her profit margin on the acts she has perform at the circus. When a series of fatal accidents begin occuring during the performances Monica sees that behind these tragedies is a way to increase publicity for the circus. The rest of the circus performers become very scared with what is going on among them when it is revealed that the fall suffered by Gasper the Great from the tightrope was no accident and that his line had actually been cut. Monica comes into direct conflict with her business manager/sometime lover Dorando (Michael Gough) over how to handle the investigation into the "accidents". When he wants out from the circus Monica refuses and Dorando also finds himself jealous of Monica's attraction to much younger replacement Trapeze artist Frank Hawkins (Ty Hardin) who has turned up at the circus looking for work, replaces the deceased Gasper in the show and worms his way into Monica's affections. Shortly Dorando is also found murdered in the Big Top further scaring the circus performers, in particular the brassy Matilda (Diana Dors), who is one half of an act where she is sawn in half. She blames Monica for the murders but before she can prove anything she too dies while performing. To complicate matters for Monica her unruly young daughter Angela suddenly turns up at the circus having left her school. She joins the knife throwing act. Monica's romance with Frank however runs into rough seas when he begins blackmailing her for a share of the circus profits and then he too finds a stray knife in his back while he is performing on the high wire. After an investigation by Scotland Yards Superintendant Brooks (Robert Hardy) it is revealed that Angela is the murderer and has long harboured an insane hatred of her mother after years of neglect. To get her total attention Angela has been "removing" those that take up her mothers time. Finally losing the last of her sanity Angela attempts to kill Monica however she herself is struck down by lightening outside the Big Top and dies in the rain.

Vintage melodrama perhaps but "Berserk!", has a whole series of talented British performers to create interest in a fairly ordinary story. Michael Gough as Monica's tired business associate has a wonderful rapport with Joan Crawford and his few scenes in the first part of the story are very well acted. Diana Dors, just starting to move out of her earlier glamour girl roles that often hid the fact that she was a very fine actress is excellent as the cheap, tarty circus performer who meets a grisly end under a cutting saw. Judy Geeson in her first film role is effective as the young daughter who is finally revealed as the villianess of the piece. Her innocent playing of her part is well enough done to create the right suspense when all is revealed at the end. Joan Crawford of course is the focal point of "Berserk!". In the first of her two Herman Cohen British based movies, Joan has often been accused of having no judgement in excepting this low budget feature. However as she said in a number of interviews, she quote, "wanted to remain a working actress, not just an ex performer plugging softdrinks (Pepsi)" unquote. In the absense of any better roles being offered to her "Berserk!" at least kept her in the limelight. The rich colour and great circus atmosphere of the film is well done and although not totally exciting there were far worse films made in that decade both before and after "Berserk!". Joan certainly looks the part of a glamourous ringmistress.Even in such a low budget production long after her great years of stardom Joan still showed that she was a true star in the old meaning of the word by insisting that famed costume designer Edith Head be especially hired to create her sensational two piece leotard outfit that she wears throughout the picture.

While far from the best horror circus thriller you will see "Berserk!" is not the total mess that alot of people make it out to be. I enjoy it for the lively later day Joan Crawford performance is contains but also because of the fact that no matter how cheap the production was Joan tackled it with the same commitment and seriousness that she did her great productions from earlier decades. "Berserk!", is a good little mystery to spend 90 minutes