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The Wind and the Lion (1975)

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No Reviews Yet...

Release Date: Jan 1, 1975 Wide

audience

70

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 4,697

My Rating

Movie Info

In the early 1900s, an American businessman was kidnapped by a rebellious Arab chieftain, principally as a means to embarrass the sultan of Morocco. This abduction sparked the threat of armed intervention by President Theodore Roosevelt, which was never carried out. In The Wind and the Lion, the unattractive male captive is replaced by the gorgeous female Mrs. Pedecaris, an American widow played by Candice Bergen. The ruthless but essentially decent Arab chief Raisuli is portrayed by Sean

PG,

Drama, Action & Adventure, Classics

Jan 6, 2004

MGM Home Entertainment

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All Critics (13) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (3) | DVD (9)

An 'incoherent text' headier than any screen Kipling adaptation

October 21, 2010 Full Review Source: CinePassion
CinePassion

A bogus history lesson that's a mixture of fact and fiction.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A kind of big-budget, all-star extravaganza the equivalent of which we really don't have today -- and for which mainstream movies are a little worse off.

August 27, 2008 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

The marriage of epic romance and the epic romanticization of brutality.

January 15, 2004 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central
Film Freak Central

Audience Reviews for The Wind and the Lion

The action is great, the dialog crackles, and how can you not live a young Candice Bergen. Also watching Sean Connery playing Mulay Achmed Mohammed el-Raisuli the Magnificent with a Scottish accent is hilarious.

But, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about all the characters. I mean this is a movie where we almost start WW1 over a girl and her two kids. It's a movie where I'm supposed to sympathize with a guy who beheads two guys almost directly after we meet him.

Still great fun. And I believe this is the first instance of blood splattering on the camera lens, to the best of my knowledge.
May 16, 2007
kenstachnik

Super Reviewer

Based on actual events, The Wind And The Lion is the story of a banished Moroccan chieftan who kidnaps an American woman and her two children in an attempt to rid his country of its occupying European forces resulting in a stand off between he and president Roosevelt. Written and directed by John Milius who was responsible for scripts as diverse as Apocalypse Now and Conan The Barbarian, this film contains his typically clever dialogue and political subtext as well as a healthy dose of rousing action. There is a satirical commentary on colonialism in general as well as America's role as self-appointed world policeman; Roosevelt is shown as a man more interested in self-aggrandisement and bluster than justice, all too ready to send in the troops to stamp his will on the rest of the world (the American's glorious "victory" is against a hugely inferior and unprepared force. Plus ca change...) His opponent is played by Sean Connery at his most charismatic, and Candice Bergen ably fills a role originally intended for Katherine Hepburn as the kidnapped woman who grows to understand the man and realises he is no savage, but an honourable and educated leader of men. Add a great supporting cast and a rousing score, it's in turns funny, clever and exciting making this adventure from the old school at it's most stirring.
October 26, 2007
garyX
xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

    1. Raisuli the Magnificent: We will all eat lamb in Paradise.
    – Submitted by Frances H (4 months ago)
    1. Raisuli the Magnificent: Mrs. Pedecaris, you're a lot of trouble.
    – Submitted by Frances H (4 months ago)
    1. Raisuli the Magnificent: [telegram] To Theodore Roosevelt: You are like the Wind and i Like the Lion. You form the tempest, The sand stings my eyes and the ground is in parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I like the Lion must remain in my place, but you like the wind, will never know yours. [signed] Mulai Ahmed Mohammed el Raisuli the Magnificent, Lord of the Rif, Sultan to the Berbers.
    – Submitted by Michael B (7 months ago)
    1. Raisuli the Magnificent: Ignorance is a steep hill with perilous rocks at the bottom.
    – Submitted by Peter W (13 months ago)
    1. Sherif: Great Raisuli, we have lost everything. All is drifting on the wind as you said. We have lost everything.
    2. Raisuli the Magnificent: Sherif, is there not one thing in your life that is worth losing everything for?
    – Submitted by Peter W (13 months ago)
    1. Eden Pedecaris: [playing chess with Raisuli] You are in a lot of trouble! You should never have moved that knight or kidnapped me - both will see you undone.
    2. Raisuli the Magnificent: It is not I who determine the outcome of these events - it is the will of Allah.
    – Submitted by Peter W (13 months ago)

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Latest News on The Wind and the Lion

November 11, 2005:
Sean Connery Earns AFI's Highest Honor
Thanks to ComingSoon.net for sharing a press release from the American Film Institute: Sir Sean...

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