blwilmeth
I just watched a "sanitized" version of Dark of the Sun on TCM. It is still a COMPELLING movie that moves along just fast enough to keep me spellbound. Very good sound track, also. Problems, however, include: Jim Brown's character and his seemingly naive devotion to the political outcome in the Congo; Curry is just a little bit bigger than life and the German is a little too Nazi; it all works out in the end, albeit with plenty of dead bodies and sadness.In my opinion, this movie is well deserving of nine stars. In war, there are seldom any good guys (at least, none who want to talk about it). Notwithstanding the moral and ethical ambiguities throughout the film, this is the kind of stuff upon which I was raised. I would like to think that movies like this one taught me that there is almost always a less bad route, if not a clearly better route.
Uriah43
During the "Congo Crisis" of the early 60's the town of Port Reprieve is cut off by rebel Simbas and a mercenary by the name of "Captain Bruce Curry" (Rod Taylor) is hired to take a small train and rescue the Europeans trapped there. But more importantly there is a cache of diamonds worth about $50 million which the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo wants even more. With Captain Curry is a trusted friend by the name of "Sergeant Ruffo" (Jim Brown) who advises him to take an ex-Nazi by the name of "Captain Henlein" (Peter Carsten) with them even though Captain Curry doesn't care for him at all. Along the way they pick up a young woman by the name of "Claire" (Yvette Mimieux) whose father has just been killed by the rebel Simbas. At any rate, rather than going over the entire story and risk spoiling the movie for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a pretty decent film for the most part. It boasts lots of action and good acting all around. One thing I should mention however is that there is one particular scene which is quite graphic in case any viewers might need to know. Be that as it may, this was a very entertaining movie and I rate it as above average.
AaronCapenBanner
Jack Cardiff directed this hard-hitting & sharp-edged action adventure that stars Rod Taylor as mercenary Captain Curry, who is hired to travel to the Congo to retrieve a bunch of priceless uncut diamonds. Trouble is, the area is besieged by revolution and inhumane conditions, requiring the evacuation of all westerners from a fate worse than inevitable death. One of them, a beautiful woman named Claire(former "The Time Machine" costar Yvette Mimieux) will become involved with Curry, whose steely will is tested by an unexpected loss, pushing him close to the edge of savagery... Highly exciting and at times harrowing film is not always easy to sit through, but any objections are overlooked because of the skill and boldness of the storytelling displayed here.
condo949
The movie was well cast with tough Australian born Rod Taylor as the mercenary Captain Curry. Dressed appropriately in his Congo Auxiliary forces uniform right down to the rolex watch so common to special forces personnel in (at that time-late 60's) the Vietnam era. The action is good but sporadic. The conflict over the mission, what each character represented, and the ending are too diverse. The distractions with respect to asides within the movie were not necessary and made the film longer than necessary. The movie would have been better if they did not change the ending used in the Wilbur Smith novel. In the novel (as I recall) Capt. Curry and the the girl (Claire) went to live in Paris with some of the diamonds they recovered.
AD
