museumofdave There are more dazzlingly brilliant images in ten minutes of this minor epic than you'll probably find in two dozen of the current brainless hits at the top of the charts: if you want easy laughs and dopey characters, this is not your film.On the surface, Cobra Verde concerns a one-off slightly mad killer who becomes master of an African slave trade; what makes it fascinating is a series of very strange set-pieces: hundreds of half-naked female warriors with spears and red knit caps training on the beach; a daft prince staring into space while his brother in lavish gold garb drinks of out his enemy's half-skull, miles of white flag-wielding messengers stretched into green jungle reaches--its wild! This film is really not much about plot or depth of character but a mad visual adventure and on that level it succeeds in a way that is typical of Werner Herzog's mad follies--it's a macabre feast!

merklekranz Klaus Kinski in all his craziness cannot save this visually stunning, but ultimately boring movie from Werner Herzog. I have seen travel films with more substance, and there is very little meaningful dialog. This plays like a film on African customs, with Kinski just happening to be in almost every scene. The story lacks cohesion, many scenes go on for way too long, and there is zero character development other than Klaus Kinski. Though it portends to be an epic like "Aguirre" or "Fitzcarraldo", it is not even close to the entertainment value of those films. "Cobra Verde" is little more than a string of exotic visuals. - MERK

marcusfernandes My vote for COBRA VERDE was 7 out 10 because is HERZOG...That's all. It is really hard to see blonde deep blue eyes KINSKY playing a Brazilian bandit from the northeast region,Bahia or Pernanbuco,sometimes during the film it is not clear from which Brazilian state COBRA VERDE comes from.It burdens me a lot to see the bandit "jumping" from somewhere in the countryside of the Brazilian wastelands to a typical Andine village barefoot to find a strange bar-owner who speaks perfect German and then... come back again to Brazil to find Brazilian/Portuguese rich farm-owner who speaks...perfect German.There are two aspects in the film that amazed me ,the wonderful African landscapes astonishing well filmed and the historical background.There is no doubt,the last few minutes are,in my opinion,the best ever filmed.In conclusion,COBRA VERDE is the worst HERZOG i have seen until now, but...still is HERZOG.

Henry Fields "Cobra Verde" is probably the less brilliant movie that Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski made together. It's the story of a Portuguese bandit that eventually becomes the Viceroy of some African region (when Portugal had some colonies over there).This time the making of the film wasn't as chaotic as it was in "Aguirre" or "Fitzcarraldo", what let Herzog recreate himself filming the deserted landscapes and the native women, and that's precisely what spoils the movie's rhythm. It looks like Herzog fell in love so much with those African natives that he couldn't help to fill dozens of sequences with their rites and their dance (and that stuff does not contribute in anything to the story).Anyway, "Cobra Verde" is just a MUST SEE for those who really like the madman Kinski (just like I do) , because he released his temper and his anger one more time in this performing. You can never know when Kinski is gonna explode.*My rate: 6/10