grantss
Sean Mercer (played by John Wayne) runs a business in East Africa. He and his team capture wild animals for zoos. It is dangerous work - on of his men almost dies after being gored by a rhino. He accepts a request from a photographer to join his business and capture their experiences but is very surprised, and bit inconvenienced, when the photographer turns out to be a woman. However, over time he grows fond of her. Meanwhile, plans to capture certain animals lead to all sorts of plans and adventures.Pretty much John Wayne on safari, with a romantic twist or two, and it works pretty well. Plot development is largely fairly conventional, though the setting is very original, and stunning. However, the movie is reasonably funny, the adventures are quite entertaining and there is a decent degree of engagement with the characters. Some cute moments with the animals too, especially the baby elephants. On that note, the movie gave the world the famous "Baby Elephant Walk" by Henry Mancini.The romantic side of the movie had the potential to weigh it down and turn it into a plodding, schmaltzy mess. Fortunately, however, the romance isn't overwrought and is kept to the minimum.Probably the best thing about the movie is that it is set in colonial Africa and has as its main characters people who hunt animals (for capture). This is bound to freak out modern-day history revisionists, social justice warrior trolls and similar morons. And if they're unhappy, I'm happy.
ironhorse_iv
This movie directed by Howard Hawks hasn't aged well, since it came out in 1962. Shot in Technicolor and filmed on location in northern Tanganyika in what is now Tanzania. The story didn't have that epic 'Call to Adventure' feel that it should had. I think, it hurt that director Howard Hawks decided not to use a plot for the movie, instead letting the characters develop and tying it together with Book Ends. The movie plays more like a romantic comedy, than an adventure movie. Most of the film, has John Wayne's animal dealer character, Sean Mercer trying to fight off the sexual advance coming from newbie, animal photographer, Maria D'Alessandro AKA Dallas (Elsa Martinelli) and her non-stop nagging. It's seem a bit odd, for the movie to have a romantic pairing of then, 27-year-old Martinelli with Wayne, a man twice her age. It's also a bit jarring that her character falls immediately attracted to Sean, despite the fact that he treats her brusquely and distrusts her. The love story gets a little creepy, when Sean Mercer find out that other men, are fighting over, Brady de la Court (Michèle Girardon), a colleague's now adult, daughter. After all, most of these men, help raise her. The European actresses that play them were the worst. They come across as very annoying. The rest of the cast are a mixed bag, in acting. Hardy Kruger as Kurt, the German driver, and Chips (Gérard Blain), the French straight shooter, sounds and look like villains, than heroes with their think European accents. Red Buttons as Pockets, the team joker, was pretty fun to watch. I still don't buy him, as a rocket scientist. Not one bit. The sequence with the rocket to capture monkeys is a bit, out-there and comes out of nowhere. Other characters like Luis Francisco Garcia Lopez (Valentin de Vargas) are pretty forgettable. I really forgot that he was in the film. John Wayne was alright as the main lead. It's pretty believable, that he would go to Africa, and go on Safari missions. I just wish, they didn't tied him up, most of the time, with these tiresome romance sub-plots. I was really hoping for more powerful drama and adventure. Something like 1966's Born Free, or 1952's The Snows of Kilimanjaro. Don't get me wrong, the movie does have some good action sequences with real life animals. Call me, nostalgia, but it's just nice to see animals being part of the film, rather than CGI creatures. Hatari is so fascinating to watch, because of that. It's nice to see the big name movie stars work with truly wild animals. It's funny in a way that some scenes had be redubbed to cover up Wayne's swearing at them. It was beautiful shot. Much of the film revolves John Wayne's team, chasing wildlife in jeeps and trucks across the African plains, roping and capturing animals for zoos & circuses. The way that they drive full blast through herds of animal in top speed was intense and somewhat dangerous. The way, the movie shot the chase with the rhino has influence filmmakers for years to come. A good example of this film, influence art is 1993's Jurassic Park. The car chase with the T-Rex kinda mirrors the Rhino scene in this film. One of the lamest action sequences in the film, had to be the scene where Chips shoots a crocodile that is threatening Kurt. The crocodile was just stock footage, and you never once, see the creature on screen with the main actors. As far as we know of, no animals or people were seriously injured, during filming, but there has been stories leak of random animal attacks, such as leopards. While, the movie characters are not, technically poachers, since, they're hunting during the season. There is a lot of things about this movie that today's society might find offensive or look down upon. After all, this movie portrays, an activity that is now, deem illegal in most Africa countries; which is wildlife catching. This procedure is banned today over concerns of exhausting and killing the targeted animals. I can see why, there was a lot of scenes of wildlife animals getting significant disturbances in their natural habitats. The rhino in the end, looks like he was so much pain, and about to pass out. It was a bit disturbing! While, I'm definitely not an animal-rights activist or part of PETA, I see these acts of 'animal-kidnapping' kinda cruel, because it can often affect hunting, breeding and feeding patterns of the animal herd that the wildlife hunters took members from. Thank god, that most zoos, today, only take animals that are injured or neglected. Most of the animals in zoos, are often from breeding or SSP (Species Survival Plan) programs. So you really can't make a movie, like this, today, without some kind of protest. While, I find this movie kinda upsetting, Hatari does have some good scenes with animals that I love. All of the scenes with the three baby elephants was very charming and cute. Even, if you never heard of the movie, Hatari, you probably heard of that famous whimsical tune from by Henry Mancini "Baby Elephant Walk" that came from this film. Another memorable musical moment is jazz duet of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home" (Swanee River). Henry Mancini did a good job with the score. While, the music didn't sound anything, close to epic, it did capture the lifestyle of the 1960s where everybody smokes and drink way too much. I just wish, more of a John Barry's Born Free, type of a feel. The humor is a bit dated and cheesy. There were some really funny moments that I kinda like, but some were a bit politically incorrect, such as the black face scene. Overall: Hatari is fun movie with some cool animals and beautiful scenery. It's one rare movie that need to be watch. At least, once.
