Leofwine_draca SHOUT AT THE DEVIL is the splendid adaptation of the splendid Wilbur Smith novel about a British gent and an American poacher who take on the might of the German Empire in Africa in the First World War. As expected given the source material, it's an exotic and action-packed adventure yarn, delightfully old fashioned with it.The film wins plenty of kudos for the central pairing of Roger Moore and Lee Marvin, two larger-than-life actors who make for a great combination. Moore plays a slightly more serious riff on his usual persona, while Marvin is all swagger and drunken behaviour. The film wisely uses their potential for comedy by pairing them in lots of hilarious scenes, not least the never-ending fist fight.Of course, there's a serious story buried in here too, along with one or two devastating plot twists that only Smith could have come up with. Reinhard Kolldehoff is a thoroughly despicable villain, both pompous and cruel, and the countdown-timer denouement is as exciting as it was when I read the book years ago.If you like films that celebrate good, old-fashioned derring do, Dutch courage and thoroughly caddish behaviour, then you'll be sure to enjoy this one too.

mjscarface On the whole, this is a mostly faithful adaptation of Wilbur Smith's novel and a cracking adventure story.Shortly before the outbreak of World War One, Irish poacher Flynn recruits a clueless, upper-class Englishman named Sebastian to help him steal ivory from German-occupied territory in Africa. For a while, the pair make a great team and succeed at humiliating the local German officer, Fleisher - but the fun comes to a sudden end when war is declared and Fleisher gets a chance for revenge.As others have mentioned, this is definitely a film of two halves, as much as the book was. But the rollicking pace and sweeping storyline offer all manner of scrapes and situations that the film is never less than enjoyable. Lee Marvin is thoroughly amusing as the drunken poacher who flits between immature outbursts at those around him and total inebriation. Roger Moore is also impressive as Flynn's opposite, Sebastian, whose a gentleman at first but quickly learns to toughen up as the story becomes more serious.Supporting characters are also memorable, with Fleisher a mixture of comical and nastiness. Barbara Parkins plays Flynn's daughter and Sebastian's romantic interest with fiestiness and Ian Holm is amusing as Flynn's mute assistant Mohammed.In terms of action, the film has plenty to offer; gunfights, fistfights, shipwrecks and man-eating crocs for a start. This is all edited in the same frantic style that Peter Hunt's 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' was, giving a lot of energy to the film. I also love Maurice Jarre's score for 'Shout at the Devil'; epic and tense.While 'Shout at the Devil' is a cracking yarn and I have loved it since I was little, the bad news is that no decent version currently exists on DVD. German characters (who spoke English in the film) have now been dubbed into German, which is one thing... but no subtitles(!) mean that entire scenes become useless and impossible to follow for the rest of us.There is of course the issue of running time and to be honest I can't remember if I've actually seen the full version or not (it's been a while). Some TV companies have been known to show the full version and, because of the awful DVD versions, it's a case of pot-luck that anyone sees the film as it should be (I personally have held onto a VHS recording from 1988 which is wearing very thin now).

screenman It seems incredible that the same decade which brought Star Wars to the silvery screen disgorged such unutterable tripe as this and many other 'adventure' movies. I am reminded of the similarly lavish, but equally wretched 'Ashanti' outlined elsewhere.Whatever motivated A-list actors to sign-on for such wastes of celluloid is frankly beyond this writer. They must have been very, very desperate. To be perfectly candid, Roger Moore's appearance in any movie is the kiss of death. Although extremely handsome in his youth, his entire acting career has been predicated upon an ability to raise one eyebrow. Every emotion from A to B is conveyed by this simple stratagem. His were the dog-days of James Bond. Lee Marvin on the other hand has featured in some very worthy outings, perhaps most memorably 'Paint Your Wagon' and 'The Dirty Dozen'. He has a comic streak, but he is much better when he plays it straight.The excellent Ian Holm is a throwaway, hardly recognisable blacked-up as a mute African. Everyone else just turned up for their pay-cheques.The only plausible and watchable element is the German cruiser. It looks like a very large model. But it is believably massive and appears authentic - as do its crew. The rest isn't even hokum. The childish comedy jars with the brutality and violence in a story that meanders clumsily about, as if the script itself had had too many whiffs of Lee Marvin's gin. Here is a director who simply doesn't know where he's going. There are hints of 'The African Queen', a snatch from 'The Pride & The Passion', 'Gold', and one or two other rip-offs from movies who's titles don't come readily to mind.Strangely, I have seen it 3 times, each occasion it has been shown on television when I have been laid low with a cold or the flu. Perhaps that is influencing my judgement - but not much.Compare it with any Indiana Jones movie and you will see what I mean.I have given it two stars; one for the battleship and the other because it finally comes to an end, though heaven knows it takes long enough to do that.Time for another Lemsip, I think.

bcolquho Read the book. Then see the movie. You'll be surprised. I first saw this movie on television back in the 1980s. I think it was 1981, five years after it was released in theaters, I'm not sure. That was back before cable television became popular and satellite television was NOWHERE on the horizon. This is the story of an American colonel named Flynn Patrick O'Flynn, an English poacher, named Sebastian Oldsmith, O'Flynn's hot daughter, Rosa, caught up in the heat, passion, and intrigue, of World War I. The African Queen it ain't. Oldsmith's a poacher. He hunts elephants illegally and sells the ivory overseas. O'Flynn and his daughter are American expatriates. Both men, and Rosa, live in Zanzibar, (now Tanazania,) and the three of them decide to blow up a German battle cruiser after the Germans, and their allies, the Ashanti, kill their daughter. Do they do it? I'd tell you, but then I'd have to form a firing squad and shoot you.