Bob Rafelson's widescreen, epic re-staging of the quest for the source of the Nile River is a challenging, often violent adventure, filled with dynamic action, exotic scenery, and striking contrasts between 'civilized' 19th Century England and the 'savage' wilderness of uncharted Africa. The script needs several clumsy, expository scenes to set up the characters of explorers Richard Francis Burton and John Speke, coming to full-blooded life only after beginning their journey into the Dark Continent. But is it primarily an adventure film, a story of professional kinship and rivalry (with suggestions of homosexual obsession), or a criticism of British chauvinism abroad? A little of all three is not enough of each. The overstated, blockbuster music score and a romantic subplot are liabilities, but overall the film is a throwback to an earlier era of wide screen entertainment, showing the shady politics, misplaced pride, and mortal folly of scientific exploration in an earlier century.
Review of Mountains of the Moon
