While it is a long way from a terrible film, 'The Sea Wolves' was a disappointment considering the talented cast and that the story could have been a really good one if executed well.
Starting with the good things about it, the best asset of 'The Sea Wolves' is the climax, which is sheer rousing excitement and the most riveting 'The Sea Wolves' gets. The locations also are quite nice and evoke a sense of atmosphere, the most professional the film looks by quite some margin. The direction has occasional verve, particularly towards in the climax and the build up to it.
A couple of the performances are good. Best of the bunch is David Niven, who brings understated dignity to his role, while Patrick MacNee has fun with his and Barbara Kellerman is a gorgeously sensual but appropriately dangerous femme fatale.
On the other hand, Gregory Peck (so brilliant in the likes of 'Roman Holiday' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird') is robotic and sleepwalks through his role. Roger Moore both over-compensates and slums it, trying too hard to be suave and such but coming over as cheesy and Trevor Howard's screen time is too short with a character that's severely underwritten and the dialogue awkward (a waste).
Visually, only the locations impress. The photography, like most of the direction, is pedestrian and routine, and also looking like it would be out of date even in the late 70s-early 80s. The costumes, hairstyles and make-up mostly look cheap and noticeably anachronistic to the period.
Can't say any better news about the music. The score doesn't fit at all and always at odds tonally, often setting a completely different mood to the storytelling with constant crying out for a darker edge. Even Matt Monro's marvellous singing can't stop the song (not a particularly good song to begin with) feeling so out of place and similarly ill-suited to the mood and the subject of the story.
Dialogue is long-winded and stilted and the story only comes to life in the climax. The rest is dull and severely lacking in thrills or suspense, not helped by the unnecessary spy subplots which drags the film down and convolutes it as well.
Overall, while the climax excites, the locations are nice and a few performances are good, the rest of 'The Sea Wolves' just didn't engage me. 4/10 Bethany Cox
Starting with the good things about it, the best asset of 'The Sea Wolves' is the climax, which is sheer rousing excitement and the most riveting 'The Sea Wolves' gets. The locations also are quite nice and evoke a sense of atmosphere, the most professional the film looks by quite some margin. The direction has occasional verve, particularly towards in the climax and the build up to it.
A couple of the performances are good. Best of the bunch is David Niven, who brings understated dignity to his role, while Patrick MacNee has fun with his and Barbara Kellerman is a gorgeously sensual but appropriately dangerous femme fatale.
On the other hand, Gregory Peck (so brilliant in the likes of 'Roman Holiday' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird') is robotic and sleepwalks through his role. Roger Moore both over-compensates and slums it, trying too hard to be suave and such but coming over as cheesy and Trevor Howard's screen time is too short with a character that's severely underwritten and the dialogue awkward (a waste).
Visually, only the locations impress. The photography, like most of the direction, is pedestrian and routine, and also looking like it would be out of date even in the late 70s-early 80s. The costumes, hairstyles and make-up mostly look cheap and noticeably anachronistic to the period.
Can't say any better news about the music. The score doesn't fit at all and always at odds tonally, often setting a completely different mood to the storytelling with constant crying out for a darker edge. Even Matt Monro's marvellous singing can't stop the song (not a particularly good song to begin with) feeling so out of place and similarly ill-suited to the mood and the subject of the story.
Dialogue is long-winded and stilted and the story only comes to life in the climax. The rest is dull and severely lacking in thrills or suspense, not helped by the unnecessary spy subplots which drags the film down and convolutes it as well.
Overall, while the climax excites, the locations are nice and a few performances are good, the rest of 'The Sea Wolves' just didn't engage me. 4/10 Bethany Cox