The Wind and the Lion on DVD

Director John Milius has an illustrious if checkered career. As a screenwriter he co-wrote Francis Coppola’s masterpiece Apocalypse Now, as well as Clint Eastwood’s Magnum Force and others, and besides this feature he directed Conan the Barbarian, Red Dawn and Farewell to the King.

That’s only a quick look at his multifaceted career – and even if he had only had a hand in Apocalypse Now he’d be worthy of going down in Hollywood history.

But his The Wind and the Lion could be his finest career moment. It’s an epic film, and a dandy adventure. Too bad more people don't know about it.

The story is based on real life: in 1904, an American woman (Candice Bergen) and her two children are kidnapped by a Berber tribe, setting off an international incident that was ended courtesy of US president Theodore Roosevelt's policy of walking softly and carrying a big stick. As such, considering things that have happened in the world since this movie was released, it's probably more timely now, at the beginning of 2004 when this review is written, than it was in 1975.

Sean Connery co-stars as the Berber chieftan behind the kidnapping. He’s a man who lives by what appears to be a peculiarly middle Eastern code of honor and ethics. Connery's very good, though it’s hard to get around the Scottish brogue coming from a Berber leader, playing a larger than life role that undoubtedly helped propel his career away from the James Bond persona: this guy is more like one of Bond’s adversaries.

Brian Keith is terrific as Teddy Roosevelt, a man about whom this reviewer knew little but about whom he’d now like to learn more (he seems like my kind of president – just like George W. Bush). And John Huston is fine as he comes along for the ride as Roosevelt advisor John Hay.

The film has that old fashioned epic look and feel, kind of reminiscent of Lawrence of Arabia, in a sweeping way that would probably be done digitally today (to the film’s detriment).

Yet the movie doesn’t really take itself seriously despite the seriousness of the subject matter. We have the makings of a world war here, some ten years before the real World War One, and it’s fascinating to see a little well-placed American chutzpah bring a potentially escalating international incident back to earth.

And while the kidnapped woman does find respect for her captor, it isn’t a case of the “Stockholm syndrome” where she adopts his cause and ends up fighting for what had earlier been her enemy. She does fight for him, but not for his cause.

Indeed, there’s a lot to like in this movie. It’s not only a fascinating story, it has a nice, swaggering attitude to it, interesting characters, and good action scenes. In the end, it may not be on the scale of Lawrence of Arabia, but what is?

It’s a pretty good DVD, too. The picture is presented in anamorphic widescreen, 16x9 TV compatible, and while there are some grainy shots for the most part the picture is very good. Colors are wonderful and the sharpness and contrast are generally first rate.

Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, supposedly, and it’s also pretty good. Your subwoofer won’t get much of a workout, and there isn’t a lot of surround, but the front three channels are used very well. One small complaint, which shows the movie wasn’t remixed for DVD, is that sometimes the dialogue will swing from left or right speaker to the center, giving a “ghost image” that drifts off the TV screen despite the actors’ remaining on the screen. This isn’t a big deal, though and if your main speakers are close to your TV you may not even notice it.

And there are extras. First up is a commentary track with writer/director Milius (though we wish Connery and even Bergen were there as well), and there’s a short “making of” featurette that’s pretty lightweight. You also get the theatrical trailer.

The Wind and the Lion is one of those widescreen epics that went out of favor until digital filmmaking made it affordable again. We like it a lot.

The Wind and the Lion, from Warner Home Entertainment
119 min. anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1, 16x9 TV compatible), Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith, John Huston
Produced by Herb Jaffee
Written and Directed by John Milius.

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