Burn!
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Movie Reviews of Burn!
Movie Review: historic bloodbath with tropical flair
Summary: 4 Stars
Had to wipe the blood off the TV screen twice. Marlon Brando must have fallen in love with the tropics and paid for his own island with this movie... Being Brando I suppose he was able to afford the nudity and eroticism this slave/serf movie engendered/depicted.Movie Review: Not uncut.
Summary: 4 Stars
It seems that this version has been edited somewhat with parts having been cut from it.....not the type any collector would prefer.Movie Review: "If a man gives you freedom, it is not freedom. Freedom is something you take for yourself."
Summary: 3 Stars
Marlon Brando's involvement in the making of "Burn" came about directly as the result of his politician idealism and his desire to make films with a comment on the human situation... In 1968 he was deeply concerned in supporting civil rights causes, particularly those to have reference to black and Indian conditions, and, according to his friends, he was greatly disturbed and depressed by the assassination of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King...
"Burn" begins in 1845 as Sir William Walker (Brando) arrives on the island of Queimada, truly as far as can be judged as a harmless traveler but actually an agent of the British government ordered to incite a revolution that will shatter the Portuguese control on the island and permit the British to put their hand on the valuable sugar-cane total product... Queimada has a population of two hundred thousand, of whom only five thousand are Europeans...The main town is a well-protected port with a fort and a garrison, a governor's palace, a cathedral, a bank, a hotel and a brothel...
The English gentleman recognizes he must play the part of a political Pygmalion... He looks around for a suitable subject to train as a revolutionary and he selects José Dolores (Evaristo Marquez), a large, handsome black dock-worker with an air of confidence... Walker also recruits Teddy Sanchez (Renato Salvatori), an almost-white clerk with political ambitions... Walker persuades José Dolores to steal the bank of the island, and once he does, Walker reveals his name to the government, thereby turning Dolores into a hunted bandit... The ingenious Walker then teaches Dolores and his followers in the use of firearms and gradually absorbs in them ideas and feelings to overthrow the Portuguese government...
The film is quite obviously political in tone, and is a passionate piece of propaganda in the anti-colonial struggle... Brando's interpretation of Sir William Walker is apt to call up memories of his Fletcher Christian... This is another Englishman, whose gentle speech and soft manners disguise with courage and determination...Walker is not a villain but a cold, inflexible pragmatist with a hard work to accomplish...
Movie Review: Burn! The Definitive Word
Summary: 3 Stars
The 132 minute version on DVD is not a reality to my knowledge, even the Italian DVD is slightly truncated at 124 minutes.
This DVD is however, the version that most Americans know, and it is perhaps a worthy version onto its own, apart from the 134 minute version. Unfortunately, this DVD is not in its original aspect ratio, but rather pan and scan/fullscreen.
Burn! was released by Criterion Collection on the laserdisc format way back in 1991 in it's American 112 minute version in widescreen original aspect ratio. To my knowledge, this remains the definitive version of Burn!.
Hopefully, we will see a DVD with both the American version, Burn!, and original version, Queimada in their original aspect ratio soon. This DVD is not acceptable unfortunately for fans, but for those who have not seen Burn!, I must recommend watching this DVD for the sheer quality of the film. Not to be missed.
Movie Review: Widescreen Fraud
Summary: 3 Stars
Were it possible to sue MGM for the breaching the trade descriptions acts, I would promptly do so. The box states that this is a 1.66:1 widescreen DVD. However, this is clearly NOT the original aspect ratio of the negative. Anyone looking at the framing, with even a passing awareness of composition, colour, and perspective, can easily see that this is a 1.85:1 negative strangely cropped, or pan and scanned, to 1.66:1.
One wonders why they don't have the sense or means to release the correct aspect ratio, or even the recently restored full length version, rather than this inferior version!!!???
I've given it 3 out of 5 because it's a wonderful movie. I would have made it 5, had MGM given it some care and attention. Let's hope that more intelligent distributors like Criterion get a chance to release a better version, and give this fantastic film the respect it deserves.