Cromwell
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Movie Reviews of Cromwell
Movie Review: Cromwell medium rare with a dose of ham
Summary: 3 Stars
I have never been able to take Richard Harris seriously in anything other than "Horse." Great liberties with the actual facts of Ollie after he becomes the grand leader of England. If the marvelous things attributed to Cromwell had in fact, occurred, there would never been a need for an American Revolution.
The Oscar for costumes was richly deserved. Harris, however, should have switched roles and then we could have lopped off his noggin!
Movie Review: Excellent Production Values, Horribly Inaccurate
Summary: 2 Stars
The inaccuracies in this film are too numerous to detail. They consist not only of relatively straightforward errors of fact but more serious errors in the construction of the story, namely wholesale distortion of the chronology and roles of major figures of the period. This has been done clearly to make the story more dramatic and comprehensible. The makers of this film were well intentioned but mistaken. The English Civil War is one of the most interesting episodes in European history and if can't be presented in a straightforward fashion, nothing in human history can be. Just as bad are the crashing anachronisms in the story, especially the presentation of Cromwell as some version of a 19th century liberal driven to extreme acts by the folly of his opponents.
The production is handsome and the quality of acting quite good, especially the great Alec Guinness as Charles I and Richard Harris in the title role. The battle scenes are the best part. Since most of these engagements actually involved only a few thousand combatants, the producers were able to mimic parts of the real actions. Still, this is basically a silly movie.
Movie Review: misbegotten history & a misbegotten star
Summary: 2 Stars
this went up from one * in tribute to the neat hammy acting job from alec guiness as charles II, but otherwise its just a mess. the film called out for a screenplay by a robert bolt or a john prebble, but instead it was penned by its director kenneth hughes, who also gave us such film masterpieces as "casino royale" and "chitty chitty bang bang". richard harris is his usually unrestrained self, and thats not a compliment. now, i wont even go into the politics, which attempt to portray oliver cromwell as some sort of liberating hero: as ridiculous a take on the english civil wars as alexandre dumas's paean to charles I in "twenty years after", but nowhere near as entertaining.Movie Review: it's ok
Summary: 2 Stars
the history is interesting but the movie does not hold up as well as A Man for all Seasons or Becket.Movie Review: SO PITIFUL THAT I FEEL BAD PICKING ON IT
Summary: 1 Stars
It befuddles me how this film got an average of four stars. CROMWELL is an awful film. It is so pitiful that I feel bad picking on it but someone must speak up and tell the truth about this movie. Good acting talent (Richard Harris and Alec Guiness) is wasted on the worst possible screenplay. I think I could have written a better screenplay as could have the the bag boy at your favorite supermarket. And the history? If this was being shown to school kids in England, it's no wonder the country is socialist. I have read C.V. WEDGEWOOD'S three-volume work on the English Civil War twice so I know something about that conflict. In CROMWELL, the facts are over-simplified to the point of absudity. Charles I is portrayed as a stuttering namby-pampy bullied by his Catholic wife. Oliver Cromwell is shown as a righteous advocate for "democracy". The Cavaliers are thugs and greedy, oppressive rich; the Puritans are shown as innocent, hard-working farmers. You can see who our heros are in CROMWELL. In reality, both sides claimed the support of noblemen, craftsmen, laborers, farmers and townsmen. Also, the puritans saw pleasure and luxury as sinful and probably would have liked to impose their strict, black-and-white lifestyle on all of England. CROMWELL would have been much more interesting and truly educational if it had opted to present a balanced view of both sides. Beyond that, the characters are paper-thin and the dialogue painful. The costumes and sets seem pretty good so, for that, I'll give CROMWELL one star. Stay away from this one. Read WEDGEWOOD instead.