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RE: Dark of the Sun...

Posted by user510 on January 10, 2015 at 10:38:36:
Dark of the Sun (AKA "The Mercenaries") From a novel by Wilbur Smith.
A lesser known movie. Deservedly so. The movie deserves (maybe) a grade 'B' for its production values ...... but it contains some very striking portrayals of human behavior under dire circumstances.

Rod Taylor (Curry), Yvette Mimieux ( Claire), Jim Brown (Rufo), Peter Carsten (Nazi bad guy Henlein). Directed by Jack Cardiff.

Mercenaries hired to do a humanitarian mission; Retrieve English colonists and missionaries trapped deep in the African Congo during a violent uprising. Our 'Mercs' were hired by the sitting Congolese leader. A train is provided to transport the soldiers of fortune into the target region (deep into the Congo) and also, presumably, to transport the desperate civilians out of there. But once into the job we learn that the real objective isn't humanitarian at all, it is about retrieving a fortune in diamonds from a vault that is in danger of being captured by the rebels.

The most striking aspects of this movie are scenes that depict the most basic of survival instincts. Pure burning hatred. Greed. Revenge killing. These are some of the most vivid portrayals of such. And don't forget the Nazi bad guy. He is the one who ignites all of these base emotions.

Then, clumsily,(and this is where the movie falls down) the subject of morality weighs in. The protagonist (Rod Taylor) is confronted with his own internal sense of what is moral. And this will be difficult for a soldier of fortune such as himself. Fortunately for movie goers, all the messy blood and gore goes on. It is only after all is said and done, does the movie lapse into a sappy 'good wins over evil' kind of ending. We are, after-all civilized, are we not. (so the movie seems to suggest)

It is available on BD, unedited.

Mostly, Taylor's portrayal of Curry (the Merc officer in charge of the mission)is riveting and believable right up to the post-climactic end where everything turns to mush.

Mimieux is still lovely to look at in this movie. Her acting is reminiscent of every other movie she's been in. (Plays self acting in a movie) And it works. She plays the foil to Taylor's tough military persona.

Peter Carsten as Henlein. (AKA Nazi bad guy) You know from the get-go this guy is trouble. But Curry hires him on because he needs Henlein's skill set to complete the mission. Carsten's Henlein is a believable menace to Taylor's resolute and uncompromising Curry.

Jim Brown. Fresh out of the NFL. If you cast a blind eye toward Brown's apparent weak acting abilities you might be somewhat sold by his character. And we become sympathetic to this character's plight..especially toward the movie climax where the (metaphorical) raw meat gets tossed into the (metaphorical) grinder. This is a vividly bloody film.

Other notes:
It would have been a forgettable movie except for some exceptionally vivid killing scenes.

Taylor is pretty good here.

-Steve

PS: it is possible that way back in the seventies some of you may have seen this movie on TV. But the TV version most often seen had had its most vivid bloody scenes edited out. No fun there.