Moonfleet

The trouble with this is that it's not exciting enough to be an enjoyable adventure film, but nor is the relationship between the man and boy explored enough to make it a character study of any great insight. Occasionally the story starts to head in an interesting direction, but then it just meanders off somewhere else leaving a lot of loose ends. Disappointing.

A decent adventure tale, dragged down by the lack of a compelling central character. I wish there'd been more of George Sanders. The color widescreen photography provides a few striking moments, but more often it's awash in dreary shades of brown. I also found the movie slightly confusing at times, as the relationships between some of the main characters were murky. Overall, it's passable as "brain off" entertainment, but not much more than that. Another disappointment from Lang's later career.

Solid, entertaining adventure yarn with magnificent production values and strong direction. The kid is only mildly annoying, which is better than most child actors at this time. Lean and efficient, it tells its rather straightforward but satisfying story economically. Aside from the production values, though, there's not a whole ton distinguishing it, so it's hard to rate it much higher than this.

This wasn't really Lang's type of movie. disappointing.

I don't really get the extreme esteem this has from my kumples but a beautiful picture nonetheless

The combination of its eclectic mise en scene, as well as the way Fritz Lang applies his typical bluntness and trademark shocking violence to a swashbuckling milieu that was usually outside of his purview, is thrilling only in two or three sequences, but those sequences really are terrific. I'd liken it to similarly experimental Hollywood movies from around this time like Brigadoon and Pandora and the Flying Dutchman. Its weirdness compensates for its myriad weaker qualities.

watched: 2017, 2021

Star Rating: ★★★1/2

That's a grim and pessimistic swashbuckler. It might be led by a nice lost boy with no family, but is filled with blood (one of Fox lovers is killed with no mercy on the beach after he escapes, and he doesn't look back), a ghost we don't see (we just know stories about people who recently disappeared because of him [?]), weird caves, THAT fucked up, white-eyed angel statue and extremely smart femme fatales (including the one who's married to Fox future associate and publicly seduces him).

The plot is decent and the gothic tone does make the movie pretty erie but the acting and dialogue comes across as forced most of the time. There are just too many dissappointing scenes so any promise 'Moonfleet' shows is quickly drowned.

As a Technicolor-era studio period romp, Moonfleet ticks a good few boxes with a decent story, some rousing, noisy set pieces, and a bold, over-the-top approach to drama and conflict. However, the actors seem to be the let-down, most notably Stewart Granger who is stiff as a board and hasn't a clue what purpose his character is meant to serve. Also, the many filler scenes are weak in comparison to the big spectacles. It feels like a half-hearted effort from the twilight of Lang's career.

#760

Dark and gloomy swashbuckling adventure

701

Haunting ending, with a few atmospheric moments, but not finally successful.

A reasonably fun film with a pretty exciting classic adventure story, in the vein of say Treasure Island. It's too bad the acting is rather mediocre other than George Sanders and while the colors and costumes are attractive the visuals aren't as splendid as they should be. Still, there's duel with a halberd, a strong ending and short running time to entice you.

632

Disgustingly bad.

# 627