Sorry, this movie sucks

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The sets, the clothes, the paddle wheeler, the cars all help date this to exactly the mid 1930's as Dame Agatha Christie had written it. Unlike earlier and later Poirot outings, Peter Ustinov is less uptight. He truly seems to be having a good time with the role. As do the star studded cast who suffered weeks of filming in period costumes. In particular Bette Davis, David Niven, Angela Lansbury and of course Maggie Smith all have their moments to add mirth to the murder scene. This truly is a wonderful picture with a great murder mystery to tell. All the while transporting you back to a world 80+ years ago when people dressed smartly, spoke intelligently and traveled to exotic lands in luxury.

John Guillermin's "Death on the Nile" is the best adaptation that I've seen from Agatha Christie's work since watching Billy Wilder's "Witness for the Prosecution" (1957) almost 5 years ago, but the only difference between the two movies is that this one is adapted from one of her books. This movie is also the best whodunit I've seen since I don't know when. Peter Ustinov stars as a French detective named Hercule Poirot who goes on a cruise-boat for a relaxing vacation along the Nile River with an interesting group of people most of whom he hardly even knows, except for one person. The only person that Poirot knows is Col. Race (David Niven) and after a murder happens on the boat the two men would be asked to investigate this case along with two more murders. After the first murder every single passenger except two people, then after the next two murders the list of suspects gets two additions and two subtractions, then both Poirot and Case arrive at their conclusion. I was literally on the edge of my seat while watching this movie so much that I felt like I was watching people playing the board game "Clue" and I do mean that as a compliment to this movie. Anthony Shaffer's screenplay is expertly written, and John Guillermin's direction makes the movie hold the suspense all the way to the end of the movie. Jack Cardiff's cinematography is also excellent and that along with Nino Rota's score also heightens the suspense of the movie. The performances are also excellent and along with Ustinov the movie also features an excellent supporting cast including several Oscar winners along with Niven also include Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, and George Kennedy of which all of them give standout performances, as well as Oscar nominees Angela Lansbury and Jack Warden. This is one of the ten best movies of 1978, and is a riveting watch from start to finish which is why I highly recommend this movie for anyone who hasn't seen it, as well as for people who like murder mystery films.

Taking the role of Hercule Poirot (played by Albert Finney just four years earlier) and making it his own, Peter Ustinov is excellent in this Agatha Christie adaptation, capturing character's trademark indignation at being called French and fixation on his moustache while providing charisma too. The most striking aspect here is the story though. As with 'Murder on the Orient Express', Poirot is confounded by an enigmatic mystery as a much despised woman is murdered on a cruise. Again, everyone is a suspect with a motive and again it is up to Poirot to solve the murder as police intervention is impossible when travelling down the River Nile. The story admittedly does not have quite the same impact once one knows the solution. The comic relief (mostly from a wide-eyed I.S. Johar) also gets more on the nerves upon revision. In general though, the film stacks up well to revision since everything hinges on the character interactions and all concerned are in top form. There is a condescending Bette Davis whose nasty wit is only matched by her spiteful servant, played by Maggie Smith. There is also the always solid Jack Warden, here with a German accent, David Niven as dignified as ever and the list goes on. The revelation scene is also handled brilliantly. The camera never sits still as Poirot converses with the killer, unsteadily walking around the room in close-up and medium close-up, providing an air of uncertainty that sends a chill down the spine. And for a film set among such picturesque locales, 'Death on the Nile' offers a delightfully spine-tingling tale.

Peter Ustinov's first outing as Hercule Poirot in the second of the Brabourne/Goodwin series of Christie adaptations turns out to be highly entertaining. While there are some awkward moments and risible dialog - especially at the end - John Guillermin's film is redeemed by some memorable individual sequences. The interplay between Poirot and Colonel Race (David Niven) is keenly illuminated - at one point Race raises his eyebrows in exasperation as he hears the Belgian detective self-importantly describing himself as "the great Hercule Poirot." The Colonel has a rather bad time of it; earlier on in the film he is forced to dance a grotesque tango with Mrs. Salome Otterbourne (Angela Lansbury), where he desperately tries and fails to keep up with her. Poirot tries his best to be polite in the company of others, but his patience is stretched to the limit by Mrs. Otterbourne's relentless obsession with sex and sexuality. At the end of one evening he is saddled with the onerous responsibility of taking her back to her cabin, while desperately trying to stop her collapsing to the floor in a drunken stupor. Bette Davis and Maggie Smith have a fine time trading insults as an elderly American dilettante and her full-time "companion"; Davis has one especially rich line as she suggests that she should take Smith for a "cooling break" in the Gobi Desert. Jack Cardiff's memorable cinematography shows the breathtaking beauty of the Egyptian landscapes, but suggests at the same time that they can be sinister - especially in the sequence taking place at the Karnak Temple, in which Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) is quite literally placed in mortal danger. Nini Rota's memorable theme-tune gives the film a stately feel as the boat plows its inexorable progress down the Nile. Even after thirty-five years, DEATH ON THE NILE is still highly watchable as much for the quality of the performances as for Christie's convoluted tale.