How sad is this?

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Most of the events depicted in this movie are based upon fact. On the desiccated sands of the Sudan in 1883, 10,000 Egyptian soldiers commanded by British Colonel Hicks are massacred by warriors loyal to the fanatical Mahdi. Prime minister Gladstone dispatches General Charles Gordon(CHARLTON HESTON)to Khartoum to evacuate European nationals before they and the city's inhabitants are decimated by the Mahdi's forces. The cynical Colonel Stewart accompanies Gordon to Sudan as an aide. As the General oversees the evacuation, Colonel Stewart develops a respect for his superior officer. However, Gordon disobeys orders from London by remaining in Khartoum and fortifying the city against impending attack. As the garrison becomes increasingly constricted by a punishing siege, Gordon engages in a battle of wits with the Mahdi as he fights to save the city he has come to love.As the title suggests, the film is a depiction of the events leading up to and surrounding the siege of Khartoum as well as the siege itself. The script is great and well written. Although, some significant events have been omitted from the narrative which makes the film feel too restrained. On the other hand though, a couple of scenes have been fabricated for the sake of Hollywood and the movie benefits from this. Khartoum is decently paced and chunters along at a fine speed with adept editing and stunning cinematography. The ever fantastic Charlton Heston embodies the role of General Gordon with commendable ease. Chuck was the king of the period epic and this film belongs to him without a doubt. The illustrious Laurence Olivier was rather hammy in his portray of the Mahdi. As this was the case, it was difficult to take the character seriously and hew wasn't as threatening as he should have been. There are scenes in which Gordon travels to the Mahdi's camp and through engrossing conversation, begins to respect his enemy and vice versa. Now this never happened in reality and was merely invented for artistic licence. The verbal exchanges between the two men were excellently scripted. Khartoum is peppered with robust performances. Richard Johnson gave staunch support as Colonel Stewart, as did Ralph Richardson, Alexander Knox and Nigel Green. Edward Underdown also gave a sturdy, but abrupt portrayal of Colonel Billy Hicks.Boasting electrifying battle sequences, Khartoum is never short of spectacle. The spectacular action is constructed by Yakima Canutt and his immensely sophisticated stunt team, the same group of people responsible for the exhilarating action scenes featured in the epic Ben-Hur(1959). Unfortunately, the pains of Canutt's labour have been treated with shambolic disregard by the BBFC. In English, the region 2 DVD release has been hacked to smithereens due to "illegal horse falls". This really is a crying shame as the battle sequences are truly epic in scope. Firstly, this has taken the edge off of the action sequences. Secondly, now don't get me wrong, I loathe animal cruelty as much as anyone else, but to cut footage from old films such as this is appalling. I believe it to be an insult to the vigorous work of Canutt and stuntmen like him. There's a taut river ambush in which a steamboat commanded by Colonel Stewart is attacked by Arab forces. This sequence is executed in truly spectacular fashion, complete with bone chilling stunts and special effects!. However, this sequence is tactlessly handled in that half of the battle is left out of the movie. In reality, Colonel Stewart and the surviving Europeans were slaughtered after the steamboat ran aground. The film doesn't show this, merely implying the events towards the end. The narrative prefers to progress after the steamboat begins bombarding the blockade of Arab boats. I was impressed with the ultimate battle of Khartoum. In real life, it was more of a mass slaughter as opposed to the glorious last stand depicted at the film's climax. Still, the end result is fantastic. It reminded me of the epic battle at the end of John Wayne's The Alamo(1960), although the battle shown in Khartoum was smaller and didn't last as long. There were also a few smaller battles in the desert. Memorable as they were, the felt too pressured and suffered most from the unnecessary cuts. The lofty musical score was fine, although typical of historical epics such as this.Khartoum never fails in providing a colourful 2 hours of entertainment. It just feels rushed with too much restraint placed on the action scenes. However, it showcases an interesting piece of British military history which is often overlooked. 8/10.

Female presence is sadly lacking in this 1966 drama.Unlike in "The Ten Commandments," Charlton Heston can't perform any miracles in this film, a poor-take off "Lawrence of Arabia."Laurence Olivier is completely unrecognizable in his strong portrayal of the radical Mahdi, who sees visions from the prophet Mohammad to conquer Egypt and subdue the people along with those of the Sudan.The battles are nicely shown. The meeting between Gordon and the Mahdi never historically took place. How Gordon (Heston) could say at such a meeting that the two men are alike was simply ridiculous. Politics does play a central role in the film with Prime Minister Gladstone unwilling to commit British forces into the battle, and ready to place the blame on the stubborn Gordon should his attempts fail.

*Spoiler/plot- 1966, The British Empire and Queen Victoria is influencing the global politics. Queen Victoria's government needs a problem solved in Sudan and calls on a famous principled Christian retired general to solve the problem of a Muslim uprising in the Sudan. This mission is accomplished, just not in the way the politicians want. He succeeds where others fail at the cost of his life but not his career or fame.*Special Stars- Charlton Heston, Sir Laurence Olivier, Richard Johnson, Nigel Green, Sir Ralph Richardson, Peter Arne, Roger Delgado *Theme- The British Empire is complex and politics will not necessarily support worthy issues. A Victorian general with Christian beliefs and scruples is asked to solve a political problem that no one will touch without plausible 'deny-ability'.*Based on- Trivia and historic accounts of Victorian General Gordon exploits.*Trivia/location/goofs- ONLINE. General Gordon was only 5' 5" and not a towering hero as Mr. Heston. Also the heroic stature featured at the end of the film was moved from Sudan when that country got independence. That stature is now at the Royal Engineer's academy in the UK because General Gordon was a graduate of the Royal Engineers college. In London's St. Paul's cathedral basement cellar crypt area, there is a very regal funeral monument to Gen. Gordon that looks like his tomb, but it isn't. General Gordon was buried in the Middle East. There was a great upstaging competition between Heston and Olivier in their film scenes together. Sir Olivier was in the successful stage play about Moors, Othello. Also in an earlier version of the film, several 'unsuitable' censored removed scenes showing the many decapitated heads of the Europeans ambassadors leaving Khartoum and the killed General Gordon were cut out in the public theatrical print releases. They have never been put back in and rumors say that Mr. Heston use to keep his Gen. Gordon prop make-up death's head in his Hollywood home to scare visiting quests for laugh.*Emotion- A very enjoyable heroic and well acted film. Tells of an interesting episode of Middle East history and is very relevant today.

What makes KHARTOUM so relevant to today's world, is the characterization of The Mahdi (LAURENCE OLIVIER) as a religious zealot, a Muslim fanatic who wants to wage a Holy War against the infidels and keeps proclaiming himself with the words: "I am the Expected One." Although this depiction of a true story is based on events that happened in the 1880s in the Sudan, it's timelier than ever when one connects the dots to Osama Bin Laden. And who doesn't? It's another story in the grand tradition of all those Hollywood epics that dealt with the British Empire and its expansion of colonies with British soldiers engaged in desert warfare against fanatic enemies. CHARLTON HESTON sometimes lets his British accent slip, but gives a persuasive performance in the kind of role he was born to play, even if his motivations are never completely clear. As to why he even assumes such an impossible mission, one can only wonder when the odds were so stacked against him in what seemed like a hopeless assignment. However, he's always in full command of his role.So is LAURENCE OLIVIER in dark-skinned make-up and using a convincing accent that makes his character seem true to life, seeing himself as the chosen one to lead his tribe against British rule. The confrontations between him and Heston are well staged and both actors appear at their best in these highly literate scenes that reveal the depth of their beliefs.Frank Cordell's score is fascinating and Yakima Canutt's staging of the battle scenes adds a great deal to the authenticity of the desert battles. RALPH RICHARDSON is fine as Prime Minister William Gladstone, anxious to save the reputation of his country after a humiliating defeat, and RICHARD JOHNSON is excellent as Col. Stewart, the man assigned to accompany Heston to the Sudan.The screenplay is an intelligent examination of the events and deservedly won an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay written directly for the screen. Tighter editing might have improved the lengthy film that runs two hours and fourteen minutes.