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I wrote this just a week ago:
Seen this one twice and it's well worth watching. Based on the novel by James Clavell who was a prisoner of war in Java during WWII and based the movie on his experiences. George Segal knocks this one out of the ball park and is perfectly cast as the black market dealer in just about anything the pow inmates could want. It's an intelligent script, fast moving enough to keep one's attention and we see a lot of stuff you wouldn't expect to see and didn't see in The Bridge over the River Kwai. King Rat is more on the serious side and yet it nails humanity and personalities quite well. Really enjoyed this one.
Sorry you didn't like it SpelingError I had a hunch you might not. I think out taste in movies are very different. I know you said you like a movie that you feel emotionally and that for you acting isn't that important. Myself I'm very much in tune with acting and that's what elevated King Rat for me. I think from your choices in HoFs you might levitate towards films that are more symbolic or metaphoric. I usually like films that are mores slices of life, like the proverbial 'fly on the wall' view point.
Cricket, now I thought you might like King Rat and glad you did, my wife really likes this film (except the dog part). I'm currently watching the old Family Feud every night on Freevee/Roku and it's hosted by Richard Dawson so it was a blast for me to see him at the end. When I read the IMDB description:'Fast-talking wheeler-dealer Corporal King is stuck in a Malaysian P.O.W. camp during World War II and uses bribery and larceny to take de-facto control of the camp.' IMDB I expected George Segal's character to be a mean son of a bitch tyrant, but that's not what he was. As the film went on I liked his character and the character of the British officer who jointed him. I guess it's the little moments in the film that I responded to...like when Segal serves the British officer scrambled eggs as he says 'not bad' and there's a whole block of dialogue about how the British describe things they like. I guess why I liked it so much is that I believed everything I seen as if it really was happening. Often I don't believe what I see on the screen which then makes it hard for me to engage with a movie.
I hope we get some more people in here to watch the war films, I enjoy this and we've had some solid films.
Cricket, now I thought you might like King Rat and glad you did, my wife really likes this film (except the dog part). I'm currently watching the old Family Feud every night on Freevee/Roku and it's hosted by Richard Dawson so it was a blast for me to see him at the end. When I read the IMDB description:'Fast-talking wheeler-dealer Corporal King is stuck in a Malaysian P.O.W. camp during World War II and uses bribery and larceny to take de-facto control of the camp.' IMDB I expected George Segal's character to be a mean son of a bitch tyrant, but that's not what he was. As the film went on I liked his character and the character of the British officer who jointed him. I guess it's the little moments in the film that I responded to...like when Segal serves the British officer scrambled eggs as he says 'not bad' and there's a whole block of dialogue about how the British describe things they like. I guess why I liked it so much is that I believed everything I seen as if it really was happening. Often I don't believe what I see on the screen which then makes it hard for me to engage with a movie.
I hope we get some more people in here to watch the war films, I enjoy this and we've had some solid films.
