Rating: 
Summary: Ustinov does a Rutherford
Review: OK, those died-in-the-wool Christie fans had better give this a miss and stick with David Suchet.
But, just as Margaret Rutherford did a totally unauthentic, but delightful, version of Miss Marple, Peter Ustinov gives us an equally enchanting version of Hercule Poirot.
No, it's not Christie's Poirot, but it's still a lot of fun.
Christie's plot is basically kept in tact, but it is the all-star performance which, for once, shines through.
David Niven does a wonderfully English 'Hastings' impersonation (far more interesting than the original character in the book in fact). Bette Davis and Maggie Smith do star turns as the NY matron and her companion , but the whole film is stolen by Angela Lansbury as the alcoholic 'romantic' novelist, Salome Otterbourne. Her 'authentic' tango with David Niven is a cinematic classic.
The idea the 'everyone could have done it' is rather laboured, but if you can suspend disbelief, this film is loads of fun.
If you like your Christie with panashe, then this is the film for you.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Christie Adaptation
Review: The 1970's were the great decade of "all star" movies with casts filled with glittering names. After the success of 1974's "Murder on the Orient Express," it was inevitable that further films based on Agatha Christie's works would follow, of which this was the first. As "Death on the Nile" opens, we meet Linnet Ridgeway--young, beautiful, rich, and single--shortly before she meets Simon Doyle, the fiance of her good friend Jackie de Bellefort. We soon see Simon on honeymoon--with Linnet, not Jackie. Simon and Linnet board a steamer for a cruise down the Nile, along with several other passengers--including Jackie, who has been tracking the newlyweds on their honeymoon, and who seems to have gone over the edge in her jealousy and anger. Also on board are the famous detective Hercule Poirot, and his old friend Col. Johnny Race of the British Secret Service. And a good thing, too. Late one night, Jackie, in a fit of hysteria, shoots and wounds Simon, and is then taken to her cabin and sedated. The next morning, Linnet is found shot to death in her cabin. Jackie would be the obvious suspect, but she couldn't possibly have done it. And so the great Hercule Poirot has another complex case to unravel... "Death on the Nile" is one of Christie's very best novels, and even with a simplified plot--fans of the novel will not the absence of several characters and at least two sizable subplots--the natural strength of the source material makes for a very enjoyable movie. It falls short of the very top because of some unsatisfactory casting. Peter Ustinov is no more than an adequate Poirot, falling short of either Albert Finney or David Suchet. At times he seems to rely largely on his eavesdropping talents, not his "little grey cells." Nor is David Niven a good choice for Col. Race--he is too dapper and elegant to portray Christie's "man of unadvertised comings and goings." However, the supporting cast is quite strong. Mia Farrow, as Jackie, gives the standout performance. Lois Chiles, best remembered today as a Bond Girl, didn't have great range as an actress, but the lovely ex-model had the right personality for the arrogant Linnet. Bette Davis and Angela Lansbury also stand out. The film won an Oscar for best costumes. Nino Rota contributed an atmospheric score, and John Guillermin directs ably. The Egyptian locations--most of the film was shot there--provide a stunning backdrop. On the whole, this is a very enjoyable movie. It is clearly the best of Peter Ustinov's several outings in the role of Poirot.
Rating: 
Summary: Stars unleashed!
Review: The main attractions of this production of the Agatha Christie story are the over-the-top performances of acting powerhouses like Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, and of course shameless ham Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot.
You'll never for a moment believe that Ustinov is playing anybody but Ustinov, well outside the character and almost strictly for laughs. Likewise, Davis and Smith have a go at each other as travelling companions (Davis looks remarkably like the aged version of her character in "Mr. Skeffington" from the 1940's!).
But top honors in the scenery-chewing department go to bug-eyed, grandiosely bizarre Lansbury, who would later play Christie's Miss Marple.
There are some other second-tier stars and some nice Egyptian scenery, but you won't be able to concentrate with the aforementioned quartet around. The film just bides its time till one of them takes over again.
Murder On the Orient Express is still my favorite of the Christies made around this time. A bit subtler and a stronger, more unified cast overall, not to mention a real surprize of a solution to the crime. Better director, too!
Rating: 
Summary: Spectacular!
Review: The novel Death On The Nile ranks as my favorite of all of the Christie novels I've read, and so I was hoping that this movie was faithful to the original material. I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed. The performances of the many actors are great. Simon MacCorkindale's portrayal of Simon Doyle is wonderful, and Angela Lansbury as Salome Otterbourne is very entertaining. Maggie Smith and Bette Davis as Miss Bowers and Miss Van Schuyler, respectively, have some wonderful scenes together and have great chemistry. David Niven as Colonel Johnny Race is great and makes for a good Watson to Poirot. Jack Warden as Dr. Bessner and Jon Finch as Jim Ferguson, while don't have a ton of screentime, still portray their characters perfectly, and of course Peter Ustinov as the great Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is great. The scenery is beautiful. The scene where Simon and Linnet Doyle are climbing the pyramid is simply breathtaking. The extras on the DVD are pretty good. The 24-minute featurette "The Making of Death On The Nile" is interesting, and the interviews (both in French with subtitles) with Peter Ustinov and Jane Birkin (who plays Louise Bourget), while not extremely interesting, are still a nice addition. There are a few flaws in the movie. The largest one is the fact that they cut out Tim and Mrs. Allerton. For those of you who have read the book, you'll know that cutting out Tim Allerton changes a few important things. Cornelia Robson is also cut out, as well as James Fanthorp and Signor Richetti (which again changes a few things). While I did like these characters a lot in the book, during the movie, these characters were hardly missed. The movie runs approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes, and despite the PG rating, has some slightly graphic violence in it. I would highly reccomend buying this DVD, however, I would suggest reading the book first.
Rating:
Summary: Murder and Mystery at Their Best!
Review: The only bad thing about this movie is in trying to decide which is better, the plot, the cast, the scenery, or the ending! This one has it all. Just when I think I have decided on who is the guilty party, the plot changes direction. A real nail bitter that is guaranteed to keep you on the end of your seat. Angela Langsbury is simply superb. Agatha Christie at her finest.
Rating:
Summary: All Star cast who-done-it in Egypt.
Review: The second lavish all-star Agatha Christie adaptation. This is the first film with Peter Ustinov as the Belgian Detective, Hercule Poirot. If you love a who-done-it mystery, this one will keep you thinking and stimulate your brain to the very end. Please watch it to the very last second. What may be so one minute may be different the next second. This all-star cast is wonderful, especially Angela Lansbury. Olivia Hussey, Peter ustinov and Simon Corkindale had just finished the NBC tv-miniseries movie "Jesus Of Nazareth" (1977). Also in the cast is Bette Davis, David Niven, Mia Farrow, George Kennedy, Maggie Smith (California Suite [1978], Jack Warden, Lois Chiles (Moonraker [1979]), Jon Finch, Jane Birkin, Harry Andrews and I.S. Johar. Warning: This is not for children to watch. very Grusome and graphic violence. There are many Agatha Christie movies from film and television. Here are some worth watching. Those with an "*" include Peter Ustinov as "Detective Poirot". And Then There Were None (Ten Little Indians) (1974), Murder On The Orient Express (1974), The Mirror Crack'd (1980), *Evil Under The Sun (1982), *Thirteen At Dinner (1985-tv), *Dead Man's Folly (1986-tv), *Murder In Three Acts (1986-tv), *Appointment With Death (1988).
For a lighter comedy, may I suggest MURDER BY DEATH (1976).
Rating:
Summary: Plays well as mystery and as comedy
Review: The video tape of <Death on the Nile> has long been available, although the widescreen edition was hard to find except on such channels as AMC and TCM. Now I am delighted to find that star-studded film on DVD with the Anchor Bay label. As has been pointed out by many, this plot fits the Agatha Christie pattern in which an isolated group of people (on an island, a train, a boat) experience murder and the guilty party must be one of themselves. In one of them, they ALL did it. In two of them, the detective did it. In one of them the only two who could not have possibly done it did it. In the slim case you do not know the solution to "Death on the Nile," I will say no more. As with "Murder on the Orient Express," the period décor is just about perfect and each one of the Big Names in the cast gets at least two good scenes in which to do their thing. Possibly Maggie Smith can be singled out as giving us the most subtly comical character in many a film. Angela Lansbury, on the other hand, pulls out all the stops as the forever tipsy author of sex novels. And indeed the entire project has an obvious blend of comedy that helps make this (perhaps) a bit more watchable than was the far more serious "Orient Express" that had preceded it. (How seriously can you take a film in which the manager of the cruise ship exclaims "Goody goody gumdrops" when they dredge up the murder weapon?) (And how did the villain acquire a live cobra aboard the ship?) There is no point in comparing Ustinov's Poirot with Finney's in the "Orient Express" film, since they both are very good in their own ways and neither had David Suchet with whom to contend. What is a good example of missed opportunity is one of the DVD's bonus features that gives us an interview in Spanish with Ustinov in which he is not really being asked the right questions to elicit any really interesting answers. A similar interview with Jane Birkin proves even less enlightening. Among the DVD extras is a not-bad 24 minute "Making Of" short, the original trailer, and some short but detailed printed bios of the cast, included Harry Andrews, who shows up for only a few moments at the film's start. All in all, this is a DVD I know I will view many times in the future, as I have done with the full screen tape edition, but with far greater satisfaction. As a footnote, I should mention that Audio Partners has released a reading of the complete novel with David Suchet as narrator and the entire cast. It always makes a fascinating game to see what changes the film has to make to simplify things.
Rating:
Summary: NOT A GREAT FILM, BUT COMPLETELY ENJOYABLE TO WATCH!
Review: This 1978 film of Agatha Christe's "Death on the Nile" is a personal favorite of mine. As a film, it is not what I would refer to as being great or definitive, but it is very good, and it is a lot of great fun to watch. This is the type of film with which to curl up on a comfortable chair, with popcorn in hand, and to completely enjoy --- and there is a lot to enjoy here. The basic formula is not unlike other film adaptions of Agatha Christe's books: surround Hercule Poirot with an outstanding supporting cast of actors, place them in an exotic and picturesque locale, and let nature take it's course. There are some stunning location shots of Egypt here, and some very funny sequences as well (the tango sequence at the hotel immediately prior to the departure of the cruise boat down the Nile River), all of which add to the overall charm of this movie. When the film begins with the effective opening music, one cannot but be impressed with the cast assembled for this movie, and what an outstanding cast it is! Peter Ustinov is an endearingly foxy Hercule Poirot, and the ensemble performances of Mia Farrow, David Niven, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Jon Finch, Angela Lansbury, and George Kennedy are all first-rate. The film is wonderfully reminiscent of the types of movies Hollywood used to be so good at putting together. There are improbabilities in the script to be sure, but none of this matters at all. It's an awful lot of fun, and isn't that what it's all about?
Rating:
Summary: Christie goes to Egypt
Review: This big screen treatment of mystery author Agatha Christie's best-seller is dinstinguished by the first appearance of Peter Ustinov as the world famous sleuth, Hercule Periot. Though the film version of "Death on the Nile" doesn't rise to the quality of its immediate predecessor, "Murder on the Orient Express," it is still a worthy trip with a boatful of nouveau rich upper classers who all have a motive to kill a filthy rich heiresss (Lois Childs). When she actually come up with a bullet to her head while sleeping, suspicion falls on her husband's spurned ex-fiancee (Mia Farrow, in a slightly nerve-trying overacting job) and an all-star passenger list headed by Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury and Olivia Hussey. Enter Inspector Periot and David Niven as another sleuth aiding in the investigation. Though the "who did it" isn't a surpise, the "how they did it" is, and that solution makes the film an enjoyable watch. Additionally, there's some stunning scenary of Egypt and along the Nile, and Ustinov's personification of the fabled detective is worthy. He shows up again in subsequent film versions of some of Christie's other novels, and this is one of Ustinov's better efforts.
Rating:
Summary: I have never seen such a reptile in a first class cabin
Review: This is a good adaptation from the book. After watching "Evil under the Sun" ASIN: B000059LGF and "Appointment with Death" ASIN: 0790741318 you naturally think of Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot. The whole movie is packed with great actors, yet even thought you recognize them they do not distract from the characters that they play. I thought that it was a nice touch when the kids along the shore mooned Mrs. Van Schuyler (Bette Davis) as kids would do everywhere. Everyone is a suspect. Everybody could have done it. And yet nobody could have done it. Only Hercule Poirot can figure this out. Naturally Hercule Poirot is in the right place at the right time to hear everything and extract the truth.
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