Rating: 
Summary: Would have been 5 stars but for the sound!
Review: "The Man Who Would be King" features two actors who have become better loved as time has passed since the making of the film; Sean Connery and Michael Caine. In this movie, they are two chums who are off to make their fortune in India. "High Adventure" I think is what John Huston says they are after. Huston's comments are included in an excellent documentary added to the film. It's an excellent movie but it could have been so much better on DVD than they have given us. The sound is not very good! It's really too bad as the score by Maurice Jarre is worth hearing! "Dirty Harry" is no "The Man Who Would Be King", ( although I do like "Dirty Harry") however "Harry" features 5.1 sound and is so much the better for it. Given my experience with "The Man Who Would Be King", when I am shopping I will be on the outlook for those discs that fully utilize the technology available. END
Rating:
Summary: "The most audacious thing in fiction..."
Review: This movie is head and shoulders above most movies in this genre. "The man who would be king" is dead on target with its ability to thrill while telling Kipling's story of two British soldiers seeking more than their fair share of fame and fortune in the remote country of Kafiristan in the late 1880's. Our two heroes Danny Dravot (Connery) and Peachy Carnehan (Caine), outline a bold and seemingly unthinkable plan. They are to travel, unguided, through more than a hundred miles of hostile, remote territories, and, after training the local inhabitants in modern warfare and making their leader king of all he surveys, will "...subvert that king, and loot the kingdom four ways from sunday". There are many plot twists along the way, yet one is struck at how both plausible and bold the twists are. There's a keen sense of satire, particularly in Kipling's story, which is preserved in the film as a whole. The dvd version (panavision) is definitely the way to go. John Houston does a remarkable job of telling so much of the story visually and with a fine sense of style. When seen in the videotape (pan and scan) version, it loses much of the film's scope and grandeur, and the otherwise fluid story-telling is a bit hampered. The dvd also includes an eye-opening "Making of..." documentary. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: "God's Holy Trousers!"
Review: 4.5 stars. This is my favorite film from director John Huston. Running a close second is his classic film "Treasure of the Sierra Madre." What sets this adventure film apart from most is the extraordinary production value. There are lavish costumes and huge, colorful sets; and the great photography captures it all in fine detail. Also, the two lead actors played by Michael Caine and Sean Connery give two of their best performances ever. That is praise, indeed, for two future Oscar winners. Sean Connery won for "The Untouchables," and Michael Caine won twice, once for "Hannah and Her Sisters" and another for "The Cider House Rules." Both actors are superb here, using subtelty and terrific use of a grand screenplay. Also, Christopher Plummer gives another professional performance as the correspondent of The Northern Star, Rudyard Kipling. This movie is based on the story of the same name written by Rudyard Kipling and is, in effect, a period film from a more naive era. There was a plot flaw, albeit minor. Sean Connery, for a good portion of the film is revered as a god because his subjects did not see him bleed when struck in the chest by an arrow. The reason is explained soonafter for the audience, but I have a question: Do gods not have other bodily functions, such as relieving oneself? Wouldn't that have made him seem less like a god and more like the rest of his followers? I know I'm nitpicking an otherwise great film, and this small flaw is easy to ignore. This is a fantastic movie with fine acting, and is one of the last truly epic works of the legendary John Huston.
Rating: 
Summary: I WILL PUT IT SIMPLY
Review: BUY THIS MOVIE I will give you three reasons why:
1) Sean Connery: one of the best actors. Period.
2) Michael Caine: another of the best. And he looks good in that hat.
3) Kipling: you just can't beat that for a writer. ARE WE CLEAR?
Rating:
Summary: The Raj and The Craft
Review: You can't get any better than this: Director-John Huston, from the nvoella by Rudyard Kipling. Starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine, with support from Christopher Plummer, Shakira Caine, and the gifted Saheed Jaffrey! Take that talent and set a ripping adventure yarn in the British Raj. Throw in a good soundtrack and passable location shots from Morocco and the Alps.
Could it get better? It does. A great Masonic theme from Kipling, who was himself a Mason and loved the craft as much as he loved the Raj and his cigars! Now spice it up with a clever script and wonderful chemistry between the stars.
Forget The Jewel in the Crown, Gunga Din, The Four Feathers, and even A Passage to India. This is the best film set in 19th century India.
The plot? Well, go buy the film and watch it! Let's say that Kipling's own words from The Ballad of the East and West ring true. And as for this movie, if we may paraphrase Rudyard, "A woman is only a woman, but if she marries a god, she smokes!"
Rating:
Summary: One of John Huston's best with Connery and Caine
Review: The Man Who Would Be King is a throwback to the adventures films of the 1930's with great performances by Sean Connery and Michael Caine. After a blackmail plan goes awry, ex-British soldiers Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan don't know what to do with themselves. The duo decides to march across Iraq and Afghanistan to the far-off and primitive nation of Kafiristan. Once there, they plan to rob the place blind as they teach the Kafirians how to defeat their enemies with modern rifles. However, in battle Dravot is wounded(an arrow is imbedded in his bandoleer) but not hurt making the Kafirians think that he is a god. This movie has it all. If you're a fan of good old-fashioned adventure movies, this is a safe bet. You won't be disappointed.
Sean Connery and Michael Caine are perfectly cast as Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan, the two ex-British soldiers who hatch a plan to become the kings of the far-off country of Kafiristan. By the end of the movie, you come to like the duo more than you ever thought you could. Just like Paul Newman and Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Connery and Caine have a real chemistry on screen that holds the movie together. Christopher Plummer is also very good in a supporting role as Rudyard Kipling, the famous author who meets Danny and Peachy in his travels. Saeed Jaffrey plays Billy Fish, an ex-Gurhka who serves as Danny and Peachy's translator. The movie also stars Doghmi Larbi, Karroom Ben Bouih, and Michael Caine's wife Shakira as Roxanne, the Kafirian woman Danny takes as a wife. The DVD offers a beautiful widescreen presentation, "Call it Magic" a brief 12 minute documentary about the making of the movie, and eight trailers from different John Huston movies, including The Man Who Would Be King. The only bad part of the DVD is the dual-format(you have to turn the disc over halfway through the movie) but that is a minimal problem with a movie of this caliber.
This is really one of those movies where everything comes together perfectly. Great performances by Connery and Caine, brilliant directing by John Huston, beautifuly cinematography, and a great story full of action and humor. For a true adventure classic, check out The Man Who Would Be King!
Rating:
Summary: Great Film From the Seventies
Review: When the great films of the seventies are talked about generally it's the more edgier fare from the maverick directors(Altman, Scorsese, Coppola) are elevated. "The Man Who Would Be King" is rarely given the exulted status it deserves. Basically, John Huston's film is an old-fashioned adventure that just flat-out entertains. This is a tale that is just well told. It was casting from heaven that teamed up Sean Connery and Michael Caine as the rogue soldiers who scheme to elevate themselves as gods in an isolated society. It's a wonder that Connery and Caine never reteamed in a film again because their chemistry is as good as any pairings in screen history. It's a toss-up as to whether this film or "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" is Huston's greatest accomplishment.
Rating:
Summary: "Me & Peachy, we don't kill easy!"
Review: The story goes that John Huston wanted to film THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING in the 1950s with Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart, but the actors died before the project could get started.
When Huston tried again in the 1970s, the reigning buddy team was Robert Redford and Paul Newman. Newman's response: "They're Englishmen, get Sean Connery and Michael Caine."
Michael Caine has said that this was his favorite film of his own work, the one that "will still be around when I'm gone."
And this was the first movie I saw where I saw Sean Connery and NEVER ONCE thought of James Bond. They really do make these characters live and breath--and they make them their own.
In both Caine's autobiography and Huston's biography, John Huston would call Caine and Connery by their characters' names to his dying day, even as the actors visited Huston on his deathbed.
This is one of my favorites, a grand, exotic adventure with literary roots and great performances from two of the world's biggest movie stars.
Rating:
Summary: A word or two about the DVD
Review: As movies go, The Man Who Would Be King is one of the all time best. It has barely aged at all (perhaps Caine's hair do is a bit dated) and is an example of great filmmaking. Probably by today's standard's it lags a bit in places (it's called pacing kids) and has some great action sequences but not too many exploding things. And don't forget that this movie was made before CGI etc (although several scenes are clearly matte paintings, but even those are top notch).
In short a really good, entertaining action/historical adventure film that anyone should be able to enjoy.
The DVD itself is fairly amazing. Yes, the DVD is one of those "two sided" deals that you will have to flip over half way through the movie, and yes, the movie tends to just start. You have to press menu to get to the menu, but those are minor quibbles. The real joy here is the amazingly clear picture transfer that was done for this film. Trust me, I have seen worse (Fiddler on the Roof for one). There are no marks, drop out or defects during the movie. Someone has really gone through and done a first class clean up job. It looks like it was filmed yesterday on digital film.
The extras are interesting, so to speak. The 12 minute short "It Must Be Magic" is interesting in that is has dated very badly (it goes on about how Moroccans have never seen movies etc., in a very un PC way) but provides some insights. Warning: DO NOT watch it until you have seen the movie as it contains a fairly huge spoiler!
There are also several fairly useless text info screens about Kipling and Masons etc. The other previews are for other films (although an original trailer for The Man Who Would Be King is on there too).
In short, as good as you remember it and a pristine presentation make this a must have!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Adventure Film
Review: Excellent adventure film based on a fantasic short story.Great direction, great visuals and four great actors(Caine, Connery, Jeffery and Plummer).
As has been pointed out, The Man Who Would Be King, is indeed in some ways a parable about imperialism. What it is not,thankfully, is a politically correct apologist piece that glorifies native populations and villifies Westerners. Indeed, The Man Who Would Be King does a great job at illustrating the brutality and backwardness of pre-modern men and tribal society, while at the same time showing the more calculated violence and organization of western civilization. It also shows the positives and negatives of imperial expansion into regions untouched by modernity. From the introduction of Martini-Henry rifles and western military organization, to the beginnings of infrastructure building and liberal governance, John Houston's The Man Who Would Be King gives us far more complex and human look into the characters of Peachy Carnehan and Daniel Dravot than Kipling's story.One cannot help but like Peachey and Daniel. Even though they may be seem to be vagabond "detriments" in the increasingly westernized Colonial India, they are larger than life supermen when compared to the simple, wretched creatures that inhabit their short-lived empire in Kafiristan. All in all, TMWBK is a rousing and entertaining large scale epic that is inspiring and tragic all at once.
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