Rating: 
Summary: I will go ahead of you and light a fire...
Review: The music, the passion, the landscape, the heartbreak - it's all here and it's one outstanding movie. Meryl Streep plays a plantation owner in Africa around the time of WWl. Recently married to a scoundrel, she falls in love with a big game hunter, played by Robert Redford. Yes, his English accent is lame, so what? He's Robert Redford! Her accent is charming and she isn't afraid to look like she never wears make-up. The music is simply perfect. When Meryl and Redford fly over the African plain and she reaches for his hand, I swoon. Guys, watch it with your wife or girlfriend; she'll think you're really sensitive. Ladies, watch it with a girfriend and sigh in all the right places. I love this movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Hollywood's most overrated film
Review: Our story opens with Meryl "look, I'm eeemootiiinng" Streep addressing the audience in a ridiculous accent that is not, in any way, Danish. She breaks up with the man she loves and then turns to his brother. Since he has money she wants, and he has a title she wants, they decide that they should get married. So basically, our "romantic heroine" reveals herself to be a trollop in the first scene. Anyway, Meryl goes south to Africa, and the marriage goes south as well. Gee, marrying for greed seemed like a good idea. Maybe her husband was driven away by that ridiculous, so-non-Danish accent. Meryl then spends what seems like an hour moping about her palatial estate, bemoaning how empty her rich, exciting pampered life is, hmm. At one point she takes time out from her moping to apply first aid to the infected leg of one of "her" Africans. This is clearly to show the audience that although she is a foreign colonialist exploiter, she's a good foreign colonialist exploiter. Yes, where would those poor silly Africans be without their benevolent White mother? Then she meets Robert Redford, who is pretending to be a British pilot. Now, Redford's character is written as an adventurous free-thinker, but Redford, a fair actor on his best day, has neither the class nor the flair to pull it off. As such, his character does not come off as a free thinker, but rather as a self-absorbed twit. Anyway, they have an affair. Now, when her husband had an affair that was bad, but apparently when Meryl "Who needs warmth when you have technique" Streep has one, its good. Still, you just know a happy ending is in sight, and that Streep will come to appreciate her rich, exciting, pampered life. If it all seems irrelevent because the heroine is not the least bit sympathetic, that's because it is. And yes, this prententious mess did beat out "The Color Purple" for best picture.
Rating:
Summary: My absolute favorite movie of all time !
Review: This story would touch your heart, even if it wasn't based on true life events. The breath taking scenery and beautiful music are rival to Dances With Wolves. Meryl Streep gives another great performance in her role as Karen Blixen, a woman who just can't seem to get a break in life. Set in the early 1900's, she deservingly earns respect from the native and foreign citizens (including the men) - unheard of at that time. Robert Redford is definitely the handsome leading man once again. Despite great resistence from Blixen, Denys finally wins her heart but refuses to "commit" the way she wants him to. This ultimately ends the romance but not the love affair. Several years ago, I taped the "uncut, director's version" of Out of Africa. There are several important scenes I've been unable to find elsewhere, including the Collector's Edition DVD. They develop intricate relationships with several other main characters. If you ever see that version, you'll know what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: Deserving of all seven Oscars!
Review: Several false starts over the years in attempting to put this challenging story on the screen finally led to Sydney Pollock's masterly production in 1985. Previously, screen-writers had great difficulty connecting the dots of this highly anecdotal and wide-ranging, subtle story.
If Pollock had done nothing else in his career, this great accomplishment alone would make him a towering figure in his field. The DVD features an extensive commentary wherein he provides us with a wealth of enriching material describing the full story of the production. This commentary alone is probably worth the price of the DVD. We learn of Pollack's collaboration with the great John Barry, resulting in what is undeniably one of the most lush and romantic soundtracks to date. We also learn of the difficulties of dealing with lions, hippos, water buffaloes -- and African microbes!
Pollack provides a fascinating and lengthy explanation of meeting the challenges of photography at high altitudes near the Equator, where the light is impossibly bright and therefore harsh. He speaks in detail about the wonderful sets and spectacular costumes.
He highlights the incredible courage and versatility of Meryl Streep (three "lion scenes" - no digital magic in 1985!) How is it possible that our greatest actress has only one Best Actress Oscar? Meryl provides commentary (as do John Barry and Karen Blixen's able biographer, Judith Thompson).
And, yes, Robert Redford's "American accent" is discussed, and it is hoped that others' silly quibbles about this entirely trivial point can be laid to rest. Redford is magnificent, as usual. The supporting cast is superlative as well.
As is the case with "The English Patient," which is the obvious comparison film, "Out of Africa" is populated with characters that one would love to have over for dinner: they are very "real", unfailingly charming and intelligent.
The film is shot on location in Kenya, and, if one can take one's eyes off Streep and Redford, the vistas are unparalleled.
I must insist that this film is truly one of the Great Ones.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful, mature film
Review: I found this movie to be very enjoyable--one of my favorites along with "The English Patient" for example. The cinematography is breathtaking and the airplane ride scene is very emotional and one of the great scenes in film history I believe. When people wonder why they don't make movies like this anymore the answer is very simple: Julia Roberts and Jennifer Anniston are not Meryl Streep. She is, as usual, superb. Unlike some other reviewers I enjoyed Robert Redford's performance. I'll grant that he did not come across as an Englishmen, but he did pull off the romantic, masculine, self-centered part of the role quite well. Finally, this movie is not for the American Pie/Pretty Woman crowd. They will be bored. And can someone please tell me how this movie did not make the AFI's 100 geatest films of all time?!! It's not better than E.T.? or Fargo? or Forrest Gump? You've got to be kidding me!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Worst Movie to Ever Win the Best Picture Oscar
Review: I had never before attempted to watch this movie prior to a veiwing this evening on TCM (30 Days of Oscar!). I am not a big fan of any of the principal participants other work (director, stars, etc.) but said, "what the hey". Man this movie was [POOR]. After reading some of the other reviews I think even less of it! Robert Redford was suppose to be British? This may have been a true story, but I didn't find Ms. Streep's character the least bit interesting (nor her cold performance). She had to whip the tiger because she forgot to have a gun handy again. What was up with that? And all those men with her? They are out in the desert and they don't bother having a gun handy? The score, like the accents, takes away from what could have been told in a pleasant way with foregin actors and a smaller more personal feel. Much of the cinematogrophy is beautiful but I never got the feel that (I suspect) the book conveigned about a very unique life story. Finally, too much sappy stuff for my tastes abounds throughout this one(saw that kid's leg off for pete's sake). I too could not make it past the very slow middle and ended up flipping over to Hud (starring the much more talented Paul Newman) on AMC. That is a great movie that didn't win best picture and, as far as I know, is not available on DVD(?).
Rating:
Summary: What can I say - " I had a farm in Ahf-rica ...."
Review: Having traveled extensively in the nordic countries of Finland, Denmark, and Sweeden, and being a fan of Isak Dinesen letters and books I found the movie, which was the result of a combination of her letters and her book, also titled "Out of Africa" rather than simply a screenplay derived from the single same titled book, I found the movie a marvelous romantic and heartbreaking snapshot of the years that Karen Blixen spent in Africa. I highly recommend this movie and that you read Isak Dinesen's letters from Africa. You'll see how closely Merly Streep captures Karen Blixen.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoy the movie, but learn the history
Review: "Out of Africa" has lots to admire; clearly director Sydney Pollack knows what he's doing, and the acting of Meryl Streep, as Karen Blixen, and Klaus Maria Brandauer, as her husband, is excellent. The African landscape is beautifully rendered in David Watkin's cinematography and complimented by John Barry's music. Kenya's colonial past is well evoked in this production. However, on the other hand: Robert Redford is nowhere near believable. Remember he is supposed to be playing Denys Finch Hatton, someone who was born and raised in England and educated at Eton and Oxford. Compared to Streep's efforts Redford seems to be just walking through this role. As it becomes clear that Finch Hatton and Blixen have different ideas about what course their relationship should take, some of the dialogue between their characters is very hard to take, falling just short of laughably ridiculous. Finally, it's hard for a thinking person not to see "Out of Africa" as an apology for European colonization of Africa. Like the way the romance and nostalgia of "Gone with the Wind" quickly whither when you stop to think that it is the harsh reality of slavery that makes possible the good life at Tara, so it is with Blixen's farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills. Her comforts come at the price of dispossessed Kikuyu, who work as laborers on land they once owned. True, Blixen gave "her" Kikuyu some medicine, and she gave "her" Kikuyu children a school (i.e., a shack that would fit between the couches in her living room), which is probably more than other European settlers did. But is it right that she should refer to any people as "her" Africans? It's impossible to get around the fact that in colonial times the Europeans took the Africans' land, crowded them into designated areas, and exploited their labor. Enjoy the movie, but make an effort to learn the history.
Rating: 
Summary: Abusive to Karen Blixen
Review: This movie's opening scenes of colonial East Africa are lovely, but over the years when I try to watch this film again I never get past the middle. I've finally decided that the Robert Redford part of the story is boring. Redford plays the same character in every film. His character is perfect, and he spends the movie explaining to his female counterpart what is wrong with her and how she can become a better person. I'm surprised that no academic has analyzed this film as abusive to Karen Blixen. She (never Redford) is made to look ridiculous in many scenes. Her fear of lions was invented for the movie; the real Karen Blixen was unafraid of lions, as her letters show. Starting a school for the Africans on her farm came as a request from the Governor of Kenya, yet she is mocked for this in the film. She is belittled for missing her husband when he goes hunting, she is fabricated as getting lost and needing Finch Hatton's compass, she is criticized for making a scene about getting land for "her Africans" (a misinterpretation of the language of her time), and she is made to look as if Finch Hatton gave her the idea to begin writing--a lie. It seems to me that the men who made this movie fictionalized a true story as a vehicle for their prejudices.
Rating:
Summary: In my top five movies of all time
Review: This movie had all the ingredients to make it perfect for me: a great story, two of my favorite actors, a fantastic score, and a stunning setting. But my review is actually of the DVD version. This is a fantastic DVD for those who loved the movie. Sydney Pollack gives a great narrative in the director's commentary sound selection. There are also great extras with interviews with the cast and a great bonus with Karen Blixen's biographer. Having read every book ever written by and about Isak Dinesen and Denys Finch-Hatton, I really loved the extra features of the DVD version.
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