Artivels Undescribable Perfection

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Michael Ledo This is the story of how the Arab tribes became united by war, to become Saudi Arabia. Antonio Banderas stars as Emir Nesib who bartered a deal with the United States for the oil. He was able to buy off most of the other tribes except for one, who believed the infidels of the west should leave their land.While the movie is fictional, it reflects the conflict that goes on within the world of Islam today. Antonio Banderas, with his Spanish accent was as convincing as an Arab as Sean Connery with his Scottish accent was as convincing as a Russian submarine captain. In other words, he pulls it off.The characters are western stereotypes of Arab culture. They are played well, if you are into the stereotype.What was with the harem outfit on Frieda Pinto?Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, nudity.

Mary Poppins The only complaint I have is that having some knowledge of Arab cultures, and also having children, and watching the Shrek movies, Antonio Banderas is not my idea of an Arab at all, least of all a sultan or emir. Throughout his scenes, well acted surely, I kept visualizing the cartoon cat character from said children's shows. I do not watch movies with him in it generally, so this was a minor distraction, often humorous, when it did not befit the movie itself.However the rest of the movie was wonderful. I am giving it a 9/10 stars, minus one for casting Banderas, who is far too apologetic to play a major Arab leader. I was disappointed highly with his performance, but everyone else was well cast and played. The one brother, Saleh, surprised the plot a little, and it was difficult to tell who was the Ibn Idris character and who was the brother Tariq. I spent most of the movie thinking Ibn Idris was the brother, so now I will need to review the earlier scenes specifically for those purposes.I appreciated the rich religious and cultural references and this would serve as a minor introduction to Arab culture, although I agree with another reviewer who cited it as fiction. Honor can always be enhanced thru fictional heroics. For example, the bedouin Bani Zamiri woman who he freed, he could easily have done a marriage with her, at any point. I really liked the emphasis this movie plays on religious conservatism, and how well it is paired with progressive thought. This breaks away from 'stereotyping' Arab actors, very well. They have representation of diverse Muslim-Arabs (I really enjoyed the inclusion of "African" and "Asian" actors), and it's overall a stunning, impressive story. I would gladly watch this if it went on longer. It is well worth watching if you have any interest in the topics of Islam, Arab culture, and perhaps even warfare. It's really not that bad when it comes to the fight scenes. I see much worse in Hollywood movies. It seemed a bit strange that the female lead was so beautiful compared to the other characters, and I found her to be a bit boring and cliché, poor acting that seemed out of character; ie. 'submissive' at wrong times to husband and then nonsubmissive to the father at all times. Some things that were not very clear included the costumes, such as why did he, in the end, (Emir Auda) wear his mother's tribal colors? Reviewing the beginning, it is nice to see how Prince Auda develops from a shy child to a wise leader, very much like the opening scene with his father, where his father is cautiously, carefully listening to Antonio Banderas' character. Speaking of which, it irks me how nearly everyone else is a 'proud' Arab character, but Banderas seems to skulk, and plays a bit of resentful sod, not an Arab. The rest of the actors are much better.

witster18 Super-high production values here. That's why I rented it. I knew they'd spent some money. To some(me too, initially), it looks like a "B" flick you've never heard of.In that regard it might exceed some people's expectations.In hindsite, however, the story is an excellent platform for a great drama, but unfortunately, that drama never comes to fruition.And I'm not sure why. The film needed more dialog between its lead character(Auda, played by Tahir from 'A Prophet' fame), and both of his "fathers". We get far too little quality acting and dialog, and way too much meandering amongst the desert. Mark Strong is excellent as usual - too bad he has 5 or 6 lines in the entire film(most coming in the first 10 minutes).The film should have worked dynamically, but the lack of quality dialog and the lack of drama ruin the film. One of many balls that were dropped. The "falcon" storyline and connection - also dropped like a 16-pound bowling ball. The final scene between Banderas and Rahim, ditto.Watch this film for what it should have been - one of the best made for TV epics ever put on the living room screen.The film deserves some credit for not selling-out to the geek squad, and for not boring me(entirely), but the film really could have been great.It's quite beautiful to look at, and most of the acting is passable, but again, it lacks the drama to give it the emotional power to match its 'look'.60/100 and considering it's 50 million-dollar budget - I won't be adding it to the B-Movie-Marathon anytime soon(even though its total-lack of box-take makes it eligible).not bad for out-of-the-redbox with low-expectations.

unbrokenmetal They don't make many movies like this anymore, it felt like somebody had discovered a lost gem from the 1970s, with real extras, real horses and real camels instead of the soulless computer copies of todays CGI productions. I loved it! Also the story remained interesting, when the Prince has a difficult decision to make whose side he'll be on.The story apparently is not precisely following actual historical events, but takes the liberty of creating a world of the 1930s like it could have been. No maps are shown on the screen to show which army moves where, because it is the general feeling of a changing world that matters, the struggle between different attitudes, not the history lesson. I do not know why this artistic freedom is making some viewers complain. Hundreds of western movies described battles between soldiers and Indians which were only vaguely similar to actual history, so I don't think this discussion is necessary. "Black Gold" is an adventure movie, first of all. Actually, the makers balance very well between the entertainment value and ambitions beyond that, neither too heavy nor too light. A good compromise was found between a commercial approach and content that has something to say. When the oil flows over the ground, useless like a pond of black ink, one wonders: is it worth all that fighting? One review here said 'the director made a mistake, there is no pipeline', which proves that the poetry of pictures is really lost on some people. Anyway. The makers, supported by the Emirate of Qatar, succeeded in putting the Arabs in the focus, and if the American guy from Texas Oil remains a cartoon character with a silly hat, it's hardly an accident. Best actors to me were Tahar Rahim as Prince Auda and Mark Strong as Amar, his father. Antonio Banderas, however, had a license for staring, it seems. Any time he has got a close-up without much to say: yes, he stares in an interesting way. The director could have told him him not to overdo it, but I guess it's easier said than done.