Lion of the Desert 4K 1980

The film is about Omar Mukhtar, a Bedouin leader who heroically fought against Mussolini's occupation of Libya.

4k movies reviews
The film tells the story of Omar Mukhtar (Anthony Quinn), a courageous Muslim leader confronting a far better armed and trained army of Italian fascists led by General Graziani (Oliver Reed).

Mustafa Akkad, the producer of the famous horror series "Halloween," appeared to be saving his profits from a cash cow named "Michael Myers" in order to direct a high-budget worthy film. Akkad did not skimp on the battles - there are plenty of them and they are staged at more than a high level, but he also did not forget about the other main component of the historical film - the actors.

Omar Mukhtar is practically a holy martyr, a courageous, wise old man who laid down his head in the name of freedom. Anthony Quinn is a man of every nationality. He has played Mexicans, Italians, Arabs. In this character he is usually compared to another character he has played - Abu Tai from the famous "Lawrence of Arabia". But the only thing they have in common is that they are both Muslims. Omar is a man who devoted his whole life to defending his homeland, while Abu Tai stood up for his native land for fame and personal gain. Both different characters are beautifully played by Quinn. You could see that he was completely immersed in the role. I didn't see "Anthony Quinn playing Omar Mukhtar," I only saw Omar Mukhtar with Quinn's face.

As for the other main character - General Graziani, he is not shown as a cruel "fascist pig" - he is an intelligent, purposeful man who looks at war like a mathematician - he sees a problem and solves it, no matter what methods he uses. Oliver Reed, familiar to many by his role of Proximo in the famous "Gladiator", judging by his acting, is a man of inspiration - in most of the opening scenes he is frankly boring, but in the last scene, the scene in which Mukhtar and Graziani meet in person, the actors "fly sparks", having a good partner Reed demonstrated that he was chosen for the role for a reason.

I read that some people thought the movie was boring and predictable. Allow me gentlemen - this movie is based on a true story. And if the real Omar Mukhtar was exactly as shown in this movie, then I admire him, I take my hat off to him. At the expense of a little bit of dragging, this is, for a moment, a real historical Epic. And it is supposed to be like that, g, especially because it is a WWII movie. Although I will not try to justify the film's authors - it did not seem boring or drawn out to me.

In general my opinion: a little too pathetic, but perfectly directed, professionally made Epic.

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (70.0 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles
English SDH.