1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
Armand Assante, Fernando Rey, Gérard Depardieu, Loren Dean, Michael Wincott ... (see more) , Sigourney Weaver , Tchéky Karyo , Ángela Molina
One of Ridley Scott's most wrong-headed films, this one (like all of his movies) looks fabulous and sounds utterly ridiculous, almost from the beginning. His first mistake was casting the wonderful Gerard Depardieu as Columbus and forcing him to speak English, which Depardieu does with decided diffi... (read more) One of Ridley Scott's most wrong-headed films, this one (like all of his movies) looks fabulous and sounds utterly ridiculous, almost from the beginning. His first mistake was casting the wonderful Gerard Depardieu as Columbus and forcing him to speak English, which Depardieu does with decided difficulty. After spending way too much time on the ocean with Columbus's three ships (you kind of wish they would sail over the edge of the world), they arrive in the West Indies, only to turn around and sail back. The rest of the film deals with the not particularly comprehensible politics of Columbus's venture, which leads to the violent slaughter of trusting natives by a band of cardboard villains. Depardieu, who radiates sympathy, looks like he's at sea with this material. --Marshall Fine
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PG-13
Directed by:
Ridley Scott
Release Date: Oct 09, 1992
DVD Release Date: May 14, 2002
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Sir Ridley Scott returned to big scale films after a trio of down-to-earth films rooted in reality. Here, he created one of 3 Christopher Columbus films to come out in 1992 to celebrate the discovery of the Americas. Scott's film was the most epic of... (read more) Sir Ridley Scott returned to big scale films after a trio of down-to-earth films rooted in reality. Here, he created one of 3 Christopher Columbus films to come out in 1992 to celebrate the discovery of the Americas. Scott's film was the most epic of the 3, (the other two were Christopher Columbus: The Discovery and erm... Carry On Columbus. :P) But, despite such beautiful visuals and some good moments, it falls a bit flat. It begins when Christopher Columbus (Gérard Depardieu), a navigator sheltered by monks, wanting to explore a new route to the Indies, seeing as the Turks have blocked the route between China and the West. But he gets the support from Queen Isabella (Sigourney Weaver) to sail out in search of the Indies. After months at sea, he and his men discover The New World, on an island christened as San Salvador. He brings civisations and more people's to San Salvador and the surrounding islands, but rebellions between him and and Indians ruin everything. It is a good story, and it's well filmed, but for the most part, this is quite dull. Depardieu is quite stodgy with his performance and delivery, and the film sags in the second half. Pity, as Scott was the right man to bring the story of Columbus to life, but good visuals do not a good movie make. Honestly, Carry On Columbus is a better film, and that's saying something!! :P
A great historical fim with beautiful imagery and scenes. Considering the Italian origins of Columbus (his voyage was funded by Spain), it was a strange casting decision to give the role to a Frenchman with a heavy accent (Gerald Depardieu). Howeve... (read more) A great historical fim with beautiful imagery and scenes. Considering the Italian origins of Columbus (his voyage was funded by Spain), it was a strange casting decision to give the role to a Frenchman with a heavy accent (Gerald Depardieu). However, Sigourney Weaver was a hgreat decision in casting to be Queen Isabella, and she is beautiful in this film. Despite that decision, it does portray the difficult voyage he must have faced alongside political intrigue and intracies in Europe (specifically Spain) at the time. While a flawed film, it is still worth watching and appreciating the discovery of the Americas.
Worth seeking out if you are a fan of the subject matter or Ridley Scott. Now I had been putting off watching this for a long while; I had been watching Ridley Scott's films chronologically in pretty rapid succession until I came to this one, where ... (read more) Worth seeking out if you are a fan of the subject matter or Ridley Scott. Now I had been putting off watching this for a long while; I had been watching Ridley Scott's films chronologically in pretty rapid succession until I came to this one, where it took me about a month until I got around to watching it. Two things put me off: 1. No region 1 DVD release; I had no choice but to watch it online where the quality was decent, but probably not the best and 2. The subject matter; I never really was ever in the mood to watch a two and a half hour biopic of Christopher Columbus. The premise just sounded like something I would watch in a history or social studies class in high school, but it is very interesting and feels authentic. The biggest flaw on the film is Gérard Depardieu's accent, the guy who plays Christopher Colombus; whenever he speaks more than one sentence, his dialect becomes very difficult to understand and made me wish that I had subtitles. The score is beautiful and there were a few scenes with some very explicit gore that I wasn't expecting... This is a very good biopic, but I completely understand why there isn't much of a draw for this and why it bombed so hard at the box office.
Not terribly exciting. It was interesting, but nothing worth going out of your way to see.
The Most pwerful Soundtrack in the World
and it tells you the true story of discoverin America by
Kristopher Colombos and the Untold story about what happenin there
This film is now 17 years old at the time of this review- and to be honest, it shows in more than a few frames. I actually love and hate this film, and by this I mean I literally love certain scenes in it, and hate others.
In many sequences, Dire... (read more) This film is now 17 years old at the time of this review- and to be honest, it shows in more than a few frames. I actually love and hate this film, and by this I mean I literally love certain scenes in it, and hate others.
In many sequences, Director of Photography Adrian Biddle has produced flawless results, yet in other sequences the imagery - although seldom mediocre - lacks the polish you would expect from the team putting this movie together. This is also true of the soundtrack - Vangelis has constructed some deep, resonating, and beautiful scores to bind to the film, but unfortunately they sometimes "bind to the film", and sometimes feel slightly detached from what is happening on screen.
The choice of cast is interesting. I wouldn't have picked this cast, but I can't fault their performances in themselves. I can only say that in the cases of Gerard Depardieu, Sigourney Weaver, and Michael Wincott, they had made impressions in previous films that were so strong it was difficult at first to get past my preconceptions of the roles they would play.
I will stay clear of comments on whether this film is historically accurate or not, but I will say that the script and story followed was an involving take on Columbus, with Gerard Depardieu portraying a likable, passionate, enthusiastic - but idealistic - explorer. These traits do not stand him in good stead for any work within government, and the portrayal later in the film shows a highly flawed politician (no bad thing you might say).
The Columbus in this film is also seen steering a narrow path somewhere between complete silence and what would have been perceived as heresy. These are the subtle pointers to the intolerant and superstitious religious atmosphere in which Columbus voiced his opinions and finally set sail â there are also far less subtle signs of this oppressive environment in the film - some not particularly pleasant.
I've heard this film described as "Ridley Scott's masterpiece". I personally think it falls short of this description, but it is none the less a serious accomplishment - particularly considering it was made in 1992 and so I doubt there is any CGI in this film whatsoever.
If I was Ridley Scott, I probably would have looked back at this film with a little self-criticism.... and gone and made "Kingdom of Heaven". Oh wait a minute.... he did.
This is a visually spectacular film with a few shortcomings but oevrall an enthralling film with excellent direction and performances. Honestly I don't see why this film barely makes the grade with a shocking 47% on Rotten Tomatoes and 48% percent on... (read more) This is a visually spectacular film with a few shortcomings but oevrall an enthralling film with excellent direction and performances. Honestly I don't see why this film barely makes the grade with a shocking 47% on Rotten Tomatoes and 48% percent on Facebook. 1492 is a great period epic and for me stands the test of cinematic time. The drawback is that at times it feels all too outstanding and typical in it's amibitiousness that it comes across all too flatteringly self indulgent wth itself. The villain is typical Hollywood fare with Michael Wincott performing his typecast bad self. Weaver and Depardieu are both excellent onscreen with depardieu playing a visionary Columbus. 1492 is accompanied by a thunderously beautiful score by Vangelis that helps in pushing the story to epic heights. Again...I do not know what all the fuss is about, but this is one great film.
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