this movie was a waste of talent

Rating: 3/10 (30 December 2007)

I have read this book and I really enjoyed it. For it to become a movie the directer either had to prepare to make a long drawn out movie or snip/rewrite a lot of the storyline. This I understand. And you only have so much money to invest. It seems to me that Dino De Laurentiis Productions did not care to make a great movie; they wanted a descent director (cheap) to make a descent movie with high paid actors. Never mind quality. Many a movies are made like this these days and it compromises the quality of movie making. It would've looked better to have seen Merlin(Ben Kingsley), during the climactic battle scene, making explosives - something quite magical in those days - and hurling at the enemy rather than shooting fireballs out of his finger tips. Its not believable nor does it do justice to an actor of his caliber. I only hope that the lack of good, sound direction and production of this movie will not harm Ben Kingsley's reputation.
It's just so surprising to see how many quality actors there were in this production. Put Ben Kingsley, as I have mentioned before, Colin Firth (English Patient), John Hannah (Four weddings and a Funeral), Kevin McKidd (Train Spotting, HBO Series:Rome), Aishwariya Rai (Veteran actress of Bollywood)in one movie and mix it with bad production and sophomoric direction you get a movie that will probably go directly to video. I had hopes for this movie. I do not advise watching such a waste of talent.