Cast, Script & Locations Carry Film

Rating: 8/10 (29 February 2012)

This film was shot in France, Morocco, Utah and Pinewood Studios,UK. It does very realistically create the atmosphere of Asia which is where Kiplings story which is the basis of the script is set. It is a well done production.
There are not many films where Sean Connery, Michael Caine, and Christopher Plummer are together. This film really benefits from all of them being here. The Kipling story of the land in East Afghanistan where no outsider has been since Alexander The Great is an interesting premise.
The main weakness of the film is that Allied Artists who made it were on the verge of bankruptcy. In places that lack of money in the production shows very plainly. There are a few sequences which do not meld together well either and some special effects short cuts that are obvious.
Still, the 3 pillars of the film that are strong carry the day. Connery and Caine play off each other quite well and the comic element written into the screen adaptation make the movie a good one. It is one of Alied Artists last film productions and it is rumored that the bankruptcy took any salary away from Connery and Caine and neither of them got paid for their work. If that legend is true, this might be some of the best free acting ever put on the screen.