The ultimate buddy movie.

Rating: 10/10 (28 June 2002)

Sean Connery shines - matured beyond his James Bond adolescence, not yet in his Elder Statesman roles. Michael Caine serves as the ideal sidekick: eager for adventures, wanting to be the voice of conscience without being a wet blanket.
Two of Her Majesty's foot soldiers in India during the Raj go AWOL, over the mountains into what is now Afghanistan. Nineteenth century Afghani tribes fought amongst themselves as much as today, it seems, but when Alexander the Great returns two millennia after his first visit, waring tribes unite under his divine rule. The question is, how long can a common infantryman pull of a charade as the greatest military leader in history, and a god, to boot, without exposing his mortality? And do the results say more about the dangers of hubris or the glory and rewards of going after it and living your dream?
Maybe that's adding more profundity than needed, but the movie is much more than a simple buddy adventure, and throughout it remains a whole lot of fun. Peachy Callahan teaching the primitives how to be soldiers in Her Majesty's army says everything you need to know about the military mindset and gives me a good laugh every time I think about it.