The films that SHOULD have won Oscar for Best Picture: 1987

Rating: 9/10 (9 May 2005)

In 1750 Spain, Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) takes the place of a previous missionary whom was killed. He along with the help of reformed killer/slaver Mendoza (Robert DeNiro) and others hope to bring Christianity into the hearts of the natives of the land. He is successful, but when Portugal acquires the colony the question of if the missions are still under the protection of the Chuch arises. This is a powerful movie, one that I appreciated much more then Roland Joffe's previously directed "Killing Fields" which felt sanctimonious and one-sided. This film ,on the other hand, has breath-taking cinematography and well-developed characters. And while the film does falter in places (somewhat condescending and near the end over-preachy) the good far outweighs the bad. The Academy Awards had made yet another mis-step giving the Best Picture Oscar to "Platton" rather than this film.
My Grade: A
DVD Extras: Disk 1) Commentary by Roland Joffe; Theatrical Trailer; select Cast and crew filmographies; and list of Awards Disk 2) "Omnibus" (a great documentary on the movie)