Genres

Visitors Review

mark 2012-05-24 21:18:07

Nick Nolte pulls it off!

I came across this movie in the 90's and thought of it as an instant classic. Original story with Nolte heading a great cast makes this worthy of my list.

2012-05-24 11:58:12

Nolte really is a "King" is this one

As good as he was in Rich Man-Poor Man, and as great as he was in 48 Hours, and Another 48 Hours, these pale in comparison to "Farewell To The King."Nolte makes you believe there really is a King Leroy in charge of all the tribes in Borneo.As The King says, "What's life without a little salt?" If you don't get this movie, you'll surely find out.

2012-05-14 02:33:43

another point of view about the meaning of the word "freedom"

Wonderful film, worth seeing indeed.The best character, I think, of Nick Nolte.Based on the french novel "L'adieu au roi" of Pierre Schöndorfer, who fought in Indochine; the novel itself, as far as I know, is based on a true story.It shows us another meaning of the sense of freedom during WW II.

2012-05-13 09:28:05

Dances with Dayaks?

I am watching this in HD on cable and it is one cheesy movie. Badly acted, incredibly cliched attempt to make a Dances With Wolves in Borneo. When Nolte is in a good movie he's good and when he's in a cheese factory he is awful.

2012-05-07 06:49:06

Good riddance

This is without question the worst film I have ever seen. Badly written by someone who knows nothing of Borneo, badly acted, atrociously directed. I bought it because I heard it was filmed in a mountain area in Sarawak which I know well. It went into the rubbish bin (unfinished). I rate it one star because no lower rating is available.

2012-05-06 22:41:08

Excellent, Underrated But...

John Milius's is an excellent, underrated but still problematic film. Supposedly, it was somewhat cut and as available on VHS is a truncated "almost" masterpiece - a good film that could have been a great one. Here's hoping that the DVD provides some additional "lost" footage along with an informative commentary by the always interesting and loquacious Mr. Milius.

2012-05-06 06:33:57

One of Hollywood's best films, ever!

This is the type of movie Hollywood _should_ be producing more of... thisis10fold Nick Nolte's best performance, and should be seen by any fan ofNolte's, and any fan of quality film making (something that's becoming a"rare gem" in today's hedonist society)!This film has almost everything; happiness, misery, love, hate/revenge,hope, disillusionment, discovery, loss, and exemplifies many of life'slessons... truly one of the best films I've ever seen.

brucemcmahon 2012-05-05 16:51:43

pure entertainment, fun to watch

Farewell to the King, was not Oscar quality, however it was a lotbetter than most of the bilge that Hollywood barfs out. I have learnedthat if you don't expect much from todays movies you won't bedisappointed. I liked the theme of the movie, the "backwater" of WWIIaway from the "show". The cast was wonderful, I'm not going topick-em-apart. The plot was believable, read-up about the coastwatchers, or downed pilots evading the enemy in the Pacific. Don't becritical, let your imagination go free, imagine yourself in Nolte'splace, be part of the movie, after all that is what it is all about,jump starting your mind.

2012-05-03 23:21:45

This is a great lost on a tropical island movie.

I saw this a long time ago and don't remember all the exact details of this movie but it has always stayed with me as one movie I enjoyed and would like to see again. Nick Nolte gets stranded or goes AWOL and winds up on a tropical island and is made the king. Life is great with lovely island girls and all the trappings that go along with being the King. He treated his people very good and all involved were happy with there island life. Then,as I recall, Nick is threatened in some way and he has to bug-out, or face the music for whatever the reason it was that he came to be on the island in the first place. All are saddened by this turn of events and the audience touched by the ending. A very good movie with everyones desert island fantasy gone bad.

2012-05-03 16:54:40

Farewell to the King

This is a great movie that was recommended to me by a friend. Nick Nolte plays a convincing part in this gripping story about a man who finds home in the jungles during WWII. Two thumbs up!

kaholle 2012-05-03 22:36:41

Nick Nolte practicing for his mugshot

I just caught "Farewell to the King" on cable, and maybe it's justbecause I'm a girl, but I thought this was on the craptastic side. Thescript and direction are pretentious (once I found out John Milius wasresponsible, it all became clear). The supporting actors actuallyweren't bad - James Fox was outstanding. The biggest disappointment wasNick Nolte, who I usually enjoy. Once he goes native, he startsspeaking a very stiff, stilted English, and half the time, he seemskind of distracted, as if he'd just smoked some of the bounty ofBorneo's rain forest. And then the end -- what the ??? Learoyd justhappens to be on the same boat as The Botanist (by the way, had theBotanist dumped the girlfriend, or what?)??? The boat just happens torun aground conveniently close to an island ripe takeover by a crazyAnglo ex-headhunting Army deserter??

2012-05-03 03:27:10

excellent

I saw this film last year before actually visiting Borneo in person. The film captures the setting, the people and the struggles that are presented in the film. The film explores the human cost of war and the personal struggles of the characters. Nick Nolte goes AWOL and ends up in Japanese held Sarawak, Borneo. There he leads the Kelabit tribe in guerilla tactics against the Japanese troops. Great action, cast and direction!

Scott Peterson 2012-04-26 07:02:36

The last king of Borneo

One person I know saw this movie and called it "Ramblonde" after NickNolte's long hair. Other people have characterized as an adaptation of KingLear."Farewell to the King" is really neither. It's a story about a man whofinds his kingdom and himself against the backdrop of World War Two Borneo.The movie is touching and dramatic about a man who leaves behind a war hedidn't want and everything he knew, only to have to face it again. Manyquestions are raised about the meaning of loyalty and honor, and who is yourenemy and your friend.Not, it's definitely not a "Rambo" movie, more a tight and involving dramathe way they used to make them.

2012-04-25 13:06:16

Don't see this every day !!!

One fabulous movie !!! OK it's not Lawrence of Arabia but its a moviebased on a novel by Pierre Schoendoerffer so we know it's fiction andnothing more.Ah but what fiction !! Director:John Milius crafts a finetale that makes you think as I once heard somewhere else,IF that storyisn't true it should have been (film - the cowboys)There was a timeNick Nolte could really act and this film released in 1989 proves it.At115 minutes I wanted MORE.There is NOTHING not to like about thisfilm.The story of a third party being caught up in the dispute ofothers is timeless and when that dispute is war and the third party aresavages or really just not civilized in the western sense,they onlycollect heads and live in the jungle,rather than live in comfort basedon the exploitation of others,like colonial powers involved in suchwar,that you have a set up for a Don Quixote story as played by Nolte.So don't look for Lawrence but rather a violent but principled SanchoPanza and you will enjoy the film.British,Japanese and Borneo as abattleground works as well as any other setting from WW11 and less doneto boot.Fine acting by Nigel Havers as a Lawrence type,Capt. Fairbournereally complements Nolte as this American deserter from Corregidorsurvivors after being beached on Borneo and seeing the soldiers heescaped with die.He then survives in the jungle only to be captured byheadhunters,and here's the romance,is loved by a native and he thuslearns there way and becomes "free"to lead his "comanches"as KING!!!Great stuff if not for that damned old war !!! The darker issue ofre-colonizing after the war is also delved into although not as much asone might wish.Do yourself a favor and see it,for they really don'tmake um like this anymore.

2012-04-19 22:12:01

A sporadically glorious mess - in a slightly different cut to the European version

This review is from: Farewell to the King (DVD) Farewell to the King should have been John Milius' masterpiece. Harking back to Joseph Conrad and the days of high adventure so beloved of the writer-director, this WW2 tale of a deserter who becomes a king in Borneo only to lose everything fighting the Japanese and betrayed by the Allies, it seemed made to measure for his brand of bravado and myth making. Even had Milius not ill-advisedly taken Spielberg's advice to trim half an hour from his original cut and the film not been released in two slightly different cuts on either side of the Atlantic, Farewell would almost certainly still have been an awkward and under-achieving film so problematic are many aspects: yet for all its many faults, there's enough there that IS unique to keep on drawing me back time and again. Part old-fashioned adventure, part folie de grandeur, all box-office disaster, it's a mess, but it's an intriguing one that's hard to dislike despite its many flaws, and Basil Poledouris' remarkable score is a thing of wonder.The performances are variable: Nigel Havers is fine as the narrator who knows that one day he'll have to betray the King, but in a part that really calls for a Steve McQueen or a Russell Crowe, Nick Nolte has a few too many eccentric moments and isn't always able to make Milius' dialog sound as good as it reads (a common problem in many of his scripts). Frank McRae, Marius Weyers and Milius' old surfing buddy Gerry Lopez offer good support, but there's a truly terrible but mercifully brief performance from the future Mrs Milius, Elan Oberon. The film feels somewhat cramped at times due to Milius' decision not to shoot in Scope (he dislikes 2.35:1 despite doing his most visually impressive work in the ratio), although cinematographer Dean Semler pulls off an impressive sequence where a night time ambush goes horribly wrong due to a sudden shift in the weather.It would have been interesting to see what author Pierre Schoendoerffer would have made of it had he been able to direct it himself. Like Milius an unashamed admirer of Joseph Conrad (the story is basically a WW2 reworking of Lord Jim), the French writer-director's own films, particularly the haunting Le Crabe Tambour, hint at a more melancholy, less gung-ho attack on the material. But Milius' film has enough going for it to make it worth a look.The US cut recently released on Region 1 DVD by MGM/UA is different in quite a few ways to the European version. For a start, it's shorter, although it has some additional footage: the battle montage as the Japanese retreat is much longer (the entire battle at the river is cut from the European versions), while there's a scene of James Fox reminiscing about a girl he knew in India that is missing from the European cut, as well as a few additional lines of dialogue in some scenes. However, there is a huge and fairly important scene cut from near the end of the picture, where Fairbourne (Havers) visits the Japanese general as he has his last meal before his execution: it's not an entirely successful scene, but the film works better with it than without. There's also a big structural difference, with the US cut showing Learoyd deserting and watching his companions being executed as a pretitle sequence - this footage is in the European cut, but much more comfortably included much later when Learoyd is telling the story of how he became king. Also, the opening quote has been dropped and replaced with title cards specifying the date and location, while the closing narration is longer. On the whole, aside from the missing battle montage footage, the European version plays better.It was too much to hope for deleted scenes or even Milius' original two-and-a-half hour cut of the film on the R1 disc, but MGM/UA could have at least included the trailer - but unfortunately the disc is completely extras free. The widescreen transfer is good, but the contrast could be better in some jungle scenes. The R2 PAL discs are fullframe without any extras, but do have the European cut of the film.

AFernandez58 2012-04-19 02:08:06

Excellent but Flawed

"Farewell to the King" is a very well made, acted and photographed filmversion of Schoendoeffer's novel. The theatrical version seems tooshort for the epic scope of the story. Don't know if it was heavilyedited or whether the production's grasp exceeded their financial meansbut there is something missing here. This is a film that could havebeen Milius's great masterpiece (although Big Wednesday is a prettygreat film). It has something important and striking to say about warand about the nature of the bond between Western adventurers and"savage" tribal people applicable to the American misadventure inVietnam and to earlier periods such as Lawrence of Arabia during WorldWar One. It doesn't quite succeed. Still this 1989 war film, unfairlydismissed at the time as a blond version of Rambo, has some of Milius'best work as a filmmaker. This is a film ripe for re-evaluation in adeluxe edition DVD.

MisterChandu 2012-04-09 04:07:11

They don't make them like this anymore!

I just bought this thing for a dollar at a video store that was goingbelly up (as a lot of them are doing now.) This was made in 1989 over17 years ago now and I had never seen it. It is a good film and I amglad I bought it. It filled in a lazy summer afternoon.This is a good old fashioned romantic south seas adventure film in thetradition of things like " His Majesty O'Keefe", "South Sea Women", theboring "Lord Jim" and even "Mutiny on the Bounty" in a way. It alsoresembles "Dances with Wolves" too. This film is a bit violent but anywar movie would be.The days of signing on a tramp steamer and seeing the south seas are aslong gone as the Phonograph and 78 rpm record. The jet age, travelagencies, and space age communication have destroyed whatever romancetraveling there might have had.Films with plots like this now happen in outer space, not the southseas. It is a little too violent so I give it a 9. This is a genre thatI think can no longer sustain an audience.Farewell to the King!

Bobster36 2012-04-08 10:33:06

Nolte is awful.

The story of Farewell to the King is intriguing. An American "deserter"(I had the impression he and his 3 comrades were only trying to escapecapture in the Philippines as their desperate escape by raft to Borneois not your classic desertion). But no sooner do they come ashore whenthey are discovered by the Japanese. Nolte's character (a sergeant) hasonly moments earlier walked down the beach alone and was not noticed.And incredibly, no one noticed his footprints in the sand which wouldhave led the Japanese right to him. But anyway, Nolte is taken in by atribe of headhunters and becomes their king after defeating anothertribesman. So he's out of the war. Then the British commandos show upand want the tribe to assist them in fighting the Japanese.Unfortunately, Nolte's incessant hamming ruins an interesting story.Instead of acting like a former soldier thrust back into the war, nowwith a tribe of warriors under his command, Nolte acts like he wasraised by the tribe. He speaks as if English is almost a foreignlanguage, rarely using contractions. He makes sweeping gestures when hetalks, and acts like he is one with nature, as if he was raised in thejungle.There is plenty of action and many interesting scenes with the Britishinteracting with Nolte and the tribe. But Nolte's character is neverbelievable. It always looks like he's overacting. He needed to be alittle more of an American soldier and a lot less of a tribesman. As itis, he comes across, not as a regal king, but as a lunatic who hasforgotten who he really is. But that is not the intent of the film, asthe script has him being admired and trusted by the British commandos.There is never any suggestion that the British thought his behavior wasstrange. He is simply viewed by the British as the defacto leader ofthe tribe. Thus, it always seems that Nolte's character isn't fittingin with what's supposed to be happening in the film.Another actor might have done a great job with the role, delivered hislines believably, and made it an outstanding movie. But Nolte ruins thefilm by hamming up every scene and appearing to not understand what hischaracter is supposed to be.What a waste.

david-sarkies 2012-04-04 21:32:34

The incessant march of Western Imperialism

There was numerous parts of this movie that reminded me of Conan theBarbarian. Not the plot but rather the directing style. John Milius hasa style that can be pleasing to the eye at times, though the directorof Photography was Dean Semlar, a hero to South Australians as he wonan academy award for his camera work on Dances with Wolves.Farewell to the King is a story set in the closing days of world warII. The Japanese and the Germans are losing the war and the plan is tounite the tribes of Borneo so that when the Australians land and pushthe Japanese back from the coast they will meet a strong oppositionwithin. The island of Borneo, at this time, is still relativelyuntouched with many tribes living deep within the jungles. The Japaneseoccupy the island but only on the rim, the natives control the tribeswithin.When a botanist is sent into the heart of Borneo, he is captured by atribe and brought to their king, who happens to be an American. TheBotanist gains the king's confidence, though he plans on overthrowinghim in favour of the allied forces. He learns that the King desertedthe American Army when Macarther pulled out of the Phillipines. Heescaped with other friends to Borneo when they crashed and clamberedashore. His mates wanted to get help from the Japanese but he did nottrust them so he struck off on his own. Later he discovered that theJapanese caught and executed his friends. He then, dying ofmalnutrition and malaria, was found by a tribe and they were going tosell his head to the Japanese but a dragon tattoo on his chest and hisblue eyes saved him. He them managed to unite the tribes, defeat adespotic leader, and became their king.The movie deals with him as the King and how the war and Americanimperialism destroys his kingdom. He is a king and his subjects see himas such, but the Americans refuse to acknowledge his nation, and eventhough they sign a treaty with him, they consider it worthless and wishto bring him in for court marshal. The botanist though begins to builda strong friendship with the king and learns that he really is a kingfor he rules wisely. We watch as the botanist goes from his view ofcivilised British to an acceptance of the legitimacy of the nativeculture.This movie attacks the idea of white supremacy and civilisation. TheAnglo-Saxon's in this movie consider them to be far superior to thenatives of Borneo and believe that they need to bring theircivilisation to them. At the beginning the Botanist corrects himselfwhen he first says that they were going to recapture Borneo and thensays liberate. What is interesting though is the longer he spends withthe natives the more he comes to accept their lifestyle. The othersoldiers that come to train the natives in the art of warfare alsobecome to love the life and reject the western life. We also watch asthe tribe changes as the war comes to them. They begin with swords andshields and finish with mortars and heavy machineguns. When the Kingfinally gives himself up his retinue consists of a number ofnationalities and they are all equipped as mercenaries.In farewell to the King we watch the end of the native culture and thebeginning of Western Imperialism. The last outpost of the native isworn away as the Western Imperialists drive the Japanese out only toremain there themselves. The King tried to remain out of the war butthe war was sent to them. Even though the Japanese were defeated theWestern Imperialists did not pull out but worked to subjugate thenatives of Borneo. They removed one evil only to replace another.

peter-856 2012-04-04 07:00:20

A moving, if slow, drama

This is a curious piece whose dramatic arc takes a while to reach itsfull speed, but builds to a climax of considerable horror, involvingcannibalism, genocide, loyalty and revenge. It is, I think, a mistaketo label it an action movie: it is a drama, and played with atheatricality to which the viewer must adjust.Nevertheless, once it gets into its stride this film has considerablecharm.The core cast bond closely and Frank Mcrae, who plays Sgt Tenga, andMarius Weyers (Sgt. Conklin) manage to give warmth to the invaders whothreaten the survival of The People of the Hills. The central relationship, between Nolte and Havers, is a fragile onewhich teeters on the brink of formulaic in Nolte's rescue of the sickEnglishman and their mutual debts of gratitude and obligation. However,as they plunge into the conflict against the remnants of the defeatedJapanese army, they each shock one another with what they are preparedto do. I think the climax of the horror, which I do not wish to spoil, isbrilliantly done. I felt the protagonists' turmoil and understood theirbrutal reactions, while still being shocked by it. This film is open to charges of hokiness, theatricality and slowness,but, given a chance, it explores themes similar to those in The ThinRed Line; the imperialistic side effects of the Pacific war and thedehumanising effect of soldiering, against the fully human power oflove and community.