I loved this film when I first saw it 30 years ago! also love the book. I thought that Peter O'Toole was superb in it, and I have remembered it with great affection and delight all these years, especially Asmodeus!
It is a really excellent story - quirky and exciting - would love to see someone re-make it with better cinematography and budget etc, I think it would be a winner.
No one anywhere mentions the original version of this entitled "Man Hunt" directed by the Fritz Lang. Where are you real film buffs?
Nothing exists more beautifully than nothing.
Perhaps because it would not be strictly true to call it the 'original version', when "Man Hunt" was a renamed adaptation of a novel which has the same name as this version. But yes, it was the original movie version. And the better of the two, I think. I first saw "Man Hunt" when I was very young (wet Sunday afternoon old movie slot on TV, when I was about 7 or 8). The scene where he improvises a weapon out of his lady friend's hatpin stuck in my visual memory for years, till I saw it again.
Only scene that came close to making a strong impression on me in the O'Toole version (although years later), was the expression on his face when his hands were being tortured. O'Toole should have worked well in the role - his rather feline quality should have been suggestive of elusiveness, and his stray, feral Tom cat nature. But somehow it didn't - too fey, and wasn't 'blokish' enough, somehow.
In all honesty - no. I think much of the story is very hard to film well. Also the story is, though not dated, steeped in an ethos which simply couldn't be credibly portrayed by today's directors and actors. I don't necessarily mean that they couldn't do it - its just that they wouldn't be allowed to do it.
In my view there are a few classics that you should READ. This is one of them.
I think I partly agree with that - the novel is a very internal kind of journey, which doesn't make for exciting cinema. To make a modern film of it you'd have to skip most of that and concentrate on the action. In most directors hands it would become just another very ordinary chase movie.
The hero says something like 'there are no good causes left worth fighting for, just bad ones worth fighting against', and that, the idea of the loner with his own code of honour fighting a bad system, is familiar territory and could translate well I think - though a lot of the detail would have to be changed, whether it was done in period or adapted to a contemporary setting.
Man Hunt is being released on DVD on May 19, 2009, by classicflix.com.
I got Rogue Male on a DVD compilation, with The Last Days of Patton and Hell Hounds of Alaska. LOL. I bought it only for Rogue Male.
Carpe Noctem
Hell Hounds of Alaska sounds like a keeper. Would you like a remake of Rogue?
Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.
I've seen both versions, so far--& enjoyed both. I'm ambivalent about a remake. I'd hate to see someone try to modernize it, as was attempted with The Day of the Jackal, resulting in the abysmal The Jackal.
Carpe Noctem
Right you are; remakes usually stink.
Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.
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Oh, boy, yeah I saw this one some twenty odd years ago on cable, and I was impressed how close it was to the novel(well, it was british).This would be a real hot potato of a remake, Consider: the hero has to make a near-successful attempt on a demonstrably monstrous head of state, endure tortuous interrogation, escape to seeming safety, be in danger of being handed back by his "friends". The other question would be, would his own govt. hand him back over if they found him? Depends on the country, I suppose...Yes, a very ticklish movie to remake in these times.
shareWell, it looks like they are remaking it with Cumberbatch at the helm. I'm interested in seeing the final result. The original was odd but pretty awesome.
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