A lawyer (Christopher Plummer) meets two very lively men named Daniel Dravot (Sean Connery) and Peachy Carnehan (Michael Caine) that have ambitions to rule as kings in a small Afghanistan province. True to their word, they make a journey to Kafiristan to lead people and become rich for life. They get more than they bargained for when the people of Kafiristan mistaken them for deities, which one of the men in the pair takes too far.
This movie is simply brilliant. It’s simple in storytelling and brilliant in scope. Huston’s interpretation of Kipling’s classic short story hits home quickly and relentlessly. Huston tells a balanced, visual masterpiece about the rise and fall of two former British soldiers. He does it in such a crafty way that you’re drawn in from the beginning and he never lets you go until the bitter end. The story grabs you by making you think it’s lighthearted. For example, at the beginning we see Caine’s Peachy throw a thief off a train to help Plummer’s Kipling (yep, the author). While it’s a complete con on Caine’s part, the humorous exchange between Caine and this would-be thief eating a watermelon is fantastic. Even as the man is being ejected from the train he still bids the pair a good day. That really begins the film and sets the tone for what type of character Peachy is in the story. Once Peachy has Kipling, he brings in Connery’s Daniel Dravot and the quick talking pair are a joy to see onscreen (they go back and forth with humor).
That’s where Huston and Kipling get you, though. They draw you in with niceties/humor and then start to slowly turn Peachy and Dravot’s situation into a serious drama. When you see the pair journey to Kafiristan and help out the people, you’re laughing with them knowing they’re pulling the con of the century. The first time you fear for their situation is when the people they saved are playing polo with their former leader’s head. You go from ‘wow that was easy’ to ‘maybe they should have thought this through a bit’. From that point the movie starts to turn serious and you (the audience) are drawn in even further with the grave that Dravot and Peachy are slowly digging. It’s brilliant pacing on the story and brilliant acting on the parts of the leads. The film will just absolutely capture your attention.
I’m sure you know about the film’s finer points, but what about the Blu-ray? Warner Home Video has a wonderful knack at taking old classics and converting them beautifully over to HD. If you need an example then you should check out Brandon Parker’s review of the soon-to-be released A Clockwork Orange; Warner did a fantastic job on that transfer. With that said, The Man Who Would Be King looks absolutely gorgeous on Blu-ray. Huston’s choice to shoot in Morocco was a good one, as the visuals lend beautifully to the Blu-ray HD format. The reds, blacks, purples and yellows stand out really well; there are a lot of details on clothing and people. For example, there is a scene where a young woman approaches Peachy while he’s resting and she begins to disrobe. While the nakedness is fine, you’ll be be mesmerized with this woman’s eyes, as they’re icy blue. I’m not sure how magnified those eyes are on a DVD, but they stand out really strongly on Blu-ray. Outside of naked women with nice eyes, the locations they shoot in are pretty nice, as well. My only caveat is that some of the wideshots and some shots where dust kicks up severely shows a lot of noise. There’s more beauty than there is ugly, so you’ll be impressed nonetheless.
As for the features on this Blu-ray you are only getting one (not counting the trailer). You get a vintage ‘making of’ featurette that tells about important parts of the production. It gives you some great insight from the late John Huston and some great interviews with cast and crew. You also get to see the climactic finale in the film and how they did it. It’s grainy and ugly, but it’s still interesting to watch.