Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

ma-cortes Suspense and intrigue with Poirot on holidays in Jerusalen . This whodunit deals with Hercules Poirot (Peter Ustinov) as the Belgian sleuth man in he case of killing a rich , unpopular heiress in an archaeological dig during a luxurious vacations . He investigates the travelers and as numerous suspects , all support cast ( Carrie Fisher, Nicholas Guest , David Soul , Hayley Mills , John Terlesky , Lauren Bacall and Jenny Seagrove married to Michael Winner). Who is the killer? , can he find the guilty? . Hercules Poirot is helped by a British Colonel (John Gielgud). After the clues have been shown we will get a chance to give the answer with Poirot finding out about the culprit at a twisted finale with outstanding surprises but are taken the murders from different viewpoints of everyone which it makes a little bit boring, pedestrian , endless and overlong.The film is a detective story in which you are the detective . In the picture there are mystery , emotion, love story , suspense and wonderful outdoors from Jerusalen , Italy and the rout on the cruise ship . The movie gets a lush costume design ( John Bloomfield ) and magnificent production design . Colorful and sunny cinematography by excellent cameraman David Gurfinkel . Sensitive and atmospheric musical score by Pino Donaggio . Actors 's interpretation are first-rate , Peter Ustinov acting is similar to Albert Finney ( Murder on the Orient Express). Ustinov starred various Hercules Poirot films as : ¨Evil under the sun¨(Guy Hamilton), ¨Death on the Nile¨(John Guillermin) and for TV with low budget as : ¨Murder in three acts¨,¨Dead man's folly¨ and ¨Thirteen at dinner ¨; but the best considered is Death on the Nile .This film is professionally directed by Michael Winner though contains some flaws and poor edition . After directing the successful ¨Death wish¨ he made worst sequels in which Bronson-Paul Kersey goes on to torture robbers , all of them inferior and the violence could be deemed excessive , are the following : ¨Death wish II¨ with Jill Ireland and Vincent Gardenia , ¨Death wish III¨ with Ed Lauter and Deborah Raffin. Subsequently Michael Winner career was failed , alternating some hit as ¨The sentinel¨ and various flops as ¨ Firepower, The big sleep, The wicked lady, Appointed with death, A chorus of disapproval, and Bullseye ¨. The flick will appeal to suspense lovers and Agatha Christie-Poirot novels buffs .

TheLittleSongbird Agatha Christie's Appointment With Death is not her best book, but is well crafted and a pleasant read. This adaptation isn't terrible, but it is the weakest of Peter Ustinov's outings as Poirot. Speaking of Ustinov, he is excellent here, I had no problem with him. And Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, Jenny Seagrove and John Gielgud give fine support. The film does have some splendid locations, even if Petra was changed to Jerusalem if I remember rightly, and the music was good too. However, the script isn't that polished, a lot is changed from the book and some of the changes are underdeveloped, the character of Hassan was unnecessary. But my main gripe with the movie was the character of Mrs Boynton. The same applies for the recent David Suchet version(which was more unfaithful but better musically and visually, and the acting was more solid in that one too), the character of Mrs Boynton was never done quite right, despite the wholly hateable portrayal given by Piper Laurie. In the book, she is a bit of a tyrant, in the adaptation, she was portrayed as nasty and cantankerous, but lacked the depth of the character in the book. Overall, not bad, but I did think Death on the Nile and Evil Under The Sun were better. 6/10 Bethany Cox

gridoon2018 A Golan-Globus production of an Agatha Christie novel?, you may ask. Thankfully, the financers of Charles Bronson's entire 1980's filmography, among many other (cheapie) things, actually put some money into this project, allowing for location shooting in England, Italy and (mainly) Israel, period costumes and vehicles, etc. However, the locations are shot without much flavor and the film ends up feeling more like a TV movie than a theatrical release. The plot itself is not among Christie's strongest, though co-screenwriter Anthony Shaffer at least tries to mix it up a little with some interesting ideas (Poirot assembles all the suspects for the first time, we expect him to reveal the murderer....and he doesn't). Ustinov is still delightful, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, as Poirot; he reminds me in a way of Roger Moore's James Bond: purists argue that these two are not 105% accurate to the books, but I'm having too much fun watching them to care. In the supporting cast, the standout is clearly Jenny Seagrove, who has all the beauty, the elegance, the spirit and the courage of the best Christie heroines.The latest (2008) David Suchet - Poirot season also produced a version of this book. It changes the story almost completely, only keeping a few names and relationships intact. Personally I preferred it for its dark, psychological approach and its truly magnificent scenery, but for a more faithful, lightweight version, this 1988 film holds up better than I remembered. (**1/2)

aussiebrisguy Appointment with Death is a wonderful film for pure escapism. Piper Laurie is really fantastic as Emily Boynton. Of course Peter Ustinov is always a treat as Hercule Poirot. Sir John Gielgud is a treasure to watch and Lauren Bacall is incredibly good as Lady Westholme. This is a glamorous film with additional supporting cast such as Jenny Seagrove, the handsome John Terlesky, the beautiful Hayley Mills and Carrie Fisher. David Soul is passable as the Boynton family lawyer. The scenery is wonderful, the costumes beautiful and the story intriguing. It is hard to know who has done the deed. The much underrated Michael Craig also puts in an appearance. I wish there could be more appointments with such a talented cast.