Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Majorthebys Charming and brutal

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

adonis98-743-186503 Set in the 1930s Arab states at the dawn of the oil boom, the story centers on a young Arab prince torn between allegiance to his conservative father and modern, liberal father-in-law. Even with actors such as Mark Strong and Antonio Banderas in the main roles 'Black Gold' was just boring from the start. The whole romance was also under developed and overall it's one of those films that people will forget that was even made in the first place. (0/10)

witster18 Super-high production values here. That's why I rented it. I knew they'd spent some money. To some(me too, initially), it looks like a "B" flick you've never heard of.In that regard it might exceed some people's expectations.In hindsite, however, the story is an excellent platform for a great drama, but unfortunately, that drama never comes to fruition.And I'm not sure why. The film needed more dialog between its lead character(Auda, played by Tahir from 'A Prophet' fame), and both of his "fathers". We get far too little quality acting and dialog, and way too much meandering amongst the desert. Mark Strong is excellent as usual - too bad he has 5 or 6 lines in the entire film(most coming in the first 10 minutes).The film should have worked dynamically, but the lack of quality dialog and the lack of drama ruin the film. One of many balls that were dropped. The "falcon" storyline and connection - also dropped like a 16-pound bowling ball. The final scene between Banderas and Rahim, ditto.Watch this film for what it should have been - one of the best made for TV epics ever put on the living room screen.The film deserves some credit for not selling-out to the geek squad, and for not boring me(entirely), but the film really could have been great.It's quite beautiful to look at, and most of the acting is passable, but again, it lacks the drama to give it the emotional power to match its 'look'.60/100 and considering it's 50 million-dollar budget - I won't be adding it to the B-Movie-Marathon anytime soon(even though its total-lack of box-take makes it eligible).not bad for out-of-the-redbox with low-expectations.

Tony Heck "I'll be richer then the King of England." After years of war Emir Nesib (Banderas) defeats Sultan Amar (Strong). They form a treaty saying that the desert strip that separated them will be a no man's land belonging to no one and as a guarantee Nesib takes Amar's two sons to raise them as his own. When a Texas oil man shows up and promises Nesib riches beyond his dreams he jumps at the chance but Amar does not agree. When Nesib sons one of Amar's sons to make a treaty it is not taken well and the son must now pick sides with his father or stay with the woman he loves. I will again open with a disclaimer...this is not my kind of movie. The acting is OK and the movie itself is not bad but to me movies like this are just a little too long and drawn out to really get into. If you are a fan of movies like Lawrence Of Arabia and stuff like that you will probably really enjoy this. To me it was OK but kind of boring, but again this isn't my kind of movie. Overall, if you are a fan of this genre you will most likely really enjoy this. I give it a B-.

Claudio Carvalho In the beginning of the Twentieth Century, in Arabia, Emir Nesib (Antonio Banderas) of Hobeika defeats Sultan Amar (Mark Strong) of Salma after years of war between their tribes and they make a peace treaty creating "The Yellow Belt", a large no man's land that would separate their lands and would not belong to neither of them. Further, Nesib demands the sons of Amar, Saleh and Auda, to be raised together with his children Tarik and Leyla by him in Hobeika as a guarantee of their agreement. Fifteen years later, representatives of the Texas Oil find oil in the Yellow Belt and the modern and liberal Emir Nesib sees the opportunity to improve and modernize the life of his tribe, building hospitals and schools, and the American Company begins the exploitation of the oil field, violating the peace pact.Nasib sends a representative to make an agreement with the fundamentalist Sultan Amar, but he does not accept the offer. Saleh decides to travel to Salma to talk to his father and kills his two companions, but he is captured and murdered by Tarik. Prince Auda (Tahar Rahim) and Princess Leyla (Freida Pinto) are in love with each other since they were children and they get married with the full permission of Nesib. Auda travels to Salma expecting to convince his father to associate to Nesib, but the conservative Amar does not accept the proposal and decides to fight against Nesib. Now, Prince Auda shall decide in which side he will pick and fight. "Black Gold" is another wonderful epic adventure by the French director Jean-Jacques Annaud with a great international cast and wonderful cinematography in an environment of "Lawrence of Arabia". The story is entertaining, the soundtrack is very beautiful and the DVD has magnificent Extras showing the Making Of and the Special Effects. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "O Príncipe do Deserto" ("The Prince of the Desert")