AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

gsfsu Sometimes a movie can get lost trying to make a point. The Last Valley is one of those. An excruciatingly bloody tale which is excruciating to sit through as well. All I could think of watching this mess was how humans ever survived this period of history. It is little different than all the rest of the movies made about this period of history when slaughter, butchery and destruction were commonplace.

rogerdarlington Over my many years of cinema-going, I've viewed a whole range of movies with titles beginning "The Last .." including "The Last Emperor" (1987) and "The Last Samurai" (2003). "The Last Valley' may not be the best-known film with this kind of title, but it made an impression on me when I first saw it at the cinema in 1971 and still resonated with me when I viewed it again on DVD some 46 years later.It is partly the unusual historical context: the story is set during the repeated bloody clashes of Catholic and Protestant armies largely in German-speaking continental Europe in the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648 and reference to a particular battle in a line of dialogue places the period more precisely in late 1643 and early 1644. It is partly the important subjects that it addresses: the narrative is a sharp critique of the role of religion and superstition in fostering hatred and war and the leading character eventually shouts at the local priest: "There is no Hell. Don't you understand? Because there is no God. There never was. Don't you understand? There is no God! It's a legend!".This British film was written, produced and directed by James Cavell before he became famous for his blockbuster novels. The 17th century village in question was recreated in the valley of Trins in the beautiful Tyrol region of Austria. The Catholic villagers who live there may look rather too clean and well-clothed for the period but the mainly Protestant soldiers who occupy the valley certainly look the part. The music is from John Barry who had made his name with the early James Bond movies.At the heart of the story is the changing fortunes of the characters as they are subject to competing sources of power: civil authority in the shape of the head villager Gruber (Nigel Davenport), religious dogma provided by the village priest Father Sebastian (Per Oscarsson), military authority imposed by a character known only as The Captain (Michael Caine), and the voice of reason and tolerance offered by the academic refugee Vogel (Omar Sharif). In the course of the story, each will have his moment of triumph but each will suffer grievously in this under- known and under-appreciated film.

Jeff (actionrating.com) Skip it – This is an exceedingly strange movie that blends war with the concept of a utopian society. It takes place in Germany during the Thirty Years War. War and plague have ravaged the entire country, except for one small hidden valley in the mountains. When a small band of soldiers, led by Michael Caine's character, discover this valley, they decide to join with the villagers in order to co-exist. Eventually, they must defend the valley from outsiders. The two main battle scenes that take place during the film are pretty good, but they are few and far between. Also, this film would have been better if it was made before 1970. The director decided to focus on religion rather than war. Although religion was the conflict that started the Thirty Years War, it is portrayed in a fanatical way that only the 1970's could offer.

tracyfigueira Jonathan Swift wrote "We have just enough religion to make us hate one another, but not enough religion to make us love one another." Swift, an Anglican minister, was writing scarcely a century after the Thirty Years' War, one of the bloodiest in European history before Napoleon. The war started out as a feud between Catholics and Protestants in what is now the Czech Republic but spread like a wildfire to engulf most of Europe. Germany was hardest hit. Although it began as a religious struggle it essentially became a free-for-all with all the great European powers jockeying for position--Spain, Austria, France, Sweden, Denmark, Prussia--while marauding bands of mercenaries made life hell for an already impoverished peasantry. This film brings to life a conflict most Americans have never heard of. It's surprisingly graphic for its PG rating; it bears comparison to another saga of warfare in Early Modern Europe, Paul Verhoeven's "Flesh and Blood." Written and directed by James Clavell ("Shogun," "King Rat," "The Great Escape") it shows just how horrible both Protestants and Catholics were during this period; ironically, one of the few sympathetic characters is a practicing Satanist (Florinda Bolkan). Once you get past Michael Caine's German accent and Omar Sharif's blond hair-dye, the whole cast is superb. Caine plays a mercenary chief persuaded to spare a tranquil Alpine village from plunder by Sharif, who plays his usual wounded idealist, the voice of sanity in a world gone mad. Particularly noteworthy among the international cast is Hollywood veteran Arthur O'Connell in a surprisingly convincing portrayal of a superstitious, mean-spirited farmer. The movie grippingly demonstrates the horrors of ethnic cleansing and religious conflict, with both sides committing unspeakable acts. The battle scenes are rousing, and there's a love story between Caine and the local witch (Bolkan). This is a movie that makes you think, but also leaves you with a queer feeling in the pit of your stomach. A must for action fans and history buffs.