Customer Reviews

The Arab Conspiracy

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Originally this political science fiction thriller was entitled, THE NEXT MAN. Sean Connery plays Saudi Arabia's quite formidable Minister of State who in the service of world peace offers a security alliance with the perpetually threatened state of Israel. Saudi Arabia's vast oil-supplied wealth is the key to establishing a NEW WORLD ORDER. This outrages Palestinian radicals seeking Israel's destruction; the former Soviet Union which seeks to employ whatever divisive means it can to perpetuate Arab antagonisms and its own influence; as well as a shadowy cartel of oligarchs (The Seven Sisters?) who are bent on maintaining a dangerous status quo that fills their coffers with oil and blood money. The film opens with a series of ruthless assassinations and imports of multiple betrayal. Sean Connery is "merely" the next man to oppose forces of fascism apparently operating on a world wide level. The film is tight, often documentary in style (the way Executive Action dealt with the assassination of JFK)and appearance. The global venues of the film are shot in that "off"-color haze that can make a film strike one as cheap but another as realistic. This is not a James Bond spectacle. But Connery's presence and typically solid performance make this a thriller with good forced to fight evil on its own terms. Cornelia Sharpe is, I believe, effective as the assassin hired (again) by The Oligarchy to do Connery in. I have seen reviews that have panned her performance, but I think she is fine. Remember, her role is to deceive and seduce the man we all identify as the invincible 007. But not this time...Maybe NEXT. The Arab Conspiracy/Next Man is a first rate thriller, made (perhaps)on a second rate budget. It is suspenseful view of the political mandarate which may or may not run things and certainly provides for some "safe", entertaining thrills.

I saw the movie when it first came out 20+ years ago and found it very interesting/entertaining. This DVD has THE worst quality image and sound I have ever seen in a DVD. Had I not seen this movie before, and thus known better, I would have thought I was looking at something worthy of being ridiculed in Mystery Science Theater 3000. Maybe the name of the distributing studio(Cheezy Flicks) should have been a warning sign. Don't buy this!!! I actually feel rating this at 1 star is too much but I didn't have the option to go lower.

It's that opening scene that grips me: A female spy seduces an ambassador in a top floor room of his hotel, then smothers him with a plastic bag. Other operatives break in and throw his assistant out the window. Sean Connery is the Arab ambassador that wants to negotiate peace between the Arabs and Isrealis, but OPEC oil cartel members oppose the plan because it might drive oil prices down. They hire our spy (Cornelia Sharpe) to assasinate him. A detective uncovers the plan but he is too late to stop it. This film is so relevant to our current situation in the middle east and to explain some of the roots of terrorism. Are Arabs villainized? No,
only terrorism itself. And solutions are offered to those open to many of its underlying themes.

Don't be put off by the ideology-heads who label this movie propaganda and racist. Racist? Come on, people! Sean Connery as the hero plays an ARAB!! And, beside, labeling anti-Arab sentiment as "racist" is simply lame and brain-dead. Arabs are not a race. Duh.

The movie has it's fair share of slow points, less-than-steller acting, and plot stumbles, but all in all is quite a good movie, and (if viewed with anything but an ideologically-shuttered mind) raises several thoughtful issues.

All in all, the movie deserves at least a 3/5, possibly a 4/5. I'm giving it a 5/5 to partially counter the obviously fanaticism-driven negatives that try to trash this more-than-adequate, thinking man's spy thriller.

I saw the movie when it first came out 20+ years ago and found it very interesting/entertaining. This DVD has THE worst quality image and sound I have ever seen in a DVD. Had I not seen this movie before, and thus known better, I would have thought I was looking at something worthy of being ridiculed in Mystery Science Theater 3000. Maybe the name of the distributing company (Cheezy Flicks) should have been a warning sign. Don't buy this!!! I actually feel rating this at 1 star is too much but I didn't have the option to go lower.

It would be understandable if this pathetic movie were made in the late 1950s before Sean Connery became a major star. Somehow, though, he agreed to be involved in this mess in 1976. Did the famous Scottish film idol have serious financial trouble? Was Connery possibly blackmailed? Not only is he the only leading actor, but the film's overall production values are not even equal to a badly made for TV special. Connery plays the role of a top Saudi Arabian official who gets the permission of his government to form a working relationship with the Israelis. They have the technical enterprise while the Saudis possess the oil. Abstractly, this idea does indeed seem sensible. Connery becomes the target of assassins who prefer to keep the power in the hands of OPEC. Cornelia Sharpe is chosen to perform the dastardly deed. Will she succeed? More importantly, will Sharpe do so early in the story so that the suffering of the audience might be lessened?

Does anybody in their right mind really believe that the virulently anti-Semitic government of Saudi Arabia would ever seek to form a viable working relationship with Israel---even today? This bizarre notion was completely laughable some thirty years ago. Does this movie have a redeeming value? Yes, it opens up with a now haunting scene of the World Trade Center against the Manhattan skyline. Is there anything else? I'm afraid not. It's all downhill after that.

Very racist and anti-arab movie. Following the usual disturbed image we have about Arabs being untolerant and evil. I thought it is so cliche to use the Arab-Israeli conflict as a theme of the movie and to show Arabs as the bad guys again. Aren't our news channels enough? I would strongly advise you not to see it...but if you do, beware of the poisonous ideas it advocates.

What about if Hollywood tries something else, more genuine than their eternal depiction of arabs. I feel sad for Connery for not being able to be more selective in his movies... well, maybe some petrol and dollars are worth a film script... but an old formula is just an old one!

This is another of the unlimited supply of anti-Arab racism that is prevalent in American media, of all types. A bad movie on all counts. Racist conception and goal, bad and disturbing story, and a bad production. I do not recommend it to anyone, unless he or she enjoyes putting down other people, and has no brains to figure how he or she is being used in anti-Arab propaganda.

The writer of the film story showed an absolute ignorance