Product Details

• Actors: William Hurt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jonny Lee Miller, Mark Strong
• Directors: Peter Travis
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: MONTEREY VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: February 9, 2010
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002WSYLLM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,226 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Set in South Africa, 1985, this is a gripping and sophisticated political thriller full of intriguing and unexpected heroes. While the country is under siege, sanctions are
biting, Mandela's imprisonment is an international cause celebré, and the ANC guerrilla terrorist attacks are escalating. Every day the country is more ungovernable as it plunges towards the apocalypse of a race war.

In saner moments everyone knows the vile apartheid regime is doomed but will the transition to democracy be peaceful or bloody? Working for P.W. Botha as a somewhat Machiavellian Head of Intelligence, Doctor Neil Barnard opens furtive talks with Nelson Mandela who is still in prison. But lesser known are the secret talks that take place in the unlikely setting of a rural English manor house, arranged by a British businessman and sponsored by a mining company seeking to secure its own future in South Africa.

Both sides have everything to win or to lose, including their own lives. The stakes are immense, the secrecy imperative.

But while influential Afrikaners sit down face to face with their fiercest enemies from the ANC, led by future President Thabo Mbeki, Botha learns of the UK talks.

If the demise of apartheid is inevitable he intends to control the endgame by employing the tactics of divide and rule. Dr. Barnard must wring as many concessions out of
Mandela as he can whilst instructing the Afrikaners to do the same with the ANC in the UK then play one against the other.

Against all the odds, through volatile discussion, intrigue and breakthroughs, they achieve the unimaginable - a precious arena of frail trust between the two warring parties.

In the current climate of the expression war on terror, this inspiring film has never had more relevance.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars End of Aparthide in South Africa..!!, December 5, 2009

By 

Seen Them All "Ace Movie Critic !!" (SoCal Desert) - See all my reviews

This is a PBS/BBC type (101 minutes..shown on TV in 2 parts) miniseries about the behind the scenes negotiations and political struggle by both Whites and Blacks opposed to the Aparthide Policy of the South African Government. Stars William Hurt as a college professor and Oiwetel Ejiofor as Nelson Mandela. Sometimes the plot seems like a spy novel with secret meetings, political assassinations, bombings, eavesdropping by security forces, and coded messages. Based on fact and realistically presented, this is a very good movie and well worth seeing. Get your popcorn BEFORE the start of the movie and don't miss a single second..!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ENDGAME: 'the final stages of an extended process of negotiation', June 15, 2010

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Endgame (DVD)

ENDGAME, as written by Paula Milne and directed by Pete Travis, is a thinking person's film. The subject is the ongoing crises of the Apartheid in South Africa (here during the years 1985 - 1990, with after film commentary to 1999) and the extended secret meetings between the Apartheid regime as controlled by President Botha (Timothy West), those meetings held between the African National Congress represented by Thabo Mbeki (Chiwetel Ejiofor) with prisoner Nelson Mandela (Clarke Peters) as the heart of the blacks and the increasingly disillusioned Afrikaner Apartheidists lead by Professor Will Esterhuyse (William Hurt) convened by a British representative Michael Young (Jonny Lee Miller) acting as spokesman for his entrepreneurial boss Rudolf Agnew (Derek Jacobi) of a major British industry vested in South Africa. The talks are wired by Botha's intelligence officer Dr. Niel Barnard (Mark Strong) and level of intrigue is high. The message of the film is the struggle and final victory of democracy and the end of Apartheid in South Africa, and while the cerebral discussions by this fine group of actors is illuminating, the film gains its power from fast shots of the conditions in South Africa at the time, including rioting, terrorist acts, loss of families, and the ever present intrigue and danger surrounding those men attending the secret meetings.

The supporting cast (especially John Kani as Oliver Tambo, the venerated life long friend of Mandela) is exceptionally strong, but in the end it is the unexpected fine acting of William Hurt and the always excellent Chiwetel Ejifor who remind us how small scaled dramas can have far more impact than the big epics we are used to enduring. This film is especially excellent for informing the public about the ins and outs and meanings of the South African Apartheid and why the ending of that evil regime lighted the fuse for so many other important sociologic changes. Grady Harp, June 10

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Dense Political Drama Brings An End to Apartheid, December 28, 2010

By 

K. Harris "Film aficionado" (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Endgame (DVD)

The politically driven "Endgame" helps to elucidate a period of time in South Africa's history when apartheid was coming to an end. A well meaning endeavor featuring a top notch cast, "Endgame" inevitably scores more points for its intentions than for its intrinsic entertainment value. With Chiwetel Ejiofor, William Hurt, and Jonny Lee Miller in principle roles, this film--which originally aired on PBS here in the states--did get nominated for best Made-for-TV movie at this year's Emmy awards. But while I did admire the effort, my personal knowledge of the circumstances and the players (or lack thereof) left me somewhat unconnected from the film as something other than a history lesson. If you are a neophyte when it comes to the political climate and the influential figures in South Africa circa the late eighties, there are certainly more accessible films available (might I suggest "Mandela and de Klerk" starring Michael Caine and Sidney Poitier?). But the more advanced knowledge you have about the subject matter, the more you'll be able to appreciate the intricacies of "Endgame."

An intriguing and intimate look at the behind-the-scenes machinations that brought about Nelson Mandela's release from prison as well as the beginning of the end to apartheid, "Endgame" is structured dramatically as a series of meetings. Ejiofor represents the African National Congress as Thabo Mbeki and Hurt is Professor Will Esterhuyse, an increasingly disillusioned member of the Afrikaner Apartheidists. Brought together by Miller, representing British Industry with a stake in South Africa's future, the screenplay leads us through a series of negotiations that brought these disparate viewpoints into alignment. Hurt and Ejiofor are great, as you might expect, but it was some of the smaller performances that actually stood out for me. Miller was perfectly understated, Clarke Peters ("The Wire") was a convincing Mandela, and the usually underrated Mark Strong was filled with oily menace as the head of President Botha's intelligence service.

A dignified effort all around, I wholeheartedly recommend "Endgame" to anyone with an interest in the subject matter. But, as I've previously stated, this is probably not for a casual viewer. In some ways, I might have been singing higher praises had this been developed in a longer format. With a more defined context and more historical perspective given to the vast array of characters, this might have been a definitive film on the subject. Ultimately, though, the film we have is a worthwhile one and provides an interesting perspective often given short shrift in other apartheid dramas. KGHarris, 12/10.