Customer Reviews

Holcroft Covenant [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

OK, so I wasn't really paying attention when I pre-ordered this movie. I was surprised when I checked the invoice and noticed that the movie cost about 5 USD. However, it is fair to say that even at five dollars this DVD is grossly overpriced.

Why? Because this looks like the worst kind of 4th generation bootleg VHS transfer. The video is crap and the audio is worse. This is, without a doubt, the worst DVD in my library (and it won't be there long). I actually checked the packaging to see if in fact this was a studio release.

If you are an afficianado of Mexican bootleg DVD's then this is for you. Otherwise, ZERO STARS .(...)

Michael Caine always can anchor a spy flick, and this is no exception. While the plot is a trifle flat, and a couple of the supporting actors (Victoria Tennent) are stretched beyond their abilities, the cinemagraphic techniques and direction by John Frankenheimer are superb. Several elements, particularly the outdoor angles from crowded streets and the icy violin sound effects echo back to the great spy movies of the post-war era and lend an almost Hitchcock-esque eeriness to the film. And when the climax finally reveals the implications of the plot, even the dense can see the relevance to comtemporary events.

Hard to believe this timely film is nearly 20 years old.

The Holcraft Covenant is nothing more than your average 80's thriller that has the benefit of having a top-notch leading man and director attached. The picture looks excellent and there is just enough intrigue added to the film's premise to keep the viewer on board the whole way. Frankenheimer displays his trademark visual flair without going over the top(as many were guilty of at the time). The one thing that really detracts from the film is it's obviously low budget and irritating synth score. It is an overall average adaptation of a fairly decent Ludlum thriller that is worth picking up only for the excellent picture quality and commentary by the director. It is a delight to hear Frankenheimer discuss one of the film's most exciting scenes being filmed and constructed around of the absence of a leading man! For Fans of the star and director only.

I rented John Frankenheimer's "The Holcroft Covenant" back in the late-1980s when I was a big fan of Michael Caine spy movies. This movie is a disappointment.

"The Holcroft Covenant" is one of the very worst films of both actor Michael Caine and director John Frankenheimer. I couldn't make much sense out of the story. The screenplay is absolutely ludicrous. At times, the movie can't seem decide whether it wants to be a bizarre satire or a spy thriller. The superior Caine is absolutely wasted in this picture.

John Frankenheimer simply forgot how to make great movies. As a Frankenheimer film, "The Holcroft Covenant" is even worse than "Dead Bang" and "99 and 44/100% Dead." I am disappointed that the director of the unforgettable "The Manchurian Candidate" made this piece of nonsense. I don't understand why efforts were made to transfer such an inferior Frankenheimer movie from videotape to DVD when the director's vastly superior "The Iceman Cometh" hasn't yet been released to home video in ANY form.

"The Holcroft Covenant" is a failure. For a great Michael Caine spy movie, see "The Ipcress File."

With the producer, the actors and the story, I thought it was strange that this movie could be as terrible as people made it out to be according to the reviews here. No, it doesn't follow the book, many movies don't. It isn't an epic espionage tale of gigantic proportions. Also, reading about the print being bad really makes wonder what people are watching. The "Warner" print is ok. Nothing to complain about there but people want everything HD or 3D these days so it's not surprising. Anyway,I found this to be just a really cool little spy tale that holds your interest the whole time through. There's some wooden acting, some really lame dialogue, and for a moment there I sensed that this might even fit into my "schlocker" cabinet as a dramedy. I'm not sure if the intent was to be dead serious, and am guessing it was, nevertheless it was a movie that kept me in it right until the end. Just enjoy it for what it is and that is fun. It's not a five star (more like three and a half) but I will sometimes do that, try to give a little extra positive to something that I think has been unfairly hammered.

At the end of WWII a German General and two of his cohorts plan a covenant with a great deal of funding. They drink to their children and a better world.

Michael Caine of "The Ipcress File" (1965) fame is once again caught in a web of mystery as he must fathom the meaning of the Covenant and who if any are the good guys among all those trying to help him sign and activate the Covenant

The film is well paced and you get wrapped up in the story. The only drawback is that the music and special sound effects are extremely loud and they people are almost mumbling.

I have watched this movie more than just a few time. There is just something about this movie that I like. First of all, I am fascinated with movies about Nazis and conspiracies. But the best part of this movie is Michael Caine. This guy is magic to watch. In it Michael Caine inherets $4 billion from his Nazi father to be used to make ammends to the people who were hurt during WW2. But the movie takes a spy/mystery twist when killers are after Michael Caine and he keeps meeting new people he doesn't know if he should trust or not. This is the type of movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end.

The DVD lacked some chunks of the movie. There was no viewer menu, no ability to navigate the scenes.

As for the show, it was pretty good. For some reason, however, the bad guys had to prove they were evil by engaging in incest. I guess Hollywood couldn't expect an audience to understand killing for money as a bad thing. The plot is somewhat corny and ripe for satire, but the movie has good production values. Michael Caine plays his role perfectly, of course.

Ok, rent the DVD and watch the movie straight through. Then watch it again with John Frankenheimer's audio commentary. It's the only way you can figure this thing out. He explains the plot, which is not Ludlum's complete story. And Ludlum was a very entertaining author, although I think he got paid by the word. In fact, since great chunks of the novel are missing (the ending is completely invented by the screen writers), you need the director giving you notes as you watch. I was surprised that there were 3 writerss credited with the screenplay. That's usually a bad sign to begin with.

The movie is a heck of a lot more interesting to watch with the director's notes, but it doesn't help the plot or pacing, which are deathly dull. Far too much chit-chat, and exposition, exposition, exposition.

Some of the scenes were played in a certain location simply because Frankenheimer found real locations that appealed to him and he just changed the script to accomodate his choice, even if it didn't make a darn bit of sense to the story-line. For example, the scene of the sexual carnival was added simply because Frankenheimer wanted to make a statement about the decadence of Berlin in the '20s and '30s, and for no other reason. The carnival, I learned, was Frankenheimer's total invention; it doesn't actually exist.

The scene of Caine riding a horse is there simply because Frankheimer found a restaurant in Germany with a riding area attached. The scene, however, was set in London, so London buses had to be brought in to convince you that it was London.

The scene where Michael caine says he doesn't drive wasn't in the original script. It was added to cover the fact that Michael Caine doesn't drive and never has. Does knowing this little tid-bit help you enjoy the story? Not for a second. This is sub-rate Frankenheimer.

It is hard to imagine how any film that stars Michael Caine and is directed by John Frankenheimer could go so wrong in so many ways. There is nothing wrong with any plot that suggests the fall of the Third Reich could lay the seeds for a future resurgent Fourth Reich, but the problem with THE HOLCROFT COVENANT is that things went fuzzy from the start. A Nazi general in Berlin in April of 1945 arranges for billions of US dollars to be used ostensibly to compensate for the atrocities of Hitler's wars of conquest and genocide. He realizes that decades must pass before his son (Caine) would grow to maturity to carry out his grand design. The film suggests, however, that the real purpose of all these billions is not philanthropic at all. There is more than a hint that this general merely used verbal chicanery in his death note to propagate a new Reich. Now if this money were truly intended to spark a new Reich, then the result would have been logical, and hence believable. It is not until the very last two minutes of the film that director Frankenheimer, with no warning, pulls a switch about the true purpose of the legacy.

Caine, of course, tries hard to pull things together, but he gives what is probably the worst performance of an otherwise glittering career. Compare his fumbling Holcroft with the sureness of his recent THE QUIET AMERICAN. It is strange to see and hear Caine look like a bumbling fool who can neither drive a car nor shoot a gun. By the end, however, he somehow matures enough to figure out a convoluted plot and clearly wants his character to be seen as suave, confident, and in control. When he tells the audience how he manages to figure this all out, his explanation makes no more sense than the rest of the plot. On a technical note, the sound track was hard to hear, and the scenes of nudity were thrown in to make sure your attention does not wander, which it did. Rent this only if you are a die-hard Caine fan.