Customer Reviews

Sea Wolf [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I like this TV movies for several reasons; it features the lovely Stewart, a strong hero in Reeve, and Bronson's best 90's performance. This movie clearly shows he can still do it, making it a real shame he's retired now. There have been many good versions of this story, and I truly think this one ranks up there with the best of them.

This movie is a remake of the 1941 Classic based on the Jack London book of the same name. It is about a sadistic Sea Captain (Bronson) who rules the waves and his ship with an iron fist.This movie has drama, adventure on the High Seas PLUS some romance . What more could you ask for? Sadly , Christopher Reeves and Charles Bronson are no longer with us but they both did leave us with a legacy of very good movies and this is one of them.

Again, I must stress that this movie is LOOSELY based on Jack London's novel. Unfortunately I was disappointed with the movie. It strayed so far from the novel that Jack London must still be turning over in his grave.

Much of the dialog was taken from the novel. Many of the scenes were very faithful to the book and at times I was able to predict what was going to happen next because of reading the book. Many times I was not.

I feel they did an excellent job of casting. Charles Bronson, Christopher Reeve, and Catherine Mary Stewart were perfect choices for their respective characters. This conclusion is of course based from assessing the characters from the novel. Only by reading the novel can you fully understand my reasoning for this conclusion.

Again, the movie strayed too far from the novel. They took an excellent book of epic proportions and chopped it into a short story with choppy dialog, leaving the viewer without a clue as to why things were happening (unless you of course read the book).

The premise as to why the female lead, Flaxen Brewser (Maud Brewser in the book) was on-board is completely wrong. Catherine Mary Stewart did as good of a job with the character as she could, given the shallow character they turned Flaxen Brewser into, but there was not much for her to work with.

If they had followed the novel instead of the 1940's version of the movie, they could have actually made a great film. They completely butchered the "Miss Brewster" character. She was supposed to be an author, and well know in the literary circles of her day. She was to be beautiful and very intelligent. She is spoken of in the book as being "the finished product of the finest civilization". But they changed the character to be a thief posing as a woman of means. I stress this character because in the book she plays a major role in the last half of the story. In the movie she is simply window dressing.

Why they did this, I have no clue.

The Sea Woof... because it's a bit of a dog!
I have the Jack London book of the same name, upon which this film is based and decided to check the film out before I read the book in it's entirety. The film is a typical two and a half star, B grade, tele-movie type drama from 1993. The director has even managed to make 1993 look more like 1983 due to the style of the filming, and the editing is so ham-fisted it telegraphs the ad breaks like you wouldn't believe!

As to the performances, Bronson is looking old and flabby cheeked, and doesn't really seem all that menacing, as the demonic Wolf Larrson should have been. Nevertheless I always loved Bronson and he turns in a passable performance, but not one of his best. It seems to me that Wolf Larson as I understood the character described from the book was on qualudes with Bronson playing the role. Reeves as Hump, well described by other reviewers here so I won't go into it, is excellent as usual but one gets the feeling he is miscast also, even though he does justice to the role. The woman, Flaxen(?, is rewritten as a thief and becomes the token bit of lace on board, but never has anything important or revelatory to say, and/or offer to the story so one gets the feeling that she was better left to drown in the San Fransisco bay right from the first!

The whole thing feels a bit weak and lumpy and never lives up to it's full potential for all kinds of reasons. Worth a look if it's ever on late night TV though don't expect anything grand. Certainly don't bother buying this film, the ending was a joke!

First of all, it takes a European actor to play Larsen. An ex-cowboy like Chuck Bronson with his "howdy-partner" diction just won't do. Larsen is an old-world European, a melancholic Scandinavian, with an angular, Germanic face. Bronson just doesn't cut the mustard. If you don't have a strong European actor to play Larsen, the movie is pretty much doomed, since it's so character-centered.

Again, I must stress that this movie is LOOSELY based on Jack London's novel. Unfortunately I was disappointed with the movie. It strayed so far from the novel that Jack London must still be turning over in his grave.

Much of the dialog was taken from the novel. Many of the scenes were very faithful to the book and at times I was able to predict what was going to happen next because of reading the book. Many times I was not.

I feel they did an excellent job of casting. Charles Bronson, Christopher Reeve, and Catherine Mary Stewart were perfect choices for their respective characters. This conclusion is of course based from assessing the characters from the novel. Only by reading the novel can you fully understand my reasoning for this conclusion.

Again, the movie strayed too far from the novel. They took an excellent book of epic proportions and chopped it into a short story with choppy dialog, leaving the viewer without a clue as to why things were happening (unless you of course read the book).

The premise as to why the female lead, Flaxen Brewser (Maud Brewser in the book) was on-board is completely wrong. Catherine Mary Stewart did as good of a job with the character as she could, given the shallow character they turned Flaxen Brewser into, but there was not much for her to work with.

If they had followed the novel instead of the 1940's version of the movie, they could have actually made a great film. They completely butchered the "Miss Brewster" character. She was supposed to be an author, and well know in the literary circles of her day. She was to be beautiful and very intelligent. She is spoken of in the book as being "the finished product of the finest civilization". But they changed the character to be a thief posing as a woman of means. I stress this character because in the book she plays a major role in the last half of the story. In the movie she is simply window dressing.

Why they did this, I have no clue.

Charles Bronson in probaly his best performence of the 90's as capt.Wolf Larsen a sturgent, viscious sea captain who has a battle of wills with the aristocrat Humprey Van Whiten(Reeve) on board Of The Ghost. A reamake of the classic tale by Jack London tale but in this one it was done well with memorable characters. One memorable scene is when capt,Larson beats up one of his workers for refusing to do a dangerous job. Bronson still has the presence he had back when he was in his prime with the help Christopher Reeve and a talented cast makes this film worth remebering.

This is Cristopher Reeves finest performance ever on the screen.Cristopher Reeve is the best actor EVER! And if you liked this movie,also buy:Superman the movie,Superman II,Superman VI and Street Smart.

If Edward G. Robinson was miscast as Wolf Larsen, then Charles Bronson was a miscarriage. In fact, when I saw the previews to this, I thought that Reeves would make a great Wolf Larsen. Little did I know . . .

Who is Wolf Larsen? He is a man with the body of Schwarzenegger and the mind of Hannibal Lecter. As a captain he is up there with Nemo, Ahab, and Blithe. He is Jack London's embodiment of Nietzsche's Superman, a demigod in mind and in body.

London describes him thus:

"As I have said, in the masculine sense his was a beautiful face. Smooth-shaven, every line was distinct, and it was cut as clear and sharp as a cameo; while sea and sun had tanned the naturally fair skin to a dark bronze which bespoke struggle and battle, and added to both his savagery and his beauty. The lips were full, yet possessed of the firmness, almost harshness, which is characteristic of thin lips. The set of his mouth, his chin, his jaw, was likewise firm or harsh, with all the fierceness and indomitableness of the male; the nose also. It was the nose of a being born to conquer and command. It just hinted of the eagle beak. It might have been Grecian, it might have been Roman, only it was a shade too massive for the one, a shade too delicate for the other. And while the whole face was the incarnation of fierceness and strength, the primal melancholy from which he suffered seemed to greaten the lines of mouth and eye and brow, seemed to give a largeness and completeness which otherwise the face would have lacked." (Chapter 10)

London's description of his superman is better played by Superman Reeve who fits the sculpted and statuesque mould of the mega-man.

And of Larsen's mind:

"Later in the morning I received a surprise of a totally different sort. Following the cook's instructions, I had gone into Wolf Larsen's state-room to put it to rights and make the bed. Against the wall, near the head of the bunk, was a rack filled with books. I glanced over them, noting with astonishment such names as Shakespeare, Tennyson, Poe, and De Quincey. There were scientific works, too, among which were represented men such as Tyndall, Proctor, Darwin, and I remarked Bulfinch's 'Age of Fable,' Shaw's 'History of English and American Literature,' and Johnson's 'Natural History' in two large volumes. Then there were a number of grammars, such as Metcalf and Reed & Kellogg; and I smiled as I saw a copy of 'The Dean's English.' I could not reconcile these books with the man from what I had seen of him, and I wondered if he could possibly read them. But when I came to make the bed, I found, between the blankets, dropped apparently as he had sunk off to sleep, a complete Browning. It was open at 'In a Balcony,' and I noticed here and there passages underlined in pencil. Further, letting drop the volume during a lurch of the ship, a sheet of paper fell out. It was scrawled over with geometrical diagrams and calculations of some sort. It was patent that this terrible man was no ignorant clod, such as one would inevitably suppose him to be from his exhibitions of brutality. At once he became an enigma. One side or the other of his nature was perfectly comprehensible, but both sides together were bewildering. I had already remarked that his language was excellent, marred with an occasional slight inaccuracy. Of course, in common speech with the sailors and hunters, it sometimes fairly bristled with errors, which was due to the vernacular itself; but in the few words he had held with me it had been clear and correct." (Chapter 5)

This beauty of body and mind enhance the terror of Larson, becasue his viciousness is as powerful and beautiful as he is. Blake spoke of a tiger's "fearful symmetry," and the tiger-man Larsen has this lethal beauty and summitry.

Dante observed that when intelligence is combined with brute power and evil will, we are powerless (Inferno, XXXI) Wolf Larsen brings this terror alive. Karloff's Frankenstein is a lumbering clod--any teenager on a ten-speed can outrun him. And Hannibal Lecter is only dangerous out of the mask and straightjacket. Larsen is free to roam the seas and his ship, Ghost, is more of a slave ship than a whaler. Eat your heart out, Ahab!

Read the book, and meet the real Wolf Larsen!

Probably the last works of Charles Bronson and Christopher Reeves and very fine performances from them both. Notable talent for other stars including Marc Singer. Saw it on TBS and couldn't take my eyes off it. Had to have a copy. Can enjoy it anytime.