Customer Reviews

Shout at the Devil [VHS]

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

 

 

This is far from a classic, but fans of Lee Marvin will be well rewarded with a flamboyant performance, and fans of Roger Moore with.. well, a standard Roger Moore performance.
Story is based on Wilbur Smiths novel of the same name, and loosely based around real events, albeit with fictional characters. Roger Moores Englishman forms an unlikely alliance with Lee Marvin's alcoholic rogue, firstly in the poaching game, and latterly in the fight against the Germans, 1914 style, in Zanzibar. One of the oddest casting decisions is Ian Holm as a loyal mute native!
The story has some appeal for looking at a time and location seldom visited by the cinema, but is hampered by vacillating wildy in tone - what starts as a light hearted buddy movie becomes something more grim as the war against Fleisher the German sadististic local officer becomes revenge, and ultimately climaxes in the battle on the German battleship.
The directing by Peter Hunt, who directed On Her Majestys Secret Service, has its own style, but has dated - and even then does not settle on side of farce or thriller. It is best however when skulking around and mounting tension in the final scenes. It is somewhat of an irony to see how Hunt would have directed Moore in a Bond movie! Hunt also pulled along another Bond veteran, John Glenn, who directed the action scenes for Hunt as second unit director and fulfills that role again here. He rightly went on as a successful director of Bond movies in his own right. Also present from Bond movie lore is Maurice Binder, who famously designed the titles for Bond movies - he performs the same function here albeit in more workmanlike fashion.
If you are thinking of buying - beware - the movie is washed out in colour, and sound is of low quality. Bizarrely, the German speaking scenes which were originally in English, have been dubbed into German - but not subtitled in English! Since many key scenes are in German, this is a near fatal flaw.
Basically it is a gung ho action movie with buddy movie elements, but is uneven in tone and lacking in clarity of vision, although illuminating an intriguing era in WW I history.

Having recently viewed this film for the first time I was impressed how the actors made such an enjoyable film out of such a week plot.The acting carried this film from beging to end ,mr. marvin gave a totally convincing preformance as a ner-do well hero wanna be,with a darker past then he paints.Mr. Moore seems to act beyound his usual limited range to give a geniune beleavible adaptation of a dislocated englishman and reluctant hero.This film apprears to catch ms. parkins in her prime,she gives a quality job thou just a little short of her job in the Kermiln Letter .All in all it is a good watch and an enjoyable hour and a half on their performances alone.

I recently saw the movie again after a gap of 20 years and was only disappointed in the quality of the DVD - as pointed out by another reviewer. Yes - the acting is a bit overdone and the tone of the movie does " darken" - but I saw that as a natural progression of the plot. I would love to see this film restored. It is pure sprawling, constant entertainment, in a style that still leaves today's CGI special effects movies for dead.

This is one of Lee Marvin's best movies and it's a shame that it is only in a Region 2 format, what about us poor schmucks that live in the USA and need a Region 1 release, what are we "Chopped Liver"?

Shout at the Devil is tauted as a sizzling epic of love, war and revenge on the back of the tape's box. It did have have war and revenge, but not quite of epic proportions. It did have a love angle. That love angle, spliced with the war and revenge, slowed down the action and the plot considerably. The director used Africa's scenery to a capital advantage. Too bad scenery can't win an Oscar. One scene even required a WWI airplane surveillance; better to show off more of that scenery. Marvin, as a Cat Ballou style drunk, was at his acting best. Moore handled his role superbly as a Britisher duped by Marvin. It was a dandy Adventure film with long love scenes that give you time to make popcorn or visit the chalet de necessite. I would have given this movie five stars, but the love angle--with a John Wayne style brawl between Marvin and Moore-- was a bit overdone.

I bought this on tape because of the actors and story line. I am not a critic on all the technical aspects of film making so I judge a movie on entertainment value. This one I found very enjoyable. The time period is approx. 1915-1918 and the war in Africa between the British and Germans. It has some very funny parts with the drunk Marvin and gullable Moore. The love interest adds just the right touch and unlike some reveiwers I think was needed to spice up the plot. It even has some flying for aviation buffs and a battleship for the navy fans. I found it fast enough paced to hold my attention from start to the grand climax. For an enjoyable evening without trying to disect the movie in all aspects it's a fun movie.

I watched this movie yesterday on TV, and loved it, but can't find it on DVD anywhere. Lee Marvin and Rodger Moore star as two men in Africa during the First World War, and start to rob from the Germans. Moore gives a lot of his money to the poor native villagers who need it. Moore marries Lee Marvin's daughter and they have a child together. This one German officer wants them bad and is willing to kill anybody in order to get them - including Moore's baby child. Now Moore, his wife, and Lee Marvin begin their own personal crusade in order to bring that German down.

A great action-packed movie, with a lot of good drama in it, and a lot of comedy too. Great acting and directing. I don't know why the hell it hasn't been released on DVD. Still if you can get it on VHS, I highly recommend it!

I am totally disappointed in this movie. It isn't in English, nor will it play on any dvd. It has a different format. I really feel I was deceived on this product for no where did I notice that it wasn't in English. I have a product that cost me $27 and unable to enjoy it.

I requested the English version and got the Swedish version of the movie. I want a credit on my credit card.It is obvious I was scammed by Daaveedee because they refused to refund my money.I have it disputed with the credit card company.

DVD provided as advertised in mint condition. My fault I did not read the information about the region and did not realize it would not play on my DVD.