Written and Directed by: Michael J. Bassett
Based on characters by: Robert E. Howard
James Purefoy stars as Solomon Kane, a wandering 16th century hero whose haunted past forces him to redeem himself by battling a growing evil in his homeland in this big-screen incarnation of Robert E. Howard's cloaked pulp character. Deathwatch's Michael J. Bassett directs from his own script, with Max von Sydow, Pete Postlethwaite, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Alice Krige, and Mackenzie Crook co-starring.
I struggled with deciding if I wanted to add this movie to my blog. I generally don't want guns in my fantasy flicks. However, after watching this film, I decided that it needed to go in. Take out a small handful of gun-shots, a reference to "the new world", and ignore the date, and this is totally a "fantasy flick".
It is extremely unfortunate that this movie was never released and is not available in the United States. It is, however, available with more nefarious means. If you can get your hands on it, I do recommend this movie. As usual, I'm not saying this is a masterpiece, but I think it's quite good and deserves to be seen. I do not understand why this movie was never released.
The film-makers do an excellent job here with a relatively small budget. The film does have a few disjointed quirks, but they can be easily ignored. The story flows nicely and you should never be bored.
The action is quite good and nicely violent. I like the fact that while being "Hollywood" action, they try to add a little realism to the fight scenes. In one instance a "beheading" takes more than one swing, while Kane's sword is difficult for him to remove from a victim.
The acting is pretty damn good as well. I have no complaints here. James Purefoy is always one of my favorites and he does not fail here. I've never read the books, but I think he plays this perfectly. The rest of the cast is also quite good.
Overall, I definitely recommend you try and get a hold of a copy and watch this. I think I can make an exception to the use of guns in this film as it is a "fantasy flick" through and through.
Verdict: Recommended despite the guns and time-frame.
The Cast
Philip Winchester ... Henry Telford
Alice Krige ... Katherine Crowthorn
Patrick Hurd-Wood ... Samuel Crowthorn
Mackenzie Crook ... Father Michael
Anthony Wilks ... Edward Crowthorn
Geoff Bell ... Beard
James Babson ... Skinhead
Marek Vasut ... Tattoo
Isabel Bassett ... The Witch
Max von Sydow ... Josiah Kane
Lucas Stone ... Young Solomon
Samuel Roukin ... Marcus Kane
Jason Flemyng ... Malachi
As a big fan of James Purefoy (Ironclad was the best DVD I saw last year), I thought this was a great movie and second your whole-hearted recommendation of it.
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