To Kill A King [2003]

See Larger Image	List Price: £15.99 Our Price: £6.68 Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Manufacturer: 4dvd Starring: Dougray Scott, Tim Roth, Rupert Everett, Olivia Williams, James Bolam Directed By: Mike Barker Average Customer Rating:


Audience Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over Binding: DVD EAN: 6867449007090 Format: PAL Label: 4dvd Manufacturer: 4dvd Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: 4dvd Region Code: 2 Release Date: 2008-09-01 Running Time: 99 Studio: 4dvd Theatrical Release Date: 2003
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Suprisingly good historical drama Comment: To Kill a King (aka Cromwell and Fairfax) came as quite a surprise - the film's troubled production is a local legend in the UK, the reviews were lukewarm and the film was further scuppered by a dreadful ad campaign and trailer. Then there was the fact that director Mike Barker's feature debut, the insultingly stupid The James Gang, was one of the very worst films I've ever had the misfortune to see. And that's ignoring Rupert Everett's efforts at promoting the movie in the States by describing it as boring rubbish and his performance being the only worthwhile thing in it. The omens weren't good, to put it mildly, but it actually turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining and ambitious retelling of the troubled relationship between Lord Fairfax and his deputy Oliver Cromwell in the aftermath of the English Civil War. I can't vouch for its historical accuracy, but as drama it works very well, despite the fact that Roth's Cromwell isn't at the top of his game while Scott lacks the voice for the rabble-rousing speeches (although he's much better here than his usual lacklustre screen performances). It's well-directed and hides the budget problems that saw the picture shut down for a few weeks while they scrambled for money to finish the picture quite admirably. It has a sense of scale both in story and treatment and, though it loses momentum slightly after the king's death, it deserved to find the audience it was denied in cinemas. Certainly a notch above the usual staid British historical picture, it's well worth a look. The 2.35:1 transfer is good and the disc has a reasonable package of extras - featurette, behind the scenes footage, interviews and the aforementioned terrible trailer, surely one of the worst of all time. More Reviews