Jules Verne: Das Licht am Ende der Welt

Surprising that Jules Verne would write such a story. Even more surprising that Hollywood would produce it. Yul Brynner is unbelievably good as a man freed of all bounds of convention, free to indulge his taste for cruelty and domination. Douglass is an excellent counterpoint, a courageous individual who's chosen simple solitude as a way to deal with the complications and turmoil society had imposed on him. And Samantha Egger's character is the capper, a woman willing to sacrifice far too much for comfort and safety. Inotherwords, everyman. The movie does show its age and is limited by the conventions of time and place and technology of the time. If you're looking for special effects and action as substitutes for thought, look elsewhere.

After seeing "The Light at the Edge of the World," over 40 years after its release, I understand why it was a dismal flop in 1971. I remember the billboard advertising highlighting Kirk Douglas and Jules Verne, with small pictures of Yul Brynner and Samantha Eggar. I am certain many a parent dragged her kids screaming from a "Jules Verne/Kirk Douglas pirate movie" featuring mutilations, gang rape and the skinning of one especially beloved character. Those few adult couples likely attracted to the movie were likely put off by the weak pacing, inept direction and abysmal music.

However those of us who can look beyond the cheap jack trappings will be rewarded with strong lead performances by Kirk Douglas and, especially, Yul Brynner. Samantha Eggar, who has much less screen time, also impresses, even though most of her scenes are undercut by the weak direction.

At 2 hours and 7 minutes, "The Light at the Edge of the World" is at least 20 minutes too long. The flashback exposition regarding Douglas' character is not only unnecessary, it undercuts what little suspense the ineffectual direction could muster. One of these days, I would love to have video editing software to deconstruct and reconstruct this movie, removing unnecessary scenes, tightening camera fields and replacing the awful music. Barring that, "The Light at the Edge of the Word" is worth seeing, if only for Yul Brynner's chilling performance.

I give "The Light at the Edge of the World" a "6".

A lighthouse near Cape Horn is cared by a keepers (Fernando Rey , Massimo Ranieri , Kirk Douglas). Then , a gang of pirates attacks the lighthouse .The pirates (Aldo Sambrell, Jean Claude Drout, Tito Garcia, among others) are fiercely commanded by Kongre (Yul Brynner). Handsome hero named Will Denton (Kirk Douglas) with only company a little monkey , suffering misfortunes for the conditions in which unlucky is forced to exist . Denton soon realizes that the island in the base of pirates who lure ships to their doom on the rocky coast and they arrange shipwrecks for profits and eventually appearing castaways (Samantha Eggar and Renato Salvatori) who are cast adrift and ashore. Later on , Will Denton discovers the truth and confronts Kongre in a fight to death. Jules Verne Takes You Over the Edge of the World!

This is an enjoyable Spain /Liechtenstein /United States co-production financed by Alfredo Matas, Ilya Salkind and Kirk Douglas himself . A breathtaking adventure with tension , suspense, thrills , violence and good action scenes . Some fierce hand-to hand combats and pursuits scenes will have you on the edge of your armchair. However , the ending is some ridiculous , unconvincing and overblown. Spectacular landscapes shot in Spain : Cadaques and Manga Mar Menor, great location-footage of both locations , the Spaniard coast is the best thing about this spectacular movie. Starring duo is frankly extraordinary . Kirk Douglas gives vigorous physical performance, he's magnificent as individualist, stubborn hero , similar to his roles in ¨Spartacus¨, ¨Vikings¨,¨Ulysses¨ and ¨20000 leagues under the sea¨(also by Jules Verne)¨. Impressive Yul Brynner , as usual , playing exotic roles , such as ¨Taras Bulba¨, ¨Salomon¨, ¨The buccaneer and ¨King and I ¨. They're accompanied by a lot of familiar Spanish secondaries , most of then regular in Spaghetti/Paella Western and terror genres , such as : Aldo Sambrell , Fernando Rey, Tito García , Víctor Israel , Tony Skios and Luis Barboo .

The film displays a colorful cinematography by cameramen Henri Decae and Cecilio Paniagua , furthermore evocative and thrilling musical score by Piero Piccioni . The picture was regularly directed by Kevin Billington , though being decent enough . This is a highly agreeable movie and suits marvelously . I can recommend this work to everybody who enjoy good adventures and spectacular maritime outdoors , however no for small kids by violent and realistic scenes.

An interesting adventure film based on a Jules Verne story filmed in 1970 and financed by Kirk Douglas' Bryna Productions and banks and backers from Spain, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. I first saw it when it was aired by the Beeb in the summer of 1995 and was most impressed. Off the bleak location of Cape Horn around 1865, three lighthouse keepers: a jaded ex-miner Will Denton (Kirk Douglas), Captain Moritz (Fernando Rey) and young Felipe (Massimo Ranieri) are confronted by wreckers led by pirate captain, Jonathan Kongre (Yul Brynner). After his companions are brutally murdered, later including Felipe's cute capuchin monkey, Mario, Denton ekes out a passive existence in a cave till he resolves to fight back assisted by Montefiore (Renato Salvatore) a survivor from one of the ships lured to the rocks by the pirates. The desperate situation is complicated by another survivor, a young English woman, Arabella (Samantha Egger), who is used by Kongre to mimic Denton's former love, Emily Jane. Douglas and Brynner act with flair - Douglas gives another heroic sub-Nietzschean performance vis a vis 20.000 Leagues under the Sea (1954) and Ulisse (1954). In appearance he looks like a Nineteenth-Century hippie adventurer - bearded and with straight lightbrown hair and fiery blue-green eyes. Brynner is a flamboyant counterpoint. Despite some squeamish scenes and illogical phases the extraordinary Spanish settings - the white-topped rising arches and surreal psychedelic colours plus a soaring romantic light popular classical Italian score by Piero Piccioni give this film a metaphysical feel.

Pirates led by the supremely evil Yul Brynner, take over a lighthouse run by Kirk Douglas, Fernando Rey on a rocky island. They then execute a devious plan to cause ships to run aground, pillaging their wrecks. Douglas survives, and he desperately fights their plot whilst plotting and planning to avoid Brynners gang of demented bloodthirsty savages, Sammantha Eggar is the shipwrecked maiden that avoids the pirates slaughter soon complicates the situation. 'The Light At The Edge Of The World' is based on a novel by Jules Verne. It is nothing short of thrilling and for it's time shocking, It deserves a little more recognition.