Gold

Despite the collapse of the gold price in recent months here is a movie whose value is assured. Taken from the novel "Gold Mine" by the one and only Wilbur Smith we get to see just how dangerous the world of mining is. Nerve splitting scenes in the aftermath of a rock fall, explosions, underground amputations, the calamity of an underground flood, deceit, conspiracy, loyalty, betrayl, murder, sex, tribal dance, heroics, more heroics (it was penned by Wilbur Smith) and the lengths to which men will go just to put a charm around a ladys' neck.

Technically, "Gold" is rather uneven at best. There are quite a number of underground scenes that are simply too dark. Another problem is scenes that go on far too long drag on the film. The whirlwind romance between Roger Moore and Susannah York takes up too much time and could have been tactfully trimmed, thus tightening the overlong run time of 120 minutes. On the plus side, is an interesting plot to flood a South African gold mine, which would cut world production by 30%, and drive up the price of gold. Moore's heroic attempt to save the flooding mine and save 1000 trapped men provides plenty of excitement. .................. - MERK

I saw this film while living in Geneva Switzerland in 1981, courtesy of a borrowed video cassette copy. I was a lot younger then, thirty, and less discerning, but I was utterly enchanted by actress Susannah York, and have been ever since. It had the feel of a good James Bond adventure and I thought that actor Roger Moore was at his best, and in fact was better in this film then in any of his James Bond movies. I've never visited South Africa, but had studied the history of the country, and I enjoyed viewing the on-location scenes of the country. There are great scenes workers in the mines, as well as Zulu warriors in their regalia.

Interesting picture based on fictitious events packed with gritty adventure , romance , action , thrills , violence , explosions and spectacular African outdoors. Dealing with a South African gold mine manager discovers a plot hatched by the mine owners and London bankers to flood the mine in order to curb gold production and consequently manipulate its price on the stock markets . There's only one man can stop the complex plan , he's Rod Slater (Roger Moore) the newly appointed General Manager of the Sonderditch gold mine, as he confronts the world's most daring conspiracy against the world's most precious metal. Along the way , he falls in love with the wife (Susannah York) of his nasty boss , Manfred Steyner (Bradford Dillman). Everything they touch turns to pure excitement!

This colorful film packs adventure , romance , large-scale blow-up , flood , plot-twists , routine script and lots of intrigue for the most part . It's a comfortable mix of adventure, thriller and suspense genre with a love story . Grand-scale adventure/thriller/action yarn about a scheming plot to control price of gold on world market by destroying South African mine , being its central plot adequately depicted on film, where a mining disaster would manipulate in recognized commodity the stock market ; in this case, gold shares . It was based on the non-fiction novel, "The Great Gold Conspiracy" by Wilbur Smith, featuring a plot to flood a gold mine and screenplay by Stanley Price and author Wilbur Smith himself. Stars attractive Roger Moore as a foreman become the chief of a powerful company , a stalwart hero who's duped into a twisted conspiracy carried out by the unscrupulous owners to make a set-up in the international gold market. Being one of four Africa set and shot movies in which Roger Moore performed during the 1970s. The others being : Wild Geese (1978) by Andrew V. McLagen , Shout the devil (1976) also directed by Peter R. Hunt , and The spy who loved me (1977) by Lewis Gilbert . Roger Moore is well accompanied by a notorious cast giving fine acting , such as : Susannah York, Ray Milland, Bradford Dillman, John Gielgud, Tony Beckley , Simon Sabela and brief appearance of Patsy Kensit as a little Girl at Christmas Party , among others.

It displays a rousing and thrilling musical score by classic composer Elmer Bernstein. As well as brilliant and breathtaking cinematography by Ousama Rawi filmed in Panavision. The overlong motion picture was professionally directed by Peter R. Hunt, though it has some flaws and gaps . Hunt was a notorious editor and occasionally filmmaker . Hunt had a long career as a cinematic editor . Having started out in the film industry as a clapper boy , by the 40's he was working in the editing department and by the 50's he was an assistant editor then a fully fledged editor. In 1962 as editor on the first James Bond film , "Dr No" . And shooting some films as ¨Shout at the Devil¨, ¨Gold¨, ¨Gulliver's travels ¨, being his biggest hit the only James Bond film starred by George Lazemby titled ¨ On her Majesty's service secret¨. Rating : 6 , this good adventure/thriller will appeal to Roger Moore fans.

Gold is a superb adaptation of Wilbur Smith's novel. The plot concerns a group of greed-driven businessmen conspiring to flood a South African gold mine.

Roger Moore is terrific as our mine manager hero (and unknowing pawn) and he shares an entertaining chemistry with co-star, Susannah York. Bradford Dillman also impresses in his role as one of the more conflicted of the conspirators. With Ray Milland, Sir John Gielgud and Simon Sabela supporting, it's a great cast all round.

Director Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) ensures that the audience feels the ominous, claustrophobic atmosphere of the mine, and he doesn't shy away from showing the impact of a flood in such surroundings. Along with Hunt, many James Bond veterans worked on Gold, and this shows particularly in how smoothly the location work in South Africa has been integrated with the soundstage work at Pinewood.

Composer Elmer Bernstein uses Jimmy Helms' title song as an orchestral theme to stirring effect, while Maurice Binder (another Bond veteran) gets the ball rolling with his uniquely designed opening credits.

Gold comes highly recommended!