Le froussard héroïque

This is a fun flick. I've always liked the humorous fighting style that director Richard Lester brings to his films (The Three Musketeers/Superman I and II/Robin and Marion). This rollicking tale has a dash of that as well as the comic timing of Malcolm McDowell and the grandiose aspirations to rip off "The Prisoner of Zenda" in roundabout fashion.

Royal Flash is an adaptation of the second novel of George MacDonald Frasier's hilarious historical fiction series about the 19th century British officer Harry Flashman, an admitted rogue and coward who always seems to end up smelling like roses. By placing Flashman in settings right out of history and populating his stories with real historical figures Mr Frasier has found the perfect way to inform as he entertains.

The film follows Flashman from a torrid affair with the sadistic Lola Montez to a chance meeting with Otto von Bismark before sending him on a wild journey to a small European province where he's forced to imitate a prince and marry a princess and...

Royal Flash is a good movie and I wish it had reached a wider audience so that I could have seen more of Harry Flashman on the screen. It is one of the weaker novels in the series, but plays well on film. McDowell is a perfect fit and the great Oliver Reed makes a convincing and intimidating Bismark.

8.5 out of 10, but I'm admittedly biased. Seek out the movie, then read the books. Or vice-versa. You won't be disappointed.

If you haven't read any of the Flashman series, go out and find one. Rollicking good read, with the protagonist being an absolutely selfish, cowardly, mean-spirited ass of a man who nonetheless finds himself considered a dashing hero by the public at large. Fraser does a good job of converting his book to the screen (writing Three Musketeers was probably good practice), re-teaming with Richard Lester. MacDowall is good as ol' Flashy, glossing over the fact that Harry is supposed to a large, strapping Brit, and not a skinny little guy like Malcolm. :)

Enjoyable on its own merit, but I'd say read one of the other Flashy books and then see this.

A lot of the humour in the Flashman novels is based on the discrepancy between how Harry Flashman appears and what he's actually thinking. As a result the filmmakers have had to make some adjustments to how Harry is played to bring our more of his innate cowardliness, lechery, thieving, and being an all round bad egg to the surface. I believe that the filmmakers have got the balance right and fully enjoyed this adaption of the Flashman papers.

The screenplay is a fairly faithful adaption of the original novel, which can be expected when the author is also wrote the screenplay. Malcolm McDowell and Oliver Reed give fine performances in the central roles, with the supporting cast ranging from excellent (Henry Cooper) to bland (Britt Ekland).

Bags of fun, but not to be taken seriously.

First and foremost- This movie is enormous fun.

If you're a fan of the books (as I am - and if you're not then I heartily recommend them) then this film admirably captures the sense of fun and adventure that the books have. It has a lot of slap stick in it which doesn't necessarily translate well from the books, but it does capture a sense of (for lack of a better term) light-hearted love of fun that is pure seventies and just would not and could not be replicated now. Cinema just isn't in the right frame of mind for this anymore. It's either too serious or too dumb but it couldn't achieve this in it's wildest dreams in these morose joyless days.

Malcolm McDowell is young and at the top of his game as his charismatic persona in "A Clockwork Orange". Olly Reed is pure, toe cringing (but love-him-really) badness as Otto Von Bismark. There's so much comedy but there are also scenes where your swashes will never be so buckled! Don't expect a Citizen Kane or anything even remotely close, just sit back and enjoy a classic "Saturday afternoon" romp (and never has a word been so well used) through a classic Flashman story- great baddies, exotic foreign locales and wenches ripe for Flash's advances! Enormous fun if you approach it in the right frame of mind- it will leave you shouting HUZZAR!

Director Lester's rollicking comedic follow-up to his two Musketeers movies, this is not quite up there, but still doesn't explain why this is almost an unknown film or worse, an almost lost film. McDowell captures much of the spirit of the notorious, lecherous Capt.Flashman of the books (by G.MacDonald Fraser), a devout coward when pressed, but possessed of so much British insolence and bluff, he gets by quite well. The film lacks much of any other interesting, truly humorous characters, but Oliver Reed is a hoot as the humorless Otto von Bismarck, planning to begin a new Reich in Europe, with Flashman as one of his pawns (this is the mid 19th century, by the way). He and Flashman begin a contentious relationship near the beginning, with Flashman usually taunting him and Otto swearing a retribution. Those are some of the best scenes, including Otto's boxing challenge with real-life boxer Cooper.

Alan Bates, on the other hand, never quite warms to the part as the suave adventurer Rudi, a more polished version of Flashman, always dressed in white and quite dashing. He pops up almost a half hour into the film and maybe is too suave; his scenes lack a certain something, such as the droll atmosphere pervading everything else. Overall, it's an impressive cast, including well-known Brits Tom Bell and Lionel Jeffries hamming it up as Otto's henchmen. But, like Bates, they're not given a chance to really shine, usually relegated to an odd mixture of slapstick and serious threats against Flashman's life. A thinner than we're used to seeing Bob Hoskins shows up briefly near the beginning as a copper. Britt Ekland, as a duchess, also seems to make only a token appearance. McDowell however, even gets a chance to play a second role, that of Flashman's double, a more noble prince. The first half of this picture is really promising, delivering period entertainment; it doesn't quite live up to its promise later, but it's still a royal good time. It's a shame this film is best available only as a DVD-R, if one can find it. Update: new DVD arrived in April, 2007!