Ouragan sur l'eau plate

I thought this movie actually had some very funny and memorable lines...The characters are so stereotyped that they have all become characatures...from the French Commandos on the beach who when they are breaking out their emergency rations are having the menu read to them by a Sergent who informs them that it will be "accompanied by an unpretentious St Emillion which will amuse even the most cynical palate"...the American Colonel who can't see the target for the Limbo dancers...when the guerilla mets the oil man he calls him a "Yankee capitalist imperialist...of Houston Texas", says the oil man extending his hand.

It was produced by George Harrison and has Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and a lot of other name musicians involved in the soundtrack.

It has a nice way to spend an hour and a half. No it has no deep hidden meaning nor will it change your life or make a social statement...but then I watch movies as a bit of escapism...this is one I sought out to own and when it comes out on DVD will buy it in that format as well.

As Michael Caine competes for another Best Actor Oscar, Water has been included by some commentators in the list of the "bombs" he has taken on "to pay the bills." Ill-advised choices such as The Swarm and Jaws III certainly belong on the list, but I have always considered Water to have brought out Caine's comic ability rather well. The satire is sometimes heavy-handed (especially the Texas oil man caricature by Fred Gwynn) but I find that there is some pretty close to target satire of life, culture, and politics on the many tiny isles of the Eastern Caribbean. I lived on a couple of them myself, and I'm always finding some familiar old friends among Water's characters.

I am quite disappointed with the average for this film. I found it to be one of the funniest films I have ever seen. The cast is superb and the script, although not one of the best written, is filled with humor that was was made even better by the acting. It was filmed on the island of St. Lucia. It's a story of a company drilling for oil and accidently discovers mineral water, a substance that is even more valuable than oil. But it is important to keep it a secret. Jimmie Walker, who I don't particularly like, plays the part of a radio dj and does it wonderfully. Michael Caine and Brenda Vaccaro are fabulous as is everyone else. Please give this film a chance. I think it might be one of those little surprises that come along every once in a while.

A mildly amusing comedy from the double act of Clement/La Frenais, that has pretensions to some kind of political satire, but isn't nearly clever enough, despite allusions to the Falklands War, and plenty of topical material ripe for parody. It is, however, occasionally very funny, with a cast wringing every laugh from a script that doesn't deserve them, and all manner of stereotypes, including some hilarious observations of the Brits themselves. You can't really go wrong with a supporting cast like this, although Caine seems out of his depth, mugging his way through, ill at ease with his unnatural comic timing. It is certainly worth a look, if only because it's the only place you're likely to see Maureen Lipman's impersonation of Margaret Thatcher, and Billy Connolly singing, with George, Ringo, and Eric Clapton as the backing band.

I was surprised by how badly this did at the cinema and at it's low score here as I find it hard to fault.

It seems to be a rule of thumb that the more stars you have in a film the worse their performances. Here at last is an exception with all the main characters rising to the challenge. Even Paul Heiney, a unknown non-actor who only played the part of the French commando leader as part of a TV series "In at the deep end", is flawless.

This is the British doing what they do best - making fun of themselves. The characters are stereotypes, which annoys me in an action film but is just what a comedy needs. Perhaps one or two of the bit parts suffered because they had only time to parody them without fleshing them out, but the main characters are all believable despite their ludicrous over-the-top personas. You can't help feeling (hoping even) there really are forgotten, unloved corners of the world where people like this can still be found.

Essentially it is an parody on Colonialism, so I was amused by another reviewer's comment that it bordered on "offensive" because foreigners argue over the fate of the locals. That's what colonialism is.

I recommend this film to you as a little known gem. And after 20 years isn't it about time for the DVD version to make an appearance?