Morituri
by Bernhard Wicki
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Product details
Actor: Janet Margolin, Marlon Brando, Martin Benrath, Trevor Howard, Yul BrynnerDirector: Bernhard Wicki
Cinematographer: Conrad L. Hall
Editor: Joseph Silver
Producer: Aaron Rosenberg
Producer: Barney Rosenzweig
Writer: Daniel Taradash
Writer: Werner J?rg L?ddecke
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog; German (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 123 minutes
Release Date: 1998-01-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Studio: 20th Century Fox
VHS Movie Reviews of Morituri
Movie Review: Unique WWII thriller with Brando and Brynner
Summary: 4 Stars
Morituri is an underrated WWII thriller that is anything but your typical war movie. Living in India in 1942, German defector Robert Crain is living the life of luxury until he is blackmailed by British Intelligence into undertaking a dangerous mission. Posing as an SS officer, Crain will board a German blockade runner in Tokyo that is carrying 7,000 tons of rubber destined for the war effort. An engineer in his army days, Crain must defuse all the explosives that will be used to scuttle the ship in case of a run-in with Allied ships. Then, when the ship cannot be destroyed, the ship will float right into an Allied ambush. But right away, the ship's captain is suspicious of his new passenger. Can Crain complete his mission before anyone catches on? Filmed in black and white which adds to the tension in a way, Morituri is an excellent movie that has never received much recognition. The drama is exciting from beginning to end, aided by Jerry Goldsmith's score, somewhat similar to his Von Ryan's Express music. Definitely give this movie a try.
In the lead role, Marlon Brando gives a very strong performance as Robert Crain, a German defector blackmailed into completing a suicidal mission for British Intelligence. Crain doesn't believe in war, no matter what the cause or end result, and only works so hard to complete the mission to increase his odds of surviving. Yul Brynner is equally good as Captain Mueller, the German captain of the ship suspicious of Crain's actual motives. Mueller is loyal to a cause that he doesn't truly believe in, a true soldier/sailor who follows his orders no matter what. Trevor Howard has a brief but good appearance as Colonel Statter, the Intelligence officer who confronts Crain in India. War movie buffs will surely appreciate Hans Christian Blech's part as Donkeyman, a great supporting role of a political prisoner forced to join the ship's crew. Some of the rest of the supporting cast includes Janet Margolin, Martin Benrath, Wally Cox, Max Haufler, Rainer Penkert, and Oscar Beregi Jr.
The DVD is a good purchase overall with a good-looking widescreen presentation in its original black and white format. Special features include two trailers, one short teaser and one regular theatrical trailer, along with three trailers for three somewhat similar war movies from Fox Flix. Not often talked about with WWII movies, Morituri has slipped through the cracks somehow, but don't miss this movie with great performances from Brando and Brynner, check out Morituri!
Movie Review: Morituri DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
I absolutely love this movie! Even though it's a little naive and not as spectacular as some of the modern military films. Morituri is a well-done WW2 movie with excellent actors, one of them is my favorite - Yul Brynner. Marlon Brando is also great! Movie Review: MORITURI - 'WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE'
Summary: 4 Stars
It's 1942 in Japan and Captain Mueller (Brynner) has been assigned to take a German freighter loaded with rubber to France which will keep the German war machine going for at least another 3 months. A rag tag crew has been assigned to sail with him. The ship is a blockade runner meaning that they will try to make it through any enemy defenses and if it looks it will not make it, the Captain is required to blow up the ship. In India, a German citizen (Brando) who escaped Germany when the war began is being blackmailed by Allied forces to pose as a German SS officer assigned to duty on that ship. His mission is to defuse all the bombs set to destroy the ship so that when the Americans capture the ship, it will not blow up the precious cargo. Brynner smells a rat and keeps a short leash on Brando and a tense game of cat and mouse develops as Brando tries to find and defuse all 12 bombs. The mission becomes more complicated when a German Admiral brings a group of American prisoners on board who have been captured by a sub in the area. The Admiral wonders why a SS officer is aboard a cargo ship and decides to investigate. A lesser known film of both Brando and Brynner but a good WWII film. Not an action film but a battle of wits between two megastars. While you may not like the black & white, it's what gives it the mystery and intrigue and definitely adds rather than detracts. Enjoy. [...].
Movie Review: A strange movie but very good film-noir
Summary: 5 Stars
Here we have a non-typical WW II film where a man is recruited by the British authorities to sabotage a German submarine. Marlon Brando shines in this unique role.
On the sub, Jewish shipwrecked (by the sub) captives are brought on board, ironically complicating Brando's task. Yul Brynner makes a great German submarine commander!
There something about this film that personalizes it to the viewer, unlike most others where (unless you were there!) we're outside, looking in. In any case, there's a Catholic darkness about the entire film.
I recommend this one for anyone interested in high drama and/or World War II.
Movie Review: Lost 1965 film starring Yul Brynner, Marlon Brando, Janet Margolin
Summary: 4 Stars
"Morituri" is a worthwhile, though ill-conceived lost film from 1965. It stars Yul Brynner, Marlon Brando, and Janet Margolin who all play anti-Nazi Germans during WWII. Brynner is a sea captain, Brando a pacifist forced by the British to help get the boat into Allied hands, and Margolin as the American-German-Jewish prisoner. It's good to see Janet in one of her few leading roles a few years after David and Lisa.
This scenario has all the ingredients of greatness, yet the film never rises to it as the plot is ill-concieved with an unfinished feel to it. However it's well worth watching rare performances by these actors.
DVD contains original teaser and trailer.
Summary of Morituri
Marlon Brando plays a world-weary, conscientious objector to all wars in the tense, thoughtful Morituri, an adult drama about wartime ethics and the price of commitment to a cause. Brando plays Robert Crain, a German deserter who escaped the Nazis with his fortune intact, happy to be sitting out the battle in British-governed India. His comfort is challenged when an intelligence official (Trevor Howard) essentially blackmails him into going undercover, posing as an SS officer taking passage on a German ship carrying tons of rubber for munitions. Crain's mission is to deliver the ship into Allied hands, but once he's aboard, he becomes a target of derision by the proud, anti-Nazi captain (Yul Brynner) and suspicion by a handful of Resistance members planning to scuttle the voyage. The dramatic irony in this film by German actor-director Bernhard Wicki is that Crain, who claims to take no sides and believes in nothing worth killing for, becomes a catalyst for a great deal of sacrifice and the underscoring of others' convictions with bloodshed. Janet Margolin has a memorable role as a half-mad, Jewish doctor who puts her life on the line to help Crain, and Brynner nearly steals the show in a tremendous performance as a man who has lost faith in everything. Some spectacular scenes give Morituri a certain electricity, including a complicated, unbroken shot taken (one presumes) from a helicopter that swoops in on the ship from a distance to catch a few lines of dialogue and a bit of action. --Tom KeoghClassics Video
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