As the lines between fact and fiction fall apart into a Peckinpah bloodbath climax, all I could wonder while I slowly lost interest is how badly I would have preferred a Teddy Roosevelt-centered biopic. Brian Keith as the president is without a doubt the best thing to watch. He gets some juicy dialogue and mannerisms to play with that are sadly pushed to the sidelines as Sean Connery masquerades around as an unconvincing Berber. I'm a proud apologist of the glorious work of John Milius, but here it is all too clear that Connery and Candice Bergen were second or third choices and there is little charisma going around to get behind other than Keith's robust depiction of the cowboy president. Watch Dillinger and Red Dawn instead.

John Milius desert romp is a very enjoyable adventure story with a political message thrown in. Connery plays Mulai Ahmed er Raisuli, a Berber chieftain, presumably from the little known Scottish branch of Berbers. But when has authenticity ever been a problem for Connery? Be it a Russian submarine captain, a Spanish immortal or an Irish cop he makes them all uniquely his own and he does the same here, commanding the screen with such authority you don't question such trivial things as accents. Brian Keith is equally good as Theodore Roosevelt and gives the film some political bite and Candice Bergen, while somewhat overshadowed by her co-stars, is more than adequate as Mrs Pedecaris who, along with her two children, is kidnapped by Connery's tribesmen. The violence is surprisingly bloodless, people are beheaded with not a sign of the red stuff, and it's all told with a sense of fun and adventure that's rarely seen these days.

As the lines between fact and fiction fall apart into a Peckinpah bloodbath climax, all I could wonder while I slowly lost interest is how badly I would have preferred a Teddy Roosevelt-centered biopic. Brian Keith as the president is without a doubt the best thing to watch. He gets some juicy dialogue and mannerisms to play with that are sadly pushed to the sidelines as Sean Connery masquerades around as an unconvincing Berber. I'm a proud apologist of the glorious work of John Milius, but here it is all too clear that Connery and Candice Bergen were second or third choices and there is little charisma going around to get behind other than Keith's robust depiction of the cowboy president. Watch Dillinger and Red Dawn instead.

John Milius desert romp is a very enjoyable adventure story with a political message thrown in. Connery plays Mulai Ahmed er Raisuli, a Berber chieftain, presumably from the little known Scottish branch of Berbers. But when has authenticity ever been a problem for Connery? Be it a Russian submarine captain, a Spanish immortal or an Irish cop he makes them all uniquely his own and he does the same here, commanding the screen with such authority you don't question such trivial things as accents. Brian Keith is equally good as Theodore Roosevelt and gives the film some political bite and Candice Bergen, while somewhat overshadowed by her co-stars, is more than adequate as Mrs Pedecaris who, along with her two children, is kidnapped by Connery's tribesmen. The violence is surprisingly bloodless, people are beheaded with not a sign of the red stuff, and it's all told with a sense of fun and adventure that's rarely seen these days.