Farewell to the King (1989)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

John Milius

Writers (WGA):

Pierre Schoendoerffer (book)
John Milius (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 March 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | War

Tagline:

In the midst of war, one man vanished into the jungle, and emerged as king.

Plot:

An American soldier who escapes the execution of his comrades by Japanese soldiers in Borneo during...

Plot Keywords:

Japanese | Soldier | British | WWII | Borneo

Cast

Nigel Havers	...	Capt. Fairbourne
Frank McRae	...	Sgt. Tenga
Gerry Lopez	...	Gwai
Nick Nolte	...	Learoyd
Marilyn Tokuda	...	Yoo
Choy Chang Wing	...	Lian
Aki Aleong	...	Col. Mitamura
Marius Weyers	...	Sgt. Conklin
William Wise	...	Dynamite Dave
Wayne Pygram	...	Bren Armstrong
Richard Morgan	...	Strech Lewis
Elan Oberon	...	Vivienne
James Fox	...	Col. Ferguson
Michael Nissman	...	Gen. Sutherland
John Bennett Perry	...	Gen. MacArthur

Runtime:

Argentina:115 min | UK:117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:16 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #28820) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company:

Cine Location Services

Goofs:

Continuity: MacArthur is wearing sunglasses when he is first shown. Suddenly, he is not wearing glasses, and they are not visible in his hands or on his desk.

Quotes:

Sgt. Tenga: Can't have any king save the one in London sir.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Dinosaur Island (1994)

One of the greatest movies ever.

Farewell to the King is one of the greatest war movies, and simply one of the greatest movies ever. I've seen and own dozens of WWII movies and this is one of the best. The story unfolds in a grand sweeping fashion reminiscent of Lawrence of Arabia, even Lost Horizon. At the same time it manages to capture a reality of life and loss that rarely sees the light of day on film or anywhere else for that matter.

It's great to see so many people here at IMDb and elsewhere have so much good to say about this film. Nick Nolte is fantastic as the soldier turned king and turns in one of his strongest performances ever. The film is breathtaking, the acting, story, and music is top notch. It's a gripping film, very necessary and old school/Hollywood in a time filled with dime a dozen action hero types.

Perhaps where some of the few critics get thrown is by the near fantasy nature of the story. If they would follow through with the stories presentation, intent, and the directors molding (done wonderfully by John Milius), they could find in fact that it works great on every level. It starts with a romanticized viewpoint of war and the "Flare of our youth" that many soldiers could look back on, to descend into the depths of hell and the realities of war that all should remember and none should forget. All of this of course is presented in a grand old tale container. The container has of that nature and large enough to hold some of the narrative information and striking, barbaric realities that the film so accurately presents, along side the beauty and normalities of what people could have in life. It's not easy to portray a vision of hell and a vision of Shangri-la (of sorts) in the same picture. This film is saying a great deal on many levels. One thing is that real freedom and a real Shangri-la is worth fighting for. Yet it's also one of the few films to even dare begin to unfold the true nature of how barbaric the Pacific War was. After years of studying the Pacific War, I can tell you that as well done as this movie is, it only skims the surface. But what a picture it gives.