Synopsis:
From Otto Preminger, the legendary director of Laura, Anatomy of a Murder, Exodus, Advise & Consent and Bunny Lake Is Missing, comes this thrilling adventure yarn starring screen greats Sir Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia, The Lion in Winter) and Sir Richard Attenborough (The Great Escape, Brighton Rock). Larry Martin (O’Toole) is a reporter secretly working for the CIA as he travels around the globe tasked, along with Israeli intelligence, to work for the release of five wealthy girls kidnapped by the anti-Israel Palestinian Liberation Army from the yacht Rosebud. Edward Sloat (Attenborough), the extremist head of Black September, is connected with the kidnappings, and is subsequently hunted down after his plans for a centralized global terrorist network are uncovered. The stellar cast includes Cliff Gorman (The Boys in the Band), Peter Lawford (Salt and Pepper), Raf Vallone (Cannon for Cordoba), Adrienne Corri (The File of the Golden Goose), Isabelle Huppert (The Bedroom Window) and Kim Cattrall (The Return of the Musketeers).
What We Thought:
Rosebud is from 1975 and despite having a pretty well known and respected cast, I wasn’t familiar with it. After watching it I can understand why. It’s not bad or anything, but it’s also not the crazy action film the cover art makes it seem like.
Peter O’Toole is a journalist who may just be working for the CIA. He’s brought in on a kidnapping case involving daughters of important people by the anti-Israel Palestinian Liberation Army. He’s joined by Israeli intelligence to find the girls and bring them home safely.
The terrorists use the girls to make videos of their demands and want powerful people to admit to wrong doing. A girl will be released unharmed as long as the videos get aired in major cities around the world and their demands get met. It’s all very Israel vs. Palestine in a time period that was dominated by those issues.
O’Toole is fine in the lead and Richard Attenborough is good as the leader of a terrorist cell, but overall the movie just doesn’t deliver to me. Again, it’s not bad, but I don’t know if it’s something I’d go out of my way to watch again. It has good elements of a spy thriller like O’Toole and his Israeli counterpart following people to get information, but if you don’t know about the film’s existence it’s understandable.
I’m sure Rosebud has fans because it has a pretty big cast which also includes a very young Kim Cattrall so I’m sure those people will enjoy this new Blu-ray. It does look and sound good in high definition, but ultimately I wanted a bit more from the film.
The Nerds Templar 