Mountains on the Moon (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Jan 10, 2025
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Bob RafelsonRelease Date(s)
1990 (November 26, 2024)Studio(s)
Carolco/IndieProd Company/Zephyr Films (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)- Film/Program Grade: B
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B
Review
Mountains of the Moon brings to life a historical mid-19th century struggle with sweep and adventure while also providing an intimate portrait of its two central characters. A quest painted in broad strokes by director Bob Rafelson, its grandeur brings to mind the epics of David Lean.
British explorers Richard Burton (Patrick Bergin, Sleeping with the Enemy) and John Hanning Speke (Iain Glen, Gorillas in the Mist) led a series of expeditions through East Africa in the 1850s to discover the source of the Nile. Burton was a multi-faceted adventurer who had made a name for himself for some of his other achievements. Speke, more interested in fame than geographical mapping, was up to the long treks in a brutal environment but lacked Burton’s passion.
Burton and Speke were the first Europeans to see the area that tribesmen called the Mountains of the Moon because of their desolation. They and their party of native bearers would have to traverse this treacherous terrain to reach their goal. During the arduous journey, they encountered various tribes and experienced their ancient customs. These customs were not always pleasant.
The success of their quest is threatened not only by the rough terrain, but also by defections among their native bearers, smallpox, hunger, drought, punishing weather, and attacks by hostile tribesmen. After surviving near-death experiences in Africa, the two Englishmen have a falling out back in England based on a lack of communication and a misunderstanding. While Speke takes credit for finding the source of the Nile, Burton insists that the evidence is insufficient.
In London, Burton meets Isabel Arundel (Fiona Shaw, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) and is intrigued by her intelligence and independent nature. They eventually marry. When Burton’s name is sullied by Speke, she urges her husband to counter what she regards as baseless indictments. Burton is initially reluctant, but ultimately gathers evidence to dispute Speke’s claim.
The action scenes are often harrowing, with graphic images and other forms of human brutality that illustrate the everyday dangers the expedition encounters. That these often emerge without warning makes their impact both shocking and intense. The action is extremely well-staged and reflects disorientation and desperation.
The widescreen panoramas and action sequences are essential to the film, but the focus is on Burton and Speke—their personalities, drives, developing friendship, and regard for the indigenous peoples they encounter. Burton’s history of traveling the globe in search of new discoveries may have been the basis of the Indiana Jones movies. In his time, Burton was a superstar revered by members of the Royal Geographical Society. Speke is at least as interested in fame as in geographical discoveries. Where Burton’s first instinct is to try nonviolent means to defuse danger, Speke reaches immediately for firearms. But he’s no coward and more than once shows his mettle in a bad situation.
Patrick Bergin’s Burton projects awareness of his stature at home and the curiosity and self-confidence to abandon it for long periods in search of new worlds to conquer. Iain Glen conveys Speke’s condescending attitude and manner toward Africa in general and its people in particular. They are inconveniences to be tolerated on his path to glory. Shaw is quite good as Isabel, but is off screen for most of the film when the African scenes are spotlighted.
Director Rafelson has created a beautiful-looking film. The African sequences, which make up the bulk of the film, convey the harshness of the land, and the natives, drawn from actual African tribes, look authentic. With the crowded thoroughfares of London and the packed lecture hall of the Royal Geographical Society, Rafelson sets up quite a contrast between the two disparate environments. Bearded men with top hats, ladies in Victorian dresses, horse-drawn carriages, and cobblestone streets represent European civilization, while the African sequences reflect a nearly unspoiled world of nature. Unlike in many historical dramas, Rafelson refrains from putting place and date identifiers on the screen. He allows us to figure out where we are and when, an easy task with the film’s lavish production design.
Because the interplay of personalities is so well presented, whether they actually discover the Nile’s source is almost an afterthought—a kind of MacGuffin, epic style. The film looks great and performances are excellent. However, there are places where the narrative sags and momentum nearly comes to a halt. A good fifteen minutes could have been cut without harming the story.
Mountains of the Moon was shot by director of photography Roger Deakins on 35 mm film with Arriflex 35 BL4 cameras and JDC lenses and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The aspect ratio on the Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics is 1.78:1. The source is from the older master StudioCanal provided for the 2024 Imprint edition. Color palette is varied, ranging from earthy tones of the African desert to brighter hues of women’s dresses in the London sequences. A bold shade of orange is used for yards upon yards of cloth that the explorers roll out to barter with natives. Scenes in the Royal Geographical Society’s auditorium feature heavy wood and conservative window coverings. A night attack scene gets a splash of color from burning tents.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. Optional English SDH subtitles are included. Dialogue is clear and the sound mix is generally first rate with speech blended with screaming natives, grunts of injured victims, sharp objects piercing bodies, and horses hooves and carriage wheels on cobblestones (in London). Michael Small’s music sounds somewhat sleepy considering the epic scale of the film, but it could benefit from a more vibrant score.
Bonus materials on the Region A Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber Studio Classics include the following:
- Audio Commentary by Adrian Martin
- The Making of Mountains of the Moon (5:31)
- Trailer (1:40)
- The Emerald Forest Trailer (2:20)
- The Bounty Trailer (2:08)
- Cry Freedom Trailer (2:43)
- Last of the Dogmen Trailer (2:52)
Audio Commentary – Film critic Adrian Martin calls Mountain of the Moon an “odd film out” for director Bob Rafelson, who usually worked on contemporary films set in America. This was a deeply personal project for Rafelson. Commentator Martin provides the background of the real Richard Burton and John Speke, contrasting their lives, social class, and exploits before the expeditions depicted in the film. Speke was an upper-class English gentlemen, but also displaced from British authority. Burton was more comfortable in cultures other than his own. The film’s beginning provides no backstory of the two principal characters, only a few references. Their personalities are revealed through events in the film. Speke wanted accomplishment and fame and was eager to complete the mission. Burton also wanted to accomplish the goal of the expedition, but was in it for mostly the journey. The editing provides an interesting narrative structure, as it shifts back and forth between England and Africa. As the film progresses there are reversals of positions between Speke and Burton, with dominance switching back and forth. All leading characters have complexity. Some reviews referred to the film as an “epic with an accumulation of scenes.” Carolco approved the budget at $12 million after Rafelson pitched the idea. The final cost was $20 million. Martin compares Mountains of the Moon to Lawrence of Arabia, both films featuring white men in foreign lands. The themes of colonialism, feminism, and homoeroticism are discussed. The film balances classical and modern elements expressively. This film was a favorite of Rafelson’s. He claimed that he was never the first choice to direct a film. He had to audition and sell himself in order to do the kind of films he wanted to do.
Several bonus materials from the Imprint Films edition are not included. Absent are a commentary by film historian Peter Tonguette; interviews with actor Patrick Bergin, director Henry Jaglom, and Peter Rafelson (son of director Bob Rafelson); and a reminiscence of Bob Rafelson by author/journalist Josh Karp.
Mountains of the Moon offers a fascinating portrait of two driven men in a vast, uncharted environment. The period depicted saw exploration that revealed cultures, environments, and entire worlds previously unknown to the rest of the globe. Pioneers like Burton and Speke laid the groundwork for the expansion of geographic and scientific knowledge about the planet. The film shows that for all their courage and perseverance, like most individuals they had flaws that sometimes undermined their best intentions. The film delivers in its action sequences and production values but tends to bog down in quiet, dialogue-heavy scenes.
- Dennis Seuling