Farewell to the King (1989)

I just caught "Farewell to the King" on cable, and maybe it's just because I'm a girl, but I thought this was on the craptastic side. The script and direction are pretentious (once I found out John Milius was responsible, it all became clear). The supporting actors actually weren't bad - James Fox was outstanding. The biggest disappointment was Nick Nolte, who I usually enjoy. Once he goes native, he starts speaking a very stiff, stilted English, and half the time, he seems kind of distracted, as if he'd just smoked some of the bounty of Borneo's rain forest. And then the end -- what the ??? Learoyd just happens to be on the same boat as The Botanist (by the way, had the Botanist dumped the girlfriend, or what?)??? The boat just happens to run aground conveniently close to an island ripe takeover by a crazy Anglo ex-headhunting Army deserter??

WWII in Borneo. Learoyd (Nick Nolte) is an American who deserted and set himself up as King of the jungle. Capt. Fairbourne (Niogel Havers) is a British soldier that comes in to enlist the natives in fighting the Japanese.That's just about it, except for Fairbourne's boss played by James Fox. He is the quintessential British soldier. The ethnocentric SOB that does all for King and Country. Nobody can play that character like Fox.The rest of the movie features Japanese soldiers and natives battling it out. After a slaughter of Learoyd's people, including his wife, they slaughter Japanese.Besides Fox, the best thing about the movie is seeing Nolte run through the jungle looking like some cartoon character. It was really funny.

All the other posters make good points, but the one they miss is that this is first, last and simply, pure Milius. If you don't know who John Milius is you probably do not read movie credits. John Milius is a screen writer and director. Kind of a cult figure. His stock in trade is manly virtue. His detractors would use the term "macho", but that is too derogatory. Movies you may have see by him are, "Wind and the Lion, Red Dawn, Conan the Barbarian, Jeremiah Johnson, Clear and Present Danger, The Rough Riders, Apocalypse Now, Magnum Force, Dirty Harry, Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. See a pattern here? Every one of the above movies deals with male relationships, honor, loyalty, fall and redemption. Romance relationships take a back seat to the relationships between the male characters, be they protagonists or antagonists. Jeramiah Johnson is a great example of this and shares many theme similarities with Farewell to the King.Milius the director's sense of honor transcends the norm and underscores his reputation as a Hollywood rebel and outcast. Leroyd is betrayed by his erstwhile allies symbolized by Gen. MacArthur who gives his word and violates that promise. Leroyd ultimately accepts his former hated Japanese enemy simply because he too possesses a personal code of honor similar to Leroyd. A similar scene plays out at the end of Red Dawn, where the Cuban Commander lets the dying Jed escape, carrying his dead brother (Charlie Sheen through a shared warriors sense of honor. Jed then goes to a playground to sit in a swing, presumably regaining their lost childhood in joined death. This is a familiar theme in Milius' work. Another familiar theme is that of the Rebel or loose cannon. Dirty Harry, the Marine Captain in Wind and the Lion, are just a few examples. Milius is the quintessential loose cannon in Hollywood. So he probably feels a kinship to the characters of which he writes. There are many other themes that are familiar to all his movies. The female as a catalyst and semi-tragic figure is another. His women move his protagonists to greater heights. The female at risk or her unfortunate demise drives the central character to either his doom or his redemption, or both. I have to say that I am a Milius fan. This movie is one of my favorites by him. Yes, I cringe at some of the acting, like Sgt. Tenga's horrible fake British accent (Kenyan by way of Chicago, perhaps?) The English speaking "Apaches" also make me roll my eyes. But scenes like "Advance the Colors", or Leroyd's redemption at the end of the movie, more than make up for the other lapses. This movie is good stuff. Get a six pack, or a bottle of scotch, a few cigars, some munchies and enter the world of John Milius. A world where men live by their honor, disputes are resolved man to man, and if enemies survive the ordeal, the sit down and drink to one another as survivors.

I started school in 1942 while the Marines were fighting on Guadalcanal. I entered the 4th grade upon Japan's surrender. In between I saw all the black and white WWII movies that came to the old Westmore Theater within walking distance of my home, now long gone with all the other old neighborhood picture palaces, replaced by the sterility of the mall clusters. Many of those films are still among my favorites. Over the years many more films dealing with various aspects of WWII have come along, mostly in color. Some capture the era and some don't but some fine ones have been made. One of those is Farewell to the King.Now I know that such things are highly subjective but the opening sequence after the credits evokes such a feeling of nostalgia in me. You see, I remember these men "in the flare of their youth". I saw the Greatest Generation leave and return and they were ten feet tall to me. I had a box of ribbons, patches, area bombing photographs and other items they gave me when they came home.But I digress. Farewll To The King is a testament to the futility of trying to escape history as Nigel keeps telling Leroyd. Here is a man who felt abandoned by his leader and escapes from the war himself and inadvertently finds a paradise only to have history catch up with it and destroy it. This is the great tragedy of the film. It is a tragedy for all concerned as war always is. It is not only a tragedy for Leroyd but for the soldiers who are sent to help fulfill the mission of engaging the natives of Borneo in the fight against the Japanese and who become enamored themselves with what Leroyd has found. It is a tragedy for Nigel's commanding officer who is himself smitten by it but knows what the result will be. It is a tragedy for the Japanese. And the magnificent score by Basil Poledouris just heightens the sense of it. And, as another reviewer has noted, the ending is great.I highly recommend this film.