Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1982)

I don't know how these gooses end up as presidents, but it happens way too often. Anyway I laughed at the rubbish that comes out of amin's mouth, whenever he makes a mistake, he asks some British dude how to make himself look less ridiculous. Senseless killings, cannibalism, it's all there to see, worth watching, you would laugh more if this was fiction, knowing these atrocities actually happened makes it more of a somber affair. the main actor played idi amin well and kept me motivated to finish this monstrosity of a movie, being history, this is worth watching and if it helps i found it on youtube in VHS quality which made me go way back in time. I won't be watching a rerun, that's for sure.

"You are what you eat", there is an old saying. And if you did not know yet, the dictator Idi Amin Dada, who led Uganda between 1971 and 1979, sometimes was eating human flesh, not just snake. During his reign there was rumours of him eating his military rivals but once when he asked if he was a cannibal, he replied: "I don't like human flesh - it's too salty for me." At a typical banquet hosted by Idi Amin, the Ugandan president would serve bee larvae, green bush crickets, cicadas, flying ants and locusts. All this, we do not see in the film. We see instead how he eliminated his political rivals, how he raped women and killed some of his wives and how, ultimately, invaded neighboring Tanzania, which has entailed his loss of power and exile. He wasn't executed, like almost all the other dictators of the world, never repented, and lived reasonably well in Saudi Arabia, where he received asylum and died in 2003. The film is very well done and interpreted. Joseph Olita is perfect as Idi Amin. Geoffrey Keen, who was the Minister of Defence in "The Spy Who Loved Me"(1977), "Moonraker"(1979), "For Your Eyes Only" (1981), "Octopussy" (1983), "A View to a Kill"(1985) and "The Living Daylights"(1987), is playing here the British Ambassador. This is the only film directed by Sharad Patel until now.

The whole warts story of Idi Amin from the taking of power to his subsequent flight to freedom in Saudi Arabia after Tanzania invaded to put an end to his craziness. This is a film that dwells with Amin's lurid and nasty side as we get little snapshots of all of the terrible tings that he did. Not particularly graphic, much of the nastiness is implied rather than shown. There is no good here only the insane man himself.This film was a Times Square cinema staple for years prior to the "Disnification" of the area, but other than that this film has been largely unseen for the past 25 years (an early home video release was never repeated and it appears no one has officially released it on DVD). Recently one of the cable channels ran it much to my shock and amusement, since I was finally able to see the film for myself.As an exploitation film this film is dynamite. Its got sex and violence and more violence and bad behavior and heads in a freezer and everything you could want for a lurid time at the movies. There is a reason this played for years on 42nd Street, namely its feeds into a persons basic need for low brow entertainment while allowing us to be feel we're learning something since its based on real events.Unfortunately after a while you realize that a little bit goes a long way. With Amin as the focus of the film you never really get any rest from the ever escalating insanity. Its just Amin doing crazy stuff and while thats fun for the first half of the movie, it becomes a bit of a drag for the second. Its a problem that the film shares with Barbet Schroeder's film Idi Amin Dada which is a documentary of Amin in his own words. There is only so much one can take of a crazy man before one has to call it quits.Still its worth seeing if your tastes tend to be exploitive, and since this is legendary and classic film of that ilk its a must see. Those with out the bug for exploitation films may want to tune into see what the fuss is about, but they'll probably find themselves tuning out after awhile.5 out of 10 for the half before it repeats itself.

This movie is disturbing, grisly, and unpleasant - much like the reign of Idi Amin that it depicts. The film is quite graphic in its violence, and while this will make it hard to watch for some it is necessary to tell the true story of Amin. Olita plays Amin to the hilt, portraying him as a pompous killer who has no regard for human life or the fate of Uganda. We follow how Amin angers one foreign power after another, causing most Western powers to abandon Uganda; one memorable scene in the movie shows when the Soviets, Amin's last ally, pack up to leave the country and Amin rushes to the airport to try to stop them. Throughout the film he also murders anyone who opposes him, or even offends him in the slightest way. This movie really lays Amin and his rule bare; you see what a true despot was and Olita portrays his as having absolutely no redeeming qualities. Not easy to watch, but a fascinating story of a bizarre politician.