The Four Feathers (1978)

Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely the worst movie.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This remake is set turn of the XIX century and concerns on Harry Faversham ( Beau Bridges ) , a British officer who resigns from army and is branded as coward and given four feathers as symbols of cowardice by his engaged fiancée Ethe ( Jane Seymour ) and his three friends ( Robert Powell , Simon Ward ) and the shame his father ( Harry Andrews ). Determined to save honor and disguised himself as an Arab native he heads to Sudan against the Derviches ,where his friends live during the Kitchener campaign , expedition for defeating the ¨Madhi¨ who had vanquished General Gordon ( events developed in ¨Khartoum ¨ film with Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier ). His objective will be save the four friends from certain death and take back them and retrieve lost honours , being determined to prove his courage . This fifth version is plenty of action, adventures, a love story , heroism and is pretty entertaining . It's a TV adaptation but exhibited at movie theater with spectacular action and interior-exterior scenes are very well done . Beau Bridges as hero is nice but Robert Powell as Jack the best friend and fellow officer is convincing , he steals the show, especially when is blinded and lost in the heat of desert. Jane Seymour as the gorgeous heroine is charming and attractive. Colorful and breathtaking cinematography by John Coquillon . The film is rightly directed by Don Sharp . Other versions of A.E.W.Mason novel are the classic(1939) by Zoltan Korda with John Clemens, Jane Duprez and Ralph Richardson, ¨ Storm over the sand ¨ (1955) by Terence Young with Anthony Steel and recent remake(2000) by S.Kapoor with Heath Ledger and Kate Hudson.

Absolutely my favorite version of the 3 versions I have seen. I think the actors are part of it as I've always enjoyed Beau Bridges and Jane Seymour in this movie was breathtaking. You could identify with the characters, a guy torn between love and duty pressured by an overbearing father where it's his way or no way. A woman who is expected to support her man without question no matter how dangerous his 'duty' may be. Friends who expect their buddy to stick with them because that's what a man in the late 19th century does. A likable hero, gorgeous love interest, plenty of action and a happy ending.......What more could you ask for??

I remembered seeing this TV movie a long time ago when I was a kid. I thought it was a thrilling film! A young Englishman decides not to go off to fight in the war and is branded a coward by all his friends, including his girlfriend! They all gave this man four feathers to shame him for being a coward. But Harry Faversham proves to be no coward because he manages to save all of his friends' lives, win back his girl and tell his father off! I loved the costumes and the scenery and the great action scenes. I thought the acting was pretty wonderful too. One of the best scenes is when Harry stands up to his father and tells him that he won't be a soldier for him, and if Harry had any children, he would never pressure them to be something that they do not want to be. Jane Seymour is lovely as usual in these types of costume dramas. Her Ethne had a lot more fire and spirit than the Ethne played by June Duprez in the 1939 remake. Jane Seymour made me totally believe that Ethne was remorseful for driving Harry away and that she still loves him no matter what. The ending of the movie has the two lovers, Harry and Ethne together again, was very romantic to me.I don't understand about the politics of the times where "The Four Feathers" are in, so I can't comment on that. All I can say is, this movie is engaging, fast moving and poignant. One of the better remakes of this classic tale, and definitely much better than that terrible recent remake with Heath Ledger (kinda blah in this movie) and Kate Hodson (horrible, horrible, horrible, the wrong role for her!). I give this movie an "A" for entertainment!

Although it pales next to the 1939 classic version, as a made-for-television feature this film is well worth watching. It tells the story of a young Englishman driven to extreme lengths to prove to himself & his friends that he is not a coward.Surrounded by a fine British cast, Beau Bridges might seem wrongly cast in the main role, but he does a stalwart job throughout. Good action scenes set in Muslim Africa. Co-stars include Jane Seymour, Harry Andrews (great as Bridges' fierce old father), Robert Powell, Richard Johnson, Simon Ward, David Robb & Robin Bailey.