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Skullduggery More at IMDbPro »
| Index | 10 reviews in total |
15 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
It's clear some reviewers weren't mature enough for this film...., 25 June 2005
Author:
aromadon from USA
This was not a film about "action", nor was it "boring", unless you are the type that requires external stimulation as a substitute for actually thinking. This was a very poignant film about human rights and what, exactly, being human means. As another reviewer said, the climactic ending brought me to tears. This is not a film that should be viewed by a bunch of kids at a sleepover... it will be totally lost and wasted on them. This is a film that should be shown in every political science and philosophy class for discussion. Don't let the pathetic reviews scare you away if you can find this movie... it was the viewer that was lacking, not the film...
7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
An honourable, well-meaning premise that simply doesn't hang together as a film., 20 April 2007
Author:
Jonathon Dabell (barnaby.rudge@hotmail.co.uk) from Todmorden, England
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Skullduggery is a strange, strange film based on the novel "Ye Shall
Know Them" by Vercors. To unleash criticism at the film feels really
unkind, since it is a movie that deals with earnest themes like
humanity, and pleas for upright moral standards and tolerance. But in
spite of its honourable intentions and its well-meaning tone,
Skullduggery simply isn't a very good film. For me, the main problem is
the terribly disjointed narrative which can't make its mind up how best
to convey its message. The first half of the movie is like watching a
standard jungle expedition flick of the Tarzan ilk; later it teeters
into sci-fi fable; by the end it slips into courtroom melodramatics.
The differences in tone between each section of the movie are too
great, too jarring, to overlook. They stick out like a sore thumb and
remind you constantly that you're watching a muddled, disorganised
movie.
An archaeological expedition into the jungles of New Guinea is led by
adventurer Douglas Temple (Burt Reynolds). One of the main
archaeologists involved in the excursion is attractive lady scientist
Dr Sybil Greame (Susan Clark). After an arduous trek they stumble upon
a tribe of strange ape-like creatures. These primitive, long-lost
people are covered in hair and have survived for centuries without
being in any way touched or influenced by the developments of modern
man. There is some evidence that they may the ancestors of early man –
the "missing link" in the evolution of apes into humans. Or perhaps a
race of humans who simply look and behave differently from usual? Or
even a race of animals that have begun to develop human
characteristics? The archaeologists call the tribe "the Tropi" and are
initially thrilled by the implications of their discovery. But things
take a devastating turn when nasty opportunist Vancruysen (Paul
Hubschmid) declares his intention to exploit the tribe and their idyll
on behalf of developers. He questions whether the Tropi are truly
"human" and takes his argument to the courts, where he hopes to be
granted legal backing so that his own greedy ambitions can be
continued.
This was a very early film in Reynolds' career, and he actually
unbalances this movie by acting like he's in a comedy while the rest of
the cast take it all very seriously. Not that Reynolds can be blamed –
he has an impossible role, asked to play a charming adventurer who
really belongs in a Tarzan flick. His character and the film are not
relevant to each other. Clark fares much better as the earnest lady
archaeologist, and there are nice supporting roles for British actors
Edward Fox, Alexander Knox and Wilfrid Hyde-White. A major shortcoming
in Skullduggery is the lame and ineffective make-up used to give the
Tropi their strange hairy appearance. Rather than making the actors
look like believable hominoids, the stuck-on hair merely makes them
look unintentionally comical…. and that's just not the right idea.
We're meant to feel great sympathy for these creatures, but that's
awfully hard when they look so unconvincing. Skullduggery is a failed
attempt to tell a story that could have been poignant, philosophical
and stimulating. The honourable intentions are there for all to see,
but the end result doesn't do them justice. A worthy failure it might
be but a failure nonetheless.
8 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
I have gravitated toward Darwinism ever since..., 11 April 2005
Author:
inkedon from Austin Tx
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I don't really think I'm spoiling anything, but I ticked the box just
in case...
I saw this film once and only once when it came on network television
one night in the very early 70's, I was at most 7 years old and I have
thought about the movie ever since.
Missing link upright bipeds, used as slaves and a court case to
determine rights applicable to them.
Someone else's comment was that it was boring. What I recall of it is
that the story and climactic finale made me cry until I threw up. I
don't recall if the acting was good, or how the movie flowed. I just
remember being highly affected by what I had seen and understanding
that people also treated other people that way.
Yay for empathy, a new experience for me as a child.
I look forward someday to seeing it again as an adult.
9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Just a poor shadow of the original film, 7 August 2001
Author:
Jeepster67 from Silicon Valley, CA, USA
I must have unknowingly been in the test audience for the original version
of this film at a local drive-in theater in 1970. I recently saw the
current version on TV again, and was shocked at the mutilation of the
original plot. The movie I remember was longer and the missing scenes and
dialogue comprised a biting satire of race relations that still resonates
in
my memory today. The present version of the film has sadly had the best
scenes and lines excised out, in the name of avoiding controversy in
1970.
We have come a long way since then. This film was far more entertaining in
it's original form, and deserves re-release in a Special Edition or
Director's cut DVD!
5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Jolly good little adventure, 31 December 2007
Author:
wozcom
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
(Maybe some teeny spoilers)... A rollicking tale as anthropologists
searching for signs of a "Missing Link" in New Guinea, discover a
living group of them amidst the jungle. The expedition's villainous
financier (Paul Hubschmid), upon discovering Phosphorus in the area,
puts the little creatures to work as miners.
The film's ending court case regards the "humanity" of a child
stillborn to one of the lead creatures, the alleged result of an
indiscretion by Burt Reynolds.
Great cast includes appearances from Ausie great Chips Rafferty, Burt
Reynolds, Wilfred Hyde-White. Some great creature make-up work by Bud
Westmore rarely mentioned in the books.
Sadly, apparently not yet released on DVD.
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
very good film that seems misunderstood by the audiences of today, 24 May 2007
Author:
mibmusic-1 from United States
As another person has commented, this movie deals with some very
important social and very HUMAN issues and should be viewed for what it
is, not what you wish it would have been.
If you are looking for a brainless action film, look somewhere else.
This film is more likely to generate a strong emotional reaction than
to wow you with fancy stunts and cliché jungle adventure shtick.
People today are so used to excessive action films that gems like this
one seem to be misunderstood or simply ignored. I am hoping this makes
it's way to DVD so it can be appreciated in it's original theatrical
format.
For the thinking person who can appreciate something with a lot more
depth than the 'tomb raider' ilk it may get lumped in with it is
definitely worth a viewing.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Skullduggery - En busca del eslabón perdido, 13 May 2011
Author:
ppyo from United States
I watched this movie in the early seventies, at my hometown in Mexico. I must have been 14 or 15 at the time. I liked the movie a lot not because of the acting, but because of the subject, which captivated me. The ethical and philosophical question of what constitutes humanity. Maybe the cinematographic quality of the film is not great, but having seen this movie only once and still remembering its impact on me after almost forty years is a tribute to its merits. I remember vividly the shock the climax scene caused in me, and the anger at the injustice done to the poor critters, and their unresolved fate, which undoubtedly would not be a good one if we go by the conventional wisdom of the time. I do believe this movie is much better conceptually than it is generally considered. I hope it will someday be released on DVD. I would certainly buy it.
4 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Poppa Jack?, 31 December 2006
Author:
coelacanth1938 from United States
Once upon a time there was a science fiction author named H. Beam Piper
who wrote a classic book named "Little Fuzzy" which was about a man
discovering a race of adorable little fuzzy humanoids on another
planet. Mr. Piper died in 1964, but Hollywood and many of today's
authors starting looting his grave before his cadaver got cold. This is
the book where they got the idea for Ewoks from.
Skullduggery is such a blatant ripoff of "Little Fuzzy" I can wonder
why I'm the only who's ever noticed?
But don't take my word for it. Here's a link to Project Guntenberg
where you can download a copy of "Little Fuzzy" for free:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18137
2 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
Boring, 10 May 2003
Author:
mm-39 from Winnipeg
Taped this late night movie when I was in grade 11, watched it on fast forward. I sugest you do the same. I though it would be and action film, but went to a cort tv type movie. In the end it fits in with the early 70's social activest type films. Glad I missed that era. 2/10
2 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
Truly an unbelievably rotten motion picture, 29 August 1999
Author:
helpless_dancer from Broken Bow, Oklahoma
One of the most boring, silly, insipid, badly scripted and acted things ever to come out of the entertainment field. Even for Burt Reynolds, this was bad news. If you are home alone and bored to tears don't watch this drivel. Avoid at all costs.
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