Mountains of the Moon (1990)

The legendary true-story of Capt. Richard Francis Burton and Lt. John Hanning Speke's tumultuous expedition to find the source of the Nile river.

Director:

Bob Rafelson

Writers:

William Harrison (novel), William Harrison (screenplay)

Stars:

Patrick Bergin, Iain Glen, Richard E. Grant

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Bergin	...	Richard Francis Burton
Iain Glen	...	John Hanning Speke
Richard E. Grant	...	Larry Oliphant
Fiona Shaw	...	Isabel Arundell (Mrs Burton as from 1861)
John Savident	...	Lord Murchison
James Villiers	...	Lord Oliphant
Adrian Rawlins	...	Edward
Peter Vaughan	...	Lord Houghton
Delroy Lindo	...	Mabruki
Bernard Hill	...	Dr. David Livingstone
Matthew Marsh	...	William
Richard Caldicot	...	Lord Russell
Christopher Fulford	...	Herne
Garry Cooper	...	Stroyan
Roshan Seth	...	Ben Amir

Storyline

The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire. The film tells the story of their meeting, their friendship emerging amidst hardship, and then dissolving after their journey.

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Plot Keywords:

female rear nudity | gay | female frontal nudity | kissing while having sex | premarital sex | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | Mystery

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 February 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

As Montanhas da Lua

Filming Locations:

Africa

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$4,011,793

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carolco Pictures, IndieProd Company Productions, Zephyr Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First top-billed lead starring role in a cinema movie of actor Patrick Bergin.

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Goofs

Although Larry Oliphant is portrayed as a homosexual, by all accounts he was in real life heterosexual: the filmmakers changed his sexual orientation to create a more dramatic reason for Speke's betrayal of Burton after all they had gone through together.

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Quotes

Arab chief in Cairo: In this wilderness you will find only Allah's terrible whimsy.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Best Films of 1990 (1991)

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Soundtracks

Kawamba Dance
Recorded by David Fanshawe
From the album "Africa - Witchcraft & Ritual Music"

User Reviews

A great film, it's to bad no went to see it.

When this film came out in 1990, it disappeared from the theaters as quickly as it came. Which is a shame really, because MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON is an excellent historical drama about the search for source of the Nile. The film is beautifully photographed on real African locations. I hate to call this film an epic, because that word has bad connotations today, and the film does not suffer from "epicitis" like so many films dubbed "epics". But MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON is an epic in the positive sense of the word.

The cast is uniformally good. A lot has already been written in this forum by others about the leads so I won't say anymore. Supporting player Delroy Lindo sometimes steals the show with his excellent role as the expeditions African guide.

I recommend you rent this along with STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE for a night of good viewing.

Till next time...Your pal Jim.