An 18th century merchant is involved in the establishment of Hong Kong as a trading outpost.
In between the miniseries adaptations of Shogun and Noble House, James Clavell saw a big screen adaptation of his novel Taipan. While it is not a complete disaster, it has some grievous faults. These include:
1. Trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot - there is a reason why the other books are miniseries. There is far too much story for a single feature film.
2. No names. The film needed a big box office draw to pull people into cinemas. It got Bryan Brown.
3. Some bad casting. The Brocks are pretty badly cast, but Bryan Brown has to be the worst. If they were going to cast someone who wasn't a box office draw, why didn't they go with a Scotsman to play a Scotsman, rather than an Australian? There are some real rubbish Scots accents here.
4. There are also some fairly dodgy effects, especially travelling mattes. Having said that, they are fairly standard for the time.
In between the miniseries adaptations of Shogun and Noble House, James Clavell saw a big screen adaptation of his novel Taipan. While it is not a complete disaster, it has some grievous faults. These include:
1. Trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot - there is a reason why the other books are miniseries. There is far too much story for a single feature film.
2. No names. The film needed a big box office draw to pull people into cinemas. It got Bryan Brown.
3. Some bad casting. The Brocks are pretty badly cast, but Bryan Brown has to be the worst. If they were going to cast someone who wasn't a box office draw, why didn't they go with a Scotsman to play a Scotsman, rather than an Australian? There are some real rubbish Scots accents here.
4. There are also some fairly dodgy effects, especially travelling mattes. Having said that, they are fairly standard for the time.