I have to compare this movie with the Mini series docudrama made by the BBC in the early 1970s called "The Search for the Nile." Sadly that 6 part series is only available on what appears to be a pirated VHS copy of a TV broadcast, but nonetheless I'd recommend viewing it for those people who gave this clunky bit of movie-making called "The Mountains of the Moon" high marks. Here are three of my many problems with MotM (1) the pacing is ham-handed - important scenes are rushed through in a minute or two, while irrelevant ones are dwelled on endlessly; (2) whose idea was it that one of the great linguists of the 19th century, if not all time, would be portrayed by an actor who can't enunciate English clearly? (3) furthermore, who thought that during the travels through Africa that Burton would always need a translator? Aside of these details, I didn't find the film emotionally involving at all. The African exploration by Europeans is a great story, but this film doesn't capture that for me.
Review of Mountains of the Moon
