Reviews

The last King of Scotland is (very) loosely based on the former president of Uganda Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) and the fictional story of a young freshly qualified Scottish doctor, Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy). The film is based on Giles Foden's novel of the same name and while a lot of the story told about Amin's Brutal regime is quite true, the whole premise of the film is pure fiction. After doing some research, the closest match to the fictional doctor's character was a man called Bob Astles, who was neither Scottish nor a doctor. Astles was a former British soldier and colonial officer who lived in Uganda and became an associate of presidents Milton Obote and Idi Amin. Astles had a varying career in Uganda and was even imprisoned by Amin for 17 weeks. He eventually worked for Amin while running a pineapple farm as well as an aviation service. He later said, "I kept my eyes shut, I said nothing about what I saw, which is what they liked." A Wikipedia article states, "He was feared, and considered by many to be a malign influence on the dictator; others thought he was a moderating presence." Following the Uganda-Tanzania War which led to the demise of Amin's regime in 1979, Astles fled to Kenya, but was brought back to Uganda to face criminal charges. He was imprisoned for his alleged association with Amin's security apparatus, and was charged with everything from murder and corruption to theft. Though acquitted, he remained in Luzira Prison for six and a half years, returning to Britain after his release in 1985. I cannot for the life of me understand why all the so called 'based on a real story' mainstream films feel like they need to embellish the truth to such an extent! This period in Uganda's history has more than enough drama, war, and notable events like the 'Air France hostage' situation in Entebbe airport. Whilst this incident plays a major part of the ending of the film, it's a shame that they felt the need to fictionalise this incident as well by making the fictional doctor the key part of this incident as well. Again, I can understand why they had to, after all, the whole film is based around the fictional doctor! My point is that you can tell the story of Uganda and Idi Amin and his crazed behaviour and the slaying of more than 300,000 of his opposition and the Entebbe incident including the dramatic rescue of all but one of the hostages, and make all this one hell of a film! To date, no film has managed to achieve this and I for one think its a crying shame and a waste of a great opportunity. If it wasn't for the fact that that 25% of this story is real, I would have loved this film, but the fact that the film makers chose to use a fictional book to base this story on rather than the far better real story, spoils it for me. Having said all that, it's still well worth watching, I just waiting for some brave film producer to be the first to actually make a film about a true story that has nothing but facts in it!

Quite literally the absolute worst film I have ever had the misfortune to waste my money on! I never thought I would ever say the following but here goes....By far the best actor in this film was Dave Courtney! I mean by far! He plays 'Mad Dave' the head of the British mob and the only believable character in the whole film. Probably because he didn't try to act, just played himself. I'm sorry to say that EVERYONE else DID 'try' to act. I say 'try to act' because no one succeeded. I've seen better, more believable acting at a nursery school play! The plot was highly predictable, the portrayal of the triads was bordering on the farcical, the 'Yardies' were a cliché but I have to say the Onion Bhajees were the only saving grace to this sorry mess of a cast! The acting cannot even be described as wooden, it's er... plastic, no... rubber... no, sorry, I can't find the right words to describe how bad it was! I only watched it all the way through just to see if there would be any redeeming feature to the film, and I'm happy to say there was...The end! And I don't mean the ending of the plot of the film, I mean the the fact that it finished! I have never been so happy to reach the end of a film. Why would anyone finance the making of this film? How far did they have to go to find all the worst actors in the world, or did they just use all their old school friends? I honestly think that anyone who thinks this film to be good must be directly related to one of the cast or crew, or must only watch very low budget and very badly made films. I have lived in the east end of London all my life and have seen the dark side of criminal world in action first hand, this is NOTHING close to it! Don't let anyone fool you into watching this pile of trash, I guarantee you will be wanting your money back and for those of you who don't pay to watch films (you know who you are), don't waste your valuable lives on this drivel. I am not Asian, so maybe I am missing something, but surely you wouldn't think a film to be good just because your first language is spoken in it or because your fellow countrymen are in it? If you want to watch a good Asian film, watch 'Slumdog Millionaire' or 'Bend it like Beckham'. If it's London underworld that's your thing, then 'Lock Stock' it my friend, don't waste good money on this. Hmm, I don't know why, but I really fancy some Onion Bhajees right now!

This film is very well made, and quite professionally edited. Considering the fact that the mainstream media in the US and the UK only make debunking documentaries and refuse to even give the time of day to the massive evidence that is out there, not theories, evidence; this is a welcome change. I am not saying that I believe everything that is suggested in this film, but I do believe that the point of this film is to present you with the 'alternative' point of view that millions of people believe is the truth and to let you make your own mind up. Freedom of speech and self expression are dirty words to some of these so called debunker's, who feel threatened by any point of view that deviates from the norm. They don't actually offer any additional research or evidence to support their 'official' view that our governments are insisting that we should believe, they just tow the line, simply repeating the same old lies that we've been told for the past years. Films like this offer a tantalising alternative opinion to what may have happened on 9/11 supported by the evidence of experts and first hand accounts. At the very least, we have not been told the complete truth about the events of of 9/11 and other terrorist acts and wars since then, and if they can lie about one little thing, who's to stop them from lying about everything? If you are one of those who believe everything that you are told by politicians, no mater what, then don't bother watching this film, you are a hopeless cause. If on the other hand you're not certifiably insane, then watch this and make your own mind up, don't just listen to one point of view either, there are many, many, many films and books out there that try to get at the truth in spite of all the propaganda and bullying that they have to endure for exercising their right of free speech. Be the shepherd not the sheep!

People that disagree with this film use words like 'lies' and phrases like 'conspiracy theorists' to describe it. One even claims that this film disrespects the victims of 911! On the contrary, I believe it's those that go with the status quo and believe everything they hear in the news and everything their politicians tell them is the gospel truth, that disrespect the memory of the dead! I am not saying that this film has it all right. More questions are asked than answered, but on the whole, I believe the point of this film is to get you thinking and talking with an open mind. It asks a lot of the viewer. It's almost uncomfortable to watch because most of the points covered leave you with a reasonable doubt with regards to the official version of the events of 911. There is more to the story of 911 than we have been told, this film should leave you wanting to learn more about the truth, as long as you have an open mind and are not averse to having your preconceived ideas challenged!