Stars: Mohamed Bouich, Wes Bentley, Campbell Brown, Heath Ledger, Kate Hudson, Djimon Hounsou

Director: Shekhar Kapur

Summary: Based on the novel by A.E.W. Mason, this movie adaptation is the third of its kind, following 1939 and 1977 versions. It is the story of a British commander, Harry (Heath Ledger), who follows in his father's footsteps by joining the army. He is engaged to marry the woman of his dreams, Ethne (Kate Hudson), whose father was also a soldier. But when his regiment is to be sent to war in the Sudan, Harry gets nervous. On a whim, he resigns his post, and is instantly rebuffed by three of his closest friends. They each give him a feather symbolic of his fear. When he tells Ethne what he has done, she gives him the fourth, explaining that she cannot love a coward. Lost and alone, Harry cannot come to grips with what has happened. So he travels alone to the Sudan, hoping to in some way help his fellow countrymen and redeem his honour. What he finds instead is a land rife with slavery, brutal violence, and a deadly desert climate. He is befriended by Abou (Djimon Hounsou), a Sudanese wanderer, who saves Harry's life time after time. Director Shekhar Kapur (ELIZABETH) makes this moving adventure story utterly believable with striking photography by Robert Richardson and unmatchable performances from Ledger and Hounsou.

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The seventh filming of AEW Mason's classic 1902 novel, this near-epic production of The Four Featherslooks great, sounds great and feels rather average. It would be difficult to diminish the rousing adventure of Mason's novel and director Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth) certainly gets more bang for his buck, with massive battle scenes and rugged, sun-baked harshness enhanced by Robert Richardson's masterful cinematography. Kapur preserves the universal appeal of the story, set in the 1880s, in which a promising soldier (Heath Ledger) resigns on the eve of battle in Britain's Sudanese campaign, is labelled coward by his fiancée (Kate Hudson), and redeems himself by posing as a Muslim warrior to rescue his best friend Jack (Wes Bentley) from certain death in the desert. For all its heroics, however, the film seems oddly passionless; Djimon Hounsou is excellent as Ledger's desert guardian, but these young Hollywood stars lack the authenticity of Zoltan Korda's 1939 film, which remains the definitive version. --Jeff Shannon

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Interviews - 1. Cast & Crew, Featurette - 1. A JOURNEY FROM WITHIN, 2. A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Year:	2002
Release Date:	May 1, 2007
Runtime:	125 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B E D 881143
Label:	Miramax Home Entertainment
Keywords:	Action, General, Four, Feathers, Adventure
Genre:	Action/Adventure