Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

A brilliant, sweeping historical masterpiece based on the true story of Omar Mukhtar, a teacher, who earned the nickname "the Lion of the Desert". Intelligent script, Magnificent acting, directing, and cinematography make this film one of the best anti-imperialist war films; depicting the great bravery and intelligence of one man and of one country's resistance against imperialist designs.The story depicts post-World War 1, but pre-WW2 era. Mussolini decides to use Libya as an "easy stepping stone" to carving up the Middle East. Libya turns out to not be such an easy stepping stone. The Italians may have had machine guns, planes and tanks; while the Libyan peasants had nothing, but old rusted rifles. However the Libyans had something the Italians didn't, conviction: They were willing to die to save their land and keep their independence. When Italian General Graziani asks "and you cared nothing for the ruination of your country?" Omar Mukhtar replies: "You are the ruination of my country. What would you do if someone occupied your land? Though brutal, there were conscientious objectors in the Italian army and one of the fascinating features of this film is their depiction from the soldier unwilling to serve to the Officer who defends him. The director captures the horrific methods the Italians used from concentration camps, setting fields and homes on fire to raping innocent women. However, what is shown is only a small fraction of the ruthless brutality used by Gen. Graziani against the civilian population. He was responsible for the slaughter of over 120,000 civilians in these concentration camps. To this day, this film is still banned in Italy. In fact, Graziani served only 2 years for his crimes after the fall of Fascism, and even became honorary president of the (legal) neo-fascist party.

In the Fascist Italy Pre-World War II of Benito Mussolini (Rod Steiger), the cruel General Rodolfo Graziani (Oliver Reed) is directly assigned by Il Dulce to fight in the colonial war in Libya to vanquish the Arab nation. However, his troops are frequently defeated by the national leader Omar Mukhtar (Anthony Quinn) and his army of Bedouins. But the Butcher of Ethiopia and Libya uses a dirty war against the natives, slaughtering children, women and aged people, to subdue Mukhtar."Lion of the Desert" is an epic masterpiece that shows part of the cruel colonization of Arab population, this time showing the fascist army of Mussolini in Libya.This movie is simply among the best I have ever seen, with magnificent direction, performances, dialogs, cinematography and music score by Maurice Jarre. The work of Moustapha Akkad is perfect and it is amazing the reality of the battle scenes in a time where the industry did not use computer to simulate them. He also entwines footages from archive with the realistic scenes.Anthony Quinn and Oliver Reed give the performance of their lives and their duel is among best in the cinema industry, and supported by names such as Irene Paps, Raf Vallone, Rod Steiger and John Gielgud among others. My vote is ten.Title (Brazil): "O Leão do Deserto" ("The Lion of the Desert")

Grand spectacular film about Omar Mukhtar (Anthony Quinn) and his battle against the Italian army during their Libyan campaign. His arch nemesis is General Rodolfo Graziani played by Oliver Reed and the film chronicles their years long clashes for control of the country.I really like this film. Its a throw back to the grand epics of the late 1950's and early 1960's where everything was bigger in the hopes of drawing people from TV. Here everything is bigger because this is a huge story told on vast landscapes about clashing armies. Keep in mind tits all real since this was done years before computers filled in the numbers of soldiers. Its amazing to see. But spectacle only goes so far, and its the story and the characters that are important here. The tale, the story of a man who refused to back down in the face of tyranny, is compelling. Its helped along by the performances who make you like the good guys and hate the bad guys. I enjoyed it so much I kept riding my bicycle to see it again and again, which resulted in my mother having to come pick me up since the movie invariably ended after dark.If you like big war films see this film.

I'm not questioning the math of it, that part's quite clear. No, why did this not get more attention? Perhaps too few know the history, which I must admit that I, myself, was unaware of, though it feels quite authentic. It could be the violence... this is rather brutal, and there are those that would call it downright distasteful. Personally, I call it "realistic" and "not unnecessarily toned down". War is not pleasant, much less glamorous. That is a myth, perpetrated by those who wish to keep it going, the people who benefit. This gives an accurate depiction of the fighting, for both sides. Regardless of the reason, I hope that this film is no longer overlooked. Akkad directed three times, and I've now seen, and rated perfect 10's, two of them, the one remaining being an Arabic version of Mohammad: Messenger of God, which was in English. I don't know what kept him out of the chair apart from these instances, but I hope he felt he had told all that he had in him, for it would be a true shame if he did not get the chance to. The plot is incredible, and genuinely inspirational. Writing, all the way, is excellent, the credible characters with proper motivation, the memorable and quotable dialog, and the script as a whole, all amazing. The music is an epic, orchestral score. All of the effects and action are impeccable. The acting performances are beyond reproach. While this does, off course, hold some bias, I never felt manipulated or lied to, as I watched it. Instead, I was engaged and experienced a recreation of the past, and a portion of it that should not be forgotten. In spite of the listing here on the site, the cut I saw was 153 minutes, or about two and a half hours, long. There is no sexuality or language in this. The DVD comes with a theatrical trailer and a making of, produced around the same time as the feature, and they are good and well-done with that in mind. I recommend this to anyone who believes they can stomach the gruesome visuals that are found(I maintain that the use, and amount, are not gratuitous) in it. 10/10