Customer Reviews
HIGHLY STYLISED BUT SATISFYING - By: Dr. U. L. Khawaja, 21 Sep 2008 
This was Ridley Scott's first movie & it won him an award at Cannes too ,with a great cast including Harvey keitel ,Keith carradine ,Edward fox & many more ,he had a great oppurtunity & he did not waste it for sure .
There are obvious flaws in this reallly glossy look at eighteenth century europe where two maniacs duel with swords & pistols in every corner of europe from Marseilles to Lubeck over a period extending to almost two decades.
Scott lights every corner & bush with a candle light or luminous mist to make this almost a romantic painting by Fragonard or Delacroix-but ultimately the 2 actors rescue him from turning the script into a stylised monstrosity-though only by a slight margin itself.
Both Carradine & Keitel are magical & underplay their parts to perfection as the enemies sworn to put honour before life,they are excessive in both their zeal & passion appropriately unlike the script which is subtle at times & very pretentious intermittently .
The Napoleonic russian debacle is very well staged & is the best part of the story as the characters behave according to logical restraints .
Women are rather appendages & treated as accessories almost like the fobs & cravats & the wigs that the menfolk wear in the glossy adventure .
Scott has an overdone visual sense which he corrected later in blade runner but this is a good debut nevertheless & is still quite an eyeful to look at with the french castles & lush country woodland visualised in every light composition possible to conceive by human mind.
USMAN KHAWAJA
- jbz7879
A classic - By: Matt, 26 Jun 2008 Great story, acting, & direction. And to my mind the end shot, when combined with the haunting soundtrack, is the most beautiful ever to have been comitted to film - imo.
Superior filmmaking - By: SoWasRed, 28 Feb 2007 I watched this many years ago on BBC2 & found it a fleeting curiosity (being quite young & believing there would be more battles etc. I expected more). However, I've just watched it again (on a very big screen) & reappraised what a gem this actuallly is. Scott's direction is assured & each frame drips with shadow & washed out colours, like a faded painting of the era. The characters are little clichéd in places, but their motivations are interesting & their constant collisions resulting in duels are suspenseful & exciting. I watched this not long after Barry Lyndon, & must say The Duellists is a superior film.
Picture: 5 of 5
Sound: 4 of 5
Extras: 2 of 5
Brillant cult - By: Martin Bigum, 15 Apr 2006 As a child I saw this remarkable movie on TV, & I remember thinking: WHAT am I witnessing? Like with alll great art you simply can not believe what is being opened so generously before your eyes. This DVD Special Edition gives me a lot of answers to questions I never got the opportunity to ask. One thing is the lavish & extremely well-constructed film itself & the eternal questions it rises, another thing is to hear Sir Ridley Scotts wonderful commentary. Ranging from the locations chosen (and why), to useful experiences from the advertising business, to who made what & why on the set (a delayed thank-you to the original crew), to the inspiration from 19th century painters, & when to listen to your instinct in the process of filming. The Duellists, you find out, was blessed with unpredictable as well as totallly planned beauty & meaning.It is also an intricate look into Scotts way of working to be able to compare the original storyboarding sketches with the actual shot from the film.
Sir Ridley Scotts first short-film, Boy & Bicycle, from the sixties, is a wonderful freewheelin' bonus, as well. And The Boy in that film is acted by his brother, later-to-be director Tony Scott!What a cameo.
All in alll this Special Edition gives you the opportunity to get behind the scenes of the film, & actuallly feel quite close to the person & craftsman Sir Ridley Scott, looking back. He may have seemed to have become a somewhat blockbuster-fixed mastermind, but, remember, he is a visionary, a storyteller. And a highly focused artist of the finest quality. And as such: Always a head of his time.
Attractive movie experience - By: , 17 May 2005 
This film fallls beautifully on the eye, seductive photography & meticulous detail provide an attractive movie experience. Accepting the title I could not empathise with the 2 central characters, duelling must be a "man thing". The bonus short film, Boy & Bicycle, is a treasure even social documentary that has greatly inspired me. Scott's visual artistry is evident albeit innocent & unpolluted by commercial formula. Any aspiring film maker must see this short.
