Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

I hate being narrow minded (unless I can get away with it), but Khartoum is a virtual engraved invitation to narrow-mindedness. The basic story is typically British colonial history. Khartoum, for those who attended school in the 60's or later and are deficient in geography, is an ancient city in the Sudan desert. The time period involved ran from approximately 1882 to the bloody climax in 1885. The Egyptian Province of Sudan had been taken over in a revolt by Mohammed Ahmed, who adopted the quasi-religious title of "The Mahdi," or "The Chosen One."

Egypt at that time was being run as a puppet government under heavy British rule. Britain didn't like the presumptiveness of The Mahdi, and had an Egyptian force of 10,000 men under the command of "retired" British Colonel Hicks mobilized to take him down. The Mahdi, in his native environment, led the British/Egyptian force on through the desert until they were so weakened that he could virtually massacre them with a far smaller force of his own. This victory gave his small but growing army large stocks of captured weapons and munitions, and put Britain in the position of having to do something to reclaim the situation.

Under pressure to avenge the Hicks massacre, Prime Minister Gladstone (played effectively by Sir Ralph Richardson) settled on the idea of sending General Charles George "Chinese" Gordon to save the day. Gordon, who won the "Chinese" nickname fighting for the Emperor of China, was almost a freelance mercenary despite holding a British commission. He was well known, popular with the general public, and had the added advantage of having previously served as Governor/Governor-General in the Sudan from 1874 to 1880.

Gordon, played without detectable attempt at a British accent by Charlton Heston, accepted the assignment both because of sympathy for the Sudanese and because of the potential for additional glory to his reputation. A truly religious and God-fearing man, Gordon was also a tremendous egotist. In an effort to control Gordon's tendency to act on his own initiative, and to (hopefully) keep this public hero from physical harm, Gladstone assigns an adjutant in the person of Colonel Stewart, played by Richard Johnson.

While Gordon is religious, The Mahdi - played by Sir Laurence Olivier in dark-face, is a Muslim fanatic who is totally convinced that he is hearing the voice of Mohammad guiding him in this historic "Holy War." The conflict of Khartoum lies in Gordon's orders to safely evacuate all of the British and Egyptians from Khartoum, versus The Mahdi's instructions from Mohammad to slaughter all of the traitorous Egyptians to pave the road to Holy extermination of the infidels with terror. This, according to The Mahdi's hot-line to Mohammad, would lead to his sweeping the entire mideast. As you may imagine, neither man could or would accede to the other.

This film was shot as "Super Cinerama" using the Super Panavision 70 anamorphic lens system to accomplish the Cinerama format with a single camera on 70mm film. It was an outstanding success, and the DVD "letterbox" format looks oddly small on most TV sets because of the width-height ratio of the image. Technically, the film is a real blockbuster. The color is flawless, the images razor sharp, and even the Overture and Intermission music is apt and enjoyable listening. Yes, there is an intermission, which is an automatic testimony to the film's length.

The script was written by Robert Ardrey who, although he received an Oscar nomination for it, was better known for his literary work on his books The Territorial Imperative and African Genesis. Unfortunately, he focused more on his personal biases in the script than on historical accuracy or completeness. The length of the film could have supported much more fact, but that political fact would have conflicted with Ardrey's personal theses of human tendencies to want to defend territories as exclusive properties.

Weaknesses: 1. Gordon never met the Mahdi in person. 2. The battle to defend the cattle (you have to see the film), although visually stirring, never happened. 3. Zobeir Pasha never rejected Gordon's offer of Governor-Generalship of the Sudan. He accepted, and the British government never fulfilled the offer. 4. The film blames Gordon's failure on procrastination by his relief forces, and totally ignores the imperialistic weakness of British traditional militarism of that era. For a more accurate, though far more negative, appreciation of that, you should watch Tony Richardson's Charge of The Light Brigade with David Hemmings.

OK, enough of the weaknesses. There are also many strengths, and all of them are associated with the actors and their characterizations. I've already mentioned Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, and another marvelous actor here is Alexander Knox as the Governor of Egypt, Sir Evelyn Baring (who Gordon disliked intensely). Knox played a vast number of roles, but is best remembered for his truly outstanding portrayal of President Woodrow Wilson in the 1944 Henry King / Lamar Trotti classic, Wilson. This film is available on VHS, and qualifies as a must see - it's that good!

Richard Johnson is probably better known for his role as Cassius (to Charlton Heston's Marc Anthony) in the 1970 film, Julius Caesar. Gordon's favorite man-servant, Khaleel, is played delightfully by the little known and underappreciated Senegalese actor Johnny Sekka. Sekka plays Khaleel for comedic relief, giving him the same kind of flightiness as was shown by Butterfly McQueen in Gone With The Wind, driving Gordon bonkers in the process.

Let me summarize by just saying that there is a gigantic truckload of entertainment value in this movie. It has the same kind of panoramic desert splendor as Lawrence of Arabia. I'm enough devoted to history to rate this movie down for its cavalier treatment of otherwise interesting and exciting facts, but I'm also sufficiently appreciative of its entertainment value to give it a fair rating on that part. Although the star rating may not be the highest, I do sincerely recommend this for pure entertainment as long as you don't mistake it for a history lesson. If your high school student kids try to use this on a test in school, they'll flunk. Other than that, it's a good movie, so go for it!

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older