Wonderful character development!

Sadly Over-hyped

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Being huge fan of Agatha Christie's books and mystery movies in general, my attention was peaked when I was made aware of this movie's existence. Well it's alright ....nothing groundbreaking , just solid mystery movie and I daresay a pretty faithful adaptation. Perhaps too faithful! Some of the plot structures haven't aged well. It does feel a little artificial when Poirot rounds up the suspect and pinpoints the culprit. But it is solidly acted and wildly entertaining thanks to it's colorful cast. Peter Ustinov is probably my favorite Poirot!

I'm sure I found this at least amusing....tho not riveting...when it was new. But it pales when compared with the Suchet version in every way, and most particularly in pacing, which is excruciating. And the photography. Strained through a clotted scrim....what's with that? I found myself more taken with the costumes than the plot.....that cannot be good. And poor Ustinov has been so overshadowed as to be irrelevant.

After watching every Poirot episode played by David Suchet I knew the bar was set very high. However Peter Ustinov gives a marvellous portrayal of the famous Belgian detective. His acting is effortless as he easily slips into Hercule Poirot's shoes in this mystery. He is very believable as a the great sleuth and you feel he has been doing this all his life. This also happened to be one of the best Agatha Christie Poirot novels that was dramatized. A mystery so well planned and executed it would fool the best of us. The supporting cast was superb as well and gave great performances. We have a rich list of acclaimed stars giving life to Agatha Christie's characters.

There's nothing I enjoy more than spending a lazy Sunday afternoon watching an overlong and bombastic '70s movie with an all-star cast and a compelling but nevertheless simplistic plot! Disaster movies qualify perfectly for this, the Irwin Allen kind for example, but I learned that also the Agatha Christie adaptations provide terrific weekend entertainment. In terms of cast & crew, this movie is like a dream come true. John Guillermin ("The Towering Inferno") directs a splendid ensemble cast including great names in the final years of their amazing careers (like Peter Ustinov, David Niven and Bette Davis), timeless and always reliable performers (like George Kennedy, Jack Warden and Angela Lansbury) as well as new and contemporary popular actors and actresses (like Mia Farrow, Lois Chiles, Olivia Hussey and Jane Birkin). With an awesome cast like that, I don't even mind if the script would be inferior, but still it's a more than adequate and absorbing – albeit occasionally tedious – interpretation of one of Christie's more commonly known murder mysteries. Largely taking place on a luxurious cruise ship on the Egyptian Nile during the 1930s, we follow the beautiful but slightly obnoxious young heiress Linnet Ridgeway on her honeymoon with the hunky Simon Doyle. The two newlyweds can't fully enjoy their holiday, since they're aggressively being stalked by Simon's ex-fiancée Jackie, and it's also becomes abundantly clear that pretty much every other passenger on the ship has a feud with Linnet and openly threatens to kill her. Luckily the brilliant Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is on board of the cruise as well, so when Linnet's body does get found, murdered with a bullet through her brains, he can provide some bright clarification in the complex murder investigation. What ensues is a delicious whodunit mystery with numerous culprit options (literally everyone in the cast is allowed to kill Linnet in turns when Poirot recites his hypothetical murder theories) and dazzlingly far-fetched deductions. Although it has to be said that Hercule Poirot's accusations are almost always based on passengers' conversations that he overheard previously during the journey. This man must have astonishing hearing skills and eavesdropping capacities, as he mostly was yards away from the conversations but somehow he still overheard them! As the mysterious puzzle slowly solves itself, a couple more bloody and sadistic murders are committed and the whole thing ends with a traditional and fascinating Hercule Poirot lecture in the salon. Fantastic stuff! The filming locations and scenery are breathtaking, the performances are all flawless – although I personally prefer Albert Finney in the Poirot role rather than Peter Ustinov – and Guillermin's direction is steady and highly professional. This particular Agatha Christie adaptation is perhaps not as unforgettable or mesmerizing as "Murder on the Orient Express" or the 1945 version of "And then there were none", but it's great entertainment and must-see material for fans of the author, the genre and nostalgic 70s cinema.