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Evil Under The Sun
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Evil Under the Sun is a classic Agatha Christie murder mystery, featuring the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov). In this instance, Poirot is on a working holiday, as he is put on the trail of a fake jewel that leads him to an expensive island resort in the Mediterranean. The other guests turn out to be an interesting assortment, as there are many connections (both overt and concealed) among the guests, as well as a generous helping of ill-will in various directions.
It's a very entertaining movie. The fast pace keeps the movie zipping along from one scene to the next; the overall effect is not rushed, however, but sprightly. In fact, the brisk pacing seems in keeping with the fairly light-hearted tone overall. Evil Under the Sun, for all its gloomy title, does not dwell on the darker aspects of human nature, but rather on murder as an intellectual challenge for M. Poirot. The tone is handled quite well. The director uses humorous touches such as Poirot "going for a swim" to maintain the light tone, but never overdoes the humor in an attempt to get laughs out of the audience.
The centerpiece of the movie, the murder mystery itself, is interesting, and kept me guessing right up to the very end. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Evil Under the Sun is that it invites the viewer to try to figure out the puzzle along with Poirot, which makes for a fun and engaging viewing experience. The movie plays fair: although we're not privy to Poirot's thought processes, we see everything that Poirot sees, and thus we have the same opportunity to figure things out as he does. The cinematography is handled well in this regard, as Poirot's insights are shown by a quick zoom to the detail that has caught his attention; this lets the viewer know that he's seen something important, but not what, exactly, is important about it. So in theory anyone in the audience could figure out the solution before Poirot reveals it... but it's quite likely that the solution that Poirot's "little gray cells" comes up with will be a surprise. The only disappointment with the movie comes in the final revelation, however, as one of the key plot points doesn't entirely make sense, and isn't explained.
The cast of characters is fairly large, but they are easy to keep separate, since each of them is quite distinctive. This is an especially important feature in a murder mystery that depends on keeping track of who is whom! The acting seems slightly over-the-top at first: my initial reaction was that everyone was overacting. However, this style is maintained throughout the whole film, and it doesn't take long at all before it seems perfectly in keeping with the light tone of the movie, as well as being very appropriate to the characters themselves, including a film star, producers, a gossip columnist, a playboy, and (last but not least) a very vain detective.
Picture
The quality of this anamorphic 1.77:1 transfer is quite good. The colors are bright and vibrant, and the contrast is good throughout, and there's plenty of opportunity to see these bright colors in the sun-drenched island that is the setting for most of the movie. The one flaw in the image quality is that there is a moderate amount of noise visible throughout the picture. It's not outstanding, but it's pleasing and very watchable.
Sound
The sound is Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. It's nothing spectacular, but then again, Evil Under the Sun is not a movie that requires spectacular sound effects. The dialogue is perfectly clear throughout, which is the most important part.
Extras
The menus are some of the nicest I've seen in a while. They're themed to the movie with a set of pastel watercolor landscapes that match the opening credit sequence, with an animated magnifying glass. Unlike many animated menus, these are genuinely easy to use, since the menu selections are visible and usable immediately, even while the animation is going on.
The special features are disappointing. In particular, the 16-minute featurette is terrible. It's heavily padded with long clips from the movie, with the remaining material consisting of uninformative "interviews" with a few of the cast, of the "I play a [description of character]" variety. Peter Ustinov has the only moderately interesting comments, as he briefly discusses Christie's depiction of Poirot in her novels. The other special features are a trailer and cast biographies.
Final thoughts
This is a movie that will certainly appeal to fans of Agatha Christie's mysteries, and is recommended to anyone who will enjoy an evening of light entertainment with an engaging puzzle. The DVD presentation is satisfactory, making Evil Under the Sun a worthwhile addition to the movie library of any mystery fan.
It's a very entertaining movie. The fast pace keeps the movie zipping along from one scene to the next; the overall effect is not rushed, however, but sprightly. In fact, the brisk pacing seems in keeping with the fairly light-hearted tone overall. Evil Under the Sun, for all its gloomy title, does not dwell on the darker aspects of human nature, but rather on murder as an intellectual challenge for M. Poirot. The tone is handled quite well. The director uses humorous touches such as Poirot "going for a swim" to maintain the light tone, but never overdoes the humor in an attempt to get laughs out of the audience.
The centerpiece of the movie, the murder mystery itself, is interesting, and kept me guessing right up to the very end. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Evil Under the Sun is that it invites the viewer to try to figure out the puzzle along with Poirot, which makes for a fun and engaging viewing experience. The movie plays fair: although we're not privy to Poirot's thought processes, we see everything that Poirot sees, and thus we have the same opportunity to figure things out as he does. The cinematography is handled well in this regard, as Poirot's insights are shown by a quick zoom to the detail that has caught his attention; this lets the viewer know that he's seen something important, but not what, exactly, is important about it. So in theory anyone in the audience could figure out the solution before Poirot reveals it... but it's quite likely that the solution that Poirot's "little gray cells" comes up with will be a surprise. The only disappointment with the movie comes in the final revelation, however, as one of the key plot points doesn't entirely make sense, and isn't explained.
The cast of characters is fairly large, but they are easy to keep separate, since each of them is quite distinctive. This is an especially important feature in a murder mystery that depends on keeping track of who is whom! The acting seems slightly over-the-top at first: my initial reaction was that everyone was overacting. However, this style is maintained throughout the whole film, and it doesn't take long at all before it seems perfectly in keeping with the light tone of the movie, as well as being very appropriate to the characters themselves, including a film star, producers, a gossip columnist, a playboy, and (last but not least) a very vain detective.
Picture
The quality of this anamorphic 1.77:1 transfer is quite good. The colors are bright and vibrant, and the contrast is good throughout, and there's plenty of opportunity to see these bright colors in the sun-drenched island that is the setting for most of the movie. The one flaw in the image quality is that there is a moderate amount of noise visible throughout the picture. It's not outstanding, but it's pleasing and very watchable.
Sound
The sound is Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. It's nothing spectacular, but then again, Evil Under the Sun is not a movie that requires spectacular sound effects. The dialogue is perfectly clear throughout, which is the most important part.
Extras
The menus are some of the nicest I've seen in a while. They're themed to the movie with a set of pastel watercolor landscapes that match the opening credit sequence, with an animated magnifying glass. Unlike many animated menus, these are genuinely easy to use, since the menu selections are visible and usable immediately, even while the animation is going on.
The special features are disappointing. In particular, the 16-minute featurette is terrible. It's heavily padded with long clips from the movie, with the remaining material consisting of uninformative "interviews" with a few of the cast, of the "I play a [description of character]" variety. Peter Ustinov has the only moderately interesting comments, as he briefly discusses Christie's depiction of Poirot in her novels. The other special features are a trailer and cast biographies.
Final thoughts
This is a movie that will certainly appeal to fans of Agatha Christie's mysteries, and is recommended to anyone who will enjoy an evening of light entertainment with an engaging puzzle. The DVD presentation is satisfactory, making Evil Under the Sun a worthwhile addition to the movie library of any mystery fan.
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