| The Last King Of Scotland [2006] | ![The Last King Of Scotland [2006]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AoUfSqaCL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Kevin Macdonald
Actors: James Mcavoy, Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, David Oyelowo, Kerry Washington
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
Buy Used: £2.22
You Save: £17.77 (89%)
New (37) from £2.93
Avg. Customer Rating:  73 reviews
Sales Rank: 259
Format: Pal, Subtitled
Languages: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Running Time: 118 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5039036030922
ASIN: B000NQRW52
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Release Date: May 14, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Amazon.co.uk subsidiary with same five star customer service and 30 day returns policy. Medium mark on disk. Medium wrinkle or bend on cover art. Small cut on cover art. Manufacturer shrink-wrap missing. Item not in the original case.
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Amazon.co.uk Review
As the evil Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker gives an unforgettable performance in The Last King of Scotland. Powerfully illustrating the terrible truth that absolute power corrupts absolutely, this fictionalised chronicle of Amin's rise and fall is based on the acclaimed novel by Giles Foden, in which Amin's despotic reign of terror is viewed through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a Scottish doctor who arrives in Uganda in the early 1970s to serve as Amin's personal physician. His outsider's perspective causes him to be initially impressed by Amin's calculated rise to power, but as the story progresses--and as Whitaker's award-worthy performance grows increasingly monstrous--The Last King of Scotland turns into a pointed examination of how independent Uganda (a British colony until 1962) became a breeding ground for Amin's genocidal tyranny. As Whitaker plays him, Amin is both seductive and horribly destructive--sometimes in the same breath--and McAvoy effectively conveys the tragic cost of his character's naivete, which grows increasingly prone to exploitation. As directed by Kevin Macdonald (who made the riveting semi-documentary Touching the Void), this potent cautionary tale my prompt some viewers to check out Barbet Schroeder's equally revealing documentary General Idi Amin Dada, an essential source for much of this film's authentic detail. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 68 more reviews...
 Quality acting and quality film June 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Not sure what people who gave this film one star were expecting!
It is an interesting, and disturbing, film, which is similar in some ways to "Killing Fields", whilst being totally different! (If that makes sense!?)
The two main characters are well-played, and the story - despite one or two "well, I saw that coming" moments - is good, and keeps up a reasonable pace.
For someone I had heard of, but knew little about, this film was a very good starting point, and has prompted me to read further...
 Dire overhyped nonsense May 18, 2008
5 Stars?? What level of satisfaction do some people have for a movie. This is a tedious non story whose plot is about as opaque as a broken window. What riled me most was the subtle way the film's credits before and after tried to suggest by association (focussing on what happened to Amin 'after' this) that this film was in some ways an historic document. Once you wake up to the fact the Scottish doctor never existed and that none of this is anything more than fiction in front of an imagined factual backgound you have to ask yourself what is it for. It casts no fresh light on Amin. Its makers could be forgiven if it was a great story well acted, but it is neither (Whiteker's Amin is a masterclass in over playing and McAvoy was a much more convincing character as the boyfriend in Early Doors).
Don't waste your saturday night.
 Ugandan discussions March 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a film of two halves. Forrest Whittaker as Idi Amin is an astonishing performance that takes one back to the real man; he imposes himself physically and mentally on the whole film. How unfortunate therefore that so much of the film is James McAvoy smirking fit to bust and playing a thoroughly unbelievable character very loosely based on a much more interesting real person. I am not sure if it is the script or the actor who is to blame, or whether no-one would prevail alongside Whittaker, but sadly it misses opportunities while tantalising with what it could have been.
Overhyped! February 28, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a well over-hyped film about Idi Amin Dada(played by Forest Whtaker) the lunatic leader of Uganda who self-promoted himself to General among other things and tells the story of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) a young Scotsman who has just qualified as a Doctor and who decides where he wants to work in the world on the spin of a globe in his bedroom.He becomes personal physician to Amin after a short spell working in a local Ugandan hospital which is over-run with work which doesn't appeal to him.Also one of the 2 doctors, played by Gillian Anderson obviously doesn't drop her pants quick enough which causes him to seek the job with Amin. Amin gradually becomes more detached from reality but not without reason.The reverse of the DVD cover states:contains strong violence,gruesome images,sex and language.I would say possibly there was 1 scene of "something".
Things fall apart February 27, 2008
Like many other people, I found Forest Whitaker's performance compelling and disturbing. I think James McAvoy's character suffer by comparison, although he plays it well enough and is good to look at, he is in many ways merely a plot device. It's one of the few films I have seen recently where I have felt compelled to watch the extras - Whitaker's mixed emotions about portraying an African as a monstrous dictator, Jon Snow's insights into Britain's complicity and hypocrisy, the very mixed opinions of the Ugandan people themselves about the man. One other reviewer senses some Anglophobia but I think there is a more subtle undermining of sweeping generalisations (no Scottish people are racist, for example, because they have suffered British imperialism), although I must admit, that short of casting Alan Rickman dressed as Snape, the British Embassy figure could have scarcely been more dislikable. The strength of this film is that it portrys a character who is seen as a caricature in the West as very human; it's weakness may be that in doing this it plays down the many atrocities for which he was responsible. But like Leonard Cohen said when describing the average height, build and intelligence of the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichman - 'what did you expect? Talons? Huge incisors?'
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