Escape Through Africa

The story line had great potential to become a movie classic and the location is great. There is great scenery. But this "epic" falls flat. The acting is wooden, the music is occasionally just too much and although the captain character could have been memorable, Eric Roberts is just plain awful. His lines are flat and he is stiff and slow; never has been that great an actor. The best acting, by far, is by the "natives". Especially the child who is better that all the others. The battle scenes between the natives are pretty well done. The script is very much "so so". Anne is unrealistically naive.

Eric Roberts studied acting in Britain in the early 1970s. Therefore he must have relished the challenge of doing an English accent in Escape Through Africa. Roberts has a starring role in this movie. An old fashioned rip roaring adventure in the mould of Zulu. Unfortunately it is let down by a clunky script and a very low budget. Set in 1914 East Africa. British army officer Captain Lockwood (Eric Roberts.) His niece Anne Corringfield (Linn Bjornland) with the help of African tribesman need to warn a neighboring outpost of an impending German attack. However Lockwood suspects that there is traitor in the party. Anne then goes off to rescue a local girl who has been abducted. The story is too cliched. It lacks action and it needed a lot of extras for some scenes to even make it look like a viable epic. Roberts seem to be enjoying himself with a meaty character. A racist of his time, we regards the Africans beneath him, not bothered that a local girl has gone missing. Yet his character begins to understand the local natives.

First I'll say that this is an "adventure" movie in which action scenes are important, but here there's a sore lack of experience producing such scenes, which come out like soft, slow, unrehearsed fights- so this movie is doomed from the start. Add Eric Roberts' feeble attempt at a British accent and you have no hope of getting through it without fast-forwarding. The story itself is thin (and possibly objectionable in its portrayal of the local warriors), but I could see it working with the right cast and director.

The story takes place at the onset of WWI with Germans attacking a British outpost in East Africa. Captain Lockwood (Eric Roberts) leads a small band out of the area to a safe outpost, a group which includes his niece (Linn Bjornland). The story and characters were simply bad. Germans are ruthless stereotypes. Eric Roberts had a very bad English accent when he used it. Cringe worthy film. Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.

Bunch of weaklings getting caught and going back and forth between german and British forces. Obvious situations are not aware to the characters in the storyline and they kept getting caught. Seened like tgere was no end to the hostage situation and the brits came across as putz. Bunch of weaklings getting caught and going back and forth between german and British forces. Obvious situations are not aware to the characters in the storyline and they kept getting caught. Seened like tgere was no end to the hostage situation and the brits came across as putz. Couldn't wait for it to be over.

The story line had great potential to become a movie classic and the location is great. There is great scenery. But this "epic" falls flat. The acting is wooden, the music is occasionally just too much and although the captain character could have been memorable, Eric Roberts is just plain awful. His lines are flat and he is stiff and slow; never has been that great an actor. The best acting, by far, is by the "natives". Especially the child who is better that all the others. The battle scenes between the natives are pretty well done. The script is very much "so so". Anne is unrealistically naive.

source: Escape Through Africa

Quality was the scene of the story. The story of how the world wars affected the territories & provinces of the world powers is undertold story. It could be argued that these territories/provinces were what the wars were all about. So i like the idea of the story but everything else about this movie screams sharknado & "films" of that ilk. The only reason i finished the movie is i paid my satellite provider $3.99 for it. So bad.

The story takes place at the onset of WWI with Germans attacking a British outpost in East Africa. Captain Lockwood (Eric Roberts) leads a small band out of the area to a safe outpost, a group which includes his niece (Linn Bjornland). The story and characters were simply bad. Germans are ruthless stereotypes. Eric Roberts had a very bad English accent when he used it. Cringe worthy film. Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.

First I'll say that this is an "adventure" movie in which action scenes are important, but here there's a sore lack of experience producing such scenes, which come out like soft, slow, unrehearsed fights- so this movie is doomed from the start. Add Eric Roberts' feeble attempt at a British accent and you have no hope of getting through it without fast-forwarding. The story itself is thin (and possibly objectionable in its portrayal of the local warriors), but I could see it working with the right cast and director.