Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1982)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The mere fact that there are enough exploitation films based on Idi Amin to merit their own genre in a video store, Idi Aminxploitation is truly disturbing.I don't just mean films about Idi Amin, I mean outright exploitations films which use the Ugandan dictator to include as much sex and violence as possible.This one's unique by taking the bold move casting real Africans actors to play Africans rather than American Mulattos with fake accents. The authentic African accents are a double edged sword. While it does make us feel like this really is Africa but their accents are so strong it can be difficult to understand what they're saying. And now that I think of it they shouldn't even be speaking English at all! Oh well, still better than those American Mulattos.Idi Amin is right up there with Caligula as not being too important to history itself but extremely memorably simply for his insanity and debauchery.There's never a dull moment in this film. It's fast paced and Amin's insanity provides non stop entertainment.The only major problem is that if you don't actually know the history of Idi Amin you'll be lost. The film doesn't actually explain the context for many scenes. For example, the Israeli hostages and the raid at Entebbe are never explained.The ending is also a major let down. It just ends out of nowhere! There's no climax, no resolution, it's just ends by saying the film is devoted to Amin's victims. Yeah right! They made an exploitation film to honor the dead? It's certainly worth a watch and stands out as far better than any of the other Idi Aminxploitation films.

Most people watching this would think that they are watching a comedy. Yes, the movie is thoroughly entertaining but the reality is that, IT is historically accurate. Olita did an absolutely good job in portraying Madman Amin to the hilt. There is absolutely nothing inaccurate. -Amin used to keep the heads of his opposer's in his refrigerator, -Amin bestowed the highest medal to his son Mwanga, -His three wives disappeared and Kay was found murdered with her hands and legs chopped off, -Amin entered the rally and every one was forbidden to overtake him even when he would stop to reap his wild oats. -Amin was a cannibal -Amin used humor to cover his atrocities.. amongst a few others.This movie deserves more credit than given to it. It narrates the story of a man who thought that printing more money would make his country richer. I give this movie 10/10. Amin, "His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Alhaji Dr. Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, CBE, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular." (true title) was a true madman that did not deserve any display of intelligence that other movies accredit him.Must see..

RISE AND FALL OF IDI AMIN has a very special significance for me because it's the very first movie I saw on video . It was late Autumn 1982 and the video recorder was really making waves on the home entertainment front and these were the days when there was little censorship as to what you could watch on video This may have been a slight problem for RISE AND FALL OF IDI AMIN , while not being a true video nasty in the sense that it was later banned on home video like I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE etc it did become very very difficult to find after video censorship was brought into this country by the BBFC . It is a knowingly exploitative movie with some very shocking scenes of violence: People literally lose gallons of blood after being stabbed or shot , there's scenes of cannabilism and there's a very infamous scene in an Ugandan torture chamber where a man is hit over the head with a crow bar causing a fountain of blood to explode from his head Being in such a hurry to shock the audience the producers haven't made such a good job of explaining as to why Amin became such a cruel despot and everything seems to have skimmed over . That said there's no denying that the producers want the audience to know just how cruel Amin is - If he takes a liking to a woman he'll have her partner murdered by his goons and he'll force himself upon her , any journalists asking too many questions will be given a fair trial before they're executed and how many dictators have kicked out Asian Muslims from their country while holding the Israelis to ransom ? Perhaps the scene that sums up " Dada " the best is when someone tries to explain economics with him :" If we don't get inflation under control then the currency will be as worthless as toilet paper " " Sh*t paper ! SH*T PAPER . You call Ugandan money sh*t paper . Sargeant take this man outside and show him what we do to sh*t "which seems to suggest he was nothing more than an ignorant thug who after becoming head of state became a meglomaniac too . Joseph Olita while not exactly being in the Morgan Freeman class of acting does at least bare a close physical resemblance to Amin and unlike Yaphet Kotto in RAID ON ENTEBBE does at least project some of the deranged despot's personality on screen , and talking of the Entebbe raid see what Amin did while the IDF were saving the hostages ! As I said this has special significance for me . It's a film I remember because of the circumstances I saw it rather than the film itself having any outstanding qualities . It's not bad but it is violent exploitation rather than a bio-pic and when someone makes THE RISE AND FALL OF SADDAM I hope they just don't concentrate on the torture scenes

This movie is disturbing, grisly, and unpleasant - much like the reign of Idi Amin that it depicts. The film is quite graphic in its violence, and while this will make it hard to watch for some it is necessary to tell the true story of Amin. Olita plays Amin to the hilt, portraying him as a pompous killer who has no regard for human life or the fate of Uganda. We follow how Amin angers one foreign power after another, causing most Western powers to abandon Uganda; one memorable scene in the movie shows when the Soviets, Amin's last ally, pack up to leave the country and Amin rushes to the airport to try to stop them. Throughout the film he also murders anyone who opposes him, or even offends him in the slightest way. This movie really lays Amin and his rule bare; you see what a true despot was and Olita portrays his as having absolutely no redeeming qualities. Not easy to watch, but a fascinating story of a bizarre politician.