SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The_Film_Cricket If Christopher Columbus were a happy-go-lucky swashbuckler with no introspective moments in his life and no frustrations or determination to do anything but wave his sword and march around in the latest fashions then 'Christopher Columbus: The Discovery' would be right on the mark.This is a deadly dull and ruthlessly routine costume drama that didn't need to call the main character Christopher Columbus because you never feel that you are watching a real human being, you feel that you are watching fashion model in a perfume ad. The title role belongs not to an Italian but to a French actor named George Corraface who is a good looking guy who has his eyes more on women then on his journey.The rest of the cast is and exercise in miscasting. Get this: Tom Selleck plays King Ferdenand, Rachel Ward plays Queen Isabella and Marlon Brando plays Torqaumada with so little energy that I expected him to doze off in the middle of his big scene. These are good actors but seeing them in these costumes and in these roles is just baffling. Christopher Columbus is a role that requires a very introspective actor, one who could act with his face and portray the frustration and anguish that probably haunted Columbus for most of his life both in America and back in Europe.Then there is the ending in which the movie ends after a short stay in The New World and its back to Europe. I sometimes complain when movies are too short but this time I think the filmmakers did us a favor.

pesic-1 My god, this Columbus kicks ass! Look, he's not apologizing! Look, he is not glorifying Islam! Look, he's not lamenting the evil of white people! Look, he's not a whimpering, deceitful wretch!In other words, this film is nothing like Ridley Scott's politically correct pile of rubbish about the discovery of America.This Columbus is confident, unapologetic, full of spirit. He does not weep and doubt himself in every scene. He's not a confused, indecisive fat git. Nor is he an evil murderer. He represents the spirit of Europe. He feels proud just as the filmmakers want us to feel proud of being Europeans. That's why I give it ten stars. On purely artistic grounds, it's no great achievement, despite its budget and solid cast.

moonpics-1 My website, theflickguy.org, lists this pick as one of the worst films of all time, here is an excerpt: "What do you look for in a bad Movie? Lame script? Laughable casting? Crappy acting? CC has it all. George Corraface (who?) is the revisioned Chris, now a swashbuckling, knife wielding Errol Flynn kinda hero. Apparently, Chris not only discovered America, he also invented the mullet. Tom Sellick gets the Sophie Coppola Casting Award for his role as King Ferdenand (nice pageboy 'do, Tom). This film isn't even worth seeing for the topless natives scenes, where the gods apparently bestow generous breasts only upon the Chief's daughter."

smatysia This seems really to be an old-fashioned adventure film, the kind the studios churned out in great numbers in the 1940's. Maybe an Errol Flynn vehicle. That's the way Georges Corraface plays it, and it's okay. Not great, but okay. Marlon Brando totally mailed it in, as he was wont to do in his later years. Tom Selleck is a wonderful actor, but he really couldn't pull it off in this one. Rachel Ward was much more believable as Queen Isabella, regal, with more than a little bit of religious fanaticism. She also played it with minimal make-up, looking very forty-ish, something many actresses of her stature and beauty would have refused. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Benicio del Toro put in decent showings, given the limitations of the material. The scriptwriters were probably in a bit of a quandary, since the occasion (500th anniversary) called for a hagiography, but on the other hand, political correctness makes Colon out to be a villain. They tried to split the difference, and it didn't work. But over-all, this film is not as bad as some make it out to be. Oh, and mention must be made of the beauty of Tailinh Forest Flower as the Indian chieftain's daughter. Wow!