Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

tavm When I went to my local library to check out DVDs, this one caught my eye because of the two stars pictured on it with their names prominently displayed: Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. Anyone who's watched Mel Brooks' The Producers knows who they are and what a great team they made. So I included it among four others and brought it home with me. I must say while the movie itself is a little uneven (that scene in Wilder's accounting office with his coworkers was a little too frantic for my tastes), whenever Gene and Zero are on screen together they're nothing short of hilarious especially when Mostel does his transformation. Karen Black is also on hand as Wilder's love interest providing a sweet and sexy presence to the proceedings. In adapting Eugene Ionesco's play to the big screen, director Tom O'Horgan does a nice transition from farce to serious drama in the last 30 minutes that made me think about how conformity can be enjoyable if stifling after a while vs. how individuality can be liberating if lonesome because of not-as-many takers. Of course, anyone expecting a conventional slapstick comedy would probably be disappointed with the whole thing but despite some unevenness, I highly enjoyed and recommend Rhinoceros.

Dewhistle I saw this movie on TV when I was a child. That was my parents' mistake. I found Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory disturbing as a child, so deciding I wanted to see Rhinoceros because Gene Wilder was in it was plain wrong.The whole thing seemed like a horror movie to me at the time. Having found it confusing to fit in with other people, maybe the movie spoke most directly to me. I have had a horror most of my life of blind conformity. Nevertheless, it was the stuff of nightmares at the time. My clearest memories of it are of Zero Mostel's transformation (the horror of finding one of the last hold-outs was lost) and seeing Gene Wilder huddling against a building out on a ledge high above a writhing mass of rhinos... I confess, I don't know whether that was really in it, just that if there were so few actual rhinos seen in it, as other reviewers suggested, my childish imagination must have filled them in. I would call that effective film-making... giving the mind what it needed to perceive the vision.From the sound of things, this is a movie I should see as an adult to see whether it tends more to be horrifying or funny. Not much of a review, I admit.

Prof_Lostiswitz Rhinoceros is not the best of American Film Theatre's films, but it does grow on you. When I saw this in the cinema, I had already read Ionesco's play, so I was in a mood to be critical of every change…notably the change of setting.Over the years, I have come to see that Ionesco can be transmogrified, and that most of the changes work quite well. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder turn in dynamite performances, and the rest of the cast does nicely as well. Karen Black actually has the hardest job, turning her sweet and sexy character into a rhinoceros, but she carries it off gracefully. This is real acting!!The most objectionable part comes with political references, like a picture of Richard Nixon, or a "Remember Pearl Harbor" lapel button. Not only is all this too heavy-handed, it dates the movie unnecessarily. The music is also quite low-quality 70's kitsch, especially the song "What did you do to yourself?". This song however accompanies a great dream-sequence. I must also say that the theme accompanying the final scenes is quite moving.Ultimately, Rhinoceros is one of the great dramatic works of the twentieth century, and this movie will be for most people their only chance to see it (now that it can be bought on video). For those who don't know anything about it, it's about a town where the citizens start getting a strange malady that turns them into rhinoceroses. It starts out as a slapstick comedy of manners, but this is Ionesco's way of softening us up so we're more vulnerable to the horrific elements later on. Those of you who enjoyed Dr. Strangelove and Brazil should get a charge out of this.

davidj-9 I have not seen this movie since the mid 70's but back then I watched it at least 20 times when it was shown on cable. Now it appears it is virtually lost, as they were unable to find a print of it for the Ionesco festival in New York this past year. If you are able to catch it on tv, do not miss it. A truly strange and unusual film, involves Gene Wilder as a man who seems all alone in the world as everyone else has started to catch a strange flu, which starts with bumps on there foreheads and then eventually turns them into raving lunatics, and finally into a Rhinocerous. Zero Mostel turns in a great performance as Wilder's friend, who goes beserk inside a building and literaly tears it apart in a rampage. The film goes on to explore whether or not Wilder is the sane one, or the odd man out, as he is the only one who has not conformed. He meets Daisy (Karen Black) who has not yet turned. They do everything they can to keep themselves from turning into what they fear, and the film really turns from comedy into psychological horror at this point. Some strange imagery, and perhaps Gene Wilders only nude scene on film, happen all before the climax. Truly a unique gem from the minds of people who defined the 60's! Tom O'Horgan directed Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway, and was involved with experimental projects with Robert Downey Sr. So you can imagine this is something of a rare find! Good luck on tracking it down!