User Reviews

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

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.

Really, having always been a big history buff I've long been fascinated by Idi Amin, quite possibly one of the strangest figures of the 20th century; a common criminal, a ruthless dictator, a murderer of millions, and a really flat-out insane yet lovably charming idiotic megalomaniac. This movie had been on my radar for years but was just too hard to find. However I must say "thank you very much" to the wonderful world of grindhouse cinema for finally making this film available to me.

Just watching the first 2 minutes I already knew this movie was going to be good. However, I just did not expect it to be so funny. Amin's atrocities are played up to maximum effect of the time, but in a way so dated, low-budget, and trying-to-be-serious that it slingshots its way into morbid hilarity. Exacerbating this is the pacing, which never stops to worry about things like "character development" or "plot" but just zips along from horror to horror filling in the vague historical details with lots of violence and lurid sex thrown in for good measure.

AMIN: RISE AND FALL is certainly not perfect. It's cheap and rather flatly directed but the cinematography and editing are certainly serviceable. Acting is literally all over the map with a lot of the extras just goofing around (check out the Amin supporter who he awards the Indian shop to) and a lot of others really trying hard to make this thing a powerful event picture. Mismatched stock footage and strangeness abound, but it all sort of fits in with the goofy grindhouse exploitation experience of the whole thing.

The actor portraying Amin does it with such gusto that it's hard to remember you're not watching a cartoon character but actually a realistic portrayal of a historical madman. It makes the experience of watching this film even more emotionally complex, realizing all this insanity actually happened, hundreds of thousands of innocent people died, and the economy of the country was ruined all on account of this lunatic. To top it all off he totally got away with it all and escaped to live out his days as a wealthy man in Saudi Arabia! What's just mind-boggling is that so many others just stood around and partook in the madness. What were those crookedly complicit Ugandan generals all thinking when he started awarding medals to his six-year-old son or ordering bombs to be dropped next to his own wedding? AMIN: RISE AND FALL is sleazy as all hell but certainly no disappointment for fans of this sort of thing. It would fit in well on a double or triple bill with Africa ADDIO or GOODBYE UNCLE TOM.

I saw the film for the first time last night and I must say it has left a lasting impression with me.The film shows the true horrors of the Amin regime in unflinching detail.It shows the violence in a way that doesn't glorify or exploit,but doesn't pull any punches either!

Overall,I'd strongly recommend this film to anyone with even the slightest curiosity as to what kind of a man Idi Amin was.Watch the film and see "the black Adolf Hitler"!

Many years before seeing Forest, we had this actor, Olita, very good, although at times, when playing this notorious beast of an evil African dictator, his words seem stilted, as though, he isn't quite sure his lines are hundred percent down. Regardless of that, he generates a truly scary portrayal of this monster, responsible for the deaths, via execution style, of over 500 000 people, including some paul pry reporters, sticking their noses in too deep. He even humps an underage girl, first telling his boy, discreetly to get out of the car. Olita truly gets the character, and this no holds barred film doesn't hold back on it's brutality, with it's shocking scenes of violence, some of Bit, real in your face stuff. Amin (aka: big daddy), also kept some of his trophies in the same place, Patrick Bateman did. My probs with the film, although I really did enjoy it (another addictive 80's pleasure) was it's rush of story from the get go, where rather what comes off, is a sleazy 80's cheese version, where instead a lot of shock scenes and some sleazy ones have been put in. Not that they don't have merit, or aren't visibly affecting. Good movies, in my opinion, just don't form, from being applied this way or taking this attitude. All that aside, it is still a compelling and recommended watch, especially if you like sleaze and violence.

The whole warts story of Idi Amin from the taking of power to his subsequent flight to freedom in Saudi Arabia after Tanzania invaded to put an end to his craziness. This is a film that dwells with Amin's lurid and nasty side as we get little snapshots of all of the terrible tings that he did. Not particularly graphic, much of the nastiness is implied rather than shown. There is no good here only the insane man himself.

This film was a Times Square cinema staple for years prior to the "Disnification" of the area, but other than that this film has been largely unseen for the past 25 years (an early home video release was never repeated and it appears no one has officially released it on DVD). Recently one of the cable channels ran it much to my shock and amusement, since I was finally able to see the film for myself.

As an exploitation film this film is dynamite. Its got sex and violence and more violence and bad behavior and heads in a freezer and everything you could want for a lurid time at the movies. There is a reason this played for years on 42nd Street, namely its feeds into a persons basic need for low brow entertainment while allowing us to be feel we're learning something since its based on real events.

Unfortunately after a while you realize that a little bit goes a long way. With Amin as the focus of the film you never really get any rest from the ever escalating insanity. Its just Amin doing crazy stuff and while thats fun for the first half of the movie, it becomes a bit of a drag for the second. Its a problem that the film shares with Barbet Schroeder's film Idi Amin Dada which is a documentary of Amin in his own words. There is only so much one can take of a crazy man before one has to call it quits.

Still its worth seeing if your tastes tend to be exploitive, and since this is legendary and classic film of that ilk its a must see. Those with out the bug for exploitation films may want to tune into see what the fuss is about, but they'll probably find themselves tuning out after awhile.

5 out of 10 for the half before it repeats itself.

I don't know how these gooses end up as presidents, but it happens way too often. Anyway I laughed at the rubbish that comes out of amin's mouth, whenever he makes a mistake, he asks some British dude how to make himself look less ridiculous. Senseless killings, cannibalism, it's all there to see, worth watching, you would laugh more if this was fiction, knowing these atrocities actually happened makes it more of a somber affair. the main actor played idi amin well and kept me motivated to finish this monstrosity of a movie, being history, this is worth watching and if it helps i found it on youtube in VHS quality which made me go way back in time. I won't be watching a rerun, that's for sure.

As a child, I lived in Kenya and remember the time when my father went to Kampala for business. But then Milton Obote was overthrown and Idi Amin came into power. A few months later, our business in Kampala had to be shut down and soon after that, Amin ordered all Indians to leave Uganda. Some came across the border into Kenya but most went to England and remained there. It was only later that the news began to come out of the Uganda on how brutal as well as cruel the Ugandan dictator really was.

In the early 1970's Idi Amin overthrew President Milton Obote. The coup was supported by many but soon they this turned ugly and Amin ordered the Indians to leave Uganda. He also started to deal with anyone who opposed him, or, said anything against him. His critics, as well as his opponents are put in prisons and are tortured and killed. At the same time he raped women and did not care for diplomacy - even on International level. At one point he orders the British Ambassdor to kneel before him and at the same time, he calls himself "The King of Scotland."

Directed by Sharad Patel, The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin, is filmed in Kenya and has multi cast, which includes the most well known Kenyan actor, who was also a newscaster on what was then "Voice of Kenya," Norbert Okare as the judge that Amin orders to be killed. Jospeh Olita has done an excellent job as "Idi Amin." If at all possible, for those who think that they can watch such a "bloody" (this is not used in swearing sense at all but in real terms of the word) film. And those who would like to know what it was like under Idi Amin, then this is a film that is worth while to watch.

As a matter of interest and as the movie was filmed in Kenya, the scene that depicts Indians leaving their businesses, homes, shops, etc, was filmed with real Indians and not actors in the capital, Naiorbi, in the area of "River Road," which at the time did consist of shops owned by Indians. A lot of the Indians were actually invited to participate in that scene. The swimming pool scene was filmed at the "Nairobi Gymnkhana," which was known as "Patel Club" as well.

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.

After watching 'The Last King of Scotland' last year, I became quite interested in finding out more about the madman that was Amin. I soon discovered that they had made a film in the early 80's and managed to watch a trailer on youtube. I immediately thought this would be a great movie to watch - not necessarily because it was well-acted or directed - but because it had that cheesy,crappy quality..so crap it's good sort of thing!

So finally - and thanks to the wonders of youtube, i managed to watch the movie. It certainly lived up to my expectations. The movie does accurately portray the timeline of his regime and certainly gives you a sense of the terrible conditions people had to endure under his rule. When Amin appears on screen, he just seems to do one terrible thing after another - the movie does seem to be strung together by scene after scene of Amin shouting maniacally about cutting heads off/kicking out asians/shooting the archbishop/liking Hitler/eating human flesh etc etc...all makes for entertaining viewing I have to say..but then you have to bare in mind that this tyrant was real..so we must never forget that. Some notable quotes "No-one mess with Big Daddy!" "This is what happen to bad mommies" "i Like Hitler,i put statue of him in kampala" "i am sex champion" "for an African,you have gone very white!" "you call uganda money sh*t money!"

In summary, definitely an exploitation film BUT does portray the man as the evil villain he was.

I watched this film a while ago now, and to me it plays more like an 80's action film than a genuine historical account of what went on during Amin's reign in Uganda. It's the way the film was paced, that leads a viewer to this impression. The film focuses only on Amin's reign in Uganda and not his early life, or how he came to be one of the worst dictators in history.

However, I will say this, Joseph Olita, the actor who is playing Amin is very, very believable as the dictator. He steals every scene he is in, because of his remarkable physical resemblance to Amin. The scene where he orders the group of school children to observe the aftermath of the execution of one of his wives is a prime example of the genuine air of menace than Olita manages to convey.

The film also captures much of the madness that was Amin. Whether he is awarding his young son Uganda's highest military Honor's, or consulting a witch doctor to determine who is plotting against him and then ordering the massacre of several tribes based on such advice is hard to fathom happening in the real world; but of course all available evidence said it did.

So in summary, I guess this film is best enjoyed as an account of some of the horrors that took place in Uganda during Amin's reign. It doesn't provide any real insight in Amin, but that's not necessary a bad thing. Any insights into why Amin did what he did must be inferred because of the craziness of this man, and this film does a fairly good job of capturing some of that craziness.

"You are what you eat", there is an old saying. And if you did not know yet, the dictator Idi Amin Dada, who led Uganda between 1971 and 1979, sometimes was eating human flesh, not just snake. During his reign there was rumours of him eating his military rivals but once when he asked if he was a cannibal, he replied: "I don't like human flesh - it's too salty for me." At a typical banquet hosted by Idi Amin, the Ugandan president would serve bee larvae, green bush crickets, cicadas, flying ants and locusts. All this, we do not see in the film. We see instead how he eliminated his political rivals, how he raped women and killed some of his wives and how, ultimately, invaded neighboring Tanzania, which has entailed his loss of power and exile. He wasn't executed, like almost all the other dictators of the world, never repented, and lived reasonably well in Saudi Arabia, where he received asylum and died in 2003. The film is very well done and interpreted. Joseph Olita is perfect as Idi Amin. Geoffrey Keen, who was the Minister of Defence in "The Spy Who Loved Me"(1977), "Moonraker"(1979), "For Your Eyes Only" (1981), "Octopussy" (1983), "A View to a Kill"(1985) and "The Living Daylights"(1987), is playing here the British Ambassador. This is the only film directed by Sharad Patel until now.

Saw this film in a cinema as a part of a surprise show and was really surprised! It was the german version and Idi Amin was spoken by the german voice of Bud Spencer! Great entertainment! Never expected a film like this! Look and enjoy!This is a real classic!

I saw this movie when I was 17. Now I am 34 and through the wonder of the internet, I have finally obtained a video copy. This movie is a movie that leaves a lasting impression, of just what a madman Amin really was. Olita does a memorable, if not comparable role to Amin. It shows what happens when a war monger takes command of a tiny 3rd world country. You better like this film or else...."this is what happens to bad mommies!!"

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!"

There were not so many films about dictatorship of Idi Amin Dada, the most prestigious being LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, but this one is interesting, despite the poor making, the unbereable scenes of humiliation, killings of all kinds, torture, slavery, but never forget that those sequences were inspired from actual events, and never forget too that reality is always below the true facts. True facts are rarely shown. The actor playing Idi Amin is maybe better than Forest Whitaker, because of his resemblance and also maybe because this actor was a great admirer of the former bloodthristy dictator. I think he is more Idi Amin than Idi Amin himself !!!! Yaphet Kotto also played Idi Amin in the movie speaking mostly of the Entebbee airport hostages by the Palestinians. So this movie which I talk about today is a good fiction documentary movie, showing very well one of the maddest tyran that Africa has ever provided. Or simpler the world. And let's admit that it is easier to depict Idi Amin Dada's story than any other dictator:Chinese, Russian, Korean, Iranian...You only have to show slaughters, blood baths, murders, blood, blood and stripes, and that's it, you have summarized everything. And also some female beef cakes around a swimming pool where the chief takes a bath, drinking a cocktail. There was no subtlety in the way Idi Amin lead his country, no diplomatic complexity, as you could have between Russia and the western world for instance.