While Idi Umin Dada terrorized Uganda with a barbaric, 8-year, depotic rule, he portrayed himself to the world at large as a fat buffoon, albeit in military garb. How the press corps managed to perpetuate that image in the face of his army's rampage against an estimated 500,000 Ugandan victims of murder, torture, and imprisonment is unfathomable. This historical docudrama relates how Imin came to power, and does not spare the audience when it comes to exposing his barbarisms (dismembering his wife's body and forcing her children to look at it is one example of several). As the story of his rule unfolds, the world eventually "discovers" what the Ugandans have known all along, and Tanzanian forces oust Imin in 1979, saving the lives of countless prisoners and other victims of his unbridled violence. Although the movie portrays the horrors of his reign, the violence that is shown is an accurate view of reality, and far from the exploitative gore of a Hong Kong or Hollywood slasher flic. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
disliked it.
This quickie exploitation take on the crimes of infamous despot Idi Amin is tacky and insensitive in the extreme. In true exploitation film style, Amin: The Rise and Fall is a grisly catalog of carnage that moves at breakneck speed. The script never allows the viewer insight into what drives Amin nor does it provide a worthwhile heroic presence for him to lock horns with. However, it does offer up a shooting, a beating, or some other form of mayhem every five minutes (one memorable shock involves a doctor finding a pair of severed heads in Amin's kitchen freezer). Such a display of brutality could have been sickening but Amin: The Rise and Fall comes off as a demented comic book brought to life thanks to the ripe, amateurish performances of its cast. The best is Joseph Olita, who gives a ranting, insanely over-the-top performance as Amin that is sure to endear him to bad movie buffs everywhere. Behind the camera, Sharad Patel's directorial touch is as light as a sledgehammer but he keeps the mayhem rolling at a fast clip and gives it a professional look that boasts unexpectedly strong production values. In short, Amin: The Rise and Fall is exactly the kind of celluloid travesty that will disgust serious filmgoers and delight trash fiends. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide