Cuba

1979
R
2h 2m

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

3.1K

YOUR RATING

Sean Connery and Brooke Adams in Cuba (1979)

Play trailer1:56

1 Video

99 Photos

Dark Comedy Adventure Romance Thriller War

A British mercenary arrives in pre-Revolution Cuba to help train General Batista's Army against Castro's guerrillas while he also romances a former lover now married to an unscrupulous plant... Read allA British mercenary arrives in pre-Revolution Cuba to help train General Batista's Army against Castro's guerrillas while he also romances a former lover now married to an unscrupulous plantation owner.A British mercenary arrives in pre-Revolution Cuba to help train General Batista's Army against Castro's guerrillas while he also romances a former lover now married to an unscrupulous plantation owner.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

3.1K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Videos1

Trailer 1:56

Trailer

Photos102

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Steven Soderbergh, director of Che: Part One (2008) and Che: Part Two (2008), in an interview with Alex Simon, said of this movie: "That's a fascinating movie. Flawed, but really the things that people disliked about it when it came out are what makes it interesting now, it's refusal to sort of play to the idea of a war-torn romance. An absolute refusal to be sentimental or easy about anything. Brooke Adams' character was really fascinating. Here's a woman who says 'Look, I don't know what little fantasy you've got in your head, but don't play it out on me, because I'm not that.' And this guy (Sir Sean Connery) who's wrestling with the fact that the kind of guy he is, is obsolete now. It's a really interesting movie."

Goofs
At the start of the film, a subtitle announces "1959", indicating the year in which the story takes place. However the actual date of the last event of the film - Fidel Castro riding into Havana, marking the completion of the Revolution - was 1 January 1959. All of the preceding events must have occurred in 1958.

Quotes
Maj. Robert Dapes: Why were those people shot?
Capt. Raphael Ramirez: Perhaps they tried to escape.
Maj. Robert Dapes: From what?
Capt. Raphael Ramirez: From being shot.
Maj. Robert Dapes: But how did they know they were rebels?
Capt. Raphael Ramirez: Because they tried to escape.
Maj. Robert Dapes: Well, wouldn't you?
Capt. Raphael Ramirez: Of course.
Maj. Robert Dapes: Are you a rebel?
Capt. Raphael Ramirez: If I try to escape, I am. Wasn't it the same in Malaya? You didn't know them till they ran.
Maj. Robert Dapes: No, it wasn't!
Capt. Raphael Ramirez: Very well, you're here to teach us!
[Ramirez is shot dead.]

Alternate versions
Although all previous versions were uncut the 2003 UK DVD version was edited by 24 secs to remove scenes of real cockfighting.

Connections
Featured in Sneak Previews: The Electric Horseman, Cuba, Going In Style, The Black Hole, All That Jazz (1979)

Soundtracks
Survival
(uncredited)
Written by Teddy Osei and Mac Tontoh

User reviews30

Review

Featured review

6/10

Fascinating backdrop but an ultimately disappointing film

This drama/love story could have been excellent. Played out against the last months of the corrupt and US/UK-supported Batista regime, the collapse of the old society as Castro's fidelistas begin to take over is shown compellingly. The point is well made that a revolution will only succeed if the people are behind it which, in this instance, they clearly were.

It's a shame that the movie couldn't have been filmed in Cuba, as of course all the famous landmarks of Havana are missing, but its real problems are threefold.

Firstly the storyline is confusing, complicated and unconvincing, with none of the characters being allowed to hold one's attention.

Secondly, the acting is poor. Even Sean Connery - who is normally excellent - seems to have had his mind on other things the whole time.

And thirdly, for some inexplicable reason, the chanting of 'Fidel' as Castro enters Havana in triumph morphs into a Nazi crowd chanting 'Sieg Heil'. Whatever was this trying to say? When Castro actually came into power, one of the first things he did was to open all the 'whites-only' clubs to black people, and to make it clear in an early speech that there was no such thing as a superior race. To liken Castro to Hitler is a travesty of the facts.

So, ultimately a flawed film. Watch it not for the story or the 'message' but for what is going on in the background.