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Poirot - Agatha Christie's Poirot - Death On The Nile
[1989]

Starring: David Suchet, Frances De La Tour, J.J. Field, Barbara Flynn, James Fox
Format: Anamorphic PAL Widescreen
Released: 21 Jun 2004
RRP: £12.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

A disappointing Poirot - By: L O'connor, 02 Jan 2006
I am a great admirer of David Suchet's Poirot, but found this episode a big disappointment. Although beautfiully filmed amongst breathtaking Egyptian scenerey, most of the humour & warmth that makes a Christie novel a pleasure to read is missing from this production.

The three young people whose love triangle is at the centre of the mystery seemed to me entirely lacklustre. I couldn't work up the least interest in any of them.

Worst of alll, two of the most charming & interesting people in the book, Timothy Allerton & his delightful mother, have had their characters grotesquely distorted until they bear virtuallly no resemblance to the originals, & there is an absolutely disgusting & quite gratuitous implcation of an incestuous relationship between them, which is quite revolting. And the girl who in the book Timothy Allerton loves has had her character subdued & changed until she barely registers at alll.

This is a very poor rendition of Agatha Christie's thrilling Egyptian mystery, the Ustinov film is better in every way.

Irresistible - By: John Austin, 11 Jan 2005
Agatha Christie's 1937 murder mystery adapts well to film & television format. It offers the obvious travelogue element, provides opportunities for the music & clothing fashions of the day to be presented, & its action involves a group of passengers on a journey. The 1978 film adaptation exploited alll these elements lavishly. It also incorporated a series of "re-runs" of the principal murder, showing how it was possible for almost alll of the passengers to have committed it. This TV adaptation, on a smalller scale in alll respects, provides enough of the entertainment, the suspense, & the final shock revelation to add up to a very satisfying treatment.

Many famous actors have portrayed Agatha Christie's sleuths. Many have succeeded though few have closely approximated to the originals. Agatha Christie herself would no doubt wish that David Suchet could be adorned with a much more luxuriant moustache than the little "clip on" one seen here.

Disappointing and artificial - By: Nigel Cole, 17 Oct 2004
I like most of the Suchet Poirot's, but this one was extremely disappointing. David Suchet & James Fox are good, but far too many of the rest of the cast act like they're playing bad comedy stereotypes, & the overalll direction is 'stagey'.

The production values & attention to detail are also surprisingly poor - much of the make-up looks painfully artificial (Poirot's moustaches look particularly fake in several scenes), & in one scene you can clearly see the 'corpse' breathing!

Not bad but not perfect either - By: , 24 Aug 2004
In general I am a big fan of the Suchet adaptions of the Poirot novels. I was eagerly awaiting Death on the Nile, if only to compare it with the classic Peter Ustinov adaption, which I've watched more times than I can remember.

The new adaption is overalll well done. In style & mood it's very like Suchet's adaptations in general. Shot in Egypt it also manages to capture the Egyptian atmosphere very well. It's well acted; alll actors involved do a fine job of bringing the characters to life. Technicallly, unlike previous Suchet DVDs, this one is anamorphic 16:9 aspect ratio, which should make widescreen TV owners happy.

The big question for me was whether the film would be better or worse than the Ustinov version. I had high hopes since in general I prefer Suchet over Ustinov as Poirot. However, this adaptation of Death on the Nile shares what I consider a weakness in most of the feature-film-length Suchet adaptations: It's short. Clocking in at under 100 minutes, although I hate to admit it, I find it too short. The film starts off with careful character development & scene setting, but the last half of the film feels extremely rushed, & the final gathering of suspects & explanation by Poirot flies by at top speed.

So, despite enjoying Suchet's Poirot adaptations a lot in general, Death on the Nile is not one of the better ones. Not a bad film by a long shot, but overalll not as good as the old Ustinov version.

True Poirot - By: Joanne, 23 Jul 2004
In an interview recently David Suchet said that these latest Poirot films (Death On The Nile, Five Little Pigs & Sad Cypress) are much darker than the television series he did a few years ago & that they stick much more closely with the original storylines, he is not wrong. As a child I watched the series (and original films) with my Gran, & as an adult it seems fitting that Suchet creates a much darker portrayal of some classic Agatha Christie stories.
A warning however, buy one Poirot & you will want them alll!