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Mountains of the Moon

Mountains of the Moon

Adventure · Drama · History · 1990

The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire.

Movie details

Mountains of the Moon

“Two strangers made friends by a savage land. Two friends made enemies by the civilized world.”

1990 Adventure · Drama · History 2h 16m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Mountains of the Moon?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Bob Rafelson

Written by

William Harrison · Bob Rafelson

Patrick Bergin

Patrick Bergin

Richard Burton

Iain Glen

Iain Glen

John Hanning Speke

Richard E. Grant

Richard E. Grant

Oliphant

Fiona Shaw

Fiona Shaw

Isabel

John Savident

John Savident

Lord Murchison

James Villiers

James Villiers

Lord Oliphant

Adrian Rawlins

Adrian Rawlins

Edward

Court is in session

Put Mountains of the Moon on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.