Cuba

1979
R
2h 2m

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

YOUR RATING

Sean Connery and Brooke Adams in Cuba (1979)

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1 Video

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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

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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 And this guy (Sir Sean Connery) who's wrestling with the fact that the kind of guy he is, is obsolete now.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

7/10

Bond links

There are a number of links between this film and the James Bond movies.

As well as the obvious presence of Sean Connery, we have Walter Gotell who played Morzeny in "From Russia with Love" and then played General Anatol Gogol in 5 Bond films as well as the "James Bond Jr" TV series.

In addition, the Spanish city of Cadiz in Andalucia was used for much of the location shooting - a location which also doubled as Cuba in "Die Another Day".

Aside from that, the film creates a wonderfully atmospheric impression of a regime on its last legs, attempting the resist the seemingly inevitable regime change sought by the rebels.

Not a great film but perfectly watchable (even if I did find myself looking out for familiar Andalucian scenery as much as following the plot!).