It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Over my many years of cinema-going, I've viewed a whole range of movies with titles beginning "The Last .." including "The Last Emperor" (1987) and "The Last Samurai" (2003). "The Last Valley' may not be the best-known film with this kind of title, but it made an impression on me when I first saw it at the cinema in 1971 and still resonated with me when I viewed it again on DVD some 46 years later.It is partly the unusual historical context: the story is set during the repeated bloody clashes of Catholic and Protestant armies largely in German-speaking continental Europe in the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648 and reference to a particular battle in a line of dialogue places the period more precisely in late 1643 and early 1644. It is partly the important subjects that it addresses: the narrative is a sharp critique of the role of religion and superstition in fostering hatred and war and the leading character eventually shouts at the local priest: "There is no Hell. Don't you understand? Because there is no God. There never was. Don't you understand? There is no God! It's a legend!".This British film was written, produced and directed by James Cavell before he became famous for his blockbuster novels. The 17th century village in question was recreated in the valley of Trins in the beautiful Tyrol region of Austria. The Catholic villagers who live there may look rather too clean and well-clothed for the period but the mainly Protestant soldiers who occupy the valley certainly look the part. The music is from John Barry who had made his name with the early James Bond movies.At the heart of the story is the changing fortunes of the characters as they are subject to competing sources of power: civil authority in the shape of the head villager Gruber (Nigel Davenport), religious dogma provided by the village priest Father Sebastian (Per Oscarsson), military authority imposed by a character known only as The Captain (Michael Caine), and the voice of reason and tolerance offered by the academic refugee Vogel (Omar Sharif). In the course of the story, each will have his moment of triumph but each will suffer grievously in this under- known and under-appreciated film.

Superficially about the 30 years war in Europe in the early part of 17th century, this insightful film portrays much about human personality and relationships. Much of human thought is influenced by thought disorder (loose associations and delusions). This thought disorder often goes unrecognized as it is shared by many others, and thus regarded as reality-based. The people in this film (except for the main characters of the Captain, village leader, and wandering teacher) are a study in this human tendency to construct ideas based on thought disorder. This makes for a more fascinating film that adds to the enjoyment of the fine story depicted. Caine's laid back performance is brilliant. Sharif does his Dr. Zhivago thing as modified to fit this story. This is a classic that one can enjoy in repeted viewing every 5 to 10 years.

This for me has to be 1 of my favourite films for several reasons.Firstly it has quite a cast with Michael Caine, Brian Blessed, Omar Sharif etc etc,secondly it has 1 of John Barry's(James Bond, The Black Hole)finest scores!I have found out that he had an exceptional amount of time in which to compose the score after the final edit & produced a *MUST HAVE* score if your into your movie soundtracks(I have hundreds as I am a bit of a collector!).The movie was also shot in a remote isolated valley & all the buildings you see in the film were constructed by local craftsmen drafted in from the surrounding towns using traditional techniques as per the time period it portrays.This creates a totally convincing back drop to the filming & some of the shots of the valley are breath taking! My fondness of the film stems from early memories of it as a child.My Dad used his video(when video had only just come in!)for the 1st time to record this off TV late at night & in fact he still has that tape floating around somewhere!ha ha He was quite strict so I wasn't allowed to use the video for a start & definitely not allowed to watch this....but I used to sneak it on when me folks were out(shhhhush-don't tell him ha ha!). It is actually a very rarely aired movie & has not really been recognised for the depth & strength it portrays. I think it was way ahead of its time in terms of brutality.It was also marketed too high as a sort of Ben Hur, Spartacus epic.Those films had way more budget & far more scope in terms of the size of story line they were depicting - after all The Last Valley is just dealing with a small village community in a remote isolated valley where as Ben Hur is dealing with a whole Roman Empire theme!Never the less The Last Valley still has impact.The opening scene is still shocking 40years on!I think those scenes are the reason it does not get the air play as the violence & issues it deals with are so honest & truthful!This film pulls no punches!It will show you exactly how difficult 'Life' was in those times - its not got many soft edges.The rivalry between the various factions, their attempts to control & manipulate are bang on!The way the church in those days had the last word on everything!The way the land owners made sure that everyone was indebted to them to maintain control.The fact that if you sinned & were caught out - well the consequences were severe as in the ultimate price!Don't watch this film if you just want to see fantasy eye candy, but if you appreciate the truth & want a film that shows an honest appraisal of Life & times in the 16th Century Europe then it will not fail to deliver.It is full of irony, sub plots & intrigue.I am of course biased & as I have got older & my own wisdom has increased I see different things in it that I had not perceived before!It is a mature intellectual persons film.I must of seen it at least 30 times & it still delivers for me.Take the time out to see it & see what you think. Cheers Jon ;0)

Touted on IMDb as a lost gem, as you know this is set in Germany in the 1600s, during the 30 Years War, where Protestants are fighting Catholics and death and destruction is commonplace. It stars Omar Shariff as a wanderer who happens upon this idyllic valley hidden from the rest of the world, and a bearded but still handsome Michael Caine as the head of a bunch of mercenaries who've seen their share of fighting and massacre.James Bond composer John Barry does the score and there's an early prototype of Moonraker's Space March as the main war theme, though Space March is more melodic to my ears. I know Barry can do no wrong supposedly, but it does seem to be that he and Bond were a perfect match. In other films his signature style is often distracting and the romantic theme of this film, used repetitively and sometimes inappropriately, is intrusive and pretty corny.Caine has an early protype too - the "Ve ALL love you Freddie" German accent he would adopt 15 years later in the comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It's pretty iffy and unintentionally comic at times, he's the only one who bothers with a German accent, perhaps to take away the London wideboy. "You're only supposed to sack the bloody church!" The film didn't quite grab me. For a start, it's odd that Omar Shariff should be fleeing a plague pit and soldiers for only 2 minutes before stumbling upon this idyll. The valley doesn't seem too hidden to me, and if it is, how come the other soldiers found it at the same time? The happy and lovely aspects of the village passed me by, as the inhabitants - especially the women - had that neurotic German temper and look characteristic of the Luthran era, if you believe historian Kenneth Clark's take on it. The Lost Horizon did all this much better.Still, it's a noble and unusual idea, just let down by unintentionally risble moments. It only really picks up when there's a bit of discord, which runs counter to the film's message.