Search - Agatha Christie's Mystery Collection: Death on the Nile/Evil Under the Sun/The Mirror Crack'd on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 7/12/2024...

Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile - Really great costumes and sets but the story started dragging later and it should have been cut down to an hour and a half instead of more than two hours.

The Mirror Crack'd - Had its moments, some will really enjoy this!

Nothing New, but It's Still a Good Catch

Hound Dog | Boise, ID, USA | 12/21/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As of this writing, there isn't any indication as to what three movies are packaged together as "Agatha Christie's Mysteries Collection." While it isn't much of a mystery, let's solve it, anyway. Per the packaging I saw for the item, these are the three films: Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot in 1978's "Death on the Nile" and its 1982 follow-up, "Evil Under the Sun;" and Angela Lansbury in her only outing as Miss Marple in 1980's "The Mirror Crack'd."



It makes logical sense to consider these three movies as a trilogy, since the producers essentially released them as such. Of the three, the big budget "Death on the Nile" still holds up as a terrific Egyptian whodunnit with all-star cast members including David Niven, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Jack Warden, Mia Farrow, and Angela Lansbury at her most vampish. To his credit, Ustinov nimbly glides his way through the film as a most formidable Poirot with a comic touch unlike his predecessor, Albert Finney, in the superior "Murder on the Orient Express," which would have been a wonderful added attraction here (if not for the fact that a different studio owns it).



Four years later, Peter Ustinov then moves on to the Mediterranean in "Evil Under the Sun," which also stars Diana Rigg, Roddy McDowall, Maggie Smith (in a different role), among others, in a leisurely paced murder mystery at an exotic resort. The film and its Cole Porter musical score have aged fairly well on their own merits, but the movie, which indulges more than its share of dragging moments, has been surpassed by David Suchet's subsequent, more faithful adaptation.



Lastly, "The Mirror Crack'd" at least foreshadows why Angela Lansbury would later deftly fit the role of Jessica Fletcher in the "Murder, She Wrote," television series four years later. The film also stars Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Elizabeth Taylor, among others, including a briefly seen Pierce Brosnan, in a plot involving a murder attempt on a high-strung actress at a lavish party. Overall, the movie isn't bad (boring might be a better word), but it stands up better if you are more interested in star watching, particularly if you are an Elizabeth Taylor fan.



Overall, our grade is the following:



"Death on the Nile": A-

"Evil Under the Sun": B-

"The Mirror Crack'd": C

The Whole Package: B."

Evil Under the Sun

Fran Behnke | Taylorsville, Utah, USA | 09/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoyed the story line and the humor in this movie. Peter Ustinov's character of Hercule Poirot is so entertaining to watch and I loved Maggie Smith as well. It is one of those movies that I could watch many times (and have done so)."

5 Stars For *Death On The Nile* And *Evil Under The Sun*

Alex Honda | Los Angeles, CA USA | 02/20/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MYSTERY COLLECTION: DEATH ON THE NILE/ THE MIRROR CRACK'D/ EVIL UNDER THE SUN three DVD set is a good buy.



I remember seeing "Death On The Nile" on television on "the late show" when I was a kid and I really loved it so that brought me here to Amazon and this set.



Since "Death..." was the only one I saw the other two were a treat. If you haven't seen any of these Agatha Christie movies they're pretty cool. Each feature has a star studded cast and takes place in exotic locales, with many of the characters British and very memorable.



The plots are basically the same where one character is a despicable person and everyone has good reason to want that character dead. Naturally they end up dead and it's up to Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) to figure out which person out of the group is the actual killer.



Anyway, both "Death On The Nile" and "Evil Under The Sun" push this set into the 5-star category.



"The Mirror Crack'd" was OK and Kim Novak was hilarious as "Lola Brewster," Elizabeth Taylor's character's nemesis, and though the setting was a quaint English town and it was charming, Angela Lansbury as Jane Marple seemed only to be in the background helping her nephew solve the case. Although it's not bad it's not on the same level as the other two.



The picture quality on all three movies is pretty good and have been formatted for widescreen, so it looks great on widescreen televisions. There are some special features on "Death..." and "Evil..." which are as follows:



***** EVIL UNDER THE SUN SPECIALS *****



TRAILER



"THE MAKING OF EVIL..."--about 16-minutes

Cool behind-the-scenes of the movie, reminds me of those old fashioned newsreels, where the director and the cast including Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, and Diana Rigg among others discuss the film and their respective characters. The featurette is a little foggy, but viewable, and was filmed back then.



TALENT BIOS--text info on the actors.



***** DEATH ON THE NILE ******



TRAILER



"THE MAKING OF DEATH..."--about 24-minutes

Behind-the-scenes where producer John Brabourne discusses the movie and the production designer talks about the ship that had to be built as well as filming on the actual Nile River in Egypt. Actors Peter Ustinov, David Niven, and Jon Finch talk about their roles and actor George Kennedy talks about working with Bette Davis. Again, the footage is a little foggy and I wish this featurette were longer and had more information about filming in the other locations throughout Egypt, especially the famous ones, because those were really spectacular in the movie. The featurette was filmed back then.



INTERVIEW WITH PETER USTINOV--8:46-minutes--Spanish with English Sub-titles (or no sub-titles option).

Ustinov is interviewed for Spanish TV and he speaks fluent Spanish! I believe this interview was done for the London Premiere of "Death..."



INTERVIEW WITH JANE BIRKIN--4:28-minutes--English with some Spanish.

Taken at the same time and place as the Ustinov interview with the same reporter, Birkin is teased for carrying a "pig basket" as a purse, which is ironic because she is now the designer for the very expensive Birkin Bag (made famous on HBO's "Sex & The City"), and he asks her about her role in the movie and her singing career with Serge Gainsbourg (Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg).



Even though I know how the mystery ends, I'll still watch these flicks over and over again because the cast, especially Ustinov, is great and the locations are just beautiful. If you like whodunits this set is a definite for your collection!

"