Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Movie Collection, Set 5

I must admit, I put off watching Murder on the Orient Express for some time due to the mixed reviews it had received, particularly when compared to the old film starring Albert Finney.I shouldn't have.The story is so well known that instead of trying to maintain suspense they chose to deepen the moral complexity of the situation and Poirot's reaction to it. I was very pleased with this approach.The original film was designed for maximum, guiltless entertainment and star turns and succeeded admirably on that basis (although I admit that I never cared for Finney's interpretation).This new version deals more compellingly with what is really at stake to 'take the law into your own hands', even when we feel entitled and justified to do so, and where such thinking can lead. And Poirot, who has always maintained the rule of fact and truth is deeply troubled by the choice he makes at the end. One of Poirot's most comforting characteristics is his impartiality. He is true justice, meted out equally on the basis of truth and neither personality or position or appeals to sentiment can sway him. The choice he makes is chaos entering his well-ordered world of fact, moral certainty and justice. His decision may be humane but it is not a course of action to be trusted in ordering a civilized world. And his final, impassioned speech when confronted by the results of his 'little gray cells' is brilliant. One can only hope that those who have asked him to compromise his principles of a lifetime will learn the truth of his words and face a judgement of their own making.The other two stories are well done, the mysteries hold together well, and, although liberties are taken with the original texts, they work very well on their own terms.I would also say that, yes, I DO like the darker tone of these A&E treatments. They are more mature, open more lines of thought, and in general update and breath new life into Poirot. And since this is a free world, I can like the more frivolous but charming Ustinov Poirot, the dead on, perfect Suchet Poirot and the darker, richer A&E Poirot. I can watch them all, like them all, enjoy them all.And I do.

Murder on the orient express is Agatha Christie's most famous story but the films in the past have failed to ask the question . . .". . . Is it right to let 12 people walk free who have murdered a man?"This adaptation delves into the conscience of a man who's life has been dedicated to upholding the law and answering to God through his faith.We are told the classic story of a child-killer who is killed by 12 people who were touched by that tragedy but we are also given insight into Poirot's soul and how he wrestles with all that he holds sacred. The beginning sets things in motion as we see the usual summing up by Poirot in the trial of a soldier who proceeds to take his own life leaving blood splattered on Poirot's face which i thought was well done because Poirot has to question whether he was responsible for that decision. The stoning of the woman in Istanbul is not in the book but works well here because we see justice meted out by the rule of law in that country but we know it's not justice as we see it. All of this sets up the classic story of the Orient Express and in my view it is the finest version.Remember also that in Poirot's final story 'CURTIAN' we see Poirot kill a murderer himself so tackling these issues of justice and right and wrong are a great precursor to that final mystery.BRAVO!! to the writers of this episode, no more two-dimensional Poirot as in the 1974 version, now we have an episode that makes us all think about justice.

I enjoyed Agatha Christies' works and am happy to have seen so many made into films. Some of her best like Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, and Death on the Nile have been made several times with quite impressive casts. This set includes some very dramatic episodes exquisitely filmed. The exotic ambiance of the Middle East in both Murder on the Orient Express and Appointment with Death are breath taking. The experience of the steam train making its way into Yugoslavia and becoming stalled by a snow drift in a mountain wilderness is wonderful.As usual, the events take place in the 1930s. The dress, hairstyles, makeup and attitudes are period appropriate and subtly create an ambiance for the viewer that is at once familiar and alien, a time of our grandfathers and great grandfathers. The Third Girl is the only one of the three that has a classic "manor house" character, although the confinement of the suspects to one car of the train in Murder on the Orient Express certainly partakes of the idea if not the setting.My favorite is Appointment with Death, partly because I have lived in the Middle East and partly because I know a little about Agatha Christies' life. The author's second husband was the renowned British archaeologist Sir Maxim Mallowan whom she often accompanied on his expeditions in Egypt, Iraq and Syria. (In fact, one of the archaeological journals--Antiquity, I think--had a lovely obituary for her in 1976 when she died, probably the only author of murder mysteries ever to be honored in that fashion!) She was thus able to create fairly accurate locale settings for her mysteries, not only with respect to indigenous culture and to archaeological technique, but as to the interpersonal friction that such endeavors tend to engender. I once read that Mrs. Mortimer Wheeler was very disliked on her husband's expeditions and that Christie wrote one of her murder mysteries using this as a take-off point. (For my own experience, while the expedition I was to have joined failed to get funding, I had friends who came back from theirs with "funny" stories laced with considerable hostility towards some of the other participants.)All three stories are very dark. Of the three, Appointment with Death is the darkest, though Murder on the Orient Express (which seems to harken back to the Lindberg kidnapping) is a close second. Neither is a "happily ever after" sort of story. The Third Girl is somewhat lighter but not much. The character of Ariadne Oliver, played by Zoë Wanamaker the flight instructor and Quidich coach of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Ultimate Edition) [Blu-ray], is delightful. Although she is not quite as I pictured her in the Christie stories, I like Ms Wanamaker's version much better.