User Reviews

Stark, the show, should not be confused for Stark: A Novel. The Novel is less rushed, has more character development, and better jokes. More Jokes. I read Elton was sure he could write jokes but not sure he could write a novel so he crammed it full of gags, and it's very funny. When I saw Stark: A Mini-series when it first aired here in Australia, I was disappointed by several things, none more so than the casting of Bill Wallis as Walter. Walter is described as a huge mountain of a man, very physically intimidating, despite his utter pacifism and unwillingness to fight. I had read the novel and loved it when it came out, and the series was not funny enough for me, and I could not get over the omissions and differences. Having watched it again this week, I liked it more. Bill is actually pretty good as Wal. His Kiwi accent notwithstanding, I mean Aus and NZZ soldiers fought together in Vietnam and could conceivably become best mates. What is kinda prescient about the show is the visual representations of Australian beaches. To me is was silly to imagine them being so polluted when the show came out but nowadays.. I can see it creeping in. Needles, floating garbage islands. It's all happening. Elton is funny, he acts ok, he IS CD, CD is based on him and nobody else would have done it so well but CD looks too old to be pining after the female lead, and she is not, though very attractive, going to meet the standards of gorgeousness required to abandon you life long beliefs for. Friels character is way more sympathetic in the show than I recall him being in the book. Hunter and Friels are a study in opposites. ?bot excellent, talented actors, Friels underacts here, a study in subtlety. Hunter is OTT, but both outshine most of the rest of the cast (the guy who plays De Quincey is way better than I remember, a great performance). Sadly, no camels were hurt in this narrative, which Robs CD of the only "moment" he gets in the plot to meet his own definition of a hero. I love that scene in the book, but actually its way more consistent with who CD is to fail to get that moment. A different animal, but not as bad as I recalled it being. It's just not the book, and it's not the book I wanted to see made to a movie / series. Gridlock wold be much better. Never happened.

The film seems to have been made reasonably well but my impression is that the budget ran out and they stopped filming before they'd gotten to the end of the story.

The film stops a long way before the end of the book and neglects to tell the viewer what the Stark Conspiracy actually is.

It would have been a good film if they'd finished it!

I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows whether this film genuinely didn't get completed - especially as Ben Elton himself was starring in it.

My advice is read the book and don't bother watching the film.