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This is a fantastic movie. It was just recently released in DVD format. I remember the movie from the 1960s when I saw it in the theater. It is in the same league as Lion in Winter and A Man for All Seasons. This is the story of Henry (the first?) and his best friend, Becket. Henry has elevated his friend to a top position in his court. When the movie begins their friendship has long been established. Becket is Henry's confident and closest friend. Henry loves Becket far more than anyone including his wife, his children and his mother. Actually Becket is the only person he seems to really care for. When facing a stand off with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry decides to elevate Becket to the position of Archbishop. This is a fatal miscalculation. Henry never considers that Becket will turn to God and take this position quite seriously. Becket becomes a defender of the Church against the crown and thus he is in opposition to the king. Henry is in agony for he truly and totally loves Becket. Henry finally must put his position above his love for Becket and agrees that his henchmen should murder Becket. Henry played by Peter O'Toole is a fantastic role. O'Toole plays it for every possible dramatic effect he has in his being. Peter O'Toole is Henry. I was completely drawn into King Henry's utter dilemma loving a man so much and yet finding that he had made that very man his opponent. It is a beautiful performance. Becket played by Richard Burton, in my opinion, is a more difficult part. Becket does not have the outward emotions that Henry has. His conflict is an inner conflict and he surrenders to God and the Church quite quickly and has but a short transition of moving from the king's best friend to head of the Church. With that said I feelBurton completely underplays the part to such an extent you wonder why Henry loves him so much. Becket appears so cool and there never seems to be a sense that he loves Henry anywhere near the wayHenry loves him. With Burton's performance I feel I need to see how this friendship developed. It leaves me wondering if Becket used Henry for his own ambitions and never really cared that deeply for him. Henry's family certainly sees Becket as an opportunist. And they see Henry's love for Becket as rather pathetic. This movie is based on a great true story and on a great play. If for no other reason I recommend it for Peter O'Toole's performance. Oh, the script, music, other actors and sets are great as well.Read full review
Becket is finally out on DVD after all these years, my copy of the VHS tape was running down. Excellent historical movie about Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury who defied Henry II, King of England and got murdered for it. The film starred Richard Burton as Becket and Peter O'Toole as "his King", both at their prime. Two superb actors going at it make this movie utterly interesting to watch. The DVD proves to be well presented. The colors are sharp and vivid, images are clean and clear and sound proves to be just perfect. I am not sure about the comments made by one previous reviewer but I had no problem with the sound on my sound system. The extra features were pretty nice but the crown jewel of this DVD would have to be the running commentary provided by Peter O'Toole as he talked about the film. His words proves to be highly interesting and entertaining with few breaks in between. For the historical minded, I thought the movie captured the spirit and conflict between these two men pretty well. In the film, Becket was portaryed as a "Saxon" but history tell us that he was Norman by birth. History also tell us that he was recommended as Chancellor by the Archbishop of Canterbury Theobald to Henry II as well. So the movie played loose with real history but the characters of the both personalities I thought, was well captured. And this is a movie about character study more then history study. The movie come well recommended, there isn't much bloodshed here, very little action scenes but the dialogues are sharp, script superbly written and acting is some of the best ever seen. Geared more toward the mature and intellicual minded viewers, its a pretty involving costume drama that tells more then history but morality and ethics of individuals.Read full review
O'Toole and Burton!! However much conjecture you want to inject in this great historical event, you can not write a much better production than this one. The tension between Henry II and Thomas Becket for ecclesiastical authority in 12th century England has been elevated to it's highest point in this drama. Only the political conflict between Henry VIII and Thomas More comes close to the take-it-to-the-mat battle of Henry II and Becket. Peter O'Toole is at his magnificent best as the debaucherous king, and Richard Burton handles the low-key archdeacon, Thomas Becket, who became the Archbishop of Canterbury. with the solemn splendor the role demands. Great flick!!!
a "mediocre" film is better than a "great" movie today (and the actors could act)! Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton play their roles well!
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With a few historical inaccuracies, it is STILL a great telling of the story of one of England's history-makers and Catholicism's martyrs. Today's church leaders need to emulate Thomas Becket's striving for TRUE justice more, and strive less and less to cover their asses and assets. A+++
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