Amazon.com

Sherlockian completists will be interested in this ambitious pastiche that neglects innumerable conventions from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes canon but offers an original showdown between the Great Detective and his nemesis, Professor Moriarty. Holmes (Edward Woodward), vexed by Moriarty's daring escape from the gallows, rebuffs a request by his brother Mycroft (Peter Jeffrey) to assist on a government matter but ends up seeking his older sibling after Moriarty (Anthony Andrews) kidnaps him. The villainous professor--a mathematical genius--can't break a secret code of Mycroft's design, putting the latter at risk and upping the ante in Holmes's longtime battle with his foe. John Hillerman makes a low-key Watson who calmly stands up to Holmes' condescension, and Terence Lodge's bumbling Lestrade actually elicits sympathy. The story by Charles Edward Pogue isn't as good as his earlier television adaptations of Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four, but it is memorable. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Anthony Andrews is amazing as Moriarty!
This movie is by far the best Sherlock Holmes adaptation ever! Anthony Andrews is absolutely chilling as the evil Professor Moriarty. He inhabits the character and exudes the searing darkness of his soul. Although this movie does not actually come from a particular Sherlock Holmes mystery, it maintains the feel of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work. The actor playing Dr. Watson is also fantastic and the only drawback is the actor playing Holmes, who bears no resemblance to Doyle's famous sleuth. The last word? See this movie...soon! ... Read more