The costumes were lovely too, and the script while bearing little resemblance to the book is not so bad.
The opening scene was superb by the way, and the ending with Poirot and Jinny was quite moving. Visually, Appointment With Death looks absolutely stunning, with dazzling photography and breathtaking landscapes, making it one of the more visually beautiful "recent" Poirots. It is unfair to say that this has no redeeming qualities, it has its flaws, but I personally really liked it. I also preferred it over the adaptation of Murder of Roger Ackroyd, that was a real disappointment. It isn't as good an adaptation as Five Little Pigs or Sad Cypress, but I do think it is an improvement on Cards On the Table, that started off so well, but let down considerably by the last thirty minutes. The adaptation looks stunning, has lovely music and is well acted, but the underdeveloped plot changes and the many deviations from the book undermine it. The book isn't Agatha Christie's best overall, I much preferred Death On the Nile, Murder in Mesopotamia, Sleeping Murder, And Then There Were None and Murder of Roger Ackroyd, but it was beautifully crafted and does keep you guessing to the last minute. The second question I asked myself was did I prefer the book or the adaptation? For me, the book. The Peter Ustinov version was good on its own merits, but I did think it was the weakest of the Poirot films that Ustinov did, lacking the grandeur of Death On the Nile and Evil Under The Sun. One was which version did I prefer, the Peter Ustinov version or this? This is the easier to answer of the two, although it is more unfaithful to the book, in terms of visuals, music and acting I do prefer this. While I was watching this version of Appointment With Death, I asked myself two questions.
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