One of the great achievements of Huston's late career, The Man Who Would Be King brings a sharp critical edge and ripe melancholy into Kipling's British Empire fable about two former British soldiers whose stumbling search for fortune and adventure leads them far from India and into a lost, remote, more fabulous and dangerous world than they could ever imagine. In their measured and nuanced performances Sean Connery and Michael Caine together embody the limitless hubris, romantic zeal and blind folly of the British imperial adventure whose stark limits are constantly reinforced by the sweeping and visually stunning landscapes that dwarf and diminish Huston's obstinate anti-heroes.