I love Sherlock Holmes movies but I find these last 2 with Christopher Lee stink. The plot is to find a stolen jewel. There are so many criminals it is hard to decipher. The movie is in 2 parts.The African scener were very nice with the animals. I thought they also went out of there way to treat blacks in a inhuman manner on the train with Holmes doing nothing. There were also several long kissing scenes and bed scenes and infidelity which I thought was inappropriate of a movie rated PG. and also for a Sherlock Holmes movie. Lee and Macnee are too old to play these roles even though they are good actors.. This movie had little to no zero moral character and Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady was worse.

Everybody has a personal preference as to who is "the" Holmes or "the" Watson, but I like both these actors. There is also a cameo appearance by Joss Ackland as King Edward.This is a story placed in British-controlled South Africa, after the horrific Boer Wars in the late 1800s. Apartheid, expansionist colonialism, class bars, color bars, and blood diamonds notwithstanding, it's a suspenseful movie with African wildlife and period scenery. If you're sensitive, there are some shockingly racist scenes; but if you can get past your reaction until you get back to real life, the film is quite entertaining.

Great costumes and locations aside, some better acting would have helped this slowly-paced piece of badly written tripe a great deal. Basil Rathbone outshone Lee in this role and Brett is far superior to both actors. When was Holmes ever this languid and uninteresting? When was Watson ever such a caricature? Yuck!!

Perhaps Brett was a better Holmes - or is the Holmes character simply "in the eye of the beholder" – molded by the passage of time and current events..? I found this episode most entertaining, but it was the detail to attention, the costumes, the settings and the dialogue, that made it an entertainment delight. The actors were well chosen, and the characterizations were “right on. “
Mr. Lee brought his trademark sinister form to the role while skillfully interjecting wit and humor – all the while maintaining the trademark Holmes restraint and dignity - totally original, refreshing, and expertly executed (pardon the expression).
Patrick Macnee – what a surprise to see him! His Dr. Watson character was original, energetic, and perfectly complemented Mr. Lee’s Holmes.
Sophisticated, intellectual, different,… call it what you may… It was beautifully executed in every detail.

The below reviewer is inaccurate. Aspirin was first used in 1859 by a French doctor. But yes, Brett was a better Holmes.