When Miramax Films and Paramount released Shekhar Kapur's The Four Feathers in September 2002, the studios initiated the year's awards season race with a film that appeared ready to capture international critical and commercial acclaim. Adapted from A. E. W. Mason's late-Victorian adventure novel, the production boasted a pedigree tailor-made for awards contention. In addition to its status as Kapur's follow up to his 1998 Academy Award nominee Elizabeth, the $80 million epic featured up-and-coming actor Heath Ledger as well as a host of previous Oscar nominees, including cinematographer Robert Richardson (Platoon (1986) and JFK (1991)), actors Kate Hudson and Djimon Hounsou, and infamous awards campaign veteran Harvey Weinstein. However, upon release, the film grossed $29 million internationally, becoming not only one of the biggest box-office failures in Hollywood history but also receiving nearly universal critical dismissal. While many reviews lambasted the film for its lack of historical context, several critics from prominent publications attacked it both for its failure to address the repercussions of British imperialism and a narrative ill-suited to post- 9/11 politics that remained raw even though the film's release was delayed for nearly a year. In his review of the film for Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman deems it, ‘A stiff-upper-lip rouser that poses the question, can a movie set during the waning days of the British Empire have its colonial cake and eat it, too? And then spit it out for good measure?’ Decrying the film's evasion of contemporary policies between the West and the Middle East, John Petrakis echoes Gleiberman's assessment positing, ‘If The Four Feathers had pursued issues like these instead of falling back on a lot of charging and firing of guns, it might be a more relevant morality play for the 21st century. As it is, the film seems like a dusty period piece that has been dragged out one too many times.’ Even Linda Hutcheon dismissed the film four years after its release as ‘an attempt to side step imperialist politics.’

Though numerous box-office failures receive pointed critical drubbings, the reaction to The Four Feathers appears peculiar largely because, apart from its alleged elision of anti-imperialist politics critics imposed upon it, its harshest reviews largely ignore discussions of fatal failures or missteps in the film, even going so far as to praise its cinematography, direction, and performances.