Treasure Of The Amazon (VCI/1985)
Picture: C
Sound: C- Extras: C Film: D
There were many bad knock-offs of Raiders Of The Lost
Ark (1981) on film and TV, but most have them have been forgotten, as they
were so bad. One of the worst is easily
Rene Cardona Jr.’s Treasure Of The Amazon from 1985. Crass, graphic, condescending and idiotic,
Stuart Whitman is the tough guy ready to go down the river to find his
fortune. Unfortunately, he could not
find a good script.
A Mexican production that will never be a threat to
legitimate Cinema Latino, the film also wastes Pedro Armendariz, Jr., Bradford
Dillman, John Ireland and an especially insulting casting of the late, great
Donald Pleasance as an old Nazi! This,
for a great actor who was tortured by real life Nazis, making us realize he was
not paid enough for those Halloween sequels. There is the casting of stereotypical “natives” that makes it
feel like bad 1930s cinema in the worst way and the wish a tsunami or tornado
would end the film sooner. It is awful
and not worth anyone’s time, unless they equate films with torture.
The letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image is mixed, average, aged and
tired, thanks to the unremarkable and plastic-looking cinematography of Daniel
Lopez and Leon Sanchez. This was so
bad, the “Weird Al” Yankovic spoof of Raiders in his 1989 cult classic UHF
looked like it was the original. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is harsh and headache-inducing, with forgettable music
and dull sound effects. They are almost
as dull as the content of the dialogue.
Extras include four trailers for VCI titles including this one and six
biographies of the cast and director.
Next!!!
- Nicholas Sheffo
