Calum Hutton
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Zlatica
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Brooklynn
There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.
ma-cortes
This new agreeable version from H. Rider Haggard adventures follows again Allan Quatermain (one of the members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) played by an old-looking Patrick Swayze . He is leading a safari in search of legendary diamond mines and save the damsel's father (John Standing) . He is accompanied by a gorgeous woman (Alison Doody) and a captain (Roy Mardsen) , among others . They are pursued by Russian soldiers and must confront natives , wildlife and several dangers and risks until they find the King Salomon's mines .This overlong television picture displays exciting action , numerous shoot-outs , extraordinary adventures and outlandish cliffhanger situations abound . Patrick Swayze (unforgettable in Dirty dancing) as Quatermain is wooden , Stewart Granger in the classic of the 50s (directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton with Debora Kerr) is incredibly missed . Alison Doody as his mate and lover is better than Patrick . After filming ¨Indiana Jones and the last crusade¨ roller-coaster which made her a successful star , Doody played a few more films and did some publicity but in 1994 she retired and went back to Ireland where she married a magnate . Alison finally came out of retirement since she realized how much she missed acting though she never regretted quitting movies to take care of her family and after divorce she has decided to give another chance to her acting career and is slowly coming back to performance and shooting this remake . Other versions of this known story are the followings : directed by Robert Stevenson (1937, in which the main role was performed by the singer Paul Robeson) , Kurt Neumann (titled Watusi with George Montgomery and David Farrar) and J.Lee Thompson (with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone) . The film was well produced by Larry Levinson and Robert Halmi , famous producers of big budget television movies based on historic events or remakes . The motion picture was professionally directed by Steve Boyum (Time cop II).
Gold_Fish
I give 3 stars only for the beautiful pictures of Africa. The rest was... well pretty boring. For about 50min we have the outline of the plot... In War of the worlds, the introductory part lasted, oh, about 10min? Then was real action! This is something like:"Let's take a walk in the savanna and gasp at the beautiful sunsets!". And maybe deliver a message, like "Don't kill elephants!". Very ecological. I would have expected this out of a "new" Steven Segal movie, not from this... The leading actress makes me think about artificial sun-tan, dyed hair and too much foundation! And I didn't see one scene where her hair is messed up, or she sweats, or her clothes are dusty. She just doesn't look like a 19 century woman! And in the bar, where they seek up our hero, Swayze makes a comment about the commander that he looks like Dracula. Hmmm, Bram Stoker wrote his book and published it in 1896, and it became famous in the next years. Livingstone and other explorers went to central Africa from 1840 to 1880. So unless the action takes place between 1896 and 1900.. Houston, we have a problem. :) Swayze makes a nice impression.. as a nutshell - hard on the outside, but soft and cuddly on the inside. Not that I would cuddle with a nut, but you get the point. He really manages to have that beaten puppy look on his face on several occasions. The movie stank. Way too long and increasingly boring. don't watch it! Don't buy it! It's a waste of your money!
drk-10
Well! What can one say? Firstly, this adaptation is far too long at 4 hours, for the complexity (or lack of such) of the plot. The actors try really hard to make something of this film but there is too little content for the time available. Swayzee is really NOT a Quatermain character at all. After seeing Sean Connery's interpretation of the great man in "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", Swayzee really does not make the grade. This chap with the winchester repeating rifle has none of the strength, stature, subtlety, or humour needed for the part, and is upstaged by everyone including the witch doctor, who incidentally seems from my point of view to be more convincing as an actor than the rest of the cast. Some of the vistas are pleasing but there are silly mistakes in the cinematography. For example. When the happy team arrive at the water hole in the middle of the desert, their tracks are visible down to the oasis, just waiting for them to walk in them. Climbing out of the mine leads to an exit (on the next shot) nothing like the exit seen from the passage they have climbed through, et cetera. I was waiting for Doug McClure to appear at any moment. In some ways I wish he had. The leader of the Russians pursuing Quatermain is a shoddily created stereotypical character who just shoots at everything. Swayzee does quite well as the sad father, returned to London, who is unable to obtain the custody of his son. Swayzee should stick to that sort of thing. He is not able to carry the part of a courageous gentleman with a stout heart, experience of life, and sense of fair play.4 out of 10. Barely
Alphonse_van_Worden
This is the worst imaginable crap. The novel by H. Rider Haggard is very entertaining and dramatic. The makers of this worthless movie don't follow it closely. Well, old novels aren't sacred and making free versions of them is fine with me if one has ideas of one's own. If all one can do is changing things and replace them with uninteresting and watered-down clichés one should stick to the original. If they had done that this film would have been at least twice as good even with worse actors and if filmed inside a studio with huts made of cardboard. BUt there's no imagination at all only tiredness. This should be bought or watched only by collectors of Victorian novels made into movies.Just a hint, and not a spoiler I think, to make those of you who have read the novel understand what has taken place and what you may expect if you decide to watch this on TV or - God forbid - waste money on buying this. Gagool an old baddie witch in the book and some precursor to Gollum has been turned into a nice gal!
