Okay, so somebody at Cannon decided it would be a good idea to make an Indiana Jones rip-off, utilising a 19th century boy's own adventure novel that hadn't been adapted for the screen for around forty years. Perhaps perceiving the ineptitude of the ensuing production, they did away with attempts at seriousness in favour of out-and-out comedy.
This is a terribly, terribly poor film.
I find comedy highly subjective, and as I have an unusual sense of humour I tend to dislike the genre (apart from rare treats like PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES). This is no exception. The jokes are lame, the overacting whiffs of embarrassment, the supporting characters are racist stereotypes. One of the "highlights" sees Quatermain and his love interest inside a huge cooking pot which they manage to tip over and roll down a hill. It's that kind of film.
The backdrops are okay, but the special effects seem particularly dated for the age (case in point: the silly blue-screen effects used to convince us that Chamberlain is hanging over a pool of crocodiles). Chamberlain himself seems mildly embarrassed - and so he should, as his acting career never recovered from this double debacle (a sequel was shot at the same time). Sharon Stone, playing a dumb blonde sidekick, is the worst I've ever seen (equally as bad as Erica Eleniak in UNDER SIEGE). John Rhys-Davies seems to be reprising his role from the Indiana Jones films, while the only performance I enjoyed was Herbert Lom as a comic-book German colonel.
Experienced action director J. Lee Thompson manages to give this film a decent pace and sense of momentum, but the woefully unfunny script scuppers it from the outset.
This is a terribly, terribly poor film.
I find comedy highly subjective, and as I have an unusual sense of humour I tend to dislike the genre (apart from rare treats like PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES). This is no exception. The jokes are lame, the overacting whiffs of embarrassment, the supporting characters are racist stereotypes. One of the "highlights" sees Quatermain and his love interest inside a huge cooking pot which they manage to tip over and roll down a hill. It's that kind of film.
The backdrops are okay, but the special effects seem particularly dated for the age (case in point: the silly blue-screen effects used to convince us that Chamberlain is hanging over a pool of crocodiles). Chamberlain himself seems mildly embarrassed - and so he should, as his acting career never recovered from this double debacle (a sequel was shot at the same time). Sharon Stone, playing a dumb blonde sidekick, is the worst I've ever seen (equally as bad as Erica Eleniak in UNDER SIEGE). John Rhys-Davies seems to be reprising his role from the Indiana Jones films, while the only performance I enjoyed was Herbert Lom as a comic-book German colonel.
Experienced action director J. Lee Thompson manages to give this film a decent pace and sense of momentum, but the woefully unfunny script scuppers it from the outset.