As it's title boldly implies -The Bermuda Triangle- is a film that's based around the lore and mystique surrounding the Bermuda Triangle, which in itself sounds fairly compelling, however.....this movie is mostly about the people on board a yacht known as the Black Whale III. Oh and what a charismatic lot they are! The films primary cast is comprised of about 12 people of various ages (including John Huston and Claudine Auger), but mostly the cast is made from a short list of small-time/no-name actors (if you watch this movie you'll know why their not a known name), whose acting is typically so casual and mundane you'd swear that they weren't aware that they were part of a movie. And to make things even worse all of the child actors dialog is over-dubbed (and by people who sound much older then them), which has a way of making them sound unnatural and even ridiculous at times. This is especially true for the little blonde girl, whose voice sounds about as natural as that of a talking dolls. And just to mention it, it's always a bad sign when the quarrelings of a dysfunctional middle-aged couple are the movies most entertaining moments and that's where Claudine Auger comes in. Filmed in 1977, a full 12 years after her famous appearance (as Domino) in Thunderball, she's not looking quite as beautiful here and she's constantly bickering with her boozehound hubby (whose hitting the J & B scotch ultra-heavy). Sadly, these scenes between the two are, for me at least, the movies liveliest scenes. I find that there's something very compelling about their biting mutual disdain for each other, not to mention all the great free-flowing sarcasm that these two bitter souls stir up between each other.
The purpose of their cruise is to scuba-dive on the site of some ancient underwater ruins that are many miles out to sea (this type of setting can make for some absolutely incredible visuals, but don't worry, nothing remotely interesting, let alone incredible comes of it), so don your wet-suit and get ready to immerse yourselves in this grand dive of theirs. This lengthy dive sequence was clearly meant to be the movies center-piece, but yet it lasts for far too long and is, like the rest of this movie, a total bore - just underwater this time. You'd think that this sequence would supply some temporary reprieve from all the mundane nothingness that's taking place aboard the decks of the Black Whale III, but that's not the case. This 10 minute underwater foray generates all the thrills and excitement of watching a bowl of jello stiffen. In more capable hands this sequence no doubt could've been a surreal underwater odyssey. It's during this dive when bad luck befalls the loveliest of the ships passengers, when an ancient pillar topples over and crushes her legs. Now things get desperate fast as she needs help ASAP, but the mysterious ways of The Bermuda Triangle (also known as The Devils Triangle) make that impossible and the only doctor on board is a hopeless and bitter drunk. In contrary to how most movies work, this situation of life and death seems to only slow down the pace of the film, which is certainly unusual and even amazing if you think about it. When it's all said and done there is virtually nothing compelling or entertaining about this lame and forgotten movie from the 70's. It's biggest failure is it's cast and that's clearly reflected through their lack of any real chemistry between each other - not that they had anything interesting to say in the first place . And the poor voice-dubbing only makes this bad movie worse.
Once it's all said and done The Bermuda Triangle seems to do nothing, other than kick dirt on John Huston's long and storied career - The Maltese Falcon this is not.
The verdict is: Very slow, very dull and just plain bad. Like so many movies from the 1970's tend to be.
The purpose of their cruise is to scuba-dive on the site of some ancient underwater ruins that are many miles out to sea (this type of setting can make for some absolutely incredible visuals, but don't worry, nothing remotely interesting, let alone incredible comes of it), so don your wet-suit and get ready to immerse yourselves in this grand dive of theirs. This lengthy dive sequence was clearly meant to be the movies center-piece, but yet it lasts for far too long and is, like the rest of this movie, a total bore - just underwater this time. You'd think that this sequence would supply some temporary reprieve from all the mundane nothingness that's taking place aboard the decks of the Black Whale III, but that's not the case. This 10 minute underwater foray generates all the thrills and excitement of watching a bowl of jello stiffen. In more capable hands this sequence no doubt could've been a surreal underwater odyssey. It's during this dive when bad luck befalls the loveliest of the ships passengers, when an ancient pillar topples over and crushes her legs. Now things get desperate fast as she needs help ASAP, but the mysterious ways of The Bermuda Triangle (also known as The Devils Triangle) make that impossible and the only doctor on board is a hopeless and bitter drunk. In contrary to how most movies work, this situation of life and death seems to only slow down the pace of the film, which is certainly unusual and even amazing if you think about it. When it's all said and done there is virtually nothing compelling or entertaining about this lame and forgotten movie from the 70's. It's biggest failure is it's cast and that's clearly reflected through their lack of any real chemistry between each other - not that they had anything interesting to say in the first place . And the poor voice-dubbing only makes this bad movie worse.
Once it's all said and done The Bermuda Triangle seems to do nothing, other than kick dirt on John Huston's long and storied career - The Maltese Falcon this is not.
The verdict is: Very slow, very dull and just plain bad. Like so many movies from the 1970's tend to be.