This, a hugely entertaining jungle adventure romp, was possibly the best of a quartet of war/jungle movies that David Warbeck and Antonio Margheriti made in the early '80s (the others are TIGER JOE, ARK OF THE SUN GOD, and THE LAST HUNTER). In this period, the Italian producers were attempting to turn Warbeck into an action hero in the Rambo or Indiana Jones mould, and despite some very successful attempts, sadly Warbeck never received the acclaim that he fully deserved and spent the rest of his life doing Italian B-movies. However, we can all be thankful that films like HUNTERS OF THE GOLDEN COBRA are still around to remind us what enjoyable performances Warbeck gave to all of his films; and, quite literally, he did "give his all".
The first thing is: don't go into HUTNERS OF THE GOLDEN COBRA expecting originality. The film mixes war-movie clichés in with RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK-style jungle action all the way and achieves a fast-paced but clichéd blend. Secondly, don't expect realism; this movie works on more of a comic-book level and is content to throw just about every jungle cliché you can think of into the pot, including the typical volcano explosion at the end and the evil natives, complete with their blowpipes and spears. While not as openly racist as the Italian cannibal genre, this still definitely isn't a movie for the PC brigade to watch! What made me love this movie was the almost-constant action. The time flies by while I was watching it, and you know the saying "time flies when you're having fun" - it couldn't be more true. Sure, most of the action is unconvincing and poorly-shot, but it's action nonetheless, and the movie captures that rare Italian style very well. Director Antonio Margheriti was never that adept at making these adventure-type films (for me, his best work was in the Italian Gothic cinema of the '60s), but his direction is passable and occasionally atmospheric. Similarly, the music is pretty uninspired but does its job in maintaining tension.
The acting is another thing. Being dubbed, it's difficult to judge the work of the cast, but I would say that the three male stars are pretty good. Warbeck especially excels himself as the laid back, drunken hero who manages to be friendly and likable while also being gruff and snappy. Physically, he also looks the part of an action hero and is one of the best things in the film. John Steiner, on the other hand, has great fun with his role of the clichéd Briton, and as I mentioned his accent and dialogue are hilarious. Steiner is apparently killed in a jeep explosion about halfway through but you can guarantee that he'll be back to save the day at the very end. Luciano Pigozzi plays the role of a mild-mannered Professor turned traitor, who really wants the statue for his own possession and will murder to retrieve it. Pigozzi's appearances in Italian cinema go back to some of the Mario Bava classics, so as you would expect he's pretty convincing. Almanta Suska has the dual role of the native queen and the professor's niece, and I can't really think of anything nice to say about her. All I will say is that she's not even as good as Tisa Farrow, and hasn't appeared in much since this movie. The rest of the (Italian/Filipino) cast are pretty wooden and unconvincing, but then they don't have to be good.
The special effects are all achieved on a low budget, so a lot of them look pretty rough, as you would expect. Especially a bus/truck crash in a jungle clearing in which both vehicles quite clearly brake hard before they supposedly hit each other and explode! One thing that is impressive, though, is the volcano explosion at the end, which throws in lots of stock footage and mixes it in well with footage of the actors. The gore level is quite low, with only two really gruesome scenes (a man shot repeatedly with darts in the face, another person bitten to death by cobras) but the death toll is high, with absolutely loads of thugs and natives biting it. HUNTERS OF THE GOLDEN COBRA works because of the sheer wealth of scenes and action it includes. You get the shooting/battle scenes at the beginning, aeroplane fights, a bar fight, hand to hand combat, truck chases, a scene in which our hero is menaced by cobras (ripped directly from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, that), the volcano exploding and the subsequent escape of the good guys and as many explosions as they could fit in on the low budget. All this in authentic Filipino locations too. Maybe I'm just biased as I love these kind of B-movies, but this is one of the best I've seen. Highly recommended!
The first thing is: don't go into HUTNERS OF THE GOLDEN COBRA expecting originality. The film mixes war-movie clichés in with RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK-style jungle action all the way and achieves a fast-paced but clichéd blend. Secondly, don't expect realism; this movie works on more of a comic-book level and is content to throw just about every jungle cliché you can think of into the pot, including the typical volcano explosion at the end and the evil natives, complete with their blowpipes and spears. While not as openly racist as the Italian cannibal genre, this still definitely isn't a movie for the PC brigade to watch! What made me love this movie was the almost-constant action. The time flies by while I was watching it, and you know the saying "time flies when you're having fun" - it couldn't be more true. Sure, most of the action is unconvincing and poorly-shot, but it's action nonetheless, and the movie captures that rare Italian style very well. Director Antonio Margheriti was never that adept at making these adventure-type films (for me, his best work was in the Italian Gothic cinema of the '60s), but his direction is passable and occasionally atmospheric. Similarly, the music is pretty uninspired but does its job in maintaining tension.
The acting is another thing. Being dubbed, it's difficult to judge the work of the cast, but I would say that the three male stars are pretty good. Warbeck especially excels himself as the laid back, drunken hero who manages to be friendly and likable while also being gruff and snappy. Physically, he also looks the part of an action hero and is one of the best things in the film. John Steiner, on the other hand, has great fun with his role of the clichéd Briton, and as I mentioned his accent and dialogue are hilarious. Steiner is apparently killed in a jeep explosion about halfway through but you can guarantee that he'll be back to save the day at the very end. Luciano Pigozzi plays the role of a mild-mannered Professor turned traitor, who really wants the statue for his own possession and will murder to retrieve it. Pigozzi's appearances in Italian cinema go back to some of the Mario Bava classics, so as you would expect he's pretty convincing. Almanta Suska has the dual role of the native queen and the professor's niece, and I can't really think of anything nice to say about her. All I will say is that she's not even as good as Tisa Farrow, and hasn't appeared in much since this movie. The rest of the (Italian/Filipino) cast are pretty wooden and unconvincing, but then they don't have to be good.
The special effects are all achieved on a low budget, so a lot of them look pretty rough, as you would expect. Especially a bus/truck crash in a jungle clearing in which both vehicles quite clearly brake hard before they supposedly hit each other and explode! One thing that is impressive, though, is the volcano explosion at the end, which throws in lots of stock footage and mixes it in well with footage of the actors. The gore level is quite low, with only two really gruesome scenes (a man shot repeatedly with darts in the face, another person bitten to death by cobras) but the death toll is high, with absolutely loads of thugs and natives biting it. HUNTERS OF THE GOLDEN COBRA works because of the sheer wealth of scenes and action it includes. You get the shooting/battle scenes at the beginning, aeroplane fights, a bar fight, hand to hand combat, truck chases, a scene in which our hero is menaced by cobras (ripped directly from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, that), the volcano exploding and the subsequent escape of the good guys and as many explosions as they could fit in on the low budget. All this in authentic Filipino locations too. Maybe I'm just biased as I love these kind of B-movies, but this is one of the best I've seen. Highly recommended!