Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

DVD TALk review

I never saw this movie but it looked like an Indiana Jones-type of movie. Was it any good? Is the source material good?

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

The character of Allan Quatermain is a literary figure that predates Indiana Jones by many decades (or rather a century, if I recall correctly). In fact, he is one of the inspirations for Dr. Jones.

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

No, he was a character on a soap opera.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BFQVROFCEAE9VRA.png

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

Oh yeah. He's also in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. So I'm assuming they put him in a more recent time period to compete with Spielberg and Lucas's character? Because I would think adventures in his own era would be much more interesting.

Have you read any books with the character (Quatermain)?

http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/...s/incas(1).jpg

^
I saw this after reading how he was a visual inspiration for Indiana Jones. The movie wasn't terribly exciting but it was fun to watch seeing the prototype for Indy in technicolor.

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

I may have read them as a kid but I am unsure. I guess I'll just have to buy the books and read them, just in case. :)

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

I streamed both AQ flicks on Netflix last fall and wasn't impressed. They're clearly ripping off the Indiana Jones style (they even cast John Rhys-Davies in the first one), but they just have a really hokey tone. That might appeal to some viewers, but it felt too forced for me to enjoy. If you thought Willie Scott was annoying in Temple of Doom, she's nothing compared to Sharon Stone's character here.

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

That's too bad. I was hoping it was one of those rare instances where it was better than the movie it was imitating like Natural City vs pre-Final Cut Blade Runner.

I guess I'm in the minority that actually liked Willie Scott. I thought she was hotter than Marion, but Marion and Indy made the better couple.

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

"King Solomon's Mines" from 1950 is a good Quartermain movie that I've seen. Unlike most jungle adventures from that time, it was shot on location and feels authentically African. Of course, you'll get very little of the Indiana Jones style in it.

Supposedly a 1937 adaptation is more faithful but I've never seen it. Haven't cared much for the post Raiders Quartermain movies since they come across as cheap knockoffs of Spielberg's movies.

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

The great actor/singer/activist Paul Robeson was in the 1937 version of KING SOLOMON'S MINES:

http://www.weirdwildrealm.com/filmim...ndersriver.jpg

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

Hallmark channel did a three hour version of King Soloman's mines starring Patrick Swayze and Alisson Doody(from Last Crusade) that was OK and closer to the book than the Cannon version's which are pretty awful.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IzBCUkFVgx0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

If you wondering if a Cannon film from the mid/late 80s is any good... :)

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

Sometime people simply have to learn the hard way, like getting burnt in order to learn not to play with matches.

Once learned, though, seeing the names "Cannon Films" and "Golan-Globus" on a movie can't be overlooked again and the viewer will know to proceed with extreme caution. (Note that not all of their movies were terrible, merely 96% of them were.)

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

Yeah, you don't want to completely write them off. Otherwise, you'd miss out on awesomeness like:

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/im...on-Posters.jpg

Ninjas + The Exorcist + Flashdance!!!

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

I'd say these Quatermain's a bit closer to Romancing the Stone/Jewel of the Nile than Indiana Jones.

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

I've seen more Golan-Globus films in theaters than I'll ever care to admit :) Including both Lou Ferigno Hercules movies! What's that line from Airplane? "They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into... I say, let 'em crash!"

Cannon Films... for the original Delta Force alone, DAYENU.

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

I loved the Quatermain movies when I was a kid in the '80s. I imagine they'd be pretty difficult to stomach as an adult.

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

I have the same feeling. I've been tempted to revisit them since, even as a kid I knew they were cheesy (and assumed the were intentionally so) but I dunno if I'd still be able to enjoy them.

Re: Allan Quatermain competition for Indiana Jones?
 

The Cannon version of KING SOLOMON'S MINES played the Criterion Theater in Times Square not long after the theater was split up into a multiplex and they started putting all the titles on the marquee in a rather random order, so the marquee read:

King Solomon's
Krush Groove