Treasure of the Amazon (1985)

Absolutely Fantastic

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Disjointed jungle adventure follows three disparate groups of characters as they search for diamonds in the Amazon and encounter savage natives. Generally boring, but briefly enlivened by some awesomely gory scenes (crabs!), and a half-nude amazon fleshed-out (no pun intended) by Sonia Infante. Location shooting also helps, although some of the cast members look like they would be more comfortable in a nursing home. ** out of 4.

I came upon this 80's gem via Rifftrax, who give it a lol treatment. Where to start with how wonderfully dreadful this thing is? Stuart Whitman in a performance that varies from somnambulent to hammy, sometimes in seconds-ridiculous overmiked animal and water sounds that drown out the dialogue, static jungle sets that are comically unrealistic, laughably bad dialogue, gratuitous violence and gore clumsily ennacted, cartoonish clothing (the guy with the gay cutoffs and wife beater in the deep jungle),the "hot"native gal in an obvious gigantic wig to cover her nipples, predictable plot line, and on and on......Really, it's so bad it's freaking awesome!

If you want a summary of the movie, read the other reviews; they do an excellent job discussing the fun, the gore, the cheesy-ness and the plot points. I enjoyed their posts. I'm here to talk about the Rifftrax version of this movie; if you love this type/genre of movies (i.e. 'bad' movies) then the Rifftrax versions add an order or two of magnitude of additional laughs. And they don't disappoint here. On it's own the movie is worth watching for the fun, the Rifftrax crew makes it priceless. However, virtually any movie with Donald Pleasance is going to be a laugh fest, the only problem here is that he doesn't get to shout 'Michael Myers is here!' at any point. So, if you like bad movies, this will make you afraid to go into fictitious countries ever again. However, I'd go download the Rifftrax version if you really want to enjoy.

There are those who would compare The Treasure of the Amazon to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). They would be wrong. OK, This could have been an excellent movie, but it is not. The cast is great and at times actually demonstrates it, but the plot is so thin and ridiculous that it is extremely difficult to get into it at all.Stuart Whitman stars as your typical aging adventurer who leads a group of misfits into the Amazon to find lost WW2 treasure. Most of the group is killed in various horrible and ridiculous ways. The only way I would recommend this film is if you are interested in seeing some top notch actors doing their best to make something of nothing.The cast includes Whitman, star of such wonderful films as Rio Conchos and The Comancheros as the bull headed leader. Bradford Dillman, who starred opposite Robert Redford in The Way We Were, makes an appearance. Donald Pleasence, star of many classic films such as The Great Escape and The Eagle Has Landed, plays an evil Nazi. Rounding out the cast are John Ireland(Gunfight at the OK Corral 1957),Pedro Armendariez Jr.(License To kill 1989)and none other than Harold(Odd Job)Sakata.