River of Death (1989) Reviews

• "I shall be the devil on your back!"

  lost-in-limbo2011-04-16

  Director Steve Carver! Action star Michael Dudikoff! An action adventure delight!? Throw in actors Donald Pleasance, Robert Vaughn (both playing Nazis), Herbert Lom and L.Q Jones. Sounding good. Set in the Amazon jungle with its many beauties and but also constant dangers. Oh this should be humidly exciting, but the cheaply produced Cannon production shortly gave way for complete tedium. Carver… tedium? No way. Dudikoff… tedium? Can't be. But it's a yes indeed. Well more so the first 45 minutes (although within that time we are treated with some midget boxing and the intro is cool enough with its atmospheric score) and after that it somewhat picks up in something of a stop and go affair. It took me two sittings to watch it, as the first time I could only get halfway through it before dozing off. Lucky I recorded so I could sit there and try to watch it again, but it did kind of get better the further along it went. Dudikoff plays Hamilton an adventurer who becomes an Amazon guide for a doctor and his daughter in their quest to find the origins of a deadly disease that's affecting the natives. There they end up at the lost city, where the doctor is killed and the daughter captured. Hamilton manages to escape and barely makes back to civilisation. There he recovers, gathers a team and heads back to rescue the girl… but others in the party have their own motivations (gold, justice and revenge--hurt feelings) especially the man (Donald Pleasance) backing the expedition who believes a Third Reich Nazi doctor (Robert Vaughn) hides out in the lost city continuing his sadistic experiments. The plot is adapted of an Alistair MacLean novel and it comes across as dumb low-grade pulp. It throws around shadily random developments, growing mystic, devious twists (whom playing whom?) and one-note characters (who seem to be looking for death) in a very muddled, paper-thin fashion. Very talkie at times, sluggishly paced and constantly inconsistent, but the action does have its moments. Probably a little too repetitive and not as explosive (but there are numerous explosions). Still it's gritty and unpleasant, as the party when they not flying, hiking or using their riverboat they are thwarted by Amazon pirates, aggressive natives and of course evil Nazis led by a mad scientist (Vaughn is simply wasted here) who just wants to take over the world. Pleasance (who masterfully hams it up "Hey Wolfie") and Vaughn's exchanges are just odd, mainly in the opening sequences which do set everything up. Vaughn's blank, cold-hearted turn suit's the character, but was he really acting. Hard to tell. Dudikoff is acceptable, always having that concern look on his face. Maybe info overload. It was better when he stop thinking and went heroic --- a prophecy in the making. But it wasn't as funny as his croaky narration… please somebody hand him a cough lolly. Director Carver ("An Eye for an Eye (1981)" & "Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)") crafts out an old-fashion stapling, where it's resourcefully executed but lacking the energy and ticker to sustain its long-winded running-time. When not using staged sets, he makes good use of it sweaty locations (South Africa) with some nice scenic shots.

• Glossy but Unremarkable Pre-CGI, DTV, Low-Budget Trash

  LeonLouisRicci2015-09-11

  Cheesy, Low-Budget, but Colorful Action/Adventure with Scary looking and Color Coordinated Amazonian Tribesmen, South American Nazis Circa 1965, Big Haired Babes, and Non-Actor and Fan Favorite Michael Dudikoff. Along for the Fun is Robert Vaughn and Donald Pleasance Playing Dueling Old Fogie Nazis. The Pacing is too Slow and the Action Lackluster and looking Staged, the Film has Complications like Biological Scourges, and a Hidden Jungle City that Go virtually Nowhere. The Movie may Take Itself Too Seriously to be much Fun, but it Ends Up being a little Entertaining if You can Get into It. Whether it's Worth the Try will be a Matter of Tolerance and Taste. Overall, Average for this Type of Pre-CGI, Direct to Video Stuff. It's a Canon Production and the Hacks there Did and Do Have a Fan Base for this Type of Glossy Trash.

• Cherished; recommended to action fans

  Cristi_Ciopron2008-12-27

  Seen when I was 14, a pretty kid, this Dudikoff adventure flick seemed wildly responsive to my desires from an adventure outing. The result was that I began considering Dudikoff an impressive cult—actor, an impressive action—star, something I've never really felt about, say, Lamas. I passed this conviction on to my family as well—such that a movie like that one (In Her Defense ) where Dudikoff loves Mrs. Marlee Matlin was quite respected. I can say I imposed Dudikoff as an essential movie star in my family. I thought RIVER was ideally crafted. Generally, I delighted in such formula movies—the more they conformed to a pattern, the more I liked them—Nazis hidden in South America—how thought—provoking is this? I liked Dudikoff's adolescent, charming air, a strong and handsome lad.

• Passable action/adventure yarn

  Woodyanders2015-05-26

  Rugged adventurer John Hamilton (a solid and likable performance by Michael Dudikoff) gets hired by a team of shady folks with assorted secret agendas to find a fabled lost city located in the Amazon. Things go awry when the search party stumbles across evil Nazi scientist Dr. Wolfgang Manteuffel (a nicely sinister portrayal by Robert Vaughn). Adequately directed in workmanlike fashion by the usually more competent and on the money Steve Carver (whose other much better films include "Big Bad Mama," "The Arena," "An Eye for an Eye," and "Lone Wolf McQuade"), with an often sluggish pace, an overly convoluted script by Andrew Deutsch and Edward Sampson that gets bogged down in rather tedious talk, and infrequent, but still decently staged action scenes, this one has all the essential ingredients -- Nazis, a band of scurvy pirates, a tribe of deadly cannibals, plenty of treacherous back-stabbing characters, and a few okay plot twists -- to qualify as a possible contender, but alas the fairly tepid execution fails to make all these promising elements cohere into an exciting and satisfying whole. Fortunately, a fine supporting cast of reliable veteran thespians ensures that this picture remains watchable: Donald Pleasence as the shifty Heinrich Spaatz, Herbert Lom as the corrupt Colonel Ricardo Diaz, and L.Q. Jones as grizzled old rascal Eddie Hiller. Moreover, there's yummy distaff eye candy in the fetching forms of Sarah Maur Thorp as the sweet Anna Blakesley, Cynthia Erland as Spaatz's sexy secretary Maria, and Foziah Davidson as the tough Dalia. Both Avraham Karpick's slick cinematography and Sasha Matson's moody score are up to par. An acceptable diversion.

• Average adventure set in the Amazon jungle and based on Alistair MacLean novel

  ma-cortes2012-10-18

  This thrilling picture deals with an adventurer named Hamilton (Michael Dudikiff) who decides to go in search of the lost city in the Amazon jungle , entering the dangerous world of a forgotten tribe . A motley crew of other people (Donald Pleasence , Herbert Lom , L.Q. Jones) in search of wealth , tripping over Neo-Nazi scientific and war criminals . But to their terror they find out that they have bit off more than they can think . As a Nazi doctor (Rovert Vaughn) , Joseph Mengele-alike , still doing his experiments on people in the same place and endeavouring to reconstitute the Nazi movement from his Amazonian sanctuary by creating an army and a deadly weapon . This absurd and mindless adventure/thriller deals with a misfit crew who travels Amazons , being led by star Michael Dudikoff along with other people with reasons of their own decide to join him for the wealth of the lost city . The picture contains frenetic action , thrills , intrigue , shootouts with no much sense and a silly finale . The story is a crossover between Indiana Jones adventures , ¨Boys from Brazil¨ and films about tribes of Amazons . But it results to be too complex to be harmlessly agreeable . The acting of the little interesting characters is unbelievable and unconvincing . Good support cast , though widely wasted , including notorious secondaries such as Robert Vaughn as Wolfgang Manteuffel , Donald Pleasence as Heinrich Spaatz ,Herbert Lom as Colonel Ricardo Diaz and special mention to L.Q. Jones or Justus McQueen who still today playing . Based on an Alistair MacLean's novel , a best-selling author , whose stories have been much better rendered in other occasions . Alistair employed the pseudonym Ian Stuart several times in order to prove that his books were best-sellers due to their content and not solely because his name appeared on the cover. This is one of the several adaptations based on his novels and most of them set in WW2 , such as the successful ¨Where the eagles dare¨ and ¨Guns of Navarone¨ . Furthermore, ¨Ice Station Cebra¨ that is the first of two movies based on an Alistair MacLean novel set in rugged icy and snowy terrain , the second would be ¨Bear Island¨ . ¨Ice Station Zebra¨ is one of two filmed Alistair MacLean adaptations directed by John Sturges , the other was ¨The Satan Bug¨ made and released about three years earlier . ¨River of Death¨ produced in low budget by Avi Lerner and British Harry Alan Towers was middlingly directed by Steve Carver . He's an expert on action/thriller genre such as ¨Capone¨, ¨Big Bad Mama¨, ¨Steel¨, Drum¨ and directed two successful hits for Chuck Norris as ¨Lone McQuade¨ and ¨An eye for eye¨. His last films have been failed as ¨The wolves¨, ¨Dead center¨ and this ¨River of death¨ . Rating : below average . Too ridiculous for the complexity to be worth watching .