Product: Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987)
Rating: 4.0
A sequel to MINES
KING SOLOMON'S MINES and ALLAN QUATERMAIN AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD are typically over-shadowed by the bigger budget INDIANA JONES trilogy. There is good reason for that; the IJ movies are the apex of the action movie genre. However, that's not a good reason NOT to watch these two flicks.The films detail the exploits of a hero named Allan Quatermain (Richard Chamberlain) and his girlfriend / fiancee Jessie (Sharon Stone). Together they make up a sort of Indiana Jones character as he is an adventureman while she is a scholar / philologist.The two films lead them to exotic places where they must fend off natives as well as bad guys who are out to kill them. THE LOST CITY OF GOLD also features James Earl Jones as a friend of Allan's who joins them in their adventure.The lost city of gold itself seems to be @ least loosely based on the mythical Eldorado which Voltaire made so famous in his CANDIDE. I realize that Eldorado is South America while this city is supposedly in the middle of Africa, but the general legend is roughly the same.If adventure movies are your thing, then these two belong on your shelf of DVDs. Yes, they are somewhat low budget and the monsters in them are not particularly convincing. And, yes, there are some aspects about the final battle that are a bit hokey. However, that is not really the "point." These movies are FUN! The soundtracks are very good and we also get to see Sharon Stone in the prime of her beauty. What more could you ask for? Huh?