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One of the all-time greats, Invaders of the Lost Gold is a cult classic movie that probably didn’t get the recognition it richly deserves. A treasure hunt in the jungles of Vietnam, the film tells the story of a team of treasure hunters and a young Vietnam veteran who find gold buried under the jungle floor but use it for their own nefarious purposes. Starring John Phillip Law, Roberta Collins, and the one and only Slim Pickens, Invaders is a tight, intense, and action-packed thriller that is hard to look away from.
In the second episode of the original Star Trek series, the crew of the Enterprise is faced with an unexpected obstacle: a fleet of gold-seeking aliens. The aliens, who call themselves the Ferengi, are anything but friendly, and their attitude is reflected in their name. After the Enterprise encounters the Ferengi, the crew is forced to defend the ship against them while searching for the lost Federation gold. Even though they do not know where the gold is, the Enterprise crew gets in a few licks, and gets the job done.
Verdict
Summary
Invaders of the Lost Gold has a promising opening act, but then grinds to a stop and never cranks its engines up again. It’s not a parody on Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it’s definitely in the same genre of treasure seeking adventure.
Plot:
During a battle with locals in the Philippines, Japanese troops hide a crate worth of gold bars in a cave, and 30 years later, a treasure-hunting expedition sets out to recover it.
Review:
A squadron of Japanese troops is reduced down to just three survivors after a battle with headhunting locals in the Philippines’ jungles, and what they carry is priceless: a crate full of Nazi money. They hide it deep in a cave where no one will ever discover it, with the promise of retrieving it 30 years later. The former Japanese troops have gone on with their lives, disinterested in risking their lives by returning to the Philippines to fulfill their promise, but a mythology has sprung up around the buried treasure. A cunning businessman travels directly to the root of the tale, and when he comes across the Japanese captain who led the squadron through the forest all those years ago, he demands to know where the treasure is hidden, and after obtaining a map from the guy, he murders him. When he informs one of the other two surviving former troops what happened to his commanding officer, the second soldier performs seppuku, ready to die to keep his secret hidden. When he meets with the third soldier (Harold Sakata, who portrayed Oddjob in Goldfinger), he offers him a quarter of the wealth in exchange for his assistance in leading a squad back into the jungles. A crew is formed after a contract is struck: a rich patron and his daughter (played by Glynis Barber), an adventurer gone bad (Stuart Whitman), an enforcer (Woody Strode), and some additional weight, including a lovely lady (Laura Gemser) whom the adventurer used to court. As the journey starts, tensions arise amongst some of the treasure seekers, and strange fatalities (first a snake bite and later an unexplained drowning) raise the stakes for the explorers. Only a handful will eventually reach the treasure itself, and those few who are left will battle to the death to claim it.
Invaders of the Lost Gold has a promising opening act, but then grinds to a stop and never cranks its engines up again. It’s not a parody on Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it’s definitely in the same genre of treasure seeking adventure. Despite being just 88 minutes long, the film seems much longer. The crew takes an eternity to coagulate, and then their trip is sluggish and without any danger. One character dies a strange death by drowning (? ), but it’s implied that something else happens, such as a monster assault or… I’m not sure. It’s such a strange thing that occurs in the film, and no one bothers to explain it. I was anticipating a picture about cannibals vs. treasure seekers, but it never occurs, despite the fact that it is heavily implied at the start. In the end, this film is a disappointment, although it had all the necessary elements to turn some heads… or cut them off.
Invaders of the Lost Gold has recently been published on Blu-ray for the first time, and it’s in high definition for the first time. It was interesting to learn about this one since I’d never heard of it before, and Severin deserves credit for bringing it to the disc era. It includes an on-camera interview with the filmmaker as well as outtakes from the Machete Maidens Unleashed documentary.
Movie enthusiasts have been awaiting the Severin Entertainment re-release of the 1982 horror film Invaders of the Lost Gold on Blu-ray for quite some time now. The film stars David Hess, Craig Richard Nelson, and Gary Busey, and although it’s difficult to remember the film is almost thirty years old, that doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable.. Read more about the awakening blu-ray review and let us know what you think.
Related Tags
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