Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls (2008) (V)

User Rating:

3.0/10   

Director:

Mark Atkins

Writers:

H. Rider Haggard (novel)
David Michael Latt (writer)

Release Date:

29 April 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Tagline:

History's greatest treasure, Protected by the world's most dangerous land.

Plot Keywords:

Native Tribe | Adventurer | Train | Block Blunder | Rescue

Cast

Sean Cameron Michael	...	Allan Quatermain
Christopher Adamson	...	Hartford
Natalie Stone	...	Lady Anna
Daniel Bonjour	...	Sir Henry Curtis
Wittly Jourdan	...	Umbopa
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mr. Big	...	Big
Henry Brown	...	Engineer
Peter Conway	...	Prospector Dan Tuddle
Nick Everhart	...	Neville Heresford
Thomas Fakude	...	King Twala
Kende Gamede	...	Mhambi
Phiwayinkosi Gumede	...	General Infadoos
Jiyane	...	Jiyane
Xolisile Khanyile	...	Nonkululeko
Mbali Mabaso	...	Dancer
Nonhlahla Mbokazi	...	Dancer
Trenton McRae	...	Short Henchman
Sholi Mnguni	...	Dancer
Mfafa Msimango	...	Bhekizizwe
Mpume Mthiyane	...	Sizwe
Nomkhosi Mthiyane	...	Nkosazana
Nonhlahla Mthiyane	...	Londisizwe
Mzuza	...	Gagool
Nomthandazo Ntanzi	...	Dancer
Mduduz Nxumalo	...	Scragga
Mtombifuthi Sibiya	...	Dancer
Larry Zeug	...	Prospector Ed Mackelroy
Khanysile Zungu	...	Dancer

MPAA:

Rated R for some nudity.

Runtime:

USA:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Zulu

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (5.1 surround)

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | USA:R | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Company:

Asylum, The

Goofs:

Continuity: In the Zulu village, it's lightly raining in every scene with the King standing in front of his hut, but never at any other time.

Movie Connections:

Version of King Solomon's Mines (1985)

What a mess!

What a mammoth stuff-up!

There's a place to record goofs on IMDb but, come on guys, there isn't enough space for them all! What period was the movie actually set in? There was a modern motion detector in one scene and a working steam train in others. (I like steam trains, by the way, so I'll give the movie 3 just for those shots!) When Lady Anna sprains her ankle, the supposed-to-be real "Indiana Jones" character is so stupid that he removes her boot out in the middle of nowhere! I'm no bushman but even I wouldn't have done that. It stands to reason that, if the ankle is injured, once the compression of the boot is removed, it will swell up to the point where getting the boot back on would be impossible. So, when the party moves on in the next scene, Anna is not wearing her boots (neither of them!). What she IS wearing isn't easy to see but, since the group had no extra gear with them, it must have been someone else's socks! But guess what? In the very next scene climbing a steep and rugged escarpment, there's Lady Anna with her boots on again!

Then, after suffering lousy screenplay, pathetic acting (from EVERYONE - with the possible exception of Wittley Jourdan). awful continuity and sad attention to detail, viewers are presented with a whole sequence of scenes in the bowels of the earth where no one took any sort of lighting, yet everything was brilliantly illuminated enough for the protagonist to see a black "beheading glove" with which to win the battle! Wow! The excitement was just too much for me!

Now, in most action movies, it is customary to have a bit of glamour somewhere so what went wrong here? By no stretch of the imagination could Natalie Stone be described as glamorous! Come to think of it, did South Africa EVER make a hit movie? The best I can think of was "The Gods Must Be Crazy" and that wasn't all that great!

If anyone is reading this before contemplating watching this movie, take it from me - DON'T!

I need to go and lie down! I just hope I don't fall asleep - I might have nightmares about being a cast member in a Mark Atkins movie!