Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992)

Genoese navigator overcomes intrigue in the court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain and gains financing for his expedition to the East Indies.

Director:

John Glen

Writers:

Mario Puzo (story), John Briley (screenplay)

Stars:

Marlon Brando, Tom Selleck, Georges Corraface

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marlon Brando	...	Tomas de Torquemada
Tom Selleck	...	King Ferdinand
Georges Corraface	...	Christopher Columbus (as George Corraface)
Rachel Ward	...	Queen Isabella of Castille
Robert Davi	...	Martin Pinzon
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Beatriz (as Catherine Zeta Jones)
Oliver Cotton	...	Harana
Benicio Del Toro	...	Alvaro Harana (as Benicio del Toro)
Mathieu Carrière	...	King John (as Mathieu Carriere)
Manuel de Blas	...	Vicente Pinzon
Glyn Grain	...	De La Cosa
Peter Guinness	...	Fra Perez
Nigel Terry	...	Roldan
Nitzan Sharron	...	Benjamin
Steven Hartley	...	Terreros

Storyline

Genoan navigator Christopher Columbus has a dream to find an alternative route to sail to the Indies, by traveling west instead of east, across the unchartered Ocean sea. After failing to find backing from the Portugese, he goes to the Spanish court to ask Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand for help. After surviving a grilling from the Head of the Spanish Inquisition Tomas de Torquemada, he eventually gets the blessing from Queen Isabella and sets sail in three ships to travel into the unknown. Along the way he must deal with sabotage from Portugese spies and mutiny from a rebellious crew.

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Plot Keywords:

queen isabella | spain | spanish inquisition | torquemada | christopher columbus | 

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Taglines:

Chosen by a queen. Driven by a dream. He dared to go to the edge, and kept going.

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some action violence, and for nudity

Details

Country:

UK USA Spain

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 August 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cristóbal Colón: el descubrimiento

Filming Locations:

Atlantic Ocean

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$8,251,071

Company Credits

Production Co:

Christopher Columbus Productions,Quinto Centenario

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Georges Corraface inherited his leading role from Timothy Dalton three days before filming began.

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Quotes

Christopher Columbus: [to the prostitute who tried to mug him] Stick to your profession, beware the Genoese, and shun the Devil!

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Connections

Version of Animated Hero Classics: Christopher Columbus (1991)

User Reviews

The discovery is that the film's a turkey.

Columbus must have turned in his grave because this is one of the worst films of the '90s, devoid of anything that could make it work on every level. It's a very old-fashioned adventure story, except in the old days they knew how to make film's like these. Director John Glen (who made some of the James Bond films) badly handles what little action there is and his direction is uninspired and unintentionally camp. The film looks like it was made in the '70s and there is no trace of style at all. The scenes on the islands with the Indians are a hoot. Production quality is poor (the ships look like they were made from cardboard), but that nothing compared to the terrible acting. Selleck and Ward as Ferdinand and Isabella are terrible, as is Corraface as Columbus, and the only pain Brando is giving out as Torqumada is by his mumbling performance. The script is based entirely in cliché terms and ideas are half hatched. It also bares a worrying resemblance to Carry on Columbus. The editing is some of the worst ever done for a film with scenes put together in slap-dash fashion with no sense of time or coherence. An object lesson in how NOT to make a film on every level. It even fails on its simplest level: to portray the courage and vision that these men had to cross the "ocean of darkness". Ridley Scott's 1492: Conquest of Paradise is so much better in every way that it doesn't do justice to be mentioned it in the same review.