800 Leagues Down the Amazon

Description

On an ark the size of a house, they quietly headed down the Amazon. For the others, it was a chance for adventure. For outlaw Joam Garral, it was the only way he could go back to Brazil. And while the muddy Amazon water hides its bloodthirsty denizens, even greater danger lurks for Garral. His secret past gets out and a ruthless bounty hunter is hot on his trail. Now deep in the jungle, there's no turning back and few make it out alive!

Customer Reviews:

Jules Verne? No, It's Roger Corman! 800 Leagues of Pedestrian Journey to Boredom.......2006-09-15

On the back cover of the video of `Jules Verne's 800 Leagues Down the Amazon,' you can read the following tagline - `From the Creator of the Fantasty (sic) classics, "Around the World in 80 Days" and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"; the fact is, it is from the king of B-movie Roger Corman (as executive producer), and Luis Llosa, director of much better `Anaconda.' The difference is that this cheaply made film has no Vincent Price or man-eating CGI creatures, and this boring tale based on one of Jules Verne's books is not even campy.

Barry Bostwick is Garral, rich and respected plantation owner in Brazil. When his daughter Minha (Daphne Zuniga) got engaged to a clean and nice doctor Manoel (Tom Verica), Garral, wrongly accused and outlawed, decides to go down the river with them in order to attend their wedding ceremony, after building a huge, house-like raft floating on the Amazon, on which they can travel to the city of Manaos. But a wily bounty hunter Koja (Adam Baldwin) keeps the secret of Garral, and waits patiently for a chance to use it.

From the beginning the film suffers from the clueless direction and low budget. In other words, the film always looks cheap. The alligators in the water (obviously provoked by someone standing out of the range of the camera) are not fearful or terrifying, and their attacks are at best growling and biting the wood. But all the characters somehow keep crying and screaming all the time when a bullet in the head can settle it. Oh, and piranhas? Well, I saw them twice, for about ten seconds.

The dialogues are so banal and insipid that they are sleep-inducing, and there is no acting from the actors. But they should not be blamed. What can you expect from the director of `The Specialist,' in which showy pyrotechnic is more impressive than two highly-paid stars?

The film proudly calls itself `Jules Verne's' but it hardly deserves the name of the writer. You need better ideas than the hostile `natives' running around half naked, a Chinese servant played by a Japanese actor, or a secret code that can be solved by pointing a gun at someone's head. Avoid it.

There is a Mexican film `La Jangada' (1959) based on the same novel (but I haven't seen it).

NOT ONE OF JULES JEWELS.......2005-03-14

Considering the wonderful masterpieces Jules Verne gave us, it's hard to believe that this dull and lifeless movie is based on a novel he wrote. At any rate, 800 LEAGUES DOWN THE AMAZON is so poorly scripted, edited, acted and directed, I'm sure the actors involved don't include this on their resumes! Barry Bostwick plays a wealthy plantation owner who has a deep dark secret which bounty hunter Adam Baldwin stumbles upon. Bostwick also has a daughter (Daphne Zuniga in a horrible Hayley Mills impersonation) who has just accepted a marriage proposal from kindly doctor Tom Verica (American Dreams). Only problem is he wants to be married further down the Amazon because his mother is sick and wouldn't be able to come to the plantation for the wedding. So Bostwick builds this incredibly overwrought boat replete with piano, tables, etc, and they head down the Amazon. Of course, nasty Baldwin worms his way on board and blackmails Bostwick wanting not only money but his daughter's hand in marriage. They encounter arrow wielding natives, who look like they're all of 10 years old; piranhas that look amazingly like goldfish, and alligators with horrible overbites. The movie is laconic to say the least, culminating in a totally preposterous last minute ending. Stick to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Mysterious Island or Journey to the Center of the Earth for good movies from Mr. Verne. This one is not a jewel at all.

one of the worsts ever watched.......2005-01-23

loose script, lousy directing, horrible acting, the female actress is perhaps one of worst ones like that matrix guy who could never act but with a pretty face. the whole movie is just like going-nowhere purposeless drive to an dead end. i threw it away to the garbage can after cursed it to the finish. wasted money bought this junk. three stars? give me a break.

Satisfactory.......2000-04-21

Satisfactory adventure film. There are enough tense moments to make the film interesting. The story moves along quickly. The film and actors will win no awards but I found the movie enjoyable enough.

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