Customer Reviews

Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I really felt sorry for Michael Shanks as Dr. Thane in this movie. Not because of what he goes through, but because his dialogue is about as stiff and unoriginal as I've heard in a very long time. I rather liked the monster, but the script, directing, editing, and bulk of the acting were terrible. Most of the Aztec warriors looked like pale Canadian extras with bad fake tans. Except for Shanks, all of the actors regularly seemed to miss their beats. There would be just a pause too long or a pedestrian delivery. Even Michael Shanks seemed to struggle at times with his delivery. However, to give him credit, Shanks was able to pull it off better than the others. Any fans who force themselves to sit through this film will be rewarded by a number of small moments in the movie, when Shanks somehow manages to rise above the terrible writing and draw us in with a look or a smile. However, for the most part, I was cheering when every character died because it meant one less actor trashing his or her lines.

That said, there are a couple scenes that I enjoyed. One is watching Michael Shank's archeologist character ride up to the rescue on a mule carrying an umbrella like a parasol. I couldn't help wondering if it was a nod to Elizabeth Peter's intrepid character of Amelia Peabody, Egyptian archeologist. I also give the writers credit for surprising me at the end with a moment I didn't see coming, which made me laugh in delight.

It's a shame the dialogue was so bad. This really could have been an interesting story if handled better. Dr. Thane (played by Shanks) is not your usual hero and has the makings of a really fun and intriguing character. Unfortunately, one actor, no matter how good, cannot rescue a truly bad movie.

In some ways, the movie could have been summed up in one line of the dialogue, where Shank's character is asked, "What are you doing?" and he simply says "I don't know." Poor guy. I hope he was well paid.

I debated giving the movie one star, but because of Michael Shank's character, and a few choice moments, am giving it two stars.

This movie is Horrible!!!!!! it is way awful to be this long. The effects suck. The Kills suck. I mean come on the name says it all.

The ONLY way this is a "good" movie is if you're into really bad movies that are so bad they're comedies--the reason I Picked it up. Even going in with that attitude it is a bad movie. save your money.

The monster looks like a lame invisible(predator style) power ranger

Then don't bother with this one. Cheap, cheezy special effects, pitifully predictable plot line, shallow characters. Made in 2008 so you'd think they could do a better job with the effects than the cartoon like scenes we watched. Nope, I'd give this one zero stars if it would let me.

Having nothing to do with the state of Arizona, this daughter searching for her lost archeologist father tale, is characterized by mediocre acting, bad dialog, weak special effects, fake looking sets, badly cast natives, and a story that offers little that is credible or original.

Dr. Samuel Jordan (Duncan Fraser), is missing, and his daughter Susan (Shannen Dohrety) organizes a search party and heads off into the desert to find him. After gaining a few members, the group finds a sliding rock door in the face of a mountain, and enters a cave. This eventually leads to a secret canyon, home to a lost Aztec civilization, who cut out the hearts of human sacrifices to appease the bloodthirsty flying deity apparently identified as Quetzalcoatl.

There is little that is likeable or redeeming about most of the characters, though that is probably more a result of the terrible screenplay, than a lack of acting talent. Jacob Thain (Michael Shanks), a supposed expert on the Aztecs, emerges as the group's leader, and spouting a stream of pompous know-it-all dialog, soon becomes a constant source of annoyance.

This a cartoonish effort, where the special effects are weak and unimpressive, the sets look crappy, and despite the deadly serious tone, almost everything that happens is unrealistic and seems totally phony. It's typical Sy Fy material, but of a very low grade variety. Notice to parents, there are several scenes depicting a heart being ripped from someone's chest, which may be upsetting to children. Save your hard earned money and catch it on Sy Fy if you're curious about what Shannen Dohrety is up to lately.

This is one of the worst movies that I have sat through in a long time. As a fan of Star Gate, I had hopes that some of the actors would pull this low budget movie from the depths. Alas, it was difficult to determine what was worst: the acting, script, or the special effects (as an example, the "Aztecs" grunted throughout the movie like a bunch of cavemen, and many looked more Scandanavian than Native American. Save yourself the pain and don't bother with this one.

Researchers for the Smithsonian working in the Grand Canyon discover an Aztec city. Susan Jordan (Shannen Doherty) leads a team to find her father and his colleagues, who are trapped in the city by Aztec warriors and their serpent god. Michael Shanks from Stargate SG-1 is a member of the search team. Co-starring in the movie are J R Bourne, Toby Berner, Heather Doerksen, Duncan Fraser and Peter New. The movie was filmed in Kamloops, British Columbia. (I wonder why they didn't film it in the Grand Canyon?) The scenery is beautiful. Oddly enough, Kamloops is the town where Michael Shanks grew up! "The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon" is a made-for-TV period movie that has aired on the SCIFI channel.

I like this type of movie and had high hopes for a couple hours of entertainment. I thought Shannen and Michael deserved a better dialogue and special effects. I don't expect a lot from movies, only to be entertained. The acting was decent, given the movie's other limitations. I thought that Michael and Shannen had some chemistry on-screen. That said, the movie was mildly entertaining. I do recommend it for fans of the genre like myself, but only if you have nothing better to watch.

The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon (Farhad Mann, 2008)

Shannen Doherty's most recent attempt to resuscitate her television career is bound to do about as well as the last dozen did. The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon is the kind of movie that makes me wonder whether the powers that be in the acquisitions department at the Sci-Fi Channel really will buy anything you throw at them. I've seen movies filmed on four-figure budgets this month with better plots, more solid acting, and more inspired direction. This isn't even phoned in; someone dashed off an email instead.

Doherty stars as the spunky (of course) daughter of a missing archaeologist (The Exorcism of Emily Rose's Duncan Fraser) in turn-of-the-century Arizona. The dig he's supposed to be working on, before he went off on his jaunt in the mountains, is currently being headed up by his assistant (Heather Doerksen, recently of the remake of The Eye) and supervised by a member of the Smithsonian (Michael Shanks). There's another chap around who seems to be in some sort of supervisory position (J. R. Bourne), but I never quite caught why he was such a bigwig. Anyway, a journalist friend of said missing archaeologist shows up in camp one day with a lead, and the troupe head off to the grand canyon to find out if he's still alive. This involves discovering whether his long-held belief that ancient Egyptians settled in Arizona is valid or not. (This is not nearly as ludicrous when you remember a similar Sci-FI Channel Original Dog called Legion of the Dead, where ancient Egyptians had settled in southern California, or at least that's what the palm trees and license plates taught us.) Unfortunately for the team, the reality turns out to be a good deal more plausible, if also more deadly.

It will eventually occur to low-budget movie directors and bad TV writers everywhere that people watched Beverly Hills 90210 in spite of Doherty's presence, not because of it (and she was certainly not the only actor in that cast who was subpar in that arena), and that she's relatively useless as a draw. Mann (The Lawnmower Man 2) did, however, manage a pretty impressive feat here in making sure that Doherty was actually the best actor of the bunch. There's not a single good performance to be found in this movie. Not even a decent one. The badly-CGIed creature conveys more emotion than these characters do. It doesn't help that Mann does absolutely nothing to help the process along; he's shooting (supposedly, anyway) in one of the most photogenic places on the planet, and does he take advantage of this at all? (Hint: the question implies the answer.)

Just plain awful in every regard. Avoid at all costs. *

"Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon" is pretty much a standard SyFy channel offering, with the exception that it's set in the early 1900's. This was definitely not the best movie I've ever seen, but I can't say it was the very worst I've ever seen, either. Mildy entertaining, but at times I found my mind wandering. I give it 2.5 stars, so I rounded up to 3.

Fans of Stargate SG-1 will appreciate seeing Michael Shanks (SG-1's Daniel) and J.R. Bourne (SG-1's Martouf). Oddly enough Michael Shanks is an archeologist here, too. I won't detail the storyline as others have already done so.

I realize this is from SyFy, and that life isn't all roses, but I was kind of surprised at the amount of gore, some of it was quite gross. I haven't seen it quite this bad with SyFy's other movies. Since this is a TV movie and it's "not rated", I wanted to point this out. (I would rate it at least pg-13 due to the gore.)
A few examples: a man gets shot in the forehead with an arrow, someone commits suicide and chunky-looking blood is shown hitting the wall, a couple of people are cut open on an alter (while conscious) and their hearts are taken out while blood runs down their sides, and the worst was when a man had half his head cut off at a steep angle in a booby-trap. While we're talking about content, there are no bedroom scenes, however a man makes an inappropriate comment when he finds a woman looking for something in his tent. Hopefully this partial content review will help someone make a more informed decision! :)

I really can't see watching this more than once...while I did watch the whole thing, I have no desire to ever see it again. At times it wasn't too bad, but other (most) times I was anxious for it to be over. If you're curious, rent it or try to catch it on Syfy, but I wouldn't recommend making a decision to buy it until after you've seen it.

Actually filmed in Thompson-Nicola Region, British Columbia, Canada, this film is no ware near plausible. But it can be a lot of fun no one stays in the car or rather where they should be. Everyone sticks his/her nose in and gets it bit off. The dialog is lackluster, the graphics are pathetic. Yet it is fun to say "don't touch that", and "will they ever learn?"

It is the early 20th Century and we have horses, wagons and whatnot. Dr. Samuel Jordon (Duncan Fraser) and his team of archeologists are being snacked on by an unseen force. Meanwhile back at the ranch or should I say dig his daughter Susan (Shannen Doherty) is worried and decides to look for her father at the location where he was last seen in the Grand Canyon. She takes along the standard character set of friends; clumsy, gutsy, sneaky, and mysterious. Will the team find Dr. Jordon in time or will they also be dispatched in the underground labyrinth overlooked by, you guessed it Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent. And is there time enough for love?

I'm a fan of Michael Shanks and Shannen Doherty. The film was listed as 'unrated' and seemed to me to have potential for some bawdy antics from Heather Doerksen. Out in the middle of the Grand Canyon landscape anything can happen. Maybe even the feared monster could manage something like ripping a blouse or something. But none of that takes place, and the movie disappointed me because Shannen Doherty is so tame and conservative. Her 90210 acting gave me some hope she wouldn't be so victorian in her attire, and Shannen played in Hell on Heels as well as in Charmed with a lot more sexual energy. Michael Shanks was throttled back in potential too, and I think the emphasis was meant to fall more upon the savage tribe of lost Inca/Aztec type people, and if Michael Shanks wasn't in it, I'd have tossed this one into the garbage bin - too ashamed to give it away. This kind of movie is why adventure films typically get passed over - they NEED to be passed over. Boo and hiss. Don't buy this unless you just don't have anything else better to watch on the cartoon channel.