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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
NOT ONE OF JULES JEWELS, March 13, 2005
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.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
one of the worsts ever watched, January 22, 2005
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.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
A cheap Jules Verne adaptation unworthy of its source, January 21, 2008
The new film version of Jules Verne's La Jangada, entitled 800 LEAGUES DOWN THE AMAZON, can best be described in one word--cheap. It is apparently the result of a new trend in production, movies made directly for release in the video market. Such pictures can be made for as little as a million dollars, and lack the budget of features intended for showing in theaters, or even made-for-television movies. In fact, although the original running time is 88 minutes, 800 LEAGUES DOWN THE AMAZON has been released for video in a considerably shortened version, 75 minutes long.
There is no feeling at all for the locale or time in such basics as costumes, decor, or setting, and no introduction or intertitle is provided to establish the year or country. In one embarrassing scene, Torres places his foot on a table, to reveal that he is wearing a boot with a modern sole. Another sign of the quick production schedule is the fact that the key scene in which Torres reveals his purpose to Garral has both men's faces in shadow, concealing their emotions and reactions. Lighting and photography is passable at best, failing to fully exploit the story's pictorial possibilities.
Despite this fact, the picture has an unusually good cast for such a budget. Barry Bostwick adds a touch of class as a dignified, understated Joam Garral. (The picture suffers accordingly once he is jailed and largely off-screen.) Daphne Zuniga is a fairly credible Minha, transformed into a courageous heroine and modern-style woman. A devotee of horse-back riding, she easily outshines her rather impractical fiance, Manoel, played by Tom Verica. The plot is changed so that it is Minha, not Manoel, who pursues and kills Torres. However, Adam Baldwin as the villianous Torres overacts deplorably throughout.
The adaptation and screenplay is by Laura Schiff and Jackson Barr. The simplistic dialogue is poor, and could be followed by even the most distracted audience, indicating it was perhaps originally adapted with television (and its interruptions for commercial breaks) in mind. The story has been pared down to its essentials and the five principal inndividuals, eliminating such characters as Lina, Benito, and Yaquita. Fragoso (E.E. Ross) is still present, providing comic relief. The raft design roughly follows the Verne concept, although vaguely resembling a converted boat (as was also true of the 1960 Mexican version of La Jangada). However, the trip is portrayed as an almost semi-annual, prosaic event rather than a unique tour of the Amazon. The picture's best portion is the middle third, during the trip down the Amazon, after a dynamic fight with alligators. The first portion of 800 LEAGUES DOWN THE AMAZON is marred by re-arranging the chronology of the narrative, so that Torres learns the secret of Joam Garral after an accidental visit to his plantation. Torres joins the trip later while it is in progress, in a manner that would have made anyone suspicious.
Other changes are also harmful. There is some distasteful violence from showing Torres as a bounty hunter who brings in the severed heads of his victims. There is emphasis on the dangerous attacks by ferocious natives, both in the opening scene pursuing Torres, and later when they attack the raft. The Judges lose all the humane traits Verne had given them. The deciphering of the confession is not done in a credible manner. The code has not even been read before Minha's proclamation of her evidence is believed and Garral saved at the gallows.
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