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33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Three Stars, But A Great Guilty Pleasure, July 29, 2005
Deep in Africa, late at night, a Range Rover bounces over a rough track when suddenly the headlights pick out a face...a man buried up to his neck in sandy soil. A young couple, scientists, are horrified. They get out and walk to the face. The eyes are open and staring. Suddenly a tall native appears and tells them they are intruding on sacred soil. Then other natives appear with torches and begin to dance around the huddled couple and the head. And from the car appears a small, blond child, curious but apparently unafraid. At the climax, the head moves, shoulders appear, the body rises from the soil, free of the terrible sores which had afflicted it. Mysteriously, the man has been healed.
Days later, the couple set out to explore the source of the healing soil which seems to be from a cave in the sacred Guchar Mountain. Unknown to them they are followed by their child. When they are killed in a cave in, the child survives. And then the shaman lifts the child in the air before a gathering of the tribe and proclaims to all that "the prophecy has come to pass. When a day when the sacred mountain cries out, a golden god child shall come from the depths of Guchar and she shall grow in wisdom and be the protector of the Zamboulis and all their creatures...and she shall be called Sheena, queen of the jungle."
Sheena (Tanya Roberts) grows into a strikingly beautiful woman, who sleeps with snakes, plays with elephants, splashes with hippopotami and rides zebras. She has telepathic power and can call not only on mammals and reptiles, but on birds as well, small and large. In fact, those who have seen the shapely Sheena swear that she has the biggest parakeets in Africa.
But enough of that. The brother of the king of a neighboring land assassinates his sibling and plans to open the sacred lands of the Zambouli to large-scale mining. Prince Otwani (Trevor Thomas) has learned that rich ore is there for the taking. Backing him up is the evil Princess Zanda (France Zobda), who had been betrothed to the dead king, and a band of tough mercenaries led by the ruthless, white-haired Colonel Jorgensen (John Forgeham). However, a visiting reporter, Vic Casey (Ted Wass) and Fletch (Donovan Scott), his chubby photographer, find evidence implicating the Prince. The chase is on, with Sheena, Vic and Fletch on the run, and the bad guys using helicopters and armored vehicles coming after them. Only Sheena's jungle smarts and the animals she can call on stand in the way of Prince Otwani winning the day.
This is one of the guilty pleasure movies I get a kick out of. Roberts is a truly limited actress. When she calls on the animals, she places the back of her hand to her forehead and looks like she's getting a migraine. When she tries to be angry, she's only petulant. And the movie handles the love scenes between Sheena and Vic in such an awkward way that you can't stop looking. Sheena at last discovers love in the arms of Vic one afternoon when he kisses her. We know, because the camera pans to thousands of flamingos suddenly taking off from a lake. Still, the premise of the movie is a good-natured reverse of the Tarzan story. Vic may be courageous, but Sheena has to help him climb a tree, scramble down a cliff and demonstrate how to shoot a fire arrow into barrels of gasoline. Not least, Sheena looks great bathing nude in a lake, bathing nude under a waterfall, and bathing nude...well, you get the idea. It's mindless, corny fun, and I like it.
The DVD picture looks good but it's only available, as far as I know, in full-frame. The movie was shot wide screen. There are no significant extras.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just Imagine a Female Tarzan. , August 21, 2004
With slight modifications, Sheena is basically just a female version of Tarzan (my all-time favorite fictional character). Everyone pretty much knows going in that the plot, dialogue and acting of a film like this will be of the "B" movie variety, and it is (kinda like Indiana Jones but a bit less compelling). What's magnificent, awe-inspiring and "A" level is the African locations (Kenya), the score and Tanya Roberts.
Seriously, if you're bored with your every-day locale this movie is the perfect antidote. It's virtually a two-hour tour of some of the most gorgeous African scenery you'll ever feast your eyes on. As for the score, it's pleasant and meditative; reminiscent of "Chariots of Fire." As for Tanya Roberts, what can I say? She's stunningly ravishing.
I was a little surprized by the PG rating because Sheena (Roberts) is shown TOTALLY nude on a number of occasions and prances around throughout the flick in a ridiculously skimpy leather bikini; but then it struck me that it's portrayed in an inoffensive way like Eve in Eden before the fall and the consequent awareness of evil. In other words, there's an almost child-like innocence and purity to Sheena even though she's a quite skilled warrior. I commend the film-makers for successfully capturing this quality. For this reason I personally don't feel the movie is inappropriate for kids, despite the nudity.
My rating of "4 Stars" reflects the happy medium between the 3-Star plot, dialogue & acting and the 5-Star African locations, score and Ms. Roberts.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sheena Was Made To Showcase Tanya Roberts, July 7, 2005
Sheena wasn't made to win any Academy awards. Nevertheless, for a "B" film the photography is actually quite good. Granted, Tanya's acting ability at this time in her life needed a lot of work. I'm sure the producers were aware of this going in and didn't care. They knew the attraction would be to watch Sheena doing her thing in her jungle outfit. Tanya was the perfect choice considering the reason for the film. Sheena was made to showcase Tanya Roberts stunning physical attributes and was successful in this regard. She is the reason the movie is still moderately popular after 20 years. So if you like this type of eye-candy film, enjoy! It wasn't meant to be anything else.
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