Treasure of Matecumbe

I first watched this movie when I was about 7 or 8 and I watched it over and over again it was so good. I wish I could see it again, but the DVD is still very hard to come by. The movie deals with a young boy and his companion who are forced to flee from their home in search of a treasure. Jim and Ben end up meeting lots of different people who can help them along the way, but they also have a lot of things happen to them that either slows them down or simply gets in their way, but none the less it's a very entertaining movie and has a good plot to it. It's a good show to see as a kid or even adult if you like stories that entail treasure hunting. It actually has a good story to it unlike some movies today that are just filled with special effects. So if you want to see a good old fashioned treasure hunting flick then you have found it.

The Disney movie "Treasure of Matecumbe" has all but been forgotten today, and it doesn't take long into watching it to figure out why. The main fault with it is that despite it involving youths on a treasure hunt, the movie is surprisingly boring whether you are a kid or a kid at heart. There's very little action, and the movie moves at a snail's pace. Though there are signs that it could have been worse, since there are several moments when it's clear that linking footage was either edited out or not filmed at all. The cast tries their best under the circumstances, but their roles aren't written to be particularly interesting, though Ustinov does manage to bring a little color at times.

Still, I will admit that no movie that has an appearance by Dub Taylor can be completely bad.

A prettily photographed, occasionally enjoyable but rather leisurely paced Disney adventure. It features an amusing Peter Ustinov (as a good-hearted quack), some pretty good special effects (except for a mosquito attack, which looks awful) and a few unusually adult elements (one character is nearly executed by the Ku Klux Klan). The two leading kids are not irritating at all, and the film is agreeable enough, but too long and not very compelling story-wise. (**1/2)

This is one of those Disney flicks from the '70s that you may or might have enjoyed as a kid and while it retains some charm when you watch it as an adult, you notice some plot holes you didn't notice or were willing to overlook when you were younger. I'm 38 and this is my first time seeing Treasure of Matecumbe which I'd been meaning to watch for 20 years but somehow didn't get to. Anyway, it concerns two boys looking for a treasure in the Florida Keys. Along the way, they encounter a bride escaping from her husband to be, a medicine man, and an uncle of one of them as he's about to be lynched by the Ku Klux Klan! I'll stop right here and mention some of the players: Robert Foxworth, Joan Hackett, Peter Ustinov, Dick Van Patten, Dub Taylor, George 'Goober' Lindsey, and Jane Wyatt who died at 96 a couple of weeks ago, bless her soul. The plot is pretty entertaining though it takes a while to get going. Best sequences involve a hurricane and some pirates led by Vic Morrow. Like I said, this might be more enjoyable for kids than adults so watch it with them if you can.

This is slightly slow and the plot is a bit convoluted...however...it's a heartfelt adventure film. The film allows Disney to re-inforce the importance of education and just as important show society's disgust at racism when the klan members are set in fire (I have to admit I definitely chuckled here). It was slightly disappointing to see their handling of Native American culture, but I don't believe ill intent was meant. It is overall a film to enjoy for what it is and not take to serious any perceived slights. The medicine show portrayed in the film while cringey and offensive today, is accurate for that time(1800's). A talking point for families to discuss and move on.