Golden Rendezvous

"Golden Rendezvous" is an utter mess of a movie. On the screen, for sure, but allegedly even more so behind the scenes. Lead star and notorious troublemaker Richard Harris was drinking heavily on set, fired fellow actors (including the almighty Christopher Lee), and independently decided to rewrite the scenario and consequently delaying the filming schedule. Not that the scenario couldn't use a couple of good rewrites, though. It's an adaptation of an Alistair MacLean novel and, in my humble opinion, he was one of the most overrated blockbuster authors in history.

We're aboard of the Caribbean Star; - a former cargo ship rebuilt into a cruise ship. Well, actually, it's not much more than a ramshackle and floating casino full of miserable old gamblers. One of them is a terrorist and he brings a lot of heavily armed men on board. The hijackers aren't interested in the tourist passengers (and who can blame them) and want to trade their lives against a shipment of gold on another ship. However, First Officer John Carter sees his chance to become a hero.

The most positive thing I can write about "Golden Rendezvous" is that it's extremely violent. The shootouts, notably in the casino when the terrorists enter, are bloody and explicit. Apart from the blood-red highlights, the film is dull and uninspired. Initially I hoped it would be a sort of glorious and flamboyant disaster movie, like there were many during the 70s decade, but it's a caper/heist flick that never really kickstarts. There are many great names in the supportive cast, but they are all wasted. Burgess Meredith and John Carradine depict insignificant old gamblers, and David Janssen's character does nothing but boozing vodka. I assume his assignment was to do in front of the camera what lead star Richard Harris was doing behind the scenes.

This is one of Alistair MacLean's most nervously exciting thrillers, and the film is equally sweaty. You won't have any nails left to bite when it is over.

A Caribbean cruiser with the crème de la crème on board, all posh multi millionaires with one or another question mark, is leaving some port somewhere, there is a gang sitting around the roulette, there are cocktail parties, all are well dressed and may not appear unless they are proper enough, and of course there is a femme fatale among them, seemingly the mistress of David Janssen, one of the greatest question marks on board.

There is also a suspicious cancer patient closely guarded by a forbidding German nurse, and soon important members of the crew start to get killed, especially around the communication centre.

Fortunately Richard Harris is on board, and another one to help with the situation is Gordon Jackson as the doctor, whose help is going to be needed when the ship gets crowded with patients and bodies.

There is a suspicious coffin on board as well, the contents of which is anything but a dead body. There the intrigue starts, and Richard Harris will get his hands full in due order, as he always does.

It's a great film of suspense no matter how cheaply made it is, you don't have to put much effort to it when Alistair MacLean has written the story and already provided all the details needed to put together an awesome show of violence, war, gunfights, sinking ships, explosions, bloody murders and a terrifying plot. Great show!

"Golden Rensezvous" looks and sounds a lot like a TV movie, but the one thing that is quite un-TV-like about it, at least for its era, is the amount of violence it contains: lots of bloody squibs, stabbings, even a massacre of innocent people. The film is also notable for its similarities to "Die Hard", which came out a decade later: terrorists and hostages in a confined space (this time, a ship), and one resourceful hero who has to fight them from the inside. Of course you have to ignore the various implausibilities, like the astonishingly easy way in which the bad guys smuggle themselves AND a bomb inside the ship. Unfortunately, Richard Harris, who is usually an excellent actor (check out the same year's "Orca" for an example), seems to be operating on autopilot here, except when he's in action. Ann Turkel is decorative most of the way, until she picks up a machine gun near the very end. There are some other big names in the cast, but most of them are almost completely wasted. The movie gets a passing grade, but you can see why it is largely forgotten today. ** out of 4.

Alistair McClean's Golden Rendezvous has Richard Harris as first officer Carter who on-board the casino/cargo ship the Caribbean star becomes involved with intrigue and the usual McClean daring do. John Vernon is the villainous Carreas who holds the ship to ransom with an atomic bomb in return for gold bullion, the inspiration for Die- Hard is all too apparent you have Harris sneaking about the ship in a manner all too familiar which Bruce Willis would later emulate Ann Turkel(former Mrs Richard Harris) Burgess Meredith as a shady gambler, John Carradine also a gambler. it's an entertaining film which is unobtainable for years! as luck would have it you can watch this on you-tube! hopefully some bright spark will release this on the shiny format.

Action-packed suspense thriller finds innocuous-looking purser Carter (Harris) the unlikely hero when the floating casino on which he works is hijacked by a heavily armed group of mercenaries, led by John Vernon, the pirates en route to a rendezvous with another ocean liner, loaded with gold bullion. A cast full of supernovas, dazzling set & stunt work, and a catchy theme tune by Jeff Wayne create a pleasing audio-visual experience light on logic but fast paced and entertaining nonetheless.

While Harris clearly has centre stage, Jackson, Vernon and Meredith benefit from key supporting roles in this somewhat bloody thriller. Vernon in particular, is sadistically ruthless and calculated as a business-like assassin, cool, methodical and neither fooled nor intimidated by Harris' faux bravado. Turkel (Mrs Harris at the time) affects inane dialogue without displaying much acting talent, while capable cast including Janssen, former leading lady Malone, Beatty and horror maestro Carradine are wasted in frivolous supporting roles that look as though they were edited down to virtual bit parts in post production; in point of fact, some key plot development is conspicuously absent, and the narrative can at times, lack cohesion.

But in spite of the obvious flaws, this remains an easy viewing nonsense, with an attractive international cast, pulsating sound and plenty of graphic action - the scene in which the mercenaries first rappel through the casino windows is sure to catch a few off guard, and sets the tone for the remainder of the movie. Not the best translation of an Alistair MacLeanthriller, gratuitously violent (lots of claret), and yet somehow, irresistibly entertaining.