Lost Treasure

I am fascinated by this film. It has Made-For-TV all over it, but there is way too much money on the screen for that. Others here have flat-out panned this film as a waste of time and questioned how films like this get made. I would like to ask what was the context of this film's production? It certainly could not have been done for a US theatrical release with the cast used, yet the money spent on production places this WAY out of the range of an Indie filmmaker. So, this means it was either contracted for a major cable release and foreign sales. But I can't find evidence of either. If anyone knows, I would love to hear the details. There are some valuable lessons in film distribution embedded here - if only someone will take us behind the scenes!

BTW - many ripped the effects as being out of character with the story and second rate. I agree with out-of-character but there was a ton of money in some of those effects. It is almost like someone bought the negative of a major but obscure foreign production and mapped a story around some of the major scenes in the "other" film. That would explain why an art museum would have drums of gas in the basement. It would also explain how the "big stuff" got into a film with such a low budget look and cast.

This movie was sooooo bad that we had to finish it. Isla is mispronounced throughout the movie. All pronounce it differently. Couldn't producers even look up proper pronunciation? Cell phones miraculously work anywhere. Two idiotic passengers could not stop yammering nonsense about getting their share of treasure. THEIR share! One of the worst movies we subjected ourselves to due to stay at home virus concerns.

Released to cable in 2003 and directed by Jim Wynorski, "Lost Treasure" is an action/adventure flick about two estranged brothers (Coby Ryan McLaughlin and Stephen Baldwin) who team-up after finding a map to Columbus' lost treasure on a remote island in Panama. Nicollette Sheridan plays the bush pilot they hire while Scott L. Schwartz & Tami-Adrian George play an entertaining tourist couple for comic relief. Hannes Jaenicke and Jerry Doyle are on hand as heavies.

I'm giving this a relatively low grade because it's TV-budget comic book escapism with a story that's sometimes eye-rolling and not that compelling. But the protagonists are likable, there are a lot of thrills (with numerous explosions, if that's your thang), the locations are good and the story moves right along.

The film runs 90 minutes and was shot in Charlotte, NC, and the Los Angeles Arboretum.

GRADE: C-

I just found out that "Lost Treasure" was contracted and produced as an "HBO Original Feature" and that is why it looks like and ends like a Made-For-TV Movie. It is! Since there is no indication anywhere that this is not what most people would call a "film" (theatrical release) but rather a hasty "teleplay," it is clear the distributors are screwing with the buying and/or renting public. This should no more be on the same shelf with a major studio release than my home movies. Maybe the Home Entertainment industry should do a little self-regulation on entertainment classifications. I have no problems with presentations like "Lost Treasure" as long as I know what I am buying or renting or watching. Other then that, let the viewer beware...

I have no idea why these films are still made. "Lost Treasure" -- the over-simplified title says it all. I had no plans to see it at all... I just bumped upon it (however lame that sounds, it's true). William Baldwin with a beard is the 'star' of this film. But what can actors do when they are to play such stereotypical and two-dimensional characters? The film used archive or shelf footages for CGI effects etc. That confirms that it's a low-budget venture after all.

It has a story you have heard/seen million times before. It has actors at their worsts. It has dialogues that encourage fourth-graders to write a screenplay. Nothing in it shows any trace of innovation or originality. How many films such as these are awaiting us in the future?