A remnant of an ancient Mexican civilization has nestled itself undiscovered by white in the Grand Canyon; a chieftain from that village captures a white girl for a wife; young brother of the girl goes on quest to bring her home, accompanied by a grizzled old trapper and, later, by the deposed king of the village.
What a grand concept! One can imagine any sort of adventure movie developing out of it - sort of like, Ford's "The Searchers" starring "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," or if played for humor, maybe "True Grit" meets "Tom Sawyer." Well, despite the great concept this is a terrible movie. Richard Boone is the most capable actor here, but he's reduced to playing an obnoxious drunk saying the same handful of lines over and over again. His character could have been central to the story, but is used as mere comic side-kick. And guess what the comic side-kick does in the action-scene climax? He sleeps through it!
The rest of the actors are little more than annoying - especially the actor in the ten male lead role. The dialog is whiny and repetitive. The cinematography manages to make some of the most beautiful scenery in the world seem flat. The composition is banal, all full-shots and close-ups and the occasional long-shot - nothing that heightens emotional intensity or emphasizes themes. The plot twists at the end - all of them predictable - simply drag on what could have been a snappy finish, idiotically avoiding the major confrontation the story set us up for.
One of the worst treatments of a great idea in film-making history. The cowardly refusal to get to the drama, the suspense, the action of this idea is shameful. And given the promise of the premise, a real betrayal of audience expectations.
What a grand concept! One can imagine any sort of adventure movie developing out of it - sort of like, Ford's "The Searchers" starring "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," or if played for humor, maybe "True Grit" meets "Tom Sawyer." Well, despite the great concept this is a terrible movie. Richard Boone is the most capable actor here, but he's reduced to playing an obnoxious drunk saying the same handful of lines over and over again. His character could have been central to the story, but is used as mere comic side-kick. And guess what the comic side-kick does in the action-scene climax? He sleeps through it!
The rest of the actors are little more than annoying - especially the actor in the ten male lead role. The dialog is whiny and repetitive. The cinematography manages to make some of the most beautiful scenery in the world seem flat. The composition is banal, all full-shots and close-ups and the occasional long-shot - nothing that heightens emotional intensity or emphasizes themes. The plot twists at the end - all of them predictable - simply drag on what could have been a snappy finish, idiotically avoiding the major confrontation the story set us up for.
One of the worst treatments of a great idea in film-making history. The cowardly refusal to get to the drama, the suspense, the action of this idea is shameful. And given the promise of the premise, a real betrayal of audience expectations.