The Ghost & the Darkness is a real story... not just some Indy Rip off. [nm]

Posted by the Fiddler from IDFAB102-17.splitrock.net on January 14, 2000 at 09:25:13:

In Reply to: Ultraman Tiga presents.... posted by The Indy Jones-a-likes! An Almost Definitive Guide that SOMEONE really should archive and make a new page for on his website (hint-hint!) and credit me, since it's LONG AS HELL and I poured my heart and soul into it and typed it all in a single setting without referencing a single source to have to check my facts against! Damn, why am I not being paid for this somewhere? on January 14, 2000 at 02:34:26:

: The Cheap Knock Offs:

: Ya' just gotta begin with - 'King Solomon's Mines' (such a blatant rip they put John Rhys Davies in the cast - and yet it still manages to be a pretty good film) and it's sequel, the ever blatant 'Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold' which is just plain awful....fun! Richard Chamberlain does a decent Ford-a-like throughout both, and Sharon Stone hams it up in both doing a curious precursor to Willie Scott's character!

: 'Treasure of the 4 Crowns' (1983, in 3D, a confusing adventure flick), and 'Comin' At Ya'' (same year, also in 3D, a western starring the same guy - Tony Antony, a really lame Fred Ward-type)! I think these were Italian produced and released in the States just to cash in. Both are available on video now, with CAY even being in 3D video (comes with the glasses).

: Indy Inspired:

: 'Crocodile Dundee' (1986) and 'Crocodile Dundee II' (1989), 'Romancing the Stone' (1985) and 'The Jewel of the Nile' (1988). 'Jake Speed' (1985). 'Brenda Starr' (1989).

: Meanwhile, on TV:

: 'Bring 'Em Back Alive' (1982, starring Bruce Boxlietner, cool title!), and the much better, in fact, it was a really cool show 'Tales of the Gold Monkey'(starring a very cool Stephen Collins [of 7th Heaven] as a piratical pilot and his fat, boozy, Sallah-rip partner) and lastly, 'Tail Spin', Disney's Jungle Book-toon that ripped 'Gold Monkey' clean!

: Lately, there have been 'Relic Hunter' (1999, ripping off the Indy rip 'Tomb Raider' as if it weren't obvious enough), and on PBS's 'Mystery!' appeared the excellent 'In the Heat of the Sun'(1998, mini-series), set in the 30's, about a middle aged, hard-boiled Scotland Yard detective sent to Africa to act as a constable, who becomes embroiled in a murder investigation where the suspects are an endless parade of Indiana Jones-style archetypes! Thoroughly excellent.

: Modern Pulp Adventure Movies:
: 'Doc Savage' (1978, actually came B4 Raiders, but flopped big time), 'Big Trouble In Little China' (1986 starring Kurt Russell w/ John Carpenter directing - how did everyone forget to mention this must-see masterpiece?), 'The Rocketeer (1990)', 'The Shadow (1993)', and The Phantom (1996). All of em are pretty good, though Shadow is clumsily produced and directed, but it is said to be a very faithful adaptation of the original material. Especially entertaing for Indy fans would be 'The Phantom', one of the most under-rated adventure films of our time, and directed by "Young Indy" veteran Simon Wincer. The novelization for the films was written by Indy scribe Rob MacGregor, and the screenplay itself was by Last Crusade writer Jeff Boam. Roger Ebert gave it four stars, fair and square, and it's a terrific look at the costume hero of the thirties who served as an inspiration. Excellent scenery and costumes abound, with marvelous performances, especially Treat Williams scenery chewing villain!

: Other Simon Wincer films with an Indy slant:
: 'Quigley Down Under' (excellent adventure with the original Indy himself, Tom Selleck, as a cowboy who heads to Oz), Lightning Jack (a western starring Croc Dundee's Paul Hogan), and...what am I missing? I know there's more!

: The Original Indy - Tom Selleck!
: 'Quigly Down Under' (1990), 'Lassiter' (1984, a cool, slick jewel thief movie set in NYC in the thirties), and more brazenly, 'High Road to China'(1985, an undisguised attempt to showcase his features as the 'original' Indy).

: The Exotic East:
: 'Operation: Condor' (1997), Jackie Chan's excellent modern twist to the Indy Jones idea features him as a professional artifact retriever going after a more unusual target: a buried cache of nazi gold! THIS FILM IS A MUST SEE TO ANY INDIANA JONES FAN! 'Operation: Condor 2 - Armor of God' (1999, direct to video release was actually the first film in the two-part series, but the producers releasing them wanted the more modern looking Jackie on the big screen). More jaw dropping stunts and insane fight scenes! These two films, IMHO, represent THE VERY BEST of the Indy Jones-a-likes, in that they are inspired by the Indy-idea without actually ripping it off, managing to create their own unqie ideas, characters and situations.

: 'Magnificent Warriors' (1992) stars Jackie's pal, Bond-girl Michelle Yeoh, in a movie said to be totally Indiana Jones style (complete with jacket and whip!). Not sure of the plot details, but it's set during WW2, and she plays a secret agent.

: 'Project A' and 'Project A, Part II' are another set of early eighties jackie Chan films. Not so much Indy Jones-style, unlike the others, but as period flavored adventure films, they deserve as much attention (and hey, he fights pirates on the high seas, so there) and of course, the legendary 'Drunken Master 2' (1994) must be mentioned. It's not at all Indy-like, but the late 20's period costumes make it just close enough! You'll be thanking me for having told you to watch this masterpiece anyway - part adventure, part slapstick comedy, part political and social commentary, part intrigue, and all kung-fu! Chan's best fight scenes bring new meaning to the words 'insane action'! No doubt about it!

: 'Treasure Hunt' (1991?) features, suprise, Chow Yun Fat! This pace and mood of the picture is also not so Indy Jones-style, but the content and plot sure are! Fat plays a CIA agent sent to mainland China to protect the transport of a national treasure from a Shaolin Monastery. He meets and falls in love with a beautiful psychic that he meets there, and has to battle everything from mercenaries, spies and supernatural monsters, while also solving the mystery of the treasure! If that doesn't entice you to run out and buy it....

: More Espionage! More Intrigue! More Adventure:
: The 007 films, (duh). What else needs be said about those?

: 'The Spiders' direceted by the great Fritz Lang in the mid-to-late twenties/early thirties (?), about a great white adventurer globe hopping with a psychic girlfreind (sound familiar?) from India on a mad quest to obtain the fabled title treasure. The usual guignol of tigers, tribes, spies and monsters, in gloroius black and white, nd now available on DVD.

: The Saint. The 1997 Val Kilmer flick is pretty good. The Roger Moore 1960's show is even better. But there is plenty of Saint material that is actually set in the same period as Indiana Jones, being the original, and thoroughly excellent (but hard to find) novels by Leslie Charteris, as well as the snazzy RKO films of the 1940's (very easy to find on video). The novels, many of which contained material that originally appeared in pulp-fiction magazines, featured every kind of adventure plot imaginable at some point (and then some, with over 50 books by the original author!), and even included plenty of pulp-inspired super-science and super-natural mysteries at times (Though the character was mostly focused on avenging the wrongs of the world and making them right, usually involving foiling a caper most criminal).

: 'Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins'(1984) with Fred Ward in an adaptation of the pulp-style 'Destroyer' novels. Ironically enough, the adventure ends in the same film! Has just enough Asian mysticism to warrant it's mention.

: 'The Ghost and the Darkness' (1997). Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas are unlikely adventurers trying to bag some mystically vicious lions in 1920's Africa.

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: : The Cheap Knock Offs:

: : Ya' just gotta begin with - 'King Solomon's Mines' (such a blatant rip they put John Rhys Davies in the cast - and yet it still manages to be a pretty good film) and it's sequel, the ever blatant 'Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold' which is just plain awful....fun!  Richard Chamberlain does a decent Ford-a-like throughout both, and Sharon Stone hams it up in both doing a curious precursor to Willie Scott's character!

: : 'Treasure of the 4 Crowns' (1983, in 3D, a confusing adventure flick), and 'Comin' At Ya'' (same year, also in 3D, a western starring the same guy - Tony Antony, a really lame Fred Ward-type)!  I think these were Italian produced and released in the States just to cash in.  Both are available on video now, with CAY even being in 3D video (comes with the glasses).

: : Indy Inspired:

: : 'Crocodile Dundee' (1986) and 'Crocodile Dundee II' (1989), 'Romancing the Stone' (1985) and 'The Jewel of the Nile' (1988).   'Jake Speed' (1985). 'Brenda Starr' (1989).

: : Meanwhile, on TV:

: : 'Bring 'Em Back Alive' (1982, starring Bruce Boxlietner, cool title!), and the much better, in fact, it was a really cool show 'Tales of the Gold Monkey'(starring a very cool Stephen Collins [of 7th Heaven] as a piratical pilot and his fat, boozy, Sallah-rip partner) and lastly, 'Tail Spin', Disney's Jungle Book-toon that ripped 'Gold Monkey' clean!

: : Lately, there have been 'Relic Hunter' (1999, ripping off the Indy rip 'Tomb Raider' as if it weren't obvious enough), and on PBS's 'Mystery!' appeared the excellent 'In the Heat of the Sun'(1998, mini-series), set in the 30's, about a middle aged, hard-boiled Scotland Yard detective sent to Africa to act as a constable, who becomes embroiled in a murder investigation where the suspects are an endless parade of Indiana Jones-style archetypes!  Thoroughly excellent.

: : Modern Pulp Adventure Movies:
: : 'Doc Savage' (1978, actually came B4 Raiders, but flopped big time), 'Big Trouble In Little China' (1986 starring Kurt Russell w/ John Carpenter directing - how did everyone forget to mention this must-see masterpiece?), 'The Rocketeer (1990)', 'The Shadow (1993)', and The Phantom (1996).  All of em are pretty good, though Shadow is clumsily produced and directed, but it is said to be a very faithful adaptation of the original material. Especially entertaing for Indy fans would be 'The Phantom', one of the most under-rated adventure films of our time, and directed by "Young Indy" veteran Simon Wincer. The novelization for the films was written by Indy scribe Rob MacGregor, and the screenplay itself was by Last Crusade writer Jeff Boam.  Roger Ebert gave it four stars, fair and square, and it's a terrific look at the costume hero of the thirties who served as an inspiration.  Excellent scenery and costumes abound, with marvelous performances, especially Treat Williams scenery chewing villain!

: : Other Simon Wincer films with an Indy slant:
: : 'Quigley Down Under' (excellent adventure with the original Indy himself, Tom Selleck, as a cowboy who heads to Oz), Lightning Jack (a western starring Croc Dundee's Paul Hogan), and...what am I missing?  I know there's more!

: : The Original Indy - Tom Selleck!
: : 'Quigly Down Under' (1990), 'Lassiter' (1984, a cool, slick jewel thief movie set in NYC in the thirties), and more brazenly, 'High Road to China'(1985, an undisguised attempt to showcase his features as the 'original' Indy).

: : The Exotic East:
: : 'Operation: Condor' (1997), Jackie Chan's excellent modern twist to the Indy Jones idea features him as a professional artifact retriever going after a more unusual target: a buried cache of nazi gold!  THIS FILM IS A MUST SEE TO ANY INDIANA JONES FAN! 'Operation: Condor 2 - Armor of God' (1999, direct to video release was actually the first film in the two-part series, but the producers releasing them wanted the more modern looking Jackie on the big screen).  More jaw dropping stunts and insane fight scenes! These two films, IMHO, represent THE VERY BEST of the Indy Jones-a-likes, in that they are inspired by the Indy-idea without actually ripping it off, managing to create their own unqie ideas, characters and situations.

: : 'Magnificent Warriors' (1992) stars Jackie's pal, Bond-girl Michelle Yeoh, in a movie said to be totally Indiana Jones style (complete with jacket and whip!). Not sure of the plot details, but it's set during WW2, and she plays a secret agent.

: : 'Project A' and 'Project A, Part II' are another set of early eighties jackie Chan films. Not so much Indy Jones-style, unlike the others, but as period flavored adventure films, they deserve as much attention (and hey, he fights pirates on the high seas, so there) and of course, the legendary 'Drunken Master 2' (1994) must be mentioned. It's not at all Indy-like, but the late 20's period costumes make it just close enough!  You'll be thanking me for having told you to watch this masterpiece anyway - part adventure, part slapstick comedy, part political and social commentary, part intrigue, and all kung-fu! Chan's best fight scenes bring new meaning to the words 'insane action'!  No doubt about it!

: : 'Treasure Hunt' (1991?) features, suprise, Chow Yun Fat!  This pace and mood of the picture is also not so Indy Jones-style, but the content and plot sure are!  Fat plays a CIA agent sent to mainland China to protect the transport of a national treasure from a Shaolin Monastery.  He meets and falls in love with a beautiful psychic that he meets there, and has to battle everything from mercenaries, spies and supernatural monsters, while also solving the mystery of the treasure! If that doesn't entice you to run out and buy it....

: : More Espionage!  More Intrigue!  More Adventure:
: : The 007 films, (duh).  What else needs be said about those?

: : 'The Spiders' direceted by the great Fritz Lang in the mid-to-late twenties/early thirties (?), about a great white adventurer globe hopping with a psychic girlfreind (sound familiar?) from India on a mad quest to obtain the fabled title treasure.  The usual guignol of tigers, tribes, spies and monsters, in gloroius black and white, nd now available on DVD.

: : The Saint. The 1997 Val Kilmer flick is pretty good. The Roger Moore 1960's show is even better. But there is plenty of Saint material that is actually set in the same period as Indiana Jones, being the original, and thoroughly excellent (but hard to find) novels by Leslie Charteris,  as well as the snazzy RKO films of the 1940's (very easy to find on video).  The novels, many of which contained material that originally appeared in pulp-fiction magazines, featured every kind of adventure plot imaginable at some point (and then some, with over 50 books by the original author!), and even included plenty of pulp-inspired super-science and super-natural mysteries at times (Though the character was mostly focused on avenging the wrongs of the world and making them right, usually involving foiling a caper most criminal).

: : 'Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins'(1984) with Fred Ward in an adaptation of the pulp-style 'Destroyer' novels.  Ironically enough, the adventure ends in the same film!  Has just enough Asian mysticism to warrant it's mention.

: : 'The Ghost and the Darkness' (1997).  Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas are unlikely adventurers trying to bag some mystically vicious lions in 1920's Africa.

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