The Vivero Letter

This movie is the worst movie I've seen.

"The Vivero Letter" stars Robert Patrick, who gets entangled in a search for gold, after his brother is murdered for something that he may have. Patrick is the only bright spot in this film.

This movie is too slow for me but it did not diminish the fact that Patrick is a good actor. He is come to be one of my favorite actors ever since he costarred in "Copland."

The plot needs a lot of work because it is just too dull and unoriginal to be considered good. As soon as everyone took off to locate the gold in the forgotten city, I could have turned off the movie knowing how it turned out.

I can't believe I watched the whole thing. I guess I like Robert Patrick a lot. I don't suggest this movie to anyone unless you like Robert Patrick.

Bad beyond belief, this Costa Rican vacation for Fred ward and Robert Patrick reeks. Chiara Caselli barely can speak English as the heroine. Talky with no tension or excitement. I give it two stars only because the photography is well done, and Fred Ward gets a star for being the only competent performance in the film. Totally unacceptable as entertainment would best describe this boring, meaningless trek through the jungle. There is zero character development, so we have characters we know nothing about pursuing some treasure we know nothing about. All this adds up to a movie that has little science, and no sense to the story. Not recommended. - MERK

This is a low-budget film with mostly low budget actors. It is not Academy Award material. It is not intended to be and no one choosing to watch it would think otherwise. It is however, a decently done movie with a cohesive plot, decent writing and acting and an actual story behind it. It drags a little in some places, but is still a lot better than the norm for B-movies. Think Sci-Fi channel with titties in it.

The story is not unique, but it is one of the better done of this... genre. Expedition team treks off into the jungle to search for treasure. Bad guys come after them, some of them are killed. There's fighting and shooting and things blowing up, cute girls and an adventure story that makes sense (of a sort). Really, what more do you want?

'Forbidden City' is a modestly-budgeted adventure yarn, that actually is fairly well-made and exciting! The story of an expedition searching for a lost Mayan 'City of Gold', it relies on the usual cliches of jungle movies (double-crossing team members, venomous animals, the ever-popular capsizing boat in a raging river), but serves it up with a kind of brawny acceptance, best personified by Fred Ward, as the adventurer leading the party ("Don't expect tears; you play the cards you're given.") By keeping the story moving, you find you don't mind the familiar territory as much!

The opening is reminiscent of 'Romancing the Stone'; an American archeologist in Central America calls his brother, begging him to bring a Mayan plate that had been a gift to their mother. The brother (Robert Patrick), an insurance investigator, agrees, but arrives a day late, with fatal results for his brother!

Upon arrival, Patrick discovers his brother's body, and is taken into custody by the police; upon release, he is immediately chased by the gang of thugs who murdered his brother! At the last moment, he is rescued by a pretty Italian archeologist (Chiara Casselli), who explains that the plate is a map, which, when joined with another plate, will give directions to a lost city with a fortune in gold. The second plate belongs to an American millionaire (Fred Ward) who is prepared to finance and lead an expedition. This is where the adventure REALLY begins!

Robert Patrick, best known as 'Terminator 2', and as Scully's new partner on 'The X-Files', is, as always, a bit wooden as the lead, but he can deliver a one-liner with just the right degree of sarcasm! Casselli is lovely, with jet-black eyes, and a more modest sexuality than you usually see from the female lead in this kind of film. The real 'star' here is Fred Ward ('The Right Stuff'; 'Tremors'), who conveys cockiness, arrogance, and pathos with equal skill. He is always fun to watch, and gives an 'A' movie performance in this 'B' movie!

If you want a jungle 'classic', check out 'The Emerald Forest', but if you're in the mood to kick back and relax with a good no-brainer 'lost treasure' flick, try 'Forgotten City'! It won't win any prizes, but it will serve up a nice helping of old-fashioned adventure!

Okay, everyone has talked about the bad story line, bad direction, not so great acting. What about all the continuity problems??? Just as a single, and one of the most glaring examples: This group of 7 people are white-water rafting (not too white) down this river. A guy from the shore shoots one of the guys in a raft and he and the other 2 guys fall out of the raft. In the next scene, nobody is even remotely upset about their friend getting shot. In fact, there's no discussion of it whatsoever. They're on the side of the river and Robert Patrick is hitting on Chiara Caselli. Can't blame him, but still... Okay, so then we cut to the next scene. Remember, it was 6 living people and 1 dead last we saw. Now, about 10 or 12 of them are walking through the jungle together? How'd the others get there? Drive? If so, why didn't they all drive instead of white-water raft to this place?

This was the most ridiculously stupid movie I've seen in a long time.