La tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa!

One of the worst action movies that I saw in my teenage years - and yes, I WAS a fan of good adventure! But this "Sandokan - Tigrul Malayeziei" (how it was named in Romania) had no head nor tail, no suspense build-up, no sense of narration, consisting merely into a chaotic choice and piling up of scenes from the much longer TV series. I especially remember two of the most awkward blunders: the famous "tiger roar" of Sandokan when attacking (out of synch and ludicrously childish, as for those kind of parody characters who try to imitate the M.G.M. lion, by saying "Mewww!"), followed by a inadvertently hilarious jump from one ship to another (bouncing like a rubber ball!) and his ridiculous tactic of slaying the tiger by... leaping BENEATH it, to rip its belly open! Further, not one really worthy scene of fight, action, suspense or story-telling. Only ONE real quality: the skillful and expressive opening credits, and the famous "SANDOKAN!" song, that already had became a popular hit, following the TV series. - Oh, and, yeah... My girlfriend of those days was in love with Sandokan... AND with Il Corsaro Nero... AND with Mannix, Kojak, Demis Roussos, Julio Iglesias and Alexandru Repan... Not too much room remaining for poor me - eh? ;)

This is a spin-off to the TV ¨Sandokan¨ , a very popular epic series of the 70s with Kabir Bedi , Philippe Leroy and Adolfo Celi . Exciting story of love and adventure , the complete romance and the exotic events about the famous hero Sandokan (excellent Kabir Bedi radiating great charisma) based on novels by Emilio Salgari , including a top-notch main cast and agreeable secondary cast , as well as imaginative , touching soundtrack . Oriental adventure with Sandokan , Lord of Malaysia , along with Yañez battling the evil imperialists commanded by Lord Brook (Adolfo Celi) . Valiant Sandokan is a young Indian prince, who as a child lost his kingdom because of the English Invasion. He became a captain of a den of pirates who make constantly attacks against the British army ; nowadays , he is retired in India along with his lover Surama (Mirella D'Angelo) . It was decently directed by Sergio Sollima with an European cast and it contains rousing action , romantic adventure , mayhem and a fine casting doing a fine job . In ¨La tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa!¨ our hero pirate saves the damsel in distress and fights an evil Brit imperialist . Set in India , it tells the tale of Sandokan , he is a Malaysian rebel who, with a group of renegades , goes up against a British General called Lord Brook . As Sandokan teams up with a bunch of pirates to even the score with a nasty Sultan during the 1800 . It starts with a young lady, Jamilah (Teresa Ann Savoy) whose father has been killed , returns to Mompracem to call the old 'tigers" to fight , but she is hunted by the sultan's guards and is about to be murdered , but she was saved by the Greek adventurer Teotokris (Massimo Foschi) . The latter decides to help her , making a long journey to India in search of Sandokan , sheltering there to convince him to resume his battle against the British . Later on , she goes on a quest to find Sandokan, the Tiger of Malaysia, and bring him back from India to fight, after Abdullah's reign, under the command of James Brooke (Adolfo Celi) who produced chaos , destruction , and executions in Mompracem . Sandokan , lord of Malaysia , helped by Kammamuri (Sal Borgese ) , sets out in pursuit enemies and rescue his lover accompanied by his European friend Yañez (Philippe Leroy) . Shortly after , things go wrong when Jamilah is abducted and held captive . Meanwhile in Mompracem villagers are scared and left hungry by the ferocious Sultan Abdullah (Garay) , a sovereign cowardly and ruthless, serving the British. The Prince Sarawah's kingdom is invaded by troops commanded by Lord Brook from Bombay . Sandokan is betrayed , discovered , but he gets a spectacular getaway . Along the way Sandokan takes on several dangers and finally takes place an impressive battle on the seaside against Lord Brook (this main antagonist James Brooke is a real historical person :1803-1868) and his hoodlums (Franco Fantasia).

This is an entertaining oriental movie , full of frantic action, thrills , intrigue, escapes, loyalty, treachery ,double-crosses and of course , a lot of duels and fights . Being an European co-production among several countries such as Italy /France /West Germany /United Kingdom . It is a grade-B flick , a sort of brave hero , Robin Hood-alike , playing in Malaysia , including noisy adventure , emotion , breathtaking attacks , elephant estampedes , and many other things . The flick packs enjoyable as well as exotic atmosphere , lush jungle , evocative sets , alright cinematography and powerful score from Guido De Angelis and Maurizio De Angelis with the unforgettable song : Sandokan , Sandokan... Sympathetic performances by main star cast as Kabir Bedi who looks like he was born to play the character , and possessing major screen presence. Kabir Bedi is an internationally acclaimed Indian actor . He is well-recognized for his role of Emperor Shah Jahan in "Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story".Popularly recognized in the West for his role as a villainous 'Gobinda' in the James Bond film, "Octopussy", Kabir also played a pivotal role in the Columbia Pictures' "The Beast of War", a film on the Russian war in Afghanistan. Being best known in Europe for playing the Pirate in "Sandokan", this popular TV mini- series. He also starred in "The Bold and the Beautiful", the second most watched television show in the world . Furthemore , he has played some international films as ¨The lost empire¨, ¨Lie down with lions¨, ¨Beyond justice¨, The beast¨, ¨Terminal entry¨, ¨Demon rage¨, ¨Archer , the fugitive from the empire . He is well accompanied by two gorgeous women : Teresa Ann Savoy and Mirella D'Angelo , both of whom played in the famous film Calígula . The marvelous main actors are completed by a stellar cast full of veteran Italian players as Massimo Foschi , Adolfo Celi , Sal Borgese , Franco Fantasia , and the French Philippe Leroy as Yanez de Gomera . Adding appropriate cinematography by Marcello Masciocchi . Being shot on location in Malaysia , Singapore , India and Bavaria Studios, Bavariafilmplatz 7, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany . This TV film which fictionally took place in the jungles of Sabah, Borneo, was filmed in the Malaysian Province of Terengannu, including Kapas Island, a small tropical island with palm fringed white sand beaches and dense jungles across the town of Marang. However , the film copy is worn-out , being necessary a perfect remastering . The motion picture was professionally directed by Sergio Sollima . This one was a popular film from the successful mini-series capturing the scope and flavour of the 8 episodes that have the series based on the classic personaje written Emilio Salgari and by that time , getting big hit at European TVs , but it has probably not been shown in American television nor transferred to video .

Other pictures about this fictitious personage are the followings : ¨Sandokan against Leopard of Sarawak" (1964) by Luigi Capuano with Ray Danton , Franca Bettoia , Mario Petri , Guy Madison , Alberto Farnese ; its sequel ¨Sandokan Fights Back¨(1964) with same players ; ¨Sandokan the Great¨ and "Sandokan : Pirate of Malaysia¨ (1964 ) both of them directed by Umberto Lenzi with Steve Reeves , Geneviève Grad as Mary Ann and Andrea Bosic as Yanez ; "Le Tigri Di Mompracem" (1970) by Mario Sequi with Ivan Rassimov as Sandokan , Claudia Gravy , Andrea Bosic , Luis Dávila , José Torres . . And finally "The return of Sandokán" (1996) , ¨Il Figlio Di Sandokan" (1998) , TV series played by Kabir Bedi and directed by Enzo G Castellari .

All the actors and the plot are very similar to what you see in the previous year's TV series which was really great and remained famous in the history of cinema. Scenography and action are always very beautiful. The director is also good but the actors and the plot lack something, and therefore it is often very repetitive.