Le Temple d'or

No matter how bad a movie may be to most people someone is going to like it, and I like this one. Not the greatest film ever made by a long shot, for me it has a certain charm to it. I think Chuck Norris and Louis Gossett Jr both do great jobs and work well and complement each other. The story has them going after a bunch of gold. Along the way they run into many obstacles. This movie for me has a nice combination of action and humor, and it is definitely more fun if you don't take it too seriously. Despite the fact it is rated so low though I saw it is worth a look...but you may want to read the other reviews here first.

Fun and amusing comedy about a pair of down-and-out fortune hunters cash in on high adventure . As a duo of adventurers , Max Donigan (Chuck Norris) along with his friend Leo (Louis Gosset Jr) set off on a treasure hunt . Both of whom are hired by a gorgeous girl called Patricia (Melody Anderson of Flash Gordon , whose hair perfectly intact throughout) . The girl and mercenaries set out in search for a treasure she's imagined exists . Along the way the way , they kill Native Americans attempting to protect sacred Indian grounds . The trio confront risks , dangers and other obstacles until achieve their objective . All of them try to track down an ancient Aztec/Mayan/Egyptian/ Apache horde of gold as they end up in a Mayan temple of Doom besieged by Coyote (Sonny Landham) .

This is an average quality film plenty of adventures , brawls , fun scenes , a few bar fights , humor with tongue in cheek , fantasy and results to be amusing ; however , some moments being boring . Chuck Norris character is a blending between known Indiana Jones and his popular role as a tough , two-fisted man and fellow mercenary played Louis Gosset -not too distant Oscar winner for ¨An official and a gentleman¨- is very well . Both of them have great chemical as a duo of soldiers-of-wacky misfortune who take several dangers that are able to overcome with ease . In a hand , if you enjoy funny stories and have a soft spot for attractive characters and scenarios, you are in for a great one ; in other hand if you don't like Norris kicks , silly humor and bemusing situations , then this one will not be for you and get bored . Passable production , medium budget by Cannon films , Menahem Golan-Yoram Globus , and poorly realized . Producers left room for sequel but as a box office failure was never carried out . This is Aaron Norris' , Chuck Norris' brother, last film as a stunt coordinator , he began his career as a director with his next film, his brother's Braddock: Missing in action 3 (1988) . Anti-climatic musical score by Gary Chang , being composed by means of synthesizer . Atmospheric though dark cinematography by Alex Phillips filmed on location in Durango , Morelos, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico Torreón, Coahuíla, and Churubasco Distrito Federal , Mexico .

The fare was regularly directed by J. Lee Thomson . He previously had a nice track record in the English cinema from 1950 until 1961 , directing good Western ( McKenna's gold , White Buffalo) and all king genres as Sci-Fi (Conquest and Battle of planet of apes), terror (reincarnation of Peter Proud, Eye of the devil), adventures (Flame over India ,Kings of the sun, Taras Bulba , Tiger Bay) and Warlike ( Guns of Navarone, Von Braun , Chairman , The passage). His two biggest successes turn out to be ¨Guns of Navarone¨and ¨Cape Fear¨. Thereafter , the filmmaker's career subsided in a morass of slickly realized but middling films. He moved into the field of international spectaculars , at which point his filmmaking seemed to lose its individuality . J. Lee Thomson working from the 50s in England, finished his career making Chuck Norris (Firewalker) and Charles Bronson vehicles (Caboblanco, Evil that men do, Messenger of death, Death Wish 4 : Crackdown, Caboblanco, St Ives). Firewalker rating : Mediocre , but it will appeal to Chuck Norris fans .

...of running a Jeep into a huge water-hole in the middle of the desert?I don't know, but Chuck Norris did in this surprisingly funny flick. It seems people either like it or hate it. Granted, it's no classic, but it is funny (not hilarious) and the whole family can watch it together. It has some pretty good gags (like our two heroes dressed up in priestly frocks) and one liners ("You'll still be bald"). It's a good example of efficient 80's film making. Don't expect a bloated CGI filled Speilberg epic. Firewalker is just plain fun.

I actually think this movie is Norris's best effort to date. I enjoyed it. The interplay between him and Gossett was good stuff and it didn't have much of the martial arts nonsense I hate so much. I give it a 9 out of 10. I liked the story and to me, Chuck was funny. He's a far better actor than Seagal, but then, who isn't? It's kind of a pity Chuck didn't continue along the lines of this movie and went in other directions. None of which, in my opinion, were as entertaining. As a rule, I never watch any movies made by Martial arts people turned "actors" but I made an exception for this one and was pleasantly surprised. Not a classic by any means, but worth watching.

The special effects for this one are (what can I say?) missing, but the story-line is interesting, and the cast obviously had fun making this film.

The problem most viewers would have with this is that it's not a karate flick (sorry). No, this one is an adventure comedy. As for not being Abbott and Costello, nobody but the incomparable Bud Abbott and Lou Costello could be. What we have here are reluctant, but trusting, partners. This story revolves around a long-lost mythical treasure (Romancing the Stone?), guarded by a demigod with supernatural powers (Jewel of the Nile?).

Take the kids and have a good time.