L'avventuriero degli abissi

It can't be a thriller because everyone on the planet knows they are treasure hunting ... it can't be a love story because there are no lovers ...someone said it was great because you got to see cheryl ladds boobage ... i've seen them in the raw and they don't look near as good as propped up by an underwire bra ... someone else said the underwater photography was fantastic, compared to what ? ... every foot of the film i saw was out of focus on land as well as in the water ... where you are diving is never a big secret as air bubbles always give you away ...if you want to see a treasure dive film that is beautifully done, see the deep (1977) with nick nolte and jacqueline bisset .. at least she has the real goods to show and you can rely on eli wallach and louis gossett to be the really evil crooks

I watched at that movie as a fan of Stephen Boyd, and I was also interested by the fact that he personally participated to the production. I have to be honest, the movie that I have seen is not good. I saw a new tape purchased on the web and issued by a regular company. Is it a right one ? So many tapes are recorded from TV re-issues, with a blurry picture and cuts, that I would like to get the point of view of somebody who had really attented at a performance at the time it came out. The critics of the movie in 1976 were not so bad. Where is the truth ?

The shots, under the water are really beautiful. The fact that advertising made at the time of the movie are speaking of "jaws" and that I saw just a few sharks makes me definitly think that we are facing a short version and that we have to be careful with our judgment. The VHS would have had to quote on their jackets when they are coming from TV copies and not from the original film.

It's a bad movie but It has a couple of really awful scenes:

1) Bad man get face grilled on a open bit bar-b-que grill. His face was well done in 3 seconds.

2)During a fight, a grenade explodes in the boat. Does anyone die? NO Does anyone get hurt? NO What happens? The shockwave of the explosion throws everyone into the water and the fight continues....

"The Treasure Of Jamaica Reef" has some interesting attributes. It has a once in a lifetime cast - what other movie has Cheryl Ladd, Darby Hinton, Rosey Grier, Chuck Woolery, and Stephen Boyd all together in one movie? The movie also boasts an unusual musical score, mostly electronic music. Also, the narration and the direction frequently give the movie a documentary-like feeling. All this stuff does make the movie interesting here and there, but as a whole, is the movie entertaining? Unfortunately, it isn't. The best I can say for the movie is that it has some nice underwater photography. It's a real slow-moving movie, and even in a couple of instances when it realizes things are boring and adds some action, it still isn't that exciting. Another problem is that the characters are really thin, and it's hard to care about their treasure quest. Though the movie doesn't sink like a stone, it's definitely very waterlogged.

I picked up a copy of this movie on VHS last year (2008) as it looked interesting after reading the cover, I was certainly wrong about that! I found this to be one of the most boring movies I've ever seen, very slow moving and poor quality too.

But, it has one good point, excellent underwater photography which kept me watching it.

Not a bad cast too, including Stephen Boyd (Fantastic Voyage), David Ladd and Cheryl Ladd.

A boring 75 minutes, worth watching only for the underwater photography.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5.