I sopravvissuti della città morta

The dream team of Antonio Margheriti, David Warbeck and John Steiner reunite for a thematic sequel to Hunters Of The Golden Cobra, and its a beauty, as good if not better than the earlier film. Warbeck is on top form and John Steiner is as magical as ever in a rip roaring adventure that will keep you hooked until the credits fade. Good guys, bad guys, fisticuffs, car chases and a lovely in joke about Roger Moore. This is a wonderful film.

ARK OF THE SUN GOD is an INDIANA JONES & 007 copy that's an okay time waster. The real reason to watch this Italian made film is David Warbeck (THE BEYOND) who's a great action star, imo. He would have made a fun James Bond. The production values are good. I really enjoyed the car chase made with models, not real cars. And some of the effects at the end were pretty good. But the whole film is hampered by a grubby look/feel about it (dark and dreary sets; the two old and overweight men at Warbeck's side) and a vivid sense of Deja Vu for anyone who has already seen YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE, which sorta keeps it from being more fresh and fun. And that stupid song was really annoying. But it's a must-see for fans of David Warbeck. Those who don't know him or Italian cinema in general will probably not like this though.

My review was written in July 1986 after watching the film on Trans World Entertainment video cassette.

After filming the fantasy "Yor, the Hunter from the Future" there, Italian filmmaker Antonio Margheritti returned to Turkey in 1983 to shoot "The Ark of the Sun God", a subpar entry in his series of imitative adventure films. Pic debuted domestically on video cassette.

British thesp David Warbec (veteran of 10 Italian films to date) gets to play a British character for a change, sa Rick Spear, a London cracksman sent to Istanbul on a cockeyed mission: he's to find the temple of the Sun God which is the resting place of Gilgamesh. A legendary jeweled scepter of the king is inside and can be used as a limitless source of power to the bearer. Because the golden door is booby-trapped (with the entire temple set to self-destruct), a master burglar like Spear is needed for the job.

If this sounds a bit like "Raiders of the Lost Ark", it's because Margheritii earlier raided that hit with an interesting variation, "The Hunters of the Golden Cobra". This time there's too much padding, as Sperar is tested and then goes hunting for the site, aided by a survivor of a mission over 40 years earlier, Beetle (Alan Collins).

The Turkish locations are again impressive, but this "Ark" doesn't pic up steam until the final reels containing cliffhanger derring-do in the em=emple and caverns surrounding it.

Soundtrack features a lovely romantic theme but elsewhere pointlessly includes the main theme from "Battlestar Galactica".

The story of a safe cracker hired to help find a lost scepter thats hidden in a lost tomb is nothing more than an entertaining diversion. No, its no where near the level of say an Indiana Jones film or some of the great Hollywood action films, however it is an entertaining little film, perfect for a rainy weekend afternoon. An Italian/Turkish co-production this film sports sights that are not the sort you've seen a thousand times before, indeed it appears to have been filmed in the much under used cities and county side of Turkey. The story is good and moves along nicely. The actors, many of which are Euro-trash and exploitation regulars handle themselves nicely. You'll forgive the lack of detail, but this is a simply a good mindless movie thats worth seeing, even though it will disappear from your brain not long after.

First off, I'm a big fan of Italian genre cinema in general and of the director Antonio Margheriti in particular. This isn't film as art but commerce. The Italians were experts at exploiting the popularity of various American films and selling the imitations worldwide. This particular film is (obviously) derivative of Indiana Jones with a little James Bond thrown in.

Margheriti was a very competent director who elevated the cheap films he directed. He almost always assembles a solid cast (as is the case in Ark of the Sun God) and packs his movies full of outlandish special effects. His use of miniatures is especially impressive although this film doesn't reflect his best use of them. Although I have high praise for his work both in this film and others, many people will laugh at what is presented. It is a cheap film and the FX aren't always anywhere near Hollywood standards. But Margheriti still consistently produced entertaining films, on the cheap, with exotic locations (in this case Turkey), and wild FX. It's the cinema equivalent of a comic book from the 50s...cheap, disposable, juvenile, but fun as hell.

As to this film in particular, Ark of the Sun God is an entertaining adventure film that takes place mostly in Turkey. David Warbeck is solid (as usual) as the lead, as is John Steiner who takes on a secondary role. Lucinno Pigozzi, who is a regular in Antonio Margheriti's films, returns here as Beetle--he was a very solid character actor little known outside of Italy. Of course the whole movie is dubbed (many Italian genre films of the era were filmed without sound and dubbed in post-production). The plot involves finding and stealing a valuable artifact from an ancient tomb, all the while being chased by various goons. Standard boilerplate nonsense. The whole thing is utterly ridiculous and disposable. If you're looking for innovative cinema, look elsewhere. But the movie is fun in the same way as those old comic books were. They were pretty much considered disposable schlock as well until folks began to appreciate the talent that went into creating them.