Les aventuriers du cobra d'or

The always great pairing of John Steiner and David Warbeck under the skilled direction of Antonio Margheriti produces yet another enjoyable action yarn here in the mold of Raiders Of the Lost Ark.

The plot concerns our heroes search for a priceless sacred ornament (the golden cobra of the title) which if it should fall into the wrong hands could potentially bring about world instability via its potential political, not to mention magical (!) ramifications.

As we've come to expect from Margheriti, there's a fair bit of action on display here with some nice set pieces on offer, often utilising the directors trademark miniature work.

Steiner is on top form here especially to, playing the joyously stiff upper lipped, unflappable Brit as he does so well.

The film however is overall, in my opinion, not nearly as entertaining as the following years 'Ark Of The Sun God' (also directed by Margheriti) which reunited Steiner and Warbeck once more.

Still, for fans wanting a quick, lower key Indiana Jones style fix, you could do a lot worse than this.

Extremely fast paced and entertaining Indy- clone from Margheriti. The plot is a ridiculous excuse to keep the pace moving from planewrecks to car chases and perilous mountains.

Even the Indy- like humor is better in this one than most of its peers, watch out for the hilarious stereotypical British officer who is not afraid of anything.

Contains some impressive scale models of planes and stuff, as you'd expect from Margheriti.

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

3 great genre stalwarts, along with good-lookin' Suska (from Lucio Fulci's THE NEW YORK RIPPER), do their best to cash in on RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK's success with this cheap, cheesy but fun Italian-made adventure set during WWII or thereabouts. The prize? A Golden Cobra no less, no doubt valued for its historic rather than its mineral worth since in some regions even marijuana is worth more than gold, pound for pound, and hardly worth pole-volting over a bed of hot lava for. No set pieces that'll knock you off your chair but plenty of this, that and a little Italian-style nastiness to keep fans of Spaghetti Adventure Serials and the aforementioned talents cooking in their juices.

My review was written in March 1984 after a screening at 42nd St. Times Square theater.

"The Hunters of the Golden Cobra" is an unspectacular Italian adventure film, lensed in 1982 in the Philippines under the title "Raiders of the Golden Cobra", and not surprisingly, heavily derived from the worldwide hit "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Trene is okay filler for action audiences.

British actor David Warbeck, (whose post-synched dialog varies from a Yank accent in opening reels o his own Blighty voice in later reels) toplines as soldier of fortune Bob Jackson, working on missions in the Philippines during W. W. II, with a British officer Bracken (John Steiner). He's tabbed by the Allies to return to an island jungle (site of film's one-year earlier teaser opening) to retrieve a stolen idol, the Golden Cobra, worshiped by the native religious cult of doped-up Awoks, and believed to possess incredible powers.

Besides Bracken, Jackson is aided on his mission by Juen (Almanta Suska) and her uncle (Alan Collins), searching for June's twin sister April, who was lost in the jungle years ago, and whom Jackson encountered in his first visit there. Finding her to be a white queen lording it over the natives. After several double crosses. Jackson and April escape with the golden idol in a nicely staged volcanic eruption climax.

Filme on a low-budget and generally small scale (but including director Antonio Margheriti's usual quota of topnotch miniatures and special effects explosions), "Cobra" is of interest due to its careful transfer of the basic gimmicks of George Lucas/Steven Spielberg's "Raiders" to a new story and setting. Instead of Nazis, the supernatural totem of absolute power is being contested by the Japanese here, and numerous scenes recall the look & action of the original opening and closing escape to a seaplane with blow dart natives in pursuit; hero thrown into a dungeon that fills with snakes; heroine kidnapped in an open-air market; even Warbeck exclaiming "I'm making this up as I go along" when caught in a tight spot, a la Indiana Jones.

Oddest touch is the film's unintentional predictive aspects: the baddies are named Awoks a year or more before Lucas's race of Ewoks were made public in "Return of the Jedi", and dual-role-playing femme led Almanta Suska is virtually a European double for Kate Capshaw, later to get the "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" plum part. Serendipity at work, no doubt.

Acting by a troupe of Margheriti regulars is okay, and for fans of this genre, Warbeck and Margheriti have recently teamed up for another unauthorized "Raiders" pic, "The Art of the Sun God", filmed in Turkey.

The craftsman Anthonio Margheriti proves to be a prolific director in Sci-fi, Westerns, Sandal & Peplum, Horrors, Adventures and Exploitations, essentially on low-budges productions, after the smashing worldwide success of RAIDERS OF LOST THE ARK it triggers a countless of Indiana Jones rip-off, the Italian producers didn't take too long to display their own version of the sacred relic of the Golden Cobra likewise the Lost Ark, the action takes place at WWII if it caught in Japanese hands, certainly the war may had another outcome due the powerful relic used for military purposes.

Shot external sequences at Palawan in Philippines for two key reasons, firstly by the breathtaking landscape mainly at real cave, second by save money due the extras were hired by cheapest fees, about the leading cast David Warbeck is far away to match with Harrison Ford typecast hero, in other hand John Steiner as British buddy character fits well mainly on humor oriented and the bleak villain Luciano Pigozzi, finally the angelical Italian beauty on double role as Julie and Cobra's Goddess.

Don't miss the enjoyable Indiana Jones's doppelganger experience, as far I know it was released in Brazil just in VHS rental format only, however available on Youtube in restored version free with English subtitles only, hereby I'm praying for at least a DVD release.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1992 / How many: 2 / Source: VHS-Youtube / Rating: 6.