The Treasure

A film so ridiculously deritive that you know what's going to happen as the opening credits come up. A film so bad that you don't care. The three kids mysteriously grow 4-5 inches in some scenes, obviously shot months later in order to help out the plot or because the filmmakers ran out of money and couldn't shoot the film all at once.

The deus-ex-machina ending is acted so badly that all actors and crew should hang their head in shame.

I remember watching this when I was about 10. My mom rented it for my brother and me, she said it was going to be like the Goonies. Well, it wasn't. My brother and I thought it was the worst movie we had ever seen, up until that point in time. I've seen it a few times on tv since then and my feelings are the same. to be avoided

I had the interesting experience of working on this film as an assistant editor with Robert Paul. I had not been a part of principal photography, or even the initial rough cut. When it came to me, we worked on it steadily for 15-20 hour days for three straight weeks. I appreciate aspects of the film given its lack of budget, but there were far too many sequences where there was just not enough film footage to make much sense. It's kind of like the idea of the current Disney film 'Holes'. The Treasure is pock-marked with many craters.. It was a neat experience seeing it on the silver screen. Yes, it's not very good as a finished film, but it was a fun experience, and young kids (very young...) seem to enjoy some of the antics.

Ok. I'll have to admit that I watched 60 seconds of this and threw it out. The reson for this is because they broke my cardinal rule: Do not begin a movie with violence (especially murder). This type of scene requires some context, so must be led-up-to. The manipulation involved, here, makes me angry: We are supposed to view the murder of this lighthouse keeper and then just ignore that it ever happend and sail blithely along into the next, unrelated scene. Is this an attempt at de-sensitization? Or is the screen-writer and producer simply without any decency or morals?

The fact that this is a children's move makes the sin doubly-egregious.

You're probably thinking that I am over-estimating the importance or the influence these types of messages sends to kids, that murder is nothing to reject or oppose, that violence is "just a part of life".

Tell the story. Don't force-feed us your apathy and amorality. If you are going to include violence or murder in the story, at least give us a context and a reason.

I saw this Movie Back in 1994 When the movie had already been forgotten and passed on. I wasn't expecting much on that hot July day but I popped it in my VCR and let the good times roll. Watching this movie today reminds me of the simpler times of Kool-aid,Waterhoses,and City boys with rubber chickens.