DVD Review: The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon: Shannen Doherty, Duncan Fraser, Alan C. Peterson, J.R. Bourne, Peter New, Michael Shanks, Heather Doerksen, Toby Berner, Byron Chief Moon, Adam Sliwinski, Michael Neilson, Farhad Mann, Nicole Ratcliffe: Movies & TV

May31

DVD Review: The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon: Shannen Doherty, Duncan Fraser, Alan C. Peterson, J.R. Bourne, Peter New, Michael Shanks, Heather Doerksen, Toby Berner, Byron Chief Moon, Adam Sliwinski, Michael Neilson, Farhad Mann, Nicole Ratcliffe: Movies & TV

Posted by admin | on 31 May, 08:40 PM

Product Description
In the early days of the 20th Century, an expedition led by Dr. Samuel Jordon traveled deep into the Grand Canyon in search of a long-rumored hidden city. The entire team disappeared. But when Jordon’s archaeologist daughter Susan (Shannen Doherty) leads a rescue party into the uncharted valley, she will discover an ancient civilization ruled by savage warriors, human sacrifice and a mythological monster that feeds on carnage. Even if the explorers can survive the deadly trials of the Aztecs, will they find a way to escape the ultimate ritual of evil? Michael Shanks and JR Bourne of STARGATE SG-1 co-star in this top-rated Sci Fi Original Movie from the producer of SANDS OF OBLIVION and THE FALLEN ONES.

When bad dialogue happens to good actors,

By Pamela R. Heath “www.pamelaheath.com, author … (Bay Area, CA) -

I really felt sorry for Michael Shanks as Dr. Thane in this movie. Not because of what he goes through, but because his dialogue is about as stiff and unoriginal as I’ve heard in a very long time. I rather liked the monster, but the script, directing, editing, and bulk of the acting were terrible. Most of the Aztec warriors looked like pale Canadian extras with bad fake tans. Except for Shanks, all of the actors regularly seemed to miss their beats. There would be just a pause too long or a pedestrian delivery. Even Michael Shanks seemed to struggle at times with his delivery. However, to give him credit, Shanks was able to pull it off better than the others. Any fans who force themselves to sit through this film will be rewarded by a number of small moments in the movie, when Shanks somehow manages to rise above the terrible writing and draw us in with a look or a smile. However, for the most part, I was cheering when every character died because it meant one less actor trashing his or her lines.

That said, there are a couple scenes that I enjoyed. One is watching Michael Shank’s archeologist character ride up to the rescue on a mule carrying an umbrella like a parasol. I couldn’t help wondering if it was a nod to Elizabeth Peter’s intrepid character of Amelia Peabody, Egyptian archeologist. I also give the writers credit for surprising me at the end with a moment I didn’t see coming, which made me laugh in delight.

It’s a shame the dialogue was so bad. This really could have been an interesting story if handled better. Dr. Thane (played by Shanks) is not your usual hero and has the makings of a really fun and intriguing character. Unfortunately, one actor, no matter how good, cannot rescue a truly bad movie.

In some ways, the movie could have been summed up in one line of the dialogue, where Shank’s character is asked, “What are you doing?” and he simply says “I don’t know.” Poor guy. I hope he was well paid.

I debated giving the movie one star, but because of Michael Shank’s character, and a few choice moments, am giving it two stars.

Not quite better than a sharp stick in the eye.,

By Robert P. Beveridge “xterminal” (Cleveland, OH) -
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)

The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon (Farhad Mann, 2008)

Shannen Doherty’s most recent attempt to resuscitate her television career is bound to do about as well as the last dozen did. The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon is the kind of movie that makes me wonder whether the powers that be in the acquisitions department at the Sci-Fi Channel really will buy anything you throw at them. I’ve seen movies filmed on four-figure budgets this month with better plots, more solid acting, and more inspired direction. This isn’t even phoned in; someone dashed off an email instead.

Doherty stars as the spunky (of course) daughter of a missing archaeologist (The Exorcism of Emily Rose’s Duncan Fraser) in turn-of-the-century Arizona. The dig he’s supposed to be working on, before he went off on his jaunt in the mountains, is currently being headed up by his assistant (Heather Doerksen, recently of the remake of The Eye) and supervised by a member of the Smithsonian (Michael Shanks). There’s another chap around who seems to be in some sort of supervisory position (J. R. Bourne), but I never quite caught why he was such a bigwig. Anyway, a journalist friend of said missing archaeologist shows up in camp one day with a lead, and the troupe head off to the grand canyon to find out if he’s still alive. This involves discovering whether his long-held belief that ancient Egyptians settled in Arizona is valid or not. (This is not nearly as ludicrous when you remember a similar Sci-FI Channel Original Dog called Legion of the Dead, where ancient Egyptians had settled in southern California, or at least that’s what the palm trees and license plates taught us.) Unfortunately for the team, the reality turns out to be a good deal more plausible, if also more deadly.

It will eventually occur to low-budget movie directors and bad TV writers everywhere that people watched Beverly Hills 90210 in spite of Doherty’s presence, not because of it (and she was certainly not the only actor in that cast who was subpar in that arena), and that she’s relatively useless as a draw. Mann (The Lawnmower Man 2) did, however, manage a pretty impressive feat here in making sure that Doherty was actually the best actor of the bunch. There’s not a single good performance to be found in this movie. Not even a decent one. The badly-CGIed creature conveys more emotion than these characters do. It doesn’t help that Mann does absolutely nothing to help the process along; he’s shooting (supposedly, anyway) in one of the most photogenic places on the planet, and does he take advantage of this at all? (Hint: the question implies the answer.)

Just plain awful in every regard. Avoid at all costs. *

Mildly entertaining,

By cyclista (the Midwest) -

Researchers for the Smithsonian working in the Grand Canyon discover an Aztec city. Susan Jordan (Shannen Doherty) leads a team to find her father and his colleagues, who are trapped in the city by Aztec warriors and their serpent god. Michael Shanks from Stargate SG-1 is a member of the search team. Co-starring in the movie are J R Bourne, Toby Berner, Heather Doerksen, Duncan Fraser and Peter New. The movie was filmed in Kamloops, British Columbia. (I wonder why they didn’t film it in the Grand Canyon?) The scenery is beautiful. Oddly enough, Kamloops is the town where Michael Shanks grew up! “The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon” is a made-for-TV period movie that has aired on the SCIFI channel.

I like this type of movie and had high hopes for a couple hours of entertainment. I thought Shannen and Michael deserved a better dialogue and special effects. I don’t expect a lot from movies, only to be entertained. The acting was decent, given the movie’s other limitations. I thought that Michael and Shannen had some chemistry on-screen. That said, the movie was mildly entertaining. I do recommend it for fans of the genre like myself, but only if you have nothing better to watch.
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