If you’re looking for an entertaining avalanche of 3D effects, stop your search with Ferdinando Baldi’s Treasure of the Four Crowns, a fairly feeble adventure film but one rich in thrilling and imaginative three-dimensional photography.
The Production: 2/5
One doesn’t watch a shlock film like Ferdinando Baldi’s Treasure of the Four Crowns for any kind of compelling narrative or complex characterizations. It’s strictly popcorn movie fare, and it’s lite popcorn at that with its confusing title, less than sterling special effects, and slack direction and plothole-ridden storytelling. But as the follow-up to the huge grossing 3D extravaganza Comin’ at Ya! which is credited with launching the Silver Age of 3D moviemaking, it’s earned its place in movie history. The plotting and helming may be second-rate (if we’re being kind), but lovers of 3D won’t be able to get enough.
International fortune hunter and adventurer J.T. Striker (Tony Anthony) is tasked to retrieve a gem-encrusted key from the extensive vault of an ancient castle. It’s loaded with fierce creatures and booby traps galore, but he manages to find it and get out alive. Passing the key over to Professor Montgomery (Francisco Villena), he learns that among its supernatural powers is the ability to open secret compartments in a set of crowns that contain the control over the powers of good and evil. The two remaining crowns are under the control of cult leader Brother Jonas (Emiliano Redondo) who has the crowns entombed in a temple with laser-guarded floors, walls, and roof making retrieval of them nearly impossible. Nevertheless, Striker rounds up his old band of colleagues to aid in his quest: smart but cowardly Edmond (Gene Quintano), alcoholic Rick (Jerry Lazarus), strongman Sócrates (Francisco Rabal) and his aerial artist daughter Liz (Ana Obregon).
The screenplay by Lloyd Battista, Jim Bryce, and Jerry Lazarus (based on an original story by Tony Petito and Gene Quintano) never tries to explain the supernatural forces at play (exactly what kind of power does that jeweled key actually possess?) or why the title mentions four crowns when only three are at play throughout the film, and it shamelessly borrows motifs from Raiders of the Lost Ark for its first twenty minutes (where there’s also not a word of dialogue spoken) and from Jules Dassin’s Topkapi for its last forty minutes where the heist of the crowns’ contents involve dangerous aerial work and another succession of booby traps that takes its toll on several members of the crew. But really, all of these adventures are merely set-ups for the staggering array of 3D effects that have been maneuvered into the film. Just about every possible item has been flung at the camera, some more effective than others lunging forward at the viewer (snakes – some real, some cheaply artificial, swords and knives and other pointy things, dogs and vultures and bats, fireballs, broken glass, cigarettes), and things fly across and through the frame with repeated frequency. There’s a slight attempt to work in some narrative interest with one of the crew suffering from a fatal illness that’s being hidden from the others, lamely trying to ratchet up suspense whether this infirmity will prevent the mission from being successful or potentially cause someone else’s death in addition to the one about to succumb, but it’s not developed well enough to have much impact when the fatal moment arrives.
Producer/lead actor Tony Anthony innocuously plays the worldly leading man with no glimmer of Harrison Ford’s charisma as Indiana Jones (or even Richard Chamberlain’s less exciting Allan Quartermain whose two movie adventures were also produced by this movie’s executive producers Golan and Globus around the same time). Cohorts Gene Quintano and Jerry Lazarus as the timid Edmond and the hooch-filled Rick manage to carve out slight characterizations even from their limited screen time. Emiliano Redondo as Brother Jonas is mired in a lengthy, unendurable fundamentalist healing ritual that is cut back to repeatedly during the actual heist while Francisco Rabal and Ana Obregon are okay as circus performers recruited into Striker’s service.
Video: 3/5
3D Rating: 4.5/5
The film’s original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is faithfully rendered in this 1080p transfer using the AVC/MVC codec. The movie’s age and lower budget are often on display with some shots soft and color sometimes deep and striking and other times wan and lacking. There are plenty of examples of obvious dirty lenses during shooting, but there are also dust and dirt artifacts that have not been cleaned up and an occasional scratch. The movie has been divided into 10 chapters.
As mentioned above, there is no lack of 3D implementation, and the 3-D Film Archive has done a fine job bringing it to us given the materials they had to work with. The sense of great depth in the frame is overwhelmingly palpable throughout, and the director has also shot many scenes with objects on different select planes that add to the three-dimensional feel to the imagery. Of course, the pop-outs are legendary from this production company, and you’ll actually find yourself ducking occasionally as things come unexpectedly hurtling toward you in such quick succession. Unlike the classics from the Golden Age of 3D, however, the 3D camera operator wasn’t always able to hide the wires for various flying objects being shot or keep objects in focus throughout their journey out of the frame resulting in an occasional failed attempt at negative parallax (and thus the deduction of a half point from the 3D score).
Audio: 4/5
The disc offers a choice of DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 stereo sound mixes. The 5.1 does a good job at separation of various sound effects into various channels in the mix with some effective panning on occasion, and Ennio Morricone’s music cues get decent spread through the soundstage as well. There is a notable lack of bass in the mix, though, lessening the impact of the audio somewhat.
Special Features: 3.5/5
This edition of the film offers a one-stop shop for viewing this movie. You can see it in standard polarized 3D or for those who aren’t fully 3D equipped, you can watch it either in 2D or in anaglyph (Red/Cyan) 3D with an enclosed pair of anaglyph glasses. Mention must be made of the main menu screen which, in true 3-D Film Archive fashion, provides a breathtaking static 3D image that I stared at for several highly enjoyable minutes.
Audio Commentary: film historian Jason Pichonsky has done exhaustive research on all of the film’s major participants and on the history of 3D filmmaking which he shares while making occasional references to the film at hand (let’s face it: there isn’t much here to analyze in a scholarly fashion so he uses the time to school the listener in more succinct ways).
Tony Anthony Audio Interview (44:24): the actor/producer fills us in on his extensive movie career led by questions from filmmaker Douglas Hosdale.
Theatrical Trailer (1:59, HD)
Overall: 2.5/5
If you’re looking for an entertaining avalanche of 3D effects, stop your search with Ferdinando Baldi’s Treasure of the Four Crowns, a fairly feeble adventure film but one rich in thrilling and imaginative three-dimensional photography.
Treasure of the Four Crowns (3-D Special Edition)
34% Off $29.95 $19.79
Matt has been reviewing films and television professionally since 1974 and has been a member of Home Theater Forum’s reviewing staff since 2007, his reviews now numbering close to three thousand. During those years, he has also been a junior and senior high school English teacher earning numerous entries into Who’s Who Among America’s Educators and spent many years treading the community theater boards as an actor in everything from Agatha Christie mysteries to Stephen Sondheim musicals.
Post Disclaimer
Some of our content may contain marketing links, which means we will receive a commission for purchases made via those links. In our editorial content, these affiliate links appear automatically, and our editorial teams are not influenced by our affiliate partnerships. We work with several providers (currently Skimlinks and Amazon) to manage our affiliate relationships. You can find out more about their services by visiting their sites.
Similar threads