The Ark of the Sun God

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.

I wholeheartedly agree with the other commenter who referred to "Ark of the Sun God" as a reunion of the dream team that previously made the similarly themed "Hunters of the Golden Cobra". Director Margheriti and cult cinema actors David Warbeck and John Steiner (and, optionally, Luciano Pigozzi as well) really do form a dream team and their exciting and adrenalin-rushing Indiana Jones imitations are truly a must for all fans of the Italian exploitation industry. Personally, I think "Ark of the Sun God" isn't half as action-packed and memorable as the aforementioned "Hunters of the Golden Cobra", but it still is a far above average and amusing adventure-movie with likable characters and some impressively spectacular stunts. David Warbeck portrays the acclaimed safe-cracker Rick Spears, traveling with his sexy girlfriend to Istanbul supposedly for a routing burglary job. It quickly turns out his hirers wanted to test his skills and entice him into accepting a much more adventurous job, namely the search for the lost Temple of the Sun God with its entrance gate of pure gold and the incredibly valuable scepter hidden somewhere in the tomb of the king. The journey to trace down the Temple is full of dangerous traps and the ill-tempered descendant of the Sun God also sends his troops after Rick to recover the treasures. "The Ark of the Sun God" (the "Ark"-part is presumably just to cash-in on "Raiders of the Lost Ark", as there's not an ark in sight) is a simple and straightforward adventure movie without much pretension, but with a lot of heart and spirit. It's simultaneously a buddy-movie with fun dialogs and comical situations and an action flick with delightfully fake car chases and virulent shootouts. Antonio Margheriti's direction is taut & fast as always, since he had an average of 3 films per year to deliver, and the majority of the cast clearly had an awesome time starring in this light-headed cult production. Although the ratings and reviews for this film are better, I would like to encourage fans to track down "The Hunters of the Golden Cobra". It simply has more ingenious action bits, including plane crashes, truck explosions, spiders, snake pits, cockfighting, black magic, spells, poisonous darts and volcano eruptions.

This has lots of action and there is a modern setting, just too many overcast cloudy weather scenes, where is sunlight, for the Istanbul setting which is the city of many movies of intrigue and a welcome cinematic return. Highlight is a cat burglar sequence.

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.

A fun movie to watch maybe once. Unlike Margheriti's earlier Warbeck films, this one seems oddly much more aimed at children. Well it's a pretty weak ripoff of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, but it is fun in many ways. One of the most annoying theme songs in film history, though.. Contrary to what many say, this is NOT the same film as "Hunters of the Golden Cobra" which was made a year earlier. The two just had similar casts and crew, but different plots entirely! This one takes place in the desert and is much more slowly paced and dull. Warbecks's a cool guy though, too bad he died so young.