There isn’t enough talk about River of Death an action-packed movie with a star-studded cast including Michael Dudikoff, Donald Pleasance, Robert Vaughn, and L.Q. Jones. It deserves a larger audience. It is primarily based on the Alistair MacLean novel with the same title. It follows a guide, stunningly played by Dudikoff, who battles cannibals and Nazies while searching for a lost city in the depths of the Amazon. The year is the 1960s and a client has gone missing.
While this movie isn’t action packed to the brim, the way it combined elements of Indiana Jones, Apocalypse Now, and Joseph Mengele is spectacular. It does, however, take a while to get started.
Dr. Wolfgang Manteuffel, played by Robert Vaughn, is your typical evil Nazi scientist, running from Standartenfuhrer Donald Pleasence who is eager to take revenge after getting shot in the past. In fact, this scene was filmed in Africa, whilst they claim to be in the South America jungles. This is where John Hamilton, the guide of Dudikoff, comes into play. He chases after the lost city in which he believes one of his clients was abducted. It is quite interesting from a character’s perspective since each of them has their own reasons for running after the lost city. This is why the action starts a bit slowly.
In the beginning, John Hamilton is rather quite sulky but as the story proceeds, his character becomes a lot more sympathetic. To make him more likeable, Dudikoff’s James Dean charm and good looks come into play.
There has not been enough mention of the soundtrack of River of Death which was composed by Sasha Matson, as it sounds like nothing else I’ve ever come across before. It creates an almost dreamlike but not quite, atmosphere. Instead of Indiana Jones-style rousing adventure music, which is clearly not in the tone of this film, one would expect such upbeat music but it is perfectly serious in tone. There are very few jokes but that is one of the reasons it all still holds up so well. In addition to the moments of pure evil, Dr. Wolfgang Manteuffel proves there are also moments of action as well as horror.
Here are some stunning examples of different types of action in the form of short explosions, fights, and shootouts so if you intend on watching American Ninja placed in a jungle then you will be sorely disappointed.
I must say the 88 Films DVD I just bought has been greatly remastered regarding picture and sound and is near perfect but it is unfortunate that there are no subtitles because I am reliant on them for a majority of films.
In conclusion, even though River of Death might not compare to other action packed films from Cannon, the cast of this film alone makes it highly appealing, in addition to this it also has Donald Pleasence who makes any film worth purchasing sight unseen.
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