Allan Quartermain (film version) and other Indiana Jones ripoffs

lumphammer2 · 28-12-2023 3:35am #1

As with most Christmases I have watched Indiana Jones .... in fact all 5 this year ... and thoroughly enjoy them ... especially the first 2 of course ... Raiders of the Lost Ark is definitely in my top 10 films of all time and Temple of Doom would be too ... perhaps the only franchise where I have 2 from it in the top 10 ... and Harrison Ford is represented 4 times with Blade Runner and The Empire Strikes Back too ...

Indiana Jones has become more important at Christmas to me anyway than Santa ... and is the antidote much needed (Temple of Doom reference!) to Mrs Brown's poison ... Christmas just is not complete without Indy for me ....

This leads me onto the next question ... the Indy imitators ... I remember this Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold ... liked it years ago and then watched again and didn't ... made by dissident Russians' Golan Globus entity aka Cannon and it is surprising that they had Richard Chamberlain doing the Allan (Indy) character and not Chuck Norris !!! ... Would be interested in seeing it again ... Chamberlain is a good actor and more Harrison Ford than Chuck Norris ... but am aware these films are a poor man's Indy ...

I also recall Michael Douglas had a Jewel of the Nile thing going too ... it was again Indiana Jones in all but name .... I saw it on TV years ago but don't remember much about it ...

Am I just hankering for some more Indy or should I watch these again ?? ...

q2ice · 28-12-2023 3:57am

It is gas that you say Quartermain is an indy imitator when it is actually the other way around. 😋

Quartermaine character is much older than Indiana Jones

pixelburp · 28-12-2023 9:45am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058328565/allan-quartermain-film-version-and-other-indiana-jones-ripoffs

Jewel of the Nile was a sequel to Romancing the Stone, which is the superior film and an early Robert Zemeckis film, back when he still directed human beings.

Quatermain was obviously a rip off of Indiy, though the character itself is a public domain one who vastly predates Indy. Barely remember the film though, and can't imagine it holds up that well given Cannon were purveyors of pure trash.

As to others? The Lost City was a surprisingly fun modern Indy-a-like, insofar as it being an adventure for treasure in the jungle. While the Jumanji reboot was also a lot of fun, and way better than it had any right to be.

tommythecat · 28-12-2023 9:50am

National treasure with Nick Cage always worth a spin

silverharp · 28-12-2023 11:10am

it predates but Doc Savage was a fun 70's movie, its cheesy probably not aged very well

Flinty997 · 28-12-2023 11:21am

Uncharted is a new variation of it ..

Padre_Pio · 28-12-2023 11:43am

Allan Quartermain was played by Sean Connery in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

CastorTroy · 28-12-2023 11:53am

And Lost City of Gold was a sequel to King Solomon's Mines.

Of course, there's also The Goonies.

jh79 · 28-12-2023 11:58am

https://www.arrowfilms.com/blog/features/9-cult-films-inspired-by-indiana-jones/

A few suggestions here

odyssey06 · 28-12-2023 12:15pm

This MacGyver Tv movie has him in Indiana Jones territory

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0110419/

Weepsie · 28-12-2023 2:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121542990#Comment_121542990

Games great, film dreadful

lumphammer2 · 28-12-2023 2:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121542667#Comment_121542667

That's why I said FILM VERSIONS .... I am well aware of the character's origins but I am also well aware the films were an attempt to copy Indy and exploit that marketplace ... and that the films owed little to the original books ...

nachouser · 28-12-2023 2:50pm

The Librarian films with Noah Wyle. Definitely Indiana Jones adjacent:-)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Librarian_%28franchise%29#The_Librarian:_Quest_for_the_Spear_(2004)

Agent Coulson · 28-12-2023 3:02pm

Sahara based on the Dirk Pitt book series by Clive Cussler was an attempt to get a new fanchise going with Matthew McConaughey about 20 years ago.

Agent Coulson · 28-12-2023 4:30pm

Relic Hunter the 90's series starring Tia Carrere if you could dig that up somewhere

Then of course the Tomb Raider movies or even better the go play the games.

Ardent · 28-12-2023 5:00pm

The Mummy (1999) is very Indiana Jones-ish and a decent flick

lumphammer2 · 29-12-2023 1:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121542793#Comment_121542793

Yes remember Romancing the Stone too ... that was a good film ... must check these out again ... I will check out The Lost City and Jumanji as well ... they sound interesting ...

Quartermain the films were IIRC total ripoffs of Indy ... I saw them during the video shop rental era of the 1990s ... Anything Cannon aka Golan Globus did for the most part was pure trash ... only 2 films I enjoyed they ever did were Cobra and Cyborg ... but I prob saw a load of them in the late 1980s and early 1990s as they accounted for about a third of the action films in the local video rentals of the time ... Stuff like Missing in Action and The Delta Force are awful ... pure propaganda ... and that Chuck Norris guy is prob partly responsible for all that is wrong in America today ... too many of today's Republican politicians saw too much of his films ...

I do not think the Quartermain films were blatant political propaganda ... staying neutral like Cobra or Superman IV ... I think one can see both these films in entirety free on Youtube so may watch tomorrow and the weekend ...

martingriff · 29-12-2023 2:10am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121545922#Comment_121545922

Don't you go dissing Chuck Norris

CastorTroy · 29-12-2023 3:21am

Cannon also gave us Masters of the Universe, which I actually liked.

And if it wasn't for Cannon, how would we know that all sequels should be titled "Electric Boogaloo"?

lumphammer2 · 30-12-2023 2:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121546000#Comment_121546000

I know it is a bit off topic but since it has been brought up ... I remember Masters of the Universe well ... He-Man was everywhere prior to that film ... toys ... cartoons ... books ... I found the film disappointing at the time but it is clearly one of the better of the Cannon films ... most of the He-Man mania of before died though with that film ... pity as MOTU was good ... I'd like to see what a better studio and a good director of Sci Fi could do with it though ...

Hangdogroad · 03-01-2024 8:50am

Tomb Raider (video game spawned film) heavily draws from the Indy films.

wytek · 04-01-2024 3:28pm

mustn't forget Dr Jones by Aqua

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1jPUB7gRyg

Agent Coulson · 04-01-2024 5:14pm

Patrick Swayse played Quarterman in a mini series as well.

It's not good from memory.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397501/

JP Liz V1 · 07-01-2024 10:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121543101#Comment_121543101

Did Patrick Swayze do a film of this?

I see the previous poster got there

lumphammer2 · 08-01-2024 2:46am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121571277#Comment_121571277

I remember that too ... need to check out ... these type of things interest me ... meaning the connections of the ancient world ... I am unsure how much of this is true ... Solomon was a Middle Eastern king but had he reached Southern Africa? ... I am unsure how much of these films/series/books are true or not ... but wasn't Freddy/Freddie Mercury Iranian descent but from some African country?? ... so there must be some truth ...

AnRothar · 08-01-2024 2:54am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121571277#Comment_121571277

That has Alison Doody who was in Indiana Jones and the last Crusade.

JP Liz V1 · 08-01-2024 7:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121544039#Comment_121544039

Brendan Fraser is ace in that role, funny and full of charisma

pixelburp · 08-01-2024 8:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121588519#Comment_121588519

If unfortunately IIRC, a large part of why he required so much surgery, which then caused his weight gain.

Spon Farmer · 09-01-2024 12:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121542667#Comment_121542667

The Chamberlain films are Indy imitations. And the character is nothing like the Quatermain in the books.

Spon Farmer · 09-01-2024 12:12am

ROMANCING THE STONE is an INDIANA JONES type film but I wouldn’t think of it as rip off.

if you looking for more of that there is Tom Selleck’s HIGH ROAD TO CHINA which is great fun.

Two tv shows from the 80’s that jumped on the INDY bandwagon but were not imitators are TALES OF THE GOLDEN MONKEY and BRING ‘EM BACK ALIVE (based on a comic strip that was an influence on Lucas when creating INDIANA JONES - I think there was a couple of FRANK BUCK movies or movie serials too).

I would love to see those shows again. Don’t remember much except that I loved them.

lumphammer2 · 09-01-2024 2:42am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121589813#Comment_121589813

100% ... Cannon tended to do that ... make their own franchises copied directly from some bigger budget much better franchise ... Indy and the book version of Quartermain are great unique characters ... Cannon's take on the latter was a paler character imv ...

Allan Quartermain (film version) and other Indiana Jones ripoffs

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