Treasure of the Four Crowns

Treasure of the Four Crowns
Directed by Ferdinando Baldi
Written by Tony Anthony
Lloyd Battista
Starring Tony Anthony
Ana Obregón
Gene Quintano
Francisco Rabal
Emiliano Redondo
Jerry Lazarus
Francisco Villena
Kate Levan
Lewis Gordon
Music by Ennio Morricone
Distributed by Cannon Films, Inc.
Release dates
  • January 21, 1983 (1983-01-21)
Running time
 97 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Treasure of the Four Crowns is an action adventure film, featuring Tony Anthony, Ana Obregón, Gene Quintano and Francisco Rabal and directed by Ferdinando Baldi.[1][2][3]

It was produced as a co-production between American company Filmways and Lupo-Anthony-Quintano Productions, an independent company, the same filmmakers had made Comin' at Ya! in 1981.

Treasure of the Four Crowns was released on January 21, 1983 in the U.S. by Cannon Films, Inc., and was somewhat criticized for its similarities to Raiders of the Lost Ark, most particularly the scene in which the main character runs away from a flaming boulder.

Plot

The movie follows J.T. Striker, a Soldier of Fortune (Tony Anthony), who has been hired to assemble a group of professional thieves to retrieve the gems which are hidden inside two of the remaining four Mystical Crowns. Striker braves a mysterious magical cave in which skeletons and spears appear and jump out at him. He discovers a scroll in one of the crowns in the cave, which tells him that the fourth crown had disappeared long ago. He denies that the gems are magical or even valuable. He succumbs to the belief eventually and sets off to find the last two crowns, which are being held inside a heavily guarded compound that is the home of a cult led by the evil Brother Jonas. Striker's team suffers casualties from booby traps as it performs a dangerous acrobatic commando raid on the room where the crowns are kept. Striker retrieves the gems from the two magical crowns, and the magic makes his head literally spin. His face becomes half deformed, like that of Two-Face. Striker shoots fire from his fingers, melting the henchmen, their weapons, and Jonas. After, the film cuts to a shot of a boggy swamp, where a large pile of slimy brown sludge rises from the swampy water. A head like that of a moray eel with crystal blue eyes shoots towards the screen for a 3-D effect, setting up for a sequel that never happened.

Cast

Production

Although promotional materials for Treasure of the Four Crowns heralded "SuperVision" and "WonderVision," the film was actually shot using the Marks 3-Depix Converter, which had previously been used for Friday the 13th Part III. Like other 3-D systems in use in the early 1980s, 3-Depix "stacked" its Techniscope-sized left and right images one above the other on a single band of 35mm film. The resulting stereoscopic image had an aspect ratio of about 2.4:1.

In many theaters, projection was accomplished using the Polarator projection attachment offered by the Marks Polarized Corporation, makers of the 3-Depix unit. Audiences watched the film through color-neutral linear polarizers. The claim has been made that actor Tony Anthony himself invented a low-cost projection unit that found use in some venues.

Home media

MGM released Treasure of the Four Crowns on VHS in the 1980s. Treasure of the Four Crowns was also available on CED video discs. Shout Factory released Treasure of the Four Crowns on DVD on July 15, 2014 as part of a four film set on two discs with a SRP of $9.99

Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by Ennio Morricone.

  1. "Crowning Glory" — 3:54
  2. "Everything Happens To Morgan" — 3:47
  3. "Brotherhood Of The Crowns" — 2:14
  4. "Exploration" — 3:24
  5. "Bistro" — 1:33
  6. "Birds Of Frey" —3:43
  7. "City of Love and Unity" — 2:04
  8. "Castle of Evil" — 2:56
  9. "Bobsled Run" — 1:40
  10. "The Golden Crowns" — 3:14
  11. "Danger Point" — 3:08
  12. "Circus-Socrates The Strongman" — 1:44
  13. "Sound of the Alarm" — 2:58
  14. "The Final Act" — 3:38

References

  1. ↑ Maslin, Janet (January 23, 1983). "'TREASURE OF FOUR CROWNS'". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ Roger Ebert's Review April 26, 1983
  3. ↑ Cinemassacre Review February 13, 2012

External links

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