TREASURE OF THE FOUR CROWNS may not be the best, but it's certainly the bizarrest of the various European Indiana Jones rip-offs that followed in the wake of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. This totally madcap film is bookended by two incredible scenes of action that will have you shaking your head in disbelief, whereas the slow middle section is for courageous viewers only who don't succumb to boredom too easily. And what the heck was Ennio Morricone thinking when writing a score for this trash?! It's rip-off time from the start with this movie, which opens with some yellow scrolling introductory footage which will no doubt make any STAR WARS fan feel a sense of déjà vu. Immediately afterwards we're introduced to J.T. Striker, our red-quilted jacket wearing hero who has to brave the dangers of a booby-trapped castle in the search for a hidden key. As well as rabid dogs - who know what they survive on in a deserted castle in the middle of nowhere - Striker must face jumping snakes, opening pits, a fair quantity of dry ice, moving skeletons and suits of armour, loud wailing, and, most hilarious of all, a vulture - made of CARDBOARD - which comes flying at him on a plainly visible string! If this wasn't enough, as soon as he retrieves the key, flying bolts, spears and rockets (!) are launched at him, the building burns down and Striker must escape from burning wooden spheres which roll after him and threaten to engulf him (let's see if anyone can spot the influence of this last bit). He manages to jump (in slow motion of course) through a window and escape as the castle explodes behind him. I guess somebody happened to leave their dynamite behind by mistake when vacating the premises! The most incredible thing about all this action is that this all takes place in the first TWENTY minutes.Well, it's a good thing that the film settles down at this point for some plot exposition or I might have had a heart attack from watching all that excitement! Basically, Striker must travel to a remote mountain-top castle which is inhabited by a religious cult led by the insane Brother Junas; there, he must retrieve three crowns which contain the power to stop evil in the world (one of the crowns is already owned by his local museum). For some unexplained reason, Striker must assemble a team of five to infiltrate the castle, get past the guard and booby-traps and steal the treasure.The director is Ferdinando Baldi, who was responsible for some enjoyable peplum epics back in the early '60s. Baldi's direction is adequate and he keeps the film lively at all times; on occasion he inserts lots of slow-motion in an attempt to emulate fellow Italian action director Enzo G. Castellari, no doubt! This is one of those movies made to cash in on the short-lived 3D craze of the early '80s, so they really go overboard with things flying at the camera; we've got ropes, hands, traps, flames, crossbow bolts, harpoons, knives, candles, feet, snakes, and you name it at various points; the most hilarious bit is when two people constantly pass things to each other, towards the camera every time! Pointless of course but still unintentionally funny. Speaking of the camera, couldn't they afford a duster to wipe it? On numerous occasions there are bits of grit, grime, and dirt stuck on the lens which is really off-putting. Just a sign of the low budget I suppose. If you're a fan of cheesy, low-budget rip-offs then TREASURE OF THE FOUR CROWNS (that should read THREE, because there's no sign of the fourth!) is the film for you.

Oh sweet irony, thy name be "Treasure of the Four Crowns"… This movie revolved its entire promotional campaign on the unique selling proposition of 3-D effects, but it's this exact same gimmick that continuously muddles up the pacing and negatively affects the script's coherence. Instead of dedicating all their time and efforts to searching for as many 3-D possibilities as humanly possible, the makers should have focused on their narrative structure and continuity a little more. It sounds like a rookie mistake, but in fact director Ferdinando Baldi and co-writer/main star Tony Anthony should have known better. The duo previously made the underrated but splendid spaghetti western "Blindman", and that movie strangely enough revolved entirely on detailed character drawings and story building instead of on effects. I haven't had the pleasure (?) yet of seeing their other 3-D film, the oddly titled western "Comin' At Ya!", but I fear it'll be as bad as this one, judging by the rating and user comments. As you can undoubtedly derive from the title and cover image, "Treasure of the Four Crowns" is another Italian attempt to cash in on the huge success of early 80's adventure movies, more particularly the Steven Spielberg classic "Raiders of the Lost Ark". You know the principle of these Italian rip offs: everything has to be a lot more grotesque! Tony Anthony pretends to be a genuine Indiana Jones and the adventurous opening sequence lasts at least three times as long as the intro of "Raiders". Anthony plays J.T. Stryker, a professional adventurer hired to recover two out of four magical crowns from the malicious hands of the occult sect leader Brother Jones. According to the assignor, these Crowns hold the power to solve all the earthly issues like war, poverty, famine etc … only it's never really explained HOW. The evil Jones keeps the crowns in a hi-tech secured temple with laser alarm systems and deadly booby traps, so Stryker and his team of hired circus artists spend the majority of the film climbing walls and hurling on ceilings. There's plenty of action & stunts in the film, but it quickly gets really boring because it's always the same. Of course, it didn't help that wasn't wearing my 3-D goggles, but still, even then the action sequences would rapidly get repetitive. The last half hour is utterly atrocious and full of twists & turns that don't make the slightest bit of sense. Heroic characters die in the most ridiculous ways imaginable, faces get deformed and go back to normal and the fate of the titular crowns is inconclusive. The only truly great element is, as usual, Ennio Morricone's music.Browsing through IMDb, I learned that director Baldi passed away very recently; on the 12th of November 2007. I wished I could have written better things about his movie, but it's simply not very good. Personally, I'll remember him for the aforementioned western "Blindman".

Treasure of the Four Crown in 3-D is the heartwarming story of a man suffering from impotency (Tony Anthony) who races through Southern California with the government closing in. A hypnotist (Ana Obregon) reluctantly helps in the daring plot. Gene Quintano disturbs in the role of fetishist "Edmond". While the performances are rather uneven overall, you won't forget Kate Levan in her breakout role as "Possessed Woman".The film though cannot be fully appreciated unless viewed in 3-D. Only then do the strings attached to the "floating key" and the fact that there's only two crowns shown in the movie (though a third is briefly mentioned) truly jump out a come alive for the viewer.

A bad movie with cheap 3D tricks (a spear in your face, looking at a rope hanging down). Now, I saw this when it originally came out, but I seem to remember that there were only three crowns. I guess they were hoping for a sequel. In any event, I could be wrong since it's been so long since I sat through this very thin, bad film.