The write-up on the DVD cover promises so much: high adventure, legendary treasure, fiery dragons, a cast of thousands and much more but delivers very little. This is probably one of the worst films ever made which came in the wake of Indiana Jones. The plot is similar to those films but that is about as good as it gets.
After rescuing a man's daughter, soldier of fortune Luke Ward (Jameson Parker) is given a fabulous gem and finds out that it will lead to the fabled treasure of Ali Baba. Along the way he picks up diplomat's daughter Vickie Philips (Cynthia Rhodes) and with a convoy of mercenaries, they travel across the desert to find it.
The cast of thousands ends up being a couple of hundred at most and there are no dragons. The battle scenes are very tame with lots of shouting and charging about but little in the way of conflict. Nothing in the film gripped my attention and it was only by sheer will that I kept going to the end.
The plot holes and goofs did not help either. Port Louis in Mauritius is a poor substitute for the teeming metropolis of Bombay (now called Mumbai) but the worst goof was the filming in front of a hair salon. It looked as if the camera was set up in front of the salon and then everyone, friend and foe alike then took turns to do their scenes. Filmed in Namibia and Mauritius I was hoping for some picturesque location shots but it was not to be. I will not be watching this again.
