The Hunters of the Golden Cobra (1982) User Reviews

Fun Indiana Jones knock off from Antonio Margheriti

[HaemovoreRex · 6/10 · 18 July 2006]

The always great pairing of John Steiner and David Warbeck under the skilled direction of Antonio Margheriti produces yet another enjoyable action yarn here in the mold of Raiders Of the Lost Ark.

The plot concerns our heroes search for a priceless sacred ornament (the golden cobra of the title) which if it should fall into the wrong hands could potentially bring about world instability via its potential political, not to mention magical (!) ramifications.

As we've come to expect from Margheriti, there's a fair bit of action on display here with some nice set pieces on offer, often utilising the directors trademark miniature work.

Steiner is on top form here especially to, playing the joyously stiff upper lipped, unflappable Brit as he does so well.

The film however is overall, in my opinion, not nearly as entertaining as the following years 'Ark Of The Sun God' (also directed by Margheriti) which reunited Steiner and Warbeck once more.

Still, for fans wanting a quick, lower key Indiana Jones style fix, you could do a lot worse than this.

The Hunters of the Golden Cobra

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 7 August 2023]

The joy of Antonio Margheriti's Raiders of the Lost Ark remixes - you can add The Ark of the Sun God and Jungle Raiders to this film - is that you get sequels without waiting for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Starring David Warbeck as Bob Jackson, an American soldier who is hired by British Captain David Franks (John Steiner) to make another try at finding the Golden Cobra, an artifact he almost got a year ago. Jackson has been thinking about another mission since then, as well as the gorgeous non-native woman who somehow was living amongst the tribe of Awoks. No, not Ewoks. Awoks. She saved his life as she was able to command the cannibal tribe, who follow her like a goddess.

But then he meets her twin sister (they're both played by Almanta Suska from The New York Ripper). She and her uncle Greenwalter (Luciano Pigozzi, as always showing up in a Margheriti movie) have been trying to find her for years and Jackson seems like the best bet.

You know, I'm all for the Philippine jungle being used to great effect in Italian movies, as well as Margheriti's great use of budget, miniatures and effects. There's an entire room of cobras and a dummy drop to end the film!

Writers Gianfranco Couyoumdjian (The Last Hunter, The Last Blood, Code Name: Wild Geese) and Tito Carpi (Alien from the Deep, Atlantis Interceptors, Marta) have the Italian movie magic language to make this movie sing. As far as I'm concerned, this crew could have made twenty of these movie serial style movies, particularly when they include scenes where a crazed cult leader interrupts a slide show presentation. Also: Warbeck and Steiner are a fabulous adventure team and their dialogue is sparkling.

Entertaining Indy- clone from Margheriti

[Sorsimus · 7/10 · 12 November 2002]

Extremely fast paced and entertaining Indy- clone from Margheriti. The plot is a ridiculous excuse to keep the pace moving from planewrecks to car chases and perilous mountains.

Even the Indy- like humor is better in this one than most of its peers, watch out for the hilarious stereotypical British officer who is not afraid of anything.

Contains some impressive scale models of planes and stuff, as you'd expect from Margheriti.

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

Italian Jones in the Temple of Rip-Offs!

[Coventry · 10/10 · 12 October 2006]

Hell yeah! Antonio Margheriti (or Anthony M. Dawson, as he preferred to call himself) truly was the king of rip-offs. No, not just the king… The EMPEROR of rip-offs! There wasn't a single popular trend in cinema this man didn't cash in on, and he always succeeded in making his imitations at least as exciting, violent and spectacular as the milestones they were inspired by. Often they were even MORE entertaining! If you're looking for a cheesy sea-creature film in the likes of "Jaws" or "Piranha", check out Margheriti's "Killer Fish". In case you want a nastier version of the De Niro classic "The Deer Hunter", look for Margheriti's "The Last Hunter". And if you were truly fond of adrenalin-rushing adventure flicks like "Raiders of the Lost Ark", you simply HAVE TO search for this ultra-rare gem called "Hunters of the Golden Cobra"! This is a non-stop & fast-paced series of staggering action and events. Everything you could possibly look for in a modestly produced B-movie – and more - features here in this wonderful flick. It has plane crashes, car chases, truck explosions, wild shootouts, fistfights, spiders, eerie snake pits, cockfighting, buddy-relations, romance, dark jungles, violent aboriginal tribes, black magic, spells, poisonous darts, volcano eruptions, death traps, dry British humor, double-crossing and – of course – the unstoppable hunt for an almighty treasure! The plot unites two legendary icons of Italian cult cinema, and their on screen interactions are truly among the best and most convincing I've ever seen. David Warbeck ("The Beyond", "Formula for a Murder") and John Steiner ("Tenebrae", "Caligula") play special elite soldiers that get separated on their mission to eliminate a mad Japanese army commander near the end of WWII. One year later, they're both assigned to recover the incredibly valuable treasure that got lost in the jungle. They team up with a beautiful girl who searches her missing twin-sister and face numerous lethal obstacles on their mission. The pacing is really incredible! I assure you, these guys encounter more deadly situations in one morning than Indiana Jones did in three movies. The set pieces and filming locations are often impressive (apart from a couple of obvious cardboard decors) and Margheriti doesn't grant you any time to bother much about the implausible stunts. Warback and especially Steiner are both in great shape love-interest Almanta Suska is a real beauty to look at. If you also have a soft spot for Italian cult cinema, "The Hunters of the Golden Cobra" is an absolute must-see!

Margheriti! Warbeck! Steiner! Watermelons!

[kingfrat · 12 February 2002]

3 great genre stalwarts, along with good-lookin' Suska (from Lucio Fulci's THE NEW YORK RIPPER), do their best to cash in on RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK's success with this cheap, cheesy but fun Italian-made adventure set during WWII or thereabouts. The prize? A Golden Cobra no less, no doubt valued for its historic rather than its mineral worth since in some regions even marijuana is worth more than gold, pound for pound, and hardly worth pole-volting over a bed of hot lava for. No set pieces that'll knock you off your chair but plenty of this, that and a little Italian-style nastiness to keep fans of Spaghetti Adventure Serials and the aforementioned talents cooking in their juices.

Antonio Margheriti's rollicking Indiana Jones rip-off!

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 4 August 2016]

This, a hugely entertaining jungle adventure romp, was possibly the best of a quartet of war/jungle movies that David Warbeck and Antonio Margheriti made in the early '80s (the others are TIGER JOE, ARK OF THE SUN GOD, and THE LAST HUNTER). In this period, the Italian producers were attempting to turn Warbeck into an action hero in the Rambo or Indiana Jones mould, and despite some very successful attempts, sadly Warbeck never received the acclaim that he fully deserved and spent the rest of his life doing Italian B-movies. However, we can all be thankful that films like HUNTERS OF THE GOLDEN COBRA are still around to remind us what enjoyable performances Warbeck gave to all of his films; and, quite literally, he did "give his all".

The first thing is: don't go into HUTNERS OF THE GOLDEN COBRA expecting originality. The film mixes war-movie clichés in with RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK-style jungle action all the way and achieves a fast-paced but clichéd blend. Secondly, don't expect realism; this movie works on more of a comic-book level and is content to throw just about every jungle cliché you can think of into the pot, including the typical volcano explosion at the end and the evil natives, complete with their blowpipes and spears. While not as openly racist as the Italian cannibal genre, this still definitely isn't a movie for the PC brigade to watch! What made me love this movie was the almost-constant action. The time flies by while I was watching it, and you know the saying "time flies when you're having fun" - it couldn't be more true. Sure, most of the action is unconvincing and poorly-shot, but it's action nonetheless, and the movie captures that rare Italian style very well. Director Antonio Margheriti was never that adept at making these adventure-type films (for me, his best work was in the Italian Gothic cinema of the '60s), but his direction is passable and occasionally atmospheric. Similarly, the music is pretty uninspired but does its job in maintaining tension.

The acting is another thing. Being dubbed, it's difficult to judge the work of the cast, but I would say that the three male stars are pretty good. Warbeck especially excels himself as the laid back, drunken hero who manages to be friendly and likable while also being gruff and snappy. Physically, he also looks the part of an action hero and is one of the best things in the film. John Steiner, on the other hand, has great fun with his role of the clichéd Briton, and as I mentioned his accent and dialogue are hilarious. Steiner is apparently killed in a jeep explosion about halfway through but you can guarantee that he'll be back to save the day at the very end. Luciano Pigozzi plays the role of a mild-mannered Professor turned traitor, who really wants the statue for his own possession and will murder to retrieve it. Pigozzi's appearances in Italian cinema go back to some of the Mario Bava classics, so as you would expect he's pretty convincing. Almanta Suska has the dual role of the native queen and the professor's niece, and I can't really think of anything nice to say about her. All I will say is that she's not even as good as Tisa Farrow, and hasn't appeared in much since this movie. The rest of the (Italian/Filipino) cast are pretty wooden and unconvincing, but then they don't have to be good.

The special effects are all achieved on a low budget, so a lot of them look pretty rough, as you would expect. Especially a bus/truck crash in a jungle clearing in which both vehicles quite clearly brake hard before they supposedly hit each other and explode! One thing that is impressive, though, is the volcano explosion at the end, which throws in lots of stock footage and mixes it in well with footage of the actors. The gore level is quite low, with only two really gruesome scenes (a man shot repeatedly with darts in the face, another person bitten to death by cobras) but the death toll is high, with absolutely loads of thugs and natives biting it. HUNTERS OF THE GOLDEN COBRA works because of the sheer wealth of scenes and action it includes. You get the shooting/battle scenes at the beginning, aeroplane fights, a bar fight, hand to hand combat, truck chases, a scene in which our hero is menaced by cobras (ripped directly from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, that), the volcano exploding and the subsequent escape of the good guys and as many explosions as they could fit in on the low budget. All this in authentic Filipino locations too. Maybe I'm just biased as I love these kind of B-movies, but this is one of the best I've seen. Highly recommended!

Imitations spawn sequels, too

[lor_ · 6 February 2023]

My review was written in March 1984 after a screening at 42nd St. Times Square theater.

"The Hunters of the Golden Cobra" is an unspectacular Italian adventure film, lensed in 1982 in the Philippines under the title "Raiders of the Golden Cobra", and not surprisingly, heavily derived from the worldwide hit "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Trene is okay filler for action audiences.

British actor David Warbeck, (whose post-synched dialog varies from a Yank accent in opening reels o his own Blighty voice in later reels) toplines as soldier of fortune Bob Jackson, working on missions in the Philippines during W. W. II, with a British officer Bracken (John Steiner). He's tabbed by the Allies to return to an island jungle (site of film's one-year earlier teaser opening) to retrieve a stolen idol, the Golden Cobra, worshiped by the native religious cult of doped-up Awoks, and believed to possess incredible powers.

Besides Bracken, Jackson is aided on his mission by Juen (Almanta Suska) and her uncle (Alan Collins), searching for June's twin sister April, who was lost in the jungle years ago, and whom Jackson encountered in his first visit there. Finding her to be a white queen lording it over the natives. After several double crosses. Jackson and April escape with the golden idol in a nicely staged volcanic eruption climax.

Filme on a low-budget and generally small scale (but including director Antonio Margheriti's usual quota of topnotch miniatures and special effects explosions), "Cobra" is of interest due to its careful transfer of the basic gimmicks of George Lucas/Steven Spielberg's "Raiders" to a new story and setting. Instead of Nazis, the supernatural totem of absolute power is being contested by the Japanese here, and numerous scenes recall the look & action of the original opening and closing escape to a seaplane with blow dart natives in pursuit; hero thrown into a dungeon that fills with snakes; heroine kidnapped in an open-air market; even Warbeck exclaiming "I'm making this up as I go along" when caught in a tight spot, a la Indiana Jones.

Oddest touch is the film's unintentional predictive aspects: the baddies are named Awoks a year or more before Lucas's race of Ewoks were made public in "Return of the Jedi", and dual-role-playing femme led Almanta Suska is virtually a European double for Kate Capshaw, later to get the "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" plum part. Serendipity at work, no doubt.

Acting by a troupe of Margheriti regulars is okay, and for fans of this genre, Warbeck and Margheriti have recently teamed up for another unauthorized "Raiders" pic, "The Art of the Sun God", filmed in Turkey.