Spear of Destiny (2010 TV Movie) User Reviews

Unboxing Goethe

[imdb-neweyes · 4/10 · 2 April 2010]

In Germany we call it "Schnitzeljagd" (paper chase), at least a Schnitzeljagd with rather good music and some humor in it.

Who awaits action like in Indiana Jones or other similar adventures must be disappointed very much, since the chases are even more unrealistic but action wise can't compare at all.

Also the whole story is straight-forward. Some puzzles have to be solved, even when made by Goethe (boy, how did he find time for all the writing when he had to build up all these puzzles ...) and some bad guys are chasing the good ones. But at no time the story gets really thrilling.

The filmmakers did their best, to make the plot interesting, with just ridiculous knowledge of history (compatible to the average TV-viewer?) and some sinister sounding history back flashes. But still, the style of the film is more like a geotagging paper chase than an adventure, so that also they had to add a line for one of the main characters speaking about the dangerousness of the situation -- else the viewer would not have grasped it, it seams! The most interesting thing in this film? What artifact of Goethe is unboxed next and which secret will it hold.

The bad thing about it, is the bad thing about the whole plot line. All is stolen! From Indy, from "National Treasure" and supposedly from others. At least all of the hints, the secrets feel so familiar and the only surprises are the next impossible situations the actors stumble in ... and they really stumble ...

So, it all could also be compared to a series of unboxing-videos from Youtube, but here supposed history artifacts are unboxed in spite of techie-gifts.

All in all, a film for a boring afternoon, when it is really boring! It is a little entertaining, but not more.

Goethe grafted into old "Relic Hunter" script

[Sjhm · 4/10 · 10 February 2011]

Taking that somewhat bizarre premise and running with it, the intrepid heroes set out to solve Goethe's increasingly complex and dangerous puzzles while holding the bad guy's "evil" henchman and his sidekick at bay.

The things that do work: the scenery is gorgeous and the bad guy's henchman is by turns slimy and menacing. Some of the chase scenes are so preposterous as to be quite thrilling. However the plot is clunky and the leading man swallows his words. I am not a native German speaker, so with no subtitles I had to work really hard to understand what he was saying.

All things considered, the film is quite entertaining, if you liked Relic Hunter you will like this, but don't go looking for any deeper meaning as it's very much a join the dots plot with some set pieces thrown in. Average and inoffensive.

so predictable...

[Kirpianuscus · 27 January 2018]

Part of a trilogy mixing Indiana Jones and Da Vinci Code, it could not be surprising. because all is well known. a mix of myth and fake and adventure. few drops of love story. and the clash between bad and good guys, crumbs of humor and a poor personality - in this case Goethe - victim of a sort of game. good option for fans and for tired people looking for easy show. but, nothing more.

Probably the worst from the trilogy

[Horst_In_Translation · 2/10 · 27 September 2017]

"Die Jagd nach der heiligen Lanze" or "Spear of Destiny" is a German television film from Easter 2010 and it is the second of three (so far) films about the character Eik Meiers, who may best be described as a very poor man's Indiana Jones with an ounce of Hidden Treasure. The director is Oscar nominee Baxmeyer and Kai Wiesinger takes over here playing the main character. Derek Meister is the one guilty of producing this horrible script. Several actors return from the first film and this includes Bettina Zimmermann and Fabian Busch and his main task here is to keep the film from being too serious in a way Wolter did the same with the Karl May movies. The title already gives away what they are looking for this time, but the story never becomes interesting. This is a shame as when you get guys like Prochnow and Martin (NCIS biased I admit it) playing the bad guys, then you really need to be ready to deliver at least some quality. But it's really cringeworthy at times and this refers to everything about Sonja Gerhardt especially. You can say a lot of negative stuff about Theiss' character in here, but there's no way she was as pointless and annoying like Gerhardz. Oh wait we were supposed to like her. When it comes to the good guys, the film really isn't a revelation at all in terms of acting, but if you know a bit about German film and read the cast list, then this should not come as a surprise to you. Anyway, in terms of adventure, drama and history the film is also far away from achieving relevance and good quality. The ways in which they included names like Goethe or Napoleon at the end and other famous people felt really desperate as if they were trying all they could to give this film significance while coming truly short due to lack of talent. So yes the only impressive thing in here is indeed how stunningly beautiful Bettina Zimmermann is. No denying there, but sadly it does not extend at all to her character as the scene when she knocks out Theiss' character is a contender for film's worst. No mercy here, this was a really bad watch and luckily the first and third film(s) are better, not much though, just not as high on the garbage scale as this one here. Highly not recommended.