Treasure Raiders Review by Bobby LePire. Edited by Courtney McAllister.

 

While I am not a car guy, at all, my favorite games are racing games- kart, sim, arcade, doesn’t matter- and I tend to enjoy movies about similar things- “Rush”, “Torque” (underrated genius!), as long as it conveys an impressive sense of speed with cool looking car races/ chases/ stunts, chances are I’ll have fun with it. Combine that with a buried secret treasure hunt, “Indiana Jones” -style, add a crazed Russian mafia drug dealing subplot, and throw in some bumbling special agents for the hell of it, and you get a movie that I’ll enjoy the hell out of, even if no one else does! My friends, this is the gooftasticness of “Treasure Raiders”!

 

The plot does combine everything above, though not always seamlessly-

Michael Nazzaro (Steven Brand), an American archaeology professor teaching in Russia, moonlights as a semi-professional street racer. He wins his way up to get to battle Wolf (Alexander Nevsky), the best, never lost a race, club-owning hulk of a man who also runs illegal substances for the Russian mob, during races. They are forced to team up to search for the lost treasure of the Knights Templar. Michael is a descendant of one, owns a 16th-century book passed down to him through generations, which has matching symbols to the Templar medallion Wolf constantly wears. Meanwhile, a well-known historian (David Carradine), a descendant of a Persecutor of the Knights, is trying to destroy the treasure. On top of that, the Moscow police suspect that the professor and Wolf are part of the Colombian drug trade. What are the connections between the medallion and the book? Is the treasure real? Can late career Carradine play anything besides a villain?

 

The movie is nothing if not original and derivative all at the same time! That contradiction is enough to blow some weak willed minds! Combining all these genres into one movie is something I haven’t seen before (or since), and I appreciate that it was done. On top of, the racing scenes aren’t terrible, the adventure side of things is badass fun, and the movie keeps its energy up throughout. However, each section has its flaws- the races reuse a lot of the same footage, and of course Wolf keeps winning thanks to cheating! The treasure seeking has a dash of Dan Brown-style absurdity- the medallion holds the key to open the ancient tome that describes where the treasure is hidden, but that can only be discovered by deciphering ancient scrolls, which another professor friend just happens to have- which is good for a laugh, but it does make things a tad predictable. Finally, the Russian mafia/ drug dealing side plot is rather useless. The movie could be rewritten without that (and thus, no cops as well), and so little of the major/ important events that happen would be altered in any substantial way.

 

With all that said, director Brent Hoff has a solid eye for action, even if some of the stunts were obviously filmed with the vehicles going at low speeds. He also effortlessly jumps through the genres, without any issues. I just wish his cinematography, courtesy of DP Rudy Harbon,  was as good. The night sequences are sometimes a bit hard to see, and the camerawork feels very safe; let me explain- the shots during the various races are always a foot or more from the vehicles, which makes the gaps between the few ‘traffic cars’ on the road, and the racers always evident. Even the shots between two characters don’t get much beyond point and shoot medium frames. Every shot in the movie is apparently designed to sap all style, so the fact that the movie has a swift pace and is never boring is quite the achievement.

 

The reason for that is the that action, as plainly as it is shot, is enjoyable. There is a pretty great car chase during the climax that takes place on a bridge, wherein the practical stunts lend an urgency that wouldn’t have been there if everything had been CGI’d. Despite the obvious gaps between traffic during the races, partially because they are practical, and partially thanks to the editing, they have a real sense of speed, which is the exact thing that needs to be conveyed in a racing movie (for how not to do that, please never watch “Need For Speed”). There’s a shootout on a rooftop, that has some odd geography thanks to bad editing- a wide shot isn’t your enemy guys- but it’s a nice change of pace from the other action beats in the movie.

 

Steven Brand makes for an easily likable hero. He has decent charisma, even when it sounds like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to various car things. He’s especially good when discussing the treasure and its sordid history, being believably excited and intrigued by it. Alexander Nevsky, who also created the story for the movie, is pretty good as Wolf. He’s clearly enjoying himself, playing an antihero (of sorts), and holds his own in during the action scenes. It shouldn’t be too surprising that he gets the bigger action setpieces, but he’s good there. David Carradine has ten minutes or so worth of screentime, mostly nestled in the beginning and end, and is fine. Not quite a paycheck role, he’s never quite as villainous as the movie wants us to believe.

 

The movie never quite settles into a proper tone because of its genre jumping, and the low budget is noticeably distracting here, never a good sign. There is fun though, as the actors are solid, the genre mashing is refreshing, and Knights Templar stuff sounds believable, with the ridiculously convoluted way the map needs to be deciphered terribly amusing!