Part 2 - Ark of the Sun God (I Sopravvissuti Della Citta Morta)

Antonio Margheriti and company are back to give us more of the same (with a few slight changes) in Ark of the Sun God, which was filmed back-to-back with his last IJ clone, Hunters of the Golden Cobra, resulting in David Warbeck, John Steiner, and Allan Collins (aka Luciano Pigozzi) all appearing in major roles once again (however, it is not a direct sequel and none of the actors reprise their earlier parts).

This time around Warbeck plays Rick Spear, a master safecracker and superthief, who is tricked by his colleague Lord Dean (Steiner) into helping him break into the Temple of the Sun God and retrieve the Scepter of Gilgamesh (a Sumerian hero-king of legend - for those who want to nerd out more - Gilgamesh), an artifact that is said to grant its owner “inestimable power”. Little do they know that the villainous Prince Abdullah, leader of the cult known as the Demons of Gilgamesh (identifiable by the hieroglyphic style eye tattoos on the palm of their hands), has been eavesdropping on their plans, and intends to get the scepter for himself.

The problem is, Spear may be the only man alive capable of cracking the temple door’s intricate locking system, and Abdullah is determined to gain his assistance by any means necessary, even if that means kidnapping his girlfriend or torturing his allies in the process. Can Rick, along with his sidekicks Mohammed (a totally awesome rip off of Sallah from Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Beetle (Allan Collins, back again), evade Abdullah’s murderous henchman long enough to find the temple, unlock its secrets, and keep the sacred scepter out of the wrong hands?

Whereas Hunters of the Golden Cobra was a cross between adventure, war, and cannibal films, Ark of the Sun God is more like Indiana Jones meets Eurospy/crime action, with the character of Rick Spear more prone to sneaking around then barging his way with his fists (although there a couple fights). The hothouse jungles of Southeast Asia seen in Hunters are replaced here by the crowded streets of Istanbul and the treacherous terrain of the Turkish mountains.

Because of this change of setting, as well as the emphasis being placed moreso on the location of the temple and the mystery surrounding its opening, this feels much more akin to Raiders of the Lost Ark than it’s sister film (except Ark of the Sun God is set in modern times rather than the 40’s). I think it’s also a little faster paced and a tad more exciting too, with a few more temple traps (more lava!), a ridiculously bad “car chase” done with some of the worst models I’ve ever seen, a super cheesy theme song which repeatedly and indiscernibly mumbles something about an “adventure”, and a completely absurd plot element involving the temple being close to a mountain that is shaped like a swastika (which we do fortunately get to see and is, needless to say, also a model. That means that some prop guy had to build a little scale model of a mountain shaped like a swastika for this movie. Am I the only one who thinks that’s pretty hilarious?)!

Here’s how the rest of the movie stacks up:

*- While there isn’t actually a giant rolling boulder per se, there is a giant rolling wheel/disc made of stone. Even better!