Bullet Points: Lost Treasure
When a movie opens with scenes from Backdraft you know what kind of movie you are in for, a Baldwin movie… except as you can tell from the title, these Bullet Points are not for Backdraft and William is nowhere to be seen. Lost Treasure is a 2003 Stephen Baldwin movie and it borrows many scenes from other movies. Lost Treasure was directed by Jim Wynorski (as Jay Andrews) and if you are at all familiar with his work it starts to make sense. It does not take away any enjoyment for me when watching and in fact when I see a scene from a different movie it is kind of like seeing a good friend you haven’t seen in awhile. Is Lost Treasure a hidden gem you should be seeking or something that should stay hidden? Let’s find out!
- My Good Friend Art Thief – Turns out the opening fire scenes were at a museum where a fake firefighter uses the blaze to steal a piece of art. I don’t know about the art, but that fake firefighter is a real piece of work. Firefighter is one of the noblest professions, and I salute the brave men and women keeping us safe. The robbery leads to an exciting car chase. Is it from another movie? Most definitely, but I don’t care because I can’t complain when cars are getting obliterated and a truck blows up after crashing into a food truck.
- My Good Friend Dee Tective– The police officer tasked with finding all about the stolen item is Carl McBride (Coby Ryan McLaughlin). Why the police can’t just ask someone at the museum is not a question that I can answer, but luckily for Carl his brother happens to be Department of Defense map imaging expert Bryan McBride (Stephen Baldwin, Cutaway). Special thanks to Carl for spitting out that expositional dialogue when he goes to see Bryan even though Bryan presumably knows what his own expertise is. The piece of art turns out to be part of a treasure map for a Christopher Columbus treasure. One could say it is a lost treasure!
- My Good Friend Otto Mobile – I love how Lost Treasure has the flimsiest excuse for Carl to be driving a different car when in reality it is just because there is another film’s car chase added to Lost Treasure. A chase that features the bad guys who originally stole the map trying to get it back. Carl gets kidnapped by the bad guys and taken to Panama while Bryan is on the way there to save the day. Bryan gets a flight from local charter pilot Carrie (Nicolette Sheridan) and a bickering vacation couple that is thrown in for some annoying comic relief. Their flight is doomed from a storm taken from Six Days, Seven Nights, a movie with Harrison Ford doing his best Harrison Ford impersonation as the small plane crashes on the beach.
- My Good Friend Sue Nami – With all our main players on the Panamanian island, it is only a matter of time until things are going to come to a head. Carl manages to escape his captors and teams up with his brother and his group. Our heroes just want to get off the island alive, a task made more difficult by an impending storm. A storm that is bringing a giant tsunami… time for a ship capsizing for no reason except it is probably from another movie. The storm does give us a rainy and muddy final fight so it is worth it. But do they find the gold?
Lost Treasure is not what I would call a good movie, although there are scenes from good movies in it. However, I can say that I enjoyed Lost Treasure, but I must confess to being a Stephen Baldwin fan. Oh hell, I am a fan of all the Baldwins. Knowing that you are watching a Jim Wynorski film brings a certain level of expectation when you watch a movie and he sure knows how to cobble disperate scenes. With a simple plot, adequate bad guys (color me shocked that there were dirty cops involved) and exciting action set pieces (even if from different movies) there is more than enough to enjoy the movie. Should Lost Treasure be buried forever or should you give it a watch? I will leave that for you, just like I will leave you with some Lost Treasure Bonus Bullet Points.
- I Wouldn’t Have Believed If I Didn’t See It Credit – The film has neither been endorsed nor authorized by the United States National Imagery and Mapping Agency or the United States Department of Defense.
- My Good Friend Barb Beque – Ribs bring people together. It is a fact.
- My Good Friend I.P. Freely – Lost Treasure features two separate toilet flushing scenes.
- Best Quote – “I’ll keep it short.” With a runtime under 90 minutes, I would say “job well done”.
