Caribe (1988)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Among other mis-wrought contrivances in this horribly-designed film was the mid-script change in the female lead from Rosanna Arquette to Kara Glover (what? you didn't notice that?). I love John Savage and Stephen McHattie (have for years) but they're the only +s in this 'minus' film. In addition, there were many (too many) technical flaws from the outset and throughout this movie, including badly-contrived love scenes (mostly non-existent), extremely poor camera work and editing, poor script management, terrible continuity and timing, extended frames which shouldn't have been extended. The only thing I can recommend is the 'lighting' (nicely done!)

Jessica Martorana's comment below tells you pretty much everything you need to know about "Caribe". I can stand a lot of things in low-budget action films, there is only one characteristic they MUST avoid: being boring. Unfortunately, "Caribe" is very boring. After all, there is only so much walking in the jungle / kayaking in the river one can take before losing interest, no matter how beautiful the locales may be. Stephen McHattie plays a reprehensible enough villain, but the two leads are not very charismatic, although Kara Glover does run / climb / swim / get covered in mud capably. Gore fans may also appreciate a gratuitous heart removal scene. Not a film to seek out. * out of 4.

Caribe was a movie about an illegal arms trade in Central America that goes bad and leaves a young woman involved named Helen (Kara Glover) and a British Intelligence Agent named Jeff (John Savage) alone to face a gang of pirates, hoodlums, or thieves, whatever they are, after them, intending to kill them. Along the way they meet a violence hating hippie type who dresses like a Native American and can kill with precision and ease named Tommy (Zack Nesis). Anyone else see a problem there? He eventually becomes their ally.There was what seemed to be a pretty cool boat chase scene around the middle of the movie, but that quickly fizzled out with a pretty lame end. Oh well.Let me say first that Kara Glover would be better suited to play a ditzy soccer mom or librarian over this role of an illegal arms trader. I was not convinced of anything she did. The only thing about her I am convinced about, is that she did not get her role because of her acting. She was pretty cute and someone thought she just had to be in this film. Don't get me wrong, she was cute and has her place in the acting universe, but not here, not even in this awful action film. I guess that shows why she hasn't acted since 1988, according to IMDb. One last point... why would they show a fat stripper running around naked but deliberately cut out Kara Glover's bathing scene in the lake? Makes no sense and could have caught my interest, if only for a bit.Which brings me to my next point. Shouldn't an action movie have action? Instead, this movie shows us what could have happened to our hero and heroine but later cuts to show they made it out alive. No explanation, just believe they made it through their predicament.John Savage plays Jeff Richardson, a British Intelligence agent who happens to be an American (which they actually touch upon in this film). He seems like a weak male lead to me and could have been better cast.The only actor worth mentioning here is Stephen McHattie. He plays Whitehale, the villain who is chasing Helen and Jeff through a river in Belize intent on killing them to keep his secrets safe. He reminds me of Alan Rickman's character, Hans Gruber in Die Hard.Honestly, I can't really recommend this one unless it happens to be lying snugly in your DVD player already to go while you have nowhere to go for the next 90 minutes and are bored out of your mind. Not as bad as other movies I've reviewed (see Savage Roses), but not really worth your time. 4/10

Well, Caribe may not qualify for a superior action thriller but it does have one good point - The mayan ruins and the tropical beauty of Belize, where 90% of the movie has been shot. The photography is truly outstanding and the scenery is more than enough to watch this movie. And if you can get hold of a new CD or DVD, you'll agree to what I mean.