"Jack Hunter and the Lost Treasure of Ugarit" is one of a series of three episodes, 2008 - 2009. Kinda like "The Librarian" or "Jesse Stone". Only Jack isn't quite as good as those. The acting is bad enough to make your teeth hurt. Still, ya gotta love square jawed Ivan Sergei
as Jack Hunter. He's like the hero in a romance novel. And, I never get tired of looking at Joanne Kelly, who plays the fetching, Nadia Ramadan. // The Bushwacker 11/3/2021.
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thebushwacker4 November 2021
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chrissyharry29 October 2018Have seen all three in the series, very like Indiana Jones, but the sound on speech is very low, used Speaker Bar and just able to hear it with Subtitles.
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daniel-mannouch15 March 2020The Jack Hunter trilogy is introduced exactly as you would expect it, a modern day Indiana Jones rip off with an inferior budget and charm. Lead actor Ivan Sergei is no Harrison Ford as nearly every other review I've found online loves to point out to the point where it sounds like a cultish mantra. Not to say that it's false in any way. Sergei cannot carry a film. I would say that his portrayal as an American was impressive, but, he is an American, so not a lot to go on here. Sergei has the looks of a star lead, but has very little charisma and his attempts at whole hero on lock nonchalance comes off as mere lethargy, therefore appearing to be sleepwalking through several scenes.
His supporting cast in love interest Joanne Kelly and comedic sidekick Mario Bassil do not pick up the slack and are indeed lacking screen presence themselves. Kelly is bland and Bassil's shtick is hit and miss to say the least. They warrant no engagement and if it wasn't for a decent, if unambitious screenplay, i would write the whole thing off as an incoherent bore.
What else can I say about the film? The production is TV movie quality. The character's are defined well enough and the whole thing comes off as an above average asylum production. Whether that's an insult or compliment would be down to how much respectable businessman money was pumped into this, but wouldn't you know, that information is not available online.
The first entry is acceptable escapist fare, but is also completely forgettable. -
philhayward10 September 2009You could waste your time and watch this movie or you could imagine Indiana Jones with no charisma and bad acting and you will save yourself the pain. My children and I did endure to the end, but it became a "laugh at the TV show" towards the end. The plot could have been reasonable but doesn't make it. The acting is blockhead and stilted. The characters are stereotyped. Syria could not have endorsed this heap of bull, the characters shown from the incompetent police to the comic relief sidekick are all one dimensional, insulting and pathetic. The story line wanders and the bad guys are a bit too obvious. Any plot twists are telegraphed and do not work. I cannot warn people enough to stay away.
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daveclix30 March 2021Aren't all heroes named "Jack?" Yep, this one is too ... and it goes downhill from there.
Score: 2 .... plot development 1 .... character development 6 .... Indiana Jones character rip-off 8 .... Location set up shot (some of the visuals are nice)
You don't care about these characters and their back stories, because they are not introduced with any skillfully written narrative. They are one dimensional, predictable and completely unsympathetic.
The modern time period lacks the charm and danger of the 30s and impending world conflict. But somehow, when "Jack" heads out to go on his mission, he is suddenly adorned in the Indiana Jones uniform of the 1930s era.
Seriously? Can't these rip-offs at least have better writing if they are created by people who you assume went into the craft to use their creativity? -
carlodegraaff6 October 2020The movies are trying to hard to be Indiana Jones/The Librarian/National Treasure all at once and doing a VERY bad job at it. From the on set the lead character is an exact copy of Indiana Jones' persona. Good movies to watch if you want to loose IQ points
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thystleblum4 November 2019Totally derivative of Indiana Jones, but then, Indiana Jones is totally derivative of earlier films and radio programs. Taken on its own merit, the Jack Hunter series is a fun and adventurous romp. While that's pretty much it, that's more than mainstream media has been giving us for some time. The acting is passable. The writing is decent. The special effects are dated and sometimes cheesy, but again, passable. My favorite part of the films is the dichotomy between Jack and his nemesis, Albert Littman. The actors play well off of each other, and it provides a sense of tension and danger that has been sorely lacking in Hollywood films of late.
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lonetraveler8631 October 2023I don't know where they got these actors but they were truly atrocious. The plot was predictable and the main character was a direct rip off of Indiana Jones without the charisma. I have no idea where they found these actors but holy cow. The Nadia character was just something else with how terrible she was. Just vacant moon eyes and pursed lips (just overuses the duck face I swear to god). The side kick was vaguely irritating and seemed....borderline offensive. He was too simple minded to be a believable character. He was more of a cartoon. Even the bad guys had nothing going for them. The twists were predictable. Also the make up job in the final fight scene was laughably bad. If you want to see a bad soap opera version of Indiana Jones then this is for you.
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WelshFilmCraze7 January 2010Though in reality it's really 3 separate Two hour Films (that is how I saw it) that need to be watched in order to make sense, considering this was on The Sci-Fi channel which is usually filled with garbage I was Pleasantly surprised as it's really quite good, and looks like it has a fairly large budget which is unusual considering there is No one in it that you will have heard of.
The acting is reasonably good by all concerned, and if you enjoyed the similar in vein 'The Librarian' Series of Adventure TV Movies then you will enjoy this.
Worth watching. -
osborne_graham2 January 2019A good adventure with a proper plot, some goodies, some baddies, a couple of twists and a lot of action. Think Indiana Jones, romancing the stone and the mummy. The special effects are low budget but so too with indiana Jones. The acting is not superb but so too with the mummy. If it had been released in the 80's it would have been a classic.
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linda-plant225 June 2019It was all a bit silly, but easy watching which didn't tax the brain too much.
I was irritated however, by the number of times the name 'Jack' was shouted out by Nadia. Dear Lord, if you didn't know the hero's name was Jack beforehand then you certainly knew it by the end of the series !! I could almost tell when it was coming, ..... Jaaaaaack, then Jaaaaaaack again, even Litman couldn't say a sentence without using his name.
Otherwise ok. -
trhendricks19665 November 2020This series certainly - and shamelessly - lifted the Raiders of the Lost Ark for base material, but it does give enough of a twist on events to make it legal, and somewhat serviceable.
I like this genre so I enjoyed watching it for entertainment's sake. Of course it has as much "cheese" in it as a Green Bay Creamery, and the dialogue is not Oscar material, but I watch documentaries if I want something deep. -
thebushwacker4 November 2021"Jack Hunter and the Lost Treasure of Ugarit" It is not a mini-series in the normal sense of the word. It is one of a series of three episodes, 2008 - 2009, which in my opinion is more of a mini-series than what Hollywood calls a mini-series. LOL It is kinda like "The Librarian" or "Jesse Stone". Only Jack isn't quite as good as those. The acting is bad enough to make your teeth hurt. Still, ya gotta love square jawed Ivan Sergei as Jack Hunter. He's like the hero in a romance novel. And, I never get tired of looking at Joanne Kelly, who plays the fetching, Nadia Ramadan. // The Bushwacker 11/3/2021.
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nona_lexxa1521 April 2009I watched this series last night, and I was actually surprised to find an adventure series with a rather engaging plot.Even though it had some flaws here and there which are rather difficult to pass, the story-line was interesting. They had some problems with the special effects in some part of the movie but mostly it was enjoyable. I was expecting some " American treasure hunter movie" and I was right, it has many clichés. The actors acted pretty well, still it could have been better... The story resembles "Indiana Jones" movies, and you would probably like this series if you are a fan of "treasure-hunter" movies... My vote is 8 out of 10, as it was a nice, relaxing movie.
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thebushwacker4 November 2021"Jack Hunter and the Lost Treasure of Ugarit" is one of a series of three episodes, 2008 - 2009. While not a mini-series in the normal usage of the word, it truly is a, mini-series; kinda like "The Librarian". Only Jack isn't quite as good as that. And, the obvious rip-off of Indiana Jones, globetrotting archeologist makes my teeth hurt. The acting is bad and painful to watch. Still, ya gotta love square jawed Ivan Sergei as Jack Hunter. He's like the hero in a Harelequin romance novel. And, I never get tired of looking at Joanne Kelly, who plays the fetching, Nadia Ramadan. // The Bushwacker 11/3/2021.
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sauravjoshi8520 May 2023Jack Hunter is an archeological adventure film series. The film is a three parts film series. The film stars Ivan Sergei, Joanne Kelly, Thure Riefenstein, Susan Ward, Alaina Huffman and Mario Naim Bassil.
The film in the vein of the most and highly acclaimed Indiana Jones series is might not be entertaining or adventurous as Indiana Jones but still the film has it's own entertaining themes and overall the film doesn't disappoint.
The plot of the film is simple and execution is also simple. It seems that the makers didn't want to waste their time in doing research for such kind of film.
The screenplay of the film is good and in between of the film you'll raise your suspicion on every character apart from the main lead being a informer of the villain and the pendulum is keep moving from one person or another but in the climax the bubble of this excitement also bursts leaving you empty handed.
Acting is decent by all the characters and climax of the film is also predictable but decent. Overall this series can be watched once and you'll not be disappointed. -
skay_baltimore15 March 2022It was obvious from the hat that this was a rip off of Indiana Jones. But having said that it moved along, had some nice dynamics, and really wasn't all that bad. (WARNING: Danger Ahead. Part 2 is pure rubbish. Whatever this segment had going for it got totally lost in the next installment. Do yourself a favor. Stop here and don't bother watching the other segments.)
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carol_bates_gapch27 July 2020I had not seen Ivan S since he was in an episode of Burden of Proof and I was surprised and pleased to see how well developed his acting had become since Crossing Jordan. In watching the Jack Hunter Trilogy, I was even more pleased and throughly entertained. Hats off to the entire cast and the beauty of the Middle East that was shared. I, in no way, even compared this too Indiana Jones because it stands on it's own merit. Boo to those who do.
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joshdasilva28 February 2020What an adventure. Better than Indiana Jones in my book!