Blood, Sand and Gold

Blood, Sand and Gold is my latest review. What, no sweat and tears? Anyway, "Sand" doesn't have a MPAA rating but I'll go with a standard R. There are a few F-words, a cold-blooded murder involving a tied up escort, and a couple of other nasty kills. Just think of Blood, Sand and Gold as Raiders of the Lost Ark meets National Treasure. Now take away any excitement or verve that those movies hastily possessed. Blood, Sand and Gold is your typical, slick Redbox endeavor. It has lots of glossy locations (Canary Islands, Dubai, Belgium, and Hong Kong to name a few), a no-name cast, a familiar movie poster (similar to Extraction, Arsenal, or Sicario), and a rookie director in 27-year- old Gaelan Connell. Released only in New York City, "Sand" is a globetrotting affair that feels surprisingly grounded. It obviously has a budget but I doubt it will break even on said budget. With its minimal images of wealthy relics and its lack of insightful treasure speak, Blood, Sand and Gold still comes off like the cinematic poster child for modern day archaeology. It stars Monica West and Aaron Costa Ganis. West looks like a cross between Judy Greer and Tilda Swinton. Sadly, Ganis looks like the B-list version of Gerard Butler. Together, Ganis and West's characters (Jack Riordan and Mave Adams) travel the globe in search of priceless, 15th century artifacts needed for a salvage company. On their journey, they involve themselves in deeper territory as conspiracies about stolen treasures begin to surface. In regards to the overall effect of Blood, Sand and Gold, watch for middling acting, ludicrous shootout sequences, and laughable fistfights that seem to be forced and used just for filler (that way "Sand" can safely say it's an action film). There's a car chase where a woman who's never shot a gun before, kills about three bad guys without missing once. There's also a scene in which an elderly dame (maybe in her 70's) turns all antagonistic and fires an AK-47. Finally, you have a romantic subplot between Riordan and Adams that lasts for about five minutes. It involves the French language and conversations about screwing on a table. Gag me. As for the look of Blood, Sand and Gold, well it's not half bad. Cinematographer Chloe H. Walker provides mountainous landscapes, shots of gleaming deserts, and twinkling city skylines. However, the performances in "Sand" are so lackluster (the troupers either overact or seem wooden) that Walker's keen eye just becomes prepossessing, empty background. What a shame. In conclusion, Blood, Sand and Gold is filmmaking water mold. Gaelan Connell's direction on it lacks a sense of coherent locality. The actors go from country to country and with each frame, "Sand" feels like its solely edited on the fly (that can't be good). All in all, it's best to just skip Blood, Sand and Gold unless it's the last movie left on Earth. Then, you should only see it once. Rating: 1 and a half stars.

Even though I really wanted this movie to be my cup of tea, which it could have been if they would have used a tripod and would have taken the time to do a bit of decent casting, it turned out to be everything but that. I'm not saying all actors are bad in this movie, but there are quite a few cringe worthy moments. There's a Dutch speaking guy that can't even manage to get the grammar right. Shaky cam -at times- is so bad, that even slowly walking people are (partially) out of the frame. Drunk filming might be fun to do, but the result is no fun to watch. To be fair, the sound is okay though. It feels like most of the budget was spent on sound and music. All in all I can't say that I enjoyed this film and I cannot agree with those who claim it's 'the future of action movies'. And if it turns out to be just that, it's a sad future indeed. I didn't make it to the end, so maybe there's some great stuff that I've missed, but that's a chance I'm willing to take..

I rated 10 to balance the rotten downvoting. This film is really basic and delivers on its objective. To entertain and leave viewers happier after than when they started. On a budget smaller than my last entertainment allowance this guy made a film with global locations, reasonable acting and a compelling storyline where you the protagonists are identifiable and not off putting. Basically he ticked the boxes. He also showed hollywood that script matters, not big name actors. I read he cut corners by buying the actors a round the world ticket and crowd-funding props like classy cars and locations and actors doing on the cheap for the gig all on tourist visa's. Something like $300k to do the whole film which if you watch you won't believe is possible but they did it. The director is 24, and he made the entire film for $276,000, and shot it in 4K film in 8 weeks on 3 continents - absolutely amazing. This is not a top line blockbuster sop don't expect that. But it is entertaining and will be 10 x more enjoyable to watch than half the rubbish you will see this year. And this guy has shown plenty of producers what he can do on not even a shoestring. Quite frankly Hollywood should be worried how badly they have been exposed. As for the film no point to review it itself, its a good 6.5/10 and does its job. Watch the trailer that's what you you get. I don't re'watch films often but I'd be prepared to watch this again if it were on.

Without a doubt, it is not a blockbuster movie, but it has managed to create a quality film with low resources, good talent and experience. A great achievement for the beginning of several new film agency in the world with great stories.

Well I Watched this movie, Just About 10 Mins Ago, I finished. And You Can Tell That They Had to work within a limited Budget. But The Scenes Were Really well Shot, As well As Clever Use of High Definition Camera Drones. And The Actors Really Gave it there All. The Villain Was Particularly Well Do(though A bit Cliché' lol)

I have never written a review before but felt I had to this time. Saw this advertised online then read the review by GearPatrol.com on IMDb...for the money ($274k) the result is amazing. Mr Connell has made the genre of film he wants and should be more than pleased with the result. Most low budget indies are about character and story but this shows that the genre can be bigger than that. This reminds me of what Gareth Evans did with 'The Raid' but for less. Yes..the acting may not be the best (but far better than most of us could ever do, believe me) but he has made a small, independent movie that so surpasses expectations that I cannot believe. His vision far out ways his budget and the major producers/studios must surely want to see what he does with a larger budget. And no, I am not related to anybody connected to the director, producers, investor or anybody else. I just love film of all genres and was really amazed with what I just saw...sometimes you just want to be entertained. Watch and enjoy.

I think the most expensive part of this film had to be the travel and catering because if these actors got paid for this terrible movie they should give the money back. Don't waste your time. I've see fan films with better acting.

Without a doubt, it is not a blockbuster movie, but it has managed to create a quality film with low resources, good talent and experience. A great achievement for the beginning of several new film agency in the world with great stories.