''Lost City Raiders'' is a 2008

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

written and directed by

Jean de Segonzac Jean de Segonzac (sometimes credited as Jean DeSegonzac) is an American director, screenwriter and cinematographer who has worked in documentaries and television programs. Most of his work has been in gritty, ''cinéma vérité''-style law enfor ...

. It starred

James Brolin Craig Kenneth Bruderlin (born July 18, 1940), known professionally as James Brolin, is an American actor. Brolin has won two Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globes and an Emmy Awards, Emmy. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August ...

Ian Somerhalder Ian Joseph Somerhalder ( ; born December 8, 1978) is an American former actor and current business owner. He is known for playing Boone Carlyle in American Broadcasting Company, ABC's science fiction adventure drama television series ''Lost (2 ...

Jamie King Jamie King (born 1972) is an American creative director, choreographer, and producer. His work directing concert tours for pop stars has grossed over $2 billion as of 2011. Early career King started his career in entertainment as a dancer. He ...

, and

Bettina Zimmermann Bettina Zimmermann (born 31 March 1975) is a German model and actress. She has appeared in more than sixty films since 1999. Selected filmography References External links * 1975 births Living people German film actresses German ...

Plot

In year 2048,

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

has caused much of the surface of the earth to become flooded. In the city of New Vatican, Cardinal Battaglia believes that the global inundation can be gotten rid of by using the "scepter of Moses". This is the staff that

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

used to part the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

during

The Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yəṣīʾat Mīṣrayīm'': ) is the Origin myth#Founding myth, founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four of the five books of the Torah, Pentateuch (specif ...

. Cardinal Battaglia contacts John Kubiak (

) and his sons Jack (

) and Thomas (

). The Kubiak family is raiding the sunken cities for various treasures lost beneath the waves. The Kubiaks are to assist Brother Fontana and Father Giacopetti in a submarine to retrieve the scepter and save the earth. They are opposed by Nicholas Filiminov (

Ben Cross Harry Bernard Cross (16 December 1947 – 18 August 2020) was an English actor. He was best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 film ''Chariots of Fire'' and for playing Billy Flynn in the or ...

), a major land dealer who wants the scepter for his own purposes; having forced the water to rise to cover the remaining land, survivors will be forced to live in his planned floating communities, and he can then purchase the sunken land for a pittance before lowering the water level again. He enlists the help of Giovanna Becker, Jack's ex, to help him find the scepter. Meanwhile, a waitress Cara joins the Kubiak team as the ship mechanic and helps Jack and Thomas, especially after their father is killed trying to fend off Filiminov's men. Despite the attempted intervention of an insane Father Giacopetti who sees the Rising as God's punishment for mankind's sins, the new Team Kubiak are able to activate an ancient chamber that triggers a gas explosion and consequently lowering of the flood waters. The film ends with the team having dinner and contemplating their future as they visit the thirty-one other chambers listed on the map as activating that one chamber only caused the Mediterranean to drop ten meters while not affecting the rest of the world.

Cast

as John Kubiak *

as Jack Kubiak *

as Giovanna Becker *

as Thomas Kubiak *

Élodie Frenck Élodie Frenck is a Peruvian–Swiss–French actress, born 31 July 1974 in Lausanne, Switzerland. She is known for playing the character of Marlène Leroy in the French TV series '' Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie''. Biography Frenck o ...

as Cara *

Michael Mendl Michael Mendl (born Michael Sandrock; 20 April 1944) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than 100 films since 1975. He is best known internationally for his role in ''Downfall (2004 film), Downfall'', the 2004 movie about Adolf Hitler's f ...

as Cardinal Battaglia * Jeremy Crutchley as Father Giacopetti *

as Nicholas Filiminov

Production

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

commercial

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

, the American cable television network Sci Fi Channel,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n production company Tandem Communications produced the film."Tandem Links Up for $6.4m Sci-Fi Movie". Press release. Tandem Communications. 6 March 2008
Accessed 2010-10-22. Its budget was

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

6 million. The film was first announced in March 2006.Meza, Ed. "German Producer In On Action in U.S." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''. March 26, 2006. Tandem Communications intentionally picked an international cast, part of the company's successful strategy of making films easily marketable around the world. Within weeks of the announcement of the production, the film had already been pre-sold in Germany, France, and Spain. Principal cinematography was to have begun in the summer of 2006, but did not begin until April 2008. The 90-minute film was intended to air in two parts. The Sci Fi Channel hoped that it would lead to a series. The film had its worldwide television debut on 31 October 2008 in Germany. It debuted on the Sci Fi Channel on 22 November 2008.

Reception

David Hinckley in the ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' found the production values exceptionally low and the film predictable. "Sadly, the action turns out to be fairly predictable. Not as predictable as Brolin's acting, but predictable nonetheless, which may be why the filmmakers insert a romantic subplot involving not one, but two spirited, adventuresome women." Linda Stasi of the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' called it bad and cheesy. The ''

Tampa Tribune ''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area. The newspaper also published a ''St. P ...

'' called it "''

Waterworld ''WaterWorld'', also known as ''WaterWorld: A Live Sea War Spectacular'', is a stunt show attraction based on the 1995 film '' Waterworld'' found at Universal Studios Hollywood (1995), Universal Studios Japan (2001), Universal Studios Singap ...

'' without the budget" and an "awful movie"."On TV This Weekend, Nov. 21-23". ''Tampa Tribune''. November 21, 2008.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1198403 2008 films 2008 television films 2000s English-language films Austrian television films German science fiction television films English-language Austrian films English-language German films Climate change films Films set in the future Syfy original films Films set in 2048 Austrian science fiction films German science fiction films 2008 science fiction films Films directed by Jean de Segonzac 2000s American films 2000s German films ProSieben original programming English-language science fiction films