The Phantom Empire (1988) on Netflix
R19881h 23mAdventureComedyFantasy
A cave creature appears in a public park with uncut diamonds around its neck. Denae Chambers hires C&C Salvage, run by Cort Eastman and Eddy Colchilde, to find the gems' underground source.
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- Netflix2.3/5
- IMDb4.2/101,233 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
A cave creature attacks a man in a public park, and the woman with him beats the animal to death; a necklace of uncut diamonds worth about $500,000 is found on it. Denae Chambers, the daughter of the late Dr. Chambers, hires C&C Salvage, the outfit run by Cort Eastman and Eddy Colchilde, to locate more of the stones. Her father spent his life searching for Rilya, the fabled underground kingdom that is the gems' likely source, and he was an old acquaintance of Eastman. Andrew Paris, an archaeology intern, and Professor Strock, a veteran mineralogist, join the group on the expedition.
Cast
- Michael Sonyeas Picnic Guy
- Victoria Alexanderas Picnic Girl
- Gary J. Levinsonas Mutant
Show all 15 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Phantom Empire (1988)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- For the finale's explosive setpiece, three waves of explosions were planned, but the rigger accidentally detonated one before the cameras were set up, leaving a smaller blast in the final cut; Fred Olen Ray was still mostly satisfied with it.
- The Phantom Empire was shot in only six days starting December 1, 1986, and one day was so busy it required a 27-page call sheet.
- When Film Ventures International demanded The Phantom Empire be lengthened by about ten minutes, the new material, bringing back most of the main cast, was shot in a single day at Vasquez Rocks near Los Angeles. Stop-motion battles from the 1977 film Planet of Dinosaurs, which had also been shot there, were integrated into the new scenes.
- To entice Sybil Danning to participate for a fee the production could afford, she was given the German market rights to The Phantom Empire.
- The Phantom Empire was sold to Film Ventures International but stayed stalled while Fred Olen Ray fought the distributor in court after it defaulted on a final $35,000 payment.
- On the last day of filming Commando Squad, November 21, 1986, Fred Olen Ray offered crew members a small sum to stay after wrap and shoot the scene where the characters buy the treasure map, not knowing when he would use it.
- Michael Sonye was cast in the prologue of The Phantom Empire to make use of a prop head of himself that he owned.
- Most of the film's effects were achieved in-camera through simple forced perspective, and the finale originally had a dinosaur hand puppet pop out of a miniature volcano to attack Sybil Danning's character.
