Overview: For the final film in his Indiana Jonesploitation Trilogy, director Antonio Margheriti unleashed a “fun and fast-paced” (Good Efficient Butchery) jungle adventure that became a VHS-era favorite, now in UHD for the first time ever.

Christopher Connelly (RAIDERS OF ATLANTIS) stars as a cynical safari guide who leads gullible millionaires on bogus treasure hunts in Malaysia. But when a crafty U.S. government operative (the legendary Lee Van Cleef) blackmails him into finding the mythic Ruby of Gloom, they’ll battle death cults, double-crosses, unstable volcanoes and exploding refineries to snatch the jewel from maniacal pirates.

Marina Costa (THE FINAL EXECUTIONER) and Luciano Pigozzi (DOUBLE TARGET) co-star in this “utterly charming” (B&S About Movies) action hit written by Giovanni Simonelli (THE ARK OF THE SUN GOD, A CAT IN THE BRAIN) and originally released in America by Cannon Films, newly scanned in 4K from the original camera negative.

Blu-ray Verdict: Duke “Captain Yankee” Howard (Christopher Connelly) and Gin Fizz (Luciano Pigozzi) sell fake jungle adventure dreams to rich foreigners who want a story to brag about when they get back home. But one day, U. S. government man Warren (Lee Van Cleef) tells them that he’ll expose their scan if they don’t guide museum curator Lansky (Mike Monty) and Maria (Marina Costa, who is also in The Final Executioner, another Italian movie that Cannon released; she has Carolynn De Fonseca’s voice) and find the Ruby of Doom.

Or Gloom. Sometimes both. To get it, they’ll have to fight some river pirates, led by Tiger (Protacio Dee). Luckily, Captain Yankee has a child in his crew that has a near-psychic rapport with a deadly cobra, which is something you don’t see in many Raiders redux movies.

So yes, this might be Raiders of the Lost Ark, but so are two other movies Margheriti made, Ark of the Sun God and Hunters of the Golden Cobra. Video store shelves were starving for more treasure hunting rogues and he was the man to film these ripoffs, remixes and remakes.

Also: the use of miniatures and action figures to get big explosions in this movie is utterly charming. If you’re the kind of person that finds that cheap and off-putting, perhaps stop watching Italian 80’s exploitation movies now. Or never start. PS: The snake even gets a love interest! [B.M.]

Bonus Features:
Disc 1: UHD
• Trailer

Disc 2: Blu-ray
• The Ruby Trail – Interview With Assistant Director Edoardo Margheriti
• Italian Credit Sequence
• Trailer
Feature Specs for JUNGLE RAIDERS:
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Runtime: 101 mins
• Audio: English Mono, Italian Mono
• Subtitles: English SDH, English
• Region: UHD: A/B/C, Blu-ray: A