Many of those who will read this text have never heard the name of director Philip Chalong or the title of his action-adventure, Faith in Gold. Meanwhile, the author of this film is one of the most famous action directors of Thailand. Its name is Chalong Pakdeevijit, which is not easy not only to remember, but also to say. Realizing this, Chalong took the pseudonym Philip. He successfully worked both at home and abroad, filming simple action films with American actors. Belief in Gold is perhaps the most famous of them, thanks in large part to Ian-Michael Vincent, who often starred in adventure movies in the 1970s and 1980s. At the end of the ninth decade of the XX century, he had already moved to a cohort of former stars and appeared in b-movie with Fred Olen Ray and David DeCoto, but he was able to attract a certain audience.
Philip Chalong's gunman is like a thrash with his logic-free action. There's the Liberation Army, the soldiers of fortune, the Japanese saboteurs... and everyone needs the gold that's hidden in the safe, and the key is just Jan-Michael Vincent's character. Endless shooting, fights, explosions and wanderings through the jungle are enclosed. What is missing is only that some sense in all this whirlpool of special effects.
Obviously, the producers were very much hoping to make money, and therefore persuaded Chalong to stage a film a la Rambo and Missing Persons. And the recipe for commercial success in their understanding is simple – more action, so as not to give the viewer respite. Characters appear one after another, storylines change each other, and how it looks from the outside, no one asked the question.
As thrash and looks, and from the series “so bad, even good”. On the screen from the first to the last minute there is an outdoor circus in the jungle, but all this does not cause irritation. Asian directors have always possessed rhythm, because the action rushes rapidly from one absurd scene to another, not allowing the viewer to comprehend what he saw, and when he realizes that it is clearly not “Rambo”, but a cheap parody of it, the film is already over.
Perhaps the crazy dynamics is the main advantage of this work, since everything else is extremely primitive and clearly designed for the unpretentious viewer. Even for b-movie, "Belief in Gold" is too simple and silly. To laugh an hour and a half at the stupidity of the characters and so spend time you will succeed, but you should not count on more, unless, of course, this film is not painted in your nostalgic tones.
We are so arranged that we are able to experience trembling feelings for low-quality films until old age, if we have some memories from childhood or youth associated with them. Since the author in his teenage years watched another nonsense, do not be surprised by this assessment - bad thrash is also good in its own way, but it is still better when the authors understand that they are filming thrash, and not doing low-grade hello to theatrical heavyweights with serious faces.
5 out of 10