Had to re-watch this. Only memory I had of this movie was something about a girl with a see-through shirt underwater and Voodoo stuff with a bloody chicken leg. I knew I was in for a ride.

So, we have this couple, David Sanders (Nick Nolte) and the hot Gail Berke (Jacqueline Bisset) scuba-diving for possible hidden treasures in the Bermuda. Great underwater shots for the time, no wonder James Cameron hired the guy for The Abyss.


They come across the Goliath, a shipwreck from WWII resting at the very edge of a cliff. Since this was a military ship, this area is off-limits to everyone due to dangers of explosions from munition and the likes; but of course, that doesn't prevent our fearless duo from ransacking it! They unearth some useless stuff from the Goliath like forks and lighters but come across an old-looking medallion and an ampule with some orange liquid.

Now, there's this scary scene where Gail gets her arm stuck underneath the wreckage for no apparent reason and something keeps pushing and yanking her against it real hard, and I mean REAL HARD! So hard that apparently her stunt double got her shoulder dislocated because of this. Poor stunt doubles. When I was little I always thought it was a monster chewing her arm off or something but it's actually a giant Moray Eel living in the wreckage, though we don't see it yet. Fun thing is, when Gail breaks free, she rushes to the surface in panic, bubbles everywhere, whilst David keeps grabbing her leg actually pulling her down! Wtf man, just let her get to the surface and ask questions later! To top it all off, when they reach their boat he says: "What're you trying to do, kill yourself?!" Lol, how smooth, ASSHOLE! But since Nolte's so young here, plus he looks like a surfer with an awesome mustache, I'ma cut him some slack. And what's up with the surf behind them? I swear it looked like something big was about to emerge...

Later, the couple tells some people about their findings and attract the attention of a drug dealer called Henri Cloche (Louis Gosset Jr.) who's very interested in their findings and later starts to threaten and terrorize them.

There's this one scene where his minions search them and the girl has to strip. Har! Romer then tells them to leave the island the very next day.


Shaken, but not through yet, they decide to seek the help of a treasure hunter called Romer Treece (Robert Shaw) to help them identify that medallion they found. With the aid of a Super-Magnifying-Glass-With-a-Lamp-Thing, he comes to the conclusion that it's Spanish! We then learn from Adam Coffin (Eli Wallach), a fisherman and former crew member of the Goliath who survived it's downfall (and also, the UGLY character from the awesome1966 flick: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly!) that those ampules are actually morphine, making them very valuable on the market. Treece postulates that a recent storm must've exposed the cargo and that underneath the Goliath lies a much older Spanish ship, possibly loaded with treasure. Wahey!


Apparently, there is more to this scene then what was shown in the final cut probably because it was too graphic and extreme... I reckon it has something to do with the chicken paw going places... And guess what, that groping dude is there too! Dayum, nigga you got issues. Anyhoo, this is how Cloche scares people off.

Now that he proved his point and means business, Romer decide to make a deal and sell him the ampules he finds, or else he would blow the ship. Sounds like a plan to Cloche so he gives them 3 days. Afterwards, Romer offers them shelter at his lighthouse and the 3 of them start some research in old ship's manuscripts to reconstruct the history of the lost treasure ship. Despite the artifacts already found, to increase it's worth they have to establish provenance first, that is, a proof that the treasure they uncovered is really from that shipwreck. To do so, they have to research a list stating the ships cargo before sinking. Romer also wants to destroy the Goliath, thus foiling cloches plans; Cloche however, keeps interfering with their efforts.

While they're scuba-diving and retrieving thousands of ampules, they also secretly try to recover more artifacts from the Spanish vessel. That's when we take a glimpse of the ginormous Moray who downright cuts a fish in half to show them who's boss! Nobody fucks in it's lair so they better be careful not to disturb it again. In another instance, Cloche stops by and spills fish guts all over the water making sharks more aggressive and prone to attack and kill the group. I totally missed the point here. Why would he risk and kill them when he needs them at the moment, since the ship is rigged? Plus, a smart villain always waits for others to do his dirty work. Oh well...
Later, Romer stashes the ampules in the lighthouse and rigs it in case someone else tries to steal them.

Now, remember the Voodoo-Groping-Negro?Ok, this sick mother decided to go and kill Romer's friend with the Help of Addam Coffin, (once the Ugly, always the Ugly!). I fail to see the point here, these characters aren't even the least bit developed in this movie to begin with; but I guess Cloche had to kill someone and we needed some action between two huge dudes... or not.