Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

John Glen

Writers (WGA):

Mario Puzo (story)
John Briley (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 August 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Biography

Plot:

Genoan navigator Christopher Columbus has a dream to find an alternative route to sail to the Indies...

Plot Keywords:

Torquemada | Christopher Columbus | Latin America | 1490s | Box Office Flop

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Marlon Brando	...	Tomas de Torquemada
Tom Selleck	...	King Ferdinand
Georges Corraface	...	Christopher Columbus (as George Corraface)
Rachel Ward	...	Queen Isabella
Robert Davi	...	Martin Pinzon
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Beatriz (as Catherine Zeta Jones)
Oliver Cotton	...	Harana
Benicio Del Toro	...	Alvaro Harana (as Benicio del Toro)
Mathieu Carrière	...	King John (as Mathieu Carriere)
Manuel de Blas	...	Vicente Pinzon
Glyn Grain	...	De La Cosa
Peter Guinness	...	Fra Perez
Nigel Terry	...	Roldan
Nitzan Sharron	...	Benjamin
Steven Hartley	...	Terreros

Also Known As:

Cristóbal Colón: el descubrimiento (Spain)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

UK | USA | Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Germany:12 (f) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #31900)

Filming Locations:

Atlantic Ocean

Company:

Quinto Centenario

Trivia:

The project was concurrently developed with Ridley Scott's 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) to be released on time for the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America.

Quotes:

Christopher Columbus: [to the Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor] I recall our blessed Lord said: here is a new commandment I give to you. That you love one another as I loved you. Surely it is not blasphemy to take that message to the shores of Africa or across the ocean sea.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Christopher Columbus" (1985)

Fortunately for this movie, they don't give "zero" an option as marks out of ten.

The 500th anniversary of C. Columbus's voyage to what he thought was India was deemed worthy of two major motion pictures (no, "Carry On Columbus" doesn't count). The trouble is that at the time there was much general apathy in the world as a whole about the whole thing, as evidenced by the lack of box office success for both this and the comparatively better "1492: Conquest Of Paradise" - neither was much to write home about, but "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery" was the worse of the two by far, and it's fortunate that Alexander Salkind will be remembered for "Superman" instead of this (it was his last production).

In pretty much every department from casting (Tom Selleck as the King of Spain. Why?) through writing ("Admiral Colon, you have won our respect and our admiration. Now where's my gold?" Note: In spite of the title, the legendary seafarer is correctly referred to as Cristobal Colon throughout... except when someone calls him "Christopher Columbus" at one point) to "special" effects, on top of an ending that leaves a really bad taste in the mouth - we cut from the misery left behind in the New World to our hero exulting as Cliff Eidelman's wildly over-the-top music bursts forth - the movie's embarrassing, shoddy and offensive. Not that the other Columbus movie didn't have its own faults (the exceptional dullness is only one of its problems) but at least Ridley Scott and Co. studied it with a bit more depth than this tosh.

Funny how Catherine Zeta-Jones never mentions this one.