Sands of Oblivion (2007) (TV)

User Rating:

3.7/10   

Director:

David Flores

Writers:

Jeff Coatney (writer)
Kevin VanHook (writer)

Release Date:

6 April 2008 (Russia)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot:

In 1923 legendary film director Cecil B. DeMille finished the epic film _Ten Commandments, The (1923)_ ...

Plot Keywords:

Panties | Title Spoken By Character

Cast

Morena Baccarin	...	Alice Carter
Adam Baldwin	...	Jesse Carter
Victor Webster	...	Mark
George Kennedy	...	John Tevis
Azie Tesfai	...	Jamie
Richard Kind	...	Ira
John Aniston	...	Nigel Barrington
Kristina Sisco	...	Meagan
Grinnell Morris	...	Young Producer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alan Kemper Armani	...	Archaeologist
Eric Artell	...	Tommy
April Bowlby	...	Heather
Dan Castellaneta	...	De Mille
Henry Dankwah	...	Egyptian Soldier
Melissa Di Meglio	...	Field Reporter
Jeremy Fitzgerald	...	Electrical worker
Shannon Garnett	...	Egyptian Priest
Jamel Gay	...	Archeology Student
Kathleen LaGue	...	Screaming Woman
Charles Lister	...	Buford
Jeff Manzanares	...	Sherif
Raymond O'Connor	...	Dale
Alejandro Patino	...	Raoul
A.J. Presley	...	Archeology Student
Angel Princess	...	Archaeology Student
Nick Principe	...	Anubis Creature
Anthony Reynolds
Wayne Roadie	...	Archaeology Student
Jack Samson	...	Johnny
Daniel Mark Stafford	...	Black Robe Priest
Chelse Swain	...	Carrie
Diana Terranova	...	Ghost Woman
Sigmund Watkins	...	Egyptian Soldier
Paul Weber	...	Pharaoh
Kai Devani	...	Egyptian Soldier (uncredited)

Directed by
David Flores

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jeff Coatney		writer
Kevin VanHook		writer

Produced by
Karen Bailey	....	producer
Melissa Jones	....	associate producer
Lawreen E. Kayl	....	line producer
Kevin VanHook	....	producer

Original Music by
Ludek Drizhal

Cinematography by
Keith J. Duggan

Casting by
Paul Weber

Production Design by
George Goodridge

Art Direction by
Eric Mitchell

Costume Design by
Kathryn L. Bucher

Makeup Department
Autumn Butler	....	makeup department head
Jason Collins	....	special makeup effects designer: Autonomous F/X, Inc.
Mandi Crane	....	assistant makeup artist (as Mandi Maugh)
Casey Dion	....	makeup artist
Jennifer Greenberg	....	assistant makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Paige	....	second second assistant director
Jon Recher	....	second assistant director
Joseph Suarez	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Anthony Eikner	....	property master

Sound Department
Brian Deming	....	boom operator
James Doser	....	adr recordist
Houston Guy	....	sound mixer
Andy Hay	....	sound re-recording mixer
Markus Innocenti	....	sound effects editor
Jackie Johnson	....	sound editor
Francisco Koch	....	adr recordist
Wil Masisak	....	additional sound mixer
Matthew McGowin	....	boom operator
Jesse Pomeroy	....	supervising sound editor
Marcus Ricaud	....	production sound mixer
Jean Souders	....	additional boom operator
Paul Stanley	....	supervising sound editor
Eugene E. Thompson	....	sound mixer
Ian A. Thompson	....	additional sound mixer

Special Effects by
Anthony Eikner	....	physical effects coordinator
TreJulie Stamos	....	special effects assistant
Mark Weatherbe	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
William L. Arance	....	animator
William L. Arance	....	compositor
Brent M. Bowen	....	visual effects
Harry Eisenstein	....	compositor
Harry Eisenstein	....	matchmove artist
Peter Gend	....	visual effects
Carol VanHook	....	visual effects

Stunts
Brian Brown	....	stunts
Richard Bucher	....	stunts
Brian Duffy	....	stunts
Eyad Elbitar	....	stunt performer
Jeremy Fitzgerald	....	stunts
Tad Griffith	....	utility stunts
Toby Holguin	....	stunts
Oliver Keller	....	stunt double
Diana R. Lupo	....	stunt double: Morena Baccarin
Jason Rodriguez	....	stunt coordinator
Scott Workman	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Victor Avila	....	additional assistant camera
Michael S. Beckman	....	lighting technician
Ken Blakey	....	director of photography: second unit
Melissa Di Meglio	....	still photographer
Adam Duffy	....	electrician
Brian Eastveld	....	grip
Harry Eisenstein	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Alex Gaynor	....	electrician (as Alex O. Gaynor)
Michael E. Gonzales	....	first assistant camera
Tyler Harrison	....	second assistant camera
Jennifer Harville	....	assistant camera
Adam Lozuk	....	key grip
Keith Morgan	....	gaffer
Ryan Norris	....	set lighting technician
Dustin Penrod	....	best boy electric
Rob Pittman	....	camera intern
Mark Putnam	....	second unit director of photography

Animation Department
Brent M. Bowen	....	animator

Casting Department
Carol Grant	....	extras casting
Jennifer Lurey	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Vicki Cannizzaro	....	costume supervisor
Christina Hale	....	set costumer
Kelli Knack	....	set costumer
Sierra Robinson	....	set costumer

Transportation Department
Bob Cope	....	transportation
Harry Zabounian	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Will Alovis	....	additional script supervisor
Randin Brown	....	production assistant
Elena Chernock	....	production assistant
Genevieve Coleman	....	production coordinator
Erin Connarn	....	second script supervisor
Gary DeGalla	....	location manager
Lisa G. French	....	assistant production coordinator
Alex Garcia	....	key set medic
Ari Halpern	....	script supervisor
Tim Shuler	....	set medic
Dennis Sugasawara	....	production accountant

Production Companies

• Starz Productions

Distributors

• Ren-TV (2008) (Russia) (TV)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Complex Studio, The  sound post-production
• Mission Post  sound post-production
• Monster Picture Crane  stunt rigging crane
• Spank Machine  sound re-recording

Runtime:

USA:90 min | USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Dumont Dunes, San Bernardino County, California, USA

Company:

Starz Productions

Quotes:

Mark: That was just a walking meat puppet.

Movie Connections:

References The Ten Commandments (1923)

What a Great Idea, But........

Over the years I've seen some pretty decent story ideas that the SciFi Channel has used as a basis for original films. They've usually gone to the bad because the money and/or skill needed to make them A quality entertainment just wasn't there.

THE SANDS OF OBLIVION gives them the chance to mess up not a good idea but a potentially awesome one that could have been as exciting as THE MUMMY or RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Unfortunately, the great idea just fizzles out.

The basis of the story is that when Cecil B. DeMille made the original, silent THE TEN COMMANDMENTS the studio bulldozed the elaborate sets in the California desert instead of recycling the lumber and other building materials. It seems that there had been genuine Egyptian artifacts used in the set and something Very Bad had been unleashed.

In the present day people are digging up the old desert location, and Something Bad is once again free to roam the Earth.

The cast is adequate to the job, and the special effects are really pretty decent. But the script and direction are uneven, and the film never finds a consistent tone. It veers into comedy and seems to disregard the numerous people killed by the newly unleashed monster. Near the end there's a dune buggy race that's professionally filmed but seems to have been cut in from another movie.

The original TEN COMMANDMENTS had a segment set in contemporary times (the 1920's) concerning the building of a cathedral with substandard material and the tragedy of putting cost and convenience in too high a position. A similar theme could have been developed with the lumber, which would be very well preserved in a desert climate.

THE SANDS OF OBLIVION is certainly worth watching, but the main thing I kept thinking was what might have been.