This obscure thriller is the result of a collaboration between three countries – Italy, West Germany, and Israel – and with all that talent involved you'd think the movie would be at least halfway decent. Sadly not. Instead, this is a deservedly forgotten little movie, that attempts to channel the '70s interest in conspiracies, mysteries, and thrillers but offers only lacklustre thrills and excitement. Don't be fooled by the promise of a 'Golan-Globus' production in the opening credits – this is before the two names became synonymous with OTT Chuck Norris films packed with cheesy action. The only action to be found here is limited to around fifteen minutes of boat, car, and rooftop chases that take place around the half-hour mark. The boat and car scenes are sub-Bondian at best but always go through the motions than offering anything in the way of genuine excitement. At least they show off the nice canals of Amsterdam which always make good movie backdrops. The rooftop fights are better and we do get to see a guy falling from the roof, so this is easily the most exciting part of the film.
Otherwise the running time is padded out with shots of the hero, played by Fabio Testi, walking around, sitting around, or talking to people. There's a lot of inaction and even the climatic battle on board a ship is particularly dull by genre standards – this is an extreme (even ludicrous) case of the bad guys not being able to hit anybody while the good guys kill at a rate of one baddie per shot. The stand-off runs on interminably for twenty minutes or so and is enlivened only by an appalling Scottish accent that had me reaching for the mute button.
The film has a gritty, dirty, on-the-street look but the effect is more depressing than enthralling. Testi, long a staple of Italian cinema, can be pretty good and charismatic when he wants to be, but the film doesn't offer him the opportunity. Assi Davan is the Israeli co-star and he fares little better, and the two are so thinly characterised as to make them almost interchangeable. Janet Agren – familiar to horror fans for her role in the cult Lucio Fulci film CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD – looks good (if heavily made up) but her woman-in-peril scenes are limited. She only seems to be around to whip her top off and take part in a twist worthy of Hitchcock's PSYCHO. Other regular staples of Italian cinema – e.g. Hebert Fux – are invisible in a film populated by cardboard cut-outs throughout.
Utterly devoid of incident, excitement and the genre staples of suspense and tension, THE URANIUM CONSPIRACY is a by-the-numbers outing that ticks all of the boxes without ever doing anything right. Given the cooperation between three countries during production, this might be the result of a 'too many cooks' situation.
Otherwise the running time is padded out with shots of the hero, played by Fabio Testi, walking around, sitting around, or talking to people. There's a lot of inaction and even the climatic battle on board a ship is particularly dull by genre standards – this is an extreme (even ludicrous) case of the bad guys not being able to hit anybody while the good guys kill at a rate of one baddie per shot. The stand-off runs on interminably for twenty minutes or so and is enlivened only by an appalling Scottish accent that had me reaching for the mute button.
The film has a gritty, dirty, on-the-street look but the effect is more depressing than enthralling. Testi, long a staple of Italian cinema, can be pretty good and charismatic when he wants to be, but the film doesn't offer him the opportunity. Assi Davan is the Israeli co-star and he fares little better, and the two are so thinly characterised as to make them almost interchangeable. Janet Agren – familiar to horror fans for her role in the cult Lucio Fulci film CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD – looks good (if heavily made up) but her woman-in-peril scenes are limited. She only seems to be around to whip her top off and take part in a twist worthy of Hitchcock's PSYCHO. Other regular staples of Italian cinema – e.g. Hebert Fux – are invisible in a film populated by cardboard cut-outs throughout.
Utterly devoid of incident, excitement and the genre staples of suspense and tension, THE URANIUM CONSPIRACY is a by-the-numbers outing that ticks all of the boxes without ever doing anything right. Given the cooperation between three countries during production, this might be the result of a 'too many cooks' situation.