Africa (1999) Poster

(I) (1999)

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3/10
Not good enough for a Razzie
=G=7 July 2003
"Africa" is a drama which is sooooo bad it's funny. The film is about a blonde babe/model who is driving somewhere near Johannesburg, S.A. when her car overturns rendering her unconscious. When she comes to, she takes off in her miniskirt across the African wilderness instead of staying by the road (duh) and hitching home. After that, the film becomes and odyssey of survival where our cute little protag has to eat bugs and run from lions and all that exciting stuff. If you can swallow that premise, then maybe you have a chance of swallowing the whole horribly directed sham of a flick which follows. A real stinkeroo!! (D)
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Definitely in Contention for Dumbest Movie of the Year
rmax30482324 May 2004
A blonde fashion model -- not Charlize Theron -- is on a location shoot with her boyfriend and his crew in South Africa. They have a row. She decides to join him at another location by driving her car across the savanna. She almost has an accident with a truck and her car leaves the highway and flips over. The truck driver evidently has paid no attention because she comes to later lying alone next to her car. She staggers to her feet, wearing a skimpy blouse, a virtual skirt, and a pair of heels. The highway can't be more than twenty feet away. So she smoothes her hair back away from the rather becoming bruise on her forehead and decides to start walking off into the trackless veldt. Mistake number one.

The rest of this interminable thing consists of three basic parts. (1) She keeps walking away from the highway getting punctured by thorns and tracked by lionesses and monkeys. (2) Flashbacks to the more comfortable moments she spent with her boyfriend. (3) Her boyfriend being joined by her parents and searching for her. They don't find her but it doesn't matter because she keeps plodding along until she stumbles onto another busy highway, having acquired a very nice tan.

I don't know why this movie was ever made. The performances are uniformly rudimentary, the plot mixed up and boring, the character development nonexistent. None of that would matter much except that -- well, it doesn't matter what the heroine is doing -- falling into bushes, climbing trees, jumping off a cliff -- she always manages to keep her knees together. Oh, there is a shot of her emerging nude from one of those pools at the foot of a waterfall, but one ten-second shot does not a summer idyll make. And I guess you DO get to see zebras, monkeys, lions, hyenas, and a dead eland (which she eats part of). She eats a grub worm too, come to think of it, and drinks muddy water from a small pond that elephants have just used as a bathtub. The most unkindest drink of all. The Yir Yuront of Queensland in Australia consider witchety grubs a delicacy so I don't know what she's complaining about.

I won't bother going on about this. You have better things to do with your time than watch this. If not, you might consider macrame. Or try the London Times crossword. They tend to be very hard. Here's an example. Name a major seaport in the middle of Czechoslovakia. Answer: "Oslo." CzechOSLOvakia -- get it?
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1/10
Terrible!
mickety_mack29 November 2005
This movie has got to be the worst movie I have seen in years! I thought that even though I had never heard of the actors before I would at least give the movie a go--bad idea! I actually checked the movie cover half-way through to check it wasn't a comedy, it was that bad. The acting and script both made me cringe, the amount of continuity errors and holes in the plot were astounding and the music and editing were totally amateur it was embarrassing. If you want to take this movie seriously, don't bother, it just isn't worth it. But if you take this movie as something to laugh at, then you might just be able to sit through the hour and a half of it!
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1/10
'WALKABOUT' FOR DUMMIES
TERRANOVA3K29 November 2020
Well, the skimpily clad, high-heel wearing doofus drives alone thru South African jungle at night in an open Jeep, with no survival geer. Oh, she does have a cell phone, which she promptly tosses out when her boyfriend calls to check on her progress. After the crash, instead of staying on the one paved road, an obvious truck route, (a truck ran her off the road) for some dumb reason she wanders off deep into the jungle. In high heels. If anybody deserves to be eaten by a lion, Darwin says she's lunch. I hate to compare this tripe to the classic 'Walkabout', but that movie really showed how the 'city kid lost in nature' plot device was excellently done. This whole movie shoulda got lost in the jungle.... Oddly, unlike the 'Naked and Afraid' people, survival specialists all, this woman never had a problem making fire. Weird how that happens.....
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2/10
Watchable - Very Watchable - VERY TERRIBLE TOO!!!
sfumatosprocket28 November 2020
Great scenes and scenery. Even a clever thing here and there. But buying into the injured fashion model becoming a survivalist in the African bush definitely meant some producers were influenced by a different type of bush to get behind this ridiculous premise. It's more survivable to get through than an American 80's movie like Iron Eagles with terrible sound track...this flick Africa has a decent sound track that fits the scenes, and you can keep trudging forward. Would have been better if the movie developed a female character that is the 'plain Jane' to show that superficial bimbos who have city culture manipulation skills would get eaten alive in raw nature, but that a practical woman might have a chance. Most guys will appreciate the skin exposure scenes but nothing is too overtly tasteless.
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6/10
I liked the scenery and sound track
menloe-3951318 August 2015
Thought the scenery and music to the movie were great! I would but the Soundtrack if one existed, because I liked the African-themed music. The animals were cool, and the scenery of Africa is mysterious and awesome. You never know what animal is there to eat you. Man (or woman is not on the top of the food chain in Africa!)

The story and dumbness of the movie, not so much. The lead actress is a mess, and manages to survive despite easy things that could easily save her. The story ignores obvious thing that could have lead the lead actress to safety, and lack of common sense takes away from the movie. Writers should have spend a little more time detailing a better story than the framework the movie is built around, a hot, spoiled girl trying to survive in the wildness, unsung her past experiences with her Father to not give up.
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8/10
I liked it
leslie_morford200312 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
So like the other comment says its about a Blonde model who has a fight with her manager and takes off in a jeep across the sahara. being headstrong she doesn't take a driver or anything along. Blah blah blah her car crashes and she gets thrown from the car, and i believe it catches on fire she hits her head and is out for a while. She wakes up and its dark she can't see anything and she gets up confused and starts walking. By the time she realizes what she did wrong she's to far turned around to know what to do. Basically its a story about spoiled princess who is literally thrown into the wild to contend with starvation, wild animals, injuries and death and is being haunted by her own memories. I liked the movie. But it is a little hard to find a movie i don't like. It being what it was it was good.
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Nice and entertaining
Sam-2857 July 2003
The star, Dorette Potgieter (Vicki), is sure a pretty young woman that does a great job of acting the part.

In the beginning of the movie, she is at a club or something like that dancing. It is a very fancy and civilized environment. She soon gets frustrated about her life and wants to be alone for a few days. So she decides to drive alone across Africa. Of course she has a problem and ends up walking off into the wild and uncivilized part of Africa. The one thing I don't understand is why she walked away from the road. That makes no sense, but everything else seems logical. In the beginning she is not very rational but after a while she accepts that she is lost in the wilderness and begins to be more logical.

Although there is some nudity, it is only minimal.
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8/10
Engrossing survivalist tale
Woodyanders1 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Beautiful and pampered fashion model Victoria 'Vicky' Young (a sturdy and sympathetic performance by gorgeous blonde stunner Dorette Potgieter) has to fend for herself in the harsh African bush in the wake of an automobile accident. Writer/director Paul Matthews relates the gripping story at a snappy pace, maintains a serious tone throughout, and uses the survival in the wild premise as a strong and provocative metaphor for the fiercely competitive nature of the modeling world. Moreover, one can't help but admire Vicky's strength, determination, and resourcefulness as she does her best to persevere under grueling circumstances. The sound acting by the able cast keeps the movie on track: Greg Wise as Vicky's concerned manager Josh Sinclair, Elizabeth Berkley as the practical Barbara Craig, David Dukas as cocky jerk Stick, and Patrick Bergin as Vicky's worried dad John. As a tasty plus, the delectable Mrs. Potgieter shows quite a bit of skin a few times. Vincent G. Cox's slick cinematography offers plenty of stunning shots of the breathtaking African scenery. Skhumba's bouncy tribal score totally smokes as well. Worth a watch.
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so-so movie, with a few unrealistic flaws
whre-17 July 2003
After accident can't understand why she didn't just return to road she had been on, rather than roaming the wilds of Africa to find another one. Also, amazed she took her lighter with her, yet didn't bother with her Cell-Phone.
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A Good Movie!
sarah-hulme20 January 2003
Africa is a good movie, it has an interesting storyline and it kept my attention the whole way through!

I would recommend it to anyone interested in a good action movie!
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