Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Coronado is a 2003 film brought to us by the same special effects people that worked on Independence Day. What they don't mention is that those are the same people who ALSO did Godzilla, and have since fallen off the map so to speak. Signing up for films like Coronado could be one of the main reasons that this has happened. Coronado is more like a compilation of every other action film you have seen, with the sequences made simpler, and lacking the film quality you would expect from a major motion picture. What we are left with, is something with the quality you would expect to see on a TNT made-for-television movie, which was only given a small budget to work with. If you are in a rush, I will tell you right now that I am giving this movie 1 star for its terrible approach to everything regarding film-making, and giving you the chance to just run away right now. There are no actors to hang your hat on here, and you may not recognize a single actor unless you are really a die-hard movie-goer.

The "story" of Coronado, involves a woman who has recently become engaged. Her husband must go to Switzerland on business, but he ends up leaving behind some papers that he really needs. He asks her to send the papers in the mail, but deciding she wants to surprise him, she ends up going to Switzerland herself. Upon arriving there, things stop adding up, and she quickly realizes that her man had no intention on going to this country, and in fact only has a post office box there. Lost, and feeling betrayed, she has no clue what to do until she calls a friend back home who urges her to take a look at the papers she has been transporting. There she discovers that her man has actually gone to the country of Coronado to conduct business that she isn't quite sure of. Having already gone this far, she decides her next stop is Coronado.

This is where the movie goes far, far of course for me, as this American woman goes into a 3rd world country looking for someone she quickly loses interest in finding. Instead being side-tracked by everything that is happening around her, and quickly striking up friendships with a television crew that has been shooting footage of the resistance taking place in Coronado. Under the rule of a tyrannical leader, the country is rebelling against him, and there is a specific band of rebels that stand a good chance of over-throwing the Government. Problem number 1, well my main problem number 1, is that it turns out the rebels have far better weapons and a far better arsenal than the people running the country. So, it doesn't give us any drama when the ultimate battle comes up, nor does it make me think that the ruling party would have been in control for this long.

Confused yet? Well if you are looking for a well-developed plot, or story-line, you REALLY aren't going to get it here. The movie clocks it at less than 90 minutes, and at times you cannot believe how slow the story is dragging. The action sequences that were supposed to be a selling point for the film end up being a detractor from the story, and if you think you have seen unrealistic explosions in other films, this one will just make you scratch you head. For an example, there are missiles fired from airplanes where the pilot is so on target, he can blow up an area just 5 feet from our main characters. The fear of shrapnel or the fire from the blast? Non-existent. The realism of the story is too far gone for me to find any selling point for this movie, and the way the action is played out makes me feel so cheated that millions were spent on this film which could have gone somewhere better. Please don't waste your time or money on this movie, and stay away at all costs.


Further Details of The Film

Directed by : Claudio Fäh
Writing credits : Volker Engel & Marc Weigert

American Woman (Claire Winslow) : Kristin Dattilo
Her Fiance' (Will Gallagher) : Michael Lowry
The Reporter (Arnet McClure) : Clayton Rohner
The Tyrant (Presidente Hugo Luis Ramos) : John Rhys-Davies

Rated PG-13 for some action violence.
Official Running time of 88 minutes

Budgeted at $4.7 million


DVD Supplements

*Audio commentary by director Claudio Fäh and producer Volker Engel
*Deleted and extended scenes
*Making-of Featurette


Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD