AMAZONS (1984)
TV-Movie
Article 3378 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-2-2010
Posting Date: 11-14-2010
Directed by Paul Michael Glaser
Featuring Madleine Stowe, Jennifer Warren, Tamara Dobson
Country: USA
What it is: Fantasy conspiracy thriller

A female doctor treats a senator who comes to the emergency room with appendicitis. The senator is killed when a liquid is introduced in his IV that drives him crazy and causes his death by being hit by an ambulance. When the senator’s wife demands an investigation, the female doctor finds herself framed and sued for malpractice. The doctor discovers that she’s the victim of a conspiracy caused by descendants from the ancient race of Amazons.

You know, this movie would probably have ended up better had someone taken a look at the premise and decided it would have been better to play it tongue in cheek. As it is, the silliness of the idea battles with the seriousness of the presentation every step of the way. Its worst problem may simply be that the script is nothing special; it’s full of cliches and often contrived. I also think that any conspiracy of this sort would come up with a more subtle way of recognizing its members than to have them all wear these awkward-looking bracelets with bow-and-arrow medallions. I also think they’d be more apt to stick with guns than the old bow-and-arrow as their choice of weapons, but then, I’m not an Amazon, so what do I know? One of the user reviews on IMDB couldn’t help but notice that this movie (which involves a conspiracy aimed at the presidency and features a presidential candidate who is female) was made about the same time Walter Mondale had picked Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, though I find the movie a little too silly to point at any meaningful political message.