GB /SPA / BEL
2014
1hr 38min
Dir: Jonathan Newman
Starring: Michael Sheen and Lena Headey
After his family disappears, a young 17-year-old traces their fate to a huge steam-powered hotel on a mysterious island
The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box, also known by its working title of Mariah Mundi: The Curse of the Midas Box, is a fantasy adventure film based on the 2007 novel Mariah Mundi – The Midas Box by Graham Peter Taylor. The novel on which the film is based was the first of a trilogy, being followed by Mariah Mundi and the Ghost Diamonds (2008) and Mariah Mundi and the Ship of Fools (2009). The film was intended to be the first of a franchise but its rather lukewarm reception meant no sequel has been forthcoming. The film includes a fairly atmospheric scene filmed at Kidderminster (SVR) station with crowd scenes showing former GWR Manor Class 2-6-0 No.7812 Erlestoke Manor and former LMS Class 5MT 2-6-0 No.42968. The obvious anachronism in filming is that the plot is set in 1885, with characters and set dressed accordingly; however both locomotives date from the 1930s while 42968 carries a BR-era smokebox number. The Severn Valley railway scenes are about two minutes long and end with two of the main characters travelling aboard one of the GWR carriages. A brief exterior shot shows the train being hauled by 7812 but what is intersting here is that at one point mid-journey, Michael Sheen hands Aneurin Barnard a railway ticket which is inscribed ‘Great London Rail, Second Class, Kings Cross to Aberdeen’.
