Stometer
Save your money for something good and enjoyable
TaryBiggBall
It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
Nayan Gough
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
Originally, Fritz Lang, writer and director here, planned 4 Spiders movies, but the 95-year-old "Das Brillantenschiff" ("The Diamond Ship") turned out to be the last installment to the series of Kay Hoog going against the infamous criminal organization. I am okay with that as I certainly enjoyed the first film more than this one. The references about his lost love are not enough in here and, in general, in terms of story and emotion it does not really deliver in my opinion. At times, it feels like a weaker version of the first film, at other times, it felt like Hoog wasn't even the main character anymore. This second film went a bit longer than the first, namely 80 minutes for the version I watched. These numbers may differ though as, as usual with these very old films, all these restored version have different runtimes and the original was probably even longer as some of the parts were lost today. As a whole, this is among the weaker films I have seen by Fritz Lang. Sorry to see this did not reach the level of the first or fulfill its potential as a worthy sequel to the film from a year earlier. Not recommended.
Cineanalyst
This "Spiders" sequel, "The Diamond Ship", is just as ridiculous and sensational as the series's first part. The rich adventurer continues in his pursuit of the criminal gang, the Spiders, who are after a diamond that's linked with Asian independence, leading the protagonist into a world of espionage, kidnapping and to a subterranean Chinatown.Fritz Lang continues to copy other filmmakers, including Louis Feuillade. An early scene in this film is, I think, evident of Fritz Lang's poor direction at this early point in his career: the overhead shot of a bank robbery, with no ceiling, was done better by Maurice Tourneur in "Alias Jimmy Valentine" (1915). With Tourneur, it was an innovative, well-photographed scene, but with Lang, it's derivative and poorly done. It's the same with the rest of this two-part series; there's some technical skill, but it's all inferior duplication of other films and serials. Lang would become a great director, but that didn't begin here. And, German silent cinema would be one of the greatest periods in film history, but "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920) is still the beginning of that. "The Spiders" is merely what everyone else had already been doing... often better.
Snow Leopard
This second part of Fritz Lang's "The Spiders" is a solid follow-up to the first part. This segment is not quite up to the level of the opening episode, but it is also entertaining, and it features some new and interesting material. As with the first part, the story has many far-fetched elements, and neither the plot nor the characters should be taken too seriously.This part opens with a somber, determined Hoog determined to bring down Lio Sha and "The Spiders", and it then proceeds through a variety of adventures as the adversaries continue trying to outwit each other. Some of the settings are again imaginative and interesting, particularly the underground Chinese city, and these are the main strength of the movie.Ressel Orla is again good as the villainness, but this time the story does not give her quite as many opportunities. Carl de Vogt has to carry more of the load this time, and while he is adequate in the action scenes, he does not have enough charisma to get the most out of the material. There was an opportunity for some real sparks between him and Orla, but they don't materialize.Several of the sequences are quite good in themselves, and there is again lots of action. This story of "The Diamond Ship" does not fit together quite as tightly as did the first story of "The Golden Sea", and that, plus the absence of Lil Dagover, are the main things that make this one a cut below the first episode. It's still worth seeing, though.
marquis de cinema
Die Spinnen 2.Teil:Das Brillantenschiff/Spiders part 2:The Diamond Ship(1920) is an entertaining sequel with much intrigue, suspense, and cliff hangers. I enjoyed this movie more than Part One because of the climatic confrontation between the hero of the film and Lio Sha. Lio Sha is a villain much like the famous Irma Vep of Les Vampires. Fritz Lang was still developing his style when he directed Spider Part(1920) so the genius of Lang is not evident yet. Another film that is a collector's item for fans of Fritz Lang and old silent pictures. Precusor to the director's Dr. Mabuse films and his World War 2 themed features.
