The Sword and the Sorcerer

source: The Sword and the Sorcerer

At the end during the credits there is basically something that says there is going to be a sequel, but there never was one. Kind of surprising they didn't considering this made 39 million back in 1982 which was a good take to say the least for that time. Considering it was rated R and didn't have anyone really big in it...the only person I recognize in the cast is Richard Moll. In the end though they didn't, which is too bad. This one is a good, bloody, fantasy film. The story isn't the best, but it has good action and sword fights, though the director really likes to show scenes where swords break like glass. As a kid I had trouble following the plot though as it was a bit hard to distinguish the good and bad guys, but later when I saw it, it was easier though I still say it could use a better plot.

..You know what to expect from this another Conan the Barbarian rip-off this time from Albert Pyun and 1982. The Sword and the Sorcerer is incredibly stupid and the film makers were of course serious. It is funny how these film makers who cashed in with the success of Conan (John Milius) and Excalibur (John Boorman) miss the point which made these two films so great and classic. It was and is not about big men playing with magic swords and every place filled with busty females (always naked), but still these rip offs are so much guilty pleasures that I think I can sit the film for the second time in near future before selling my DVD away. The atmosphere is occasionally, especially at the end in the cave, pretty nice as the ground is covered with mysterious mist and fog. Also, the sword fight in the cave with the fountain on the background looks great, really. So Pyun must have some visual eye, too, unless some other directed those scenes, which I don't want to believe, for Albert's sake. But when the monster arrives the credibility tones down a "little" bit. The monster is very cheesy even though it was meant to look scary and HORRIFIC! The sword action and fist fights are there to deliver some violence and on that level this succeeds as greatly as showing the females naked. When the stupid and calculated finale and irritating attitudes and pieces of dialogue are added, I should already hate this film, and that, unfortunately, I think I do. If it was even little less childish and more serious I would appreciate this much more, but now I have hard times even to appreciate it as a turkey. Fortunately there's Kathleen Beller, who is very beautiful creature in this film otherwise full of ugly men and macho attitude. The three bladed sword is pretty interesting and seems to work fine, too. Albert Pyun has made alarmingly many bad films (check out Cyborg (1989) starring Jean-Claude Van Damme), and The Sword and the Sorcerer isn't an exception. Some may enjoy this but I think this is too stupid and I don't want to waste my time with this kind of cinema as there are so many greater films which still wait to be watched and discovered. But due to the few scenes of genuine atmosphere, I give this 2/10.

I'm sorry that a sequel was never made of The Sword And The Sorcerer. It was fairly obvious that Lee Horsley got caught up with his Matt Houston series at the time. This one was a very well done fantasy adventure. Lee Horsley plays Talon deprived of his rightful place as king by evil usurper Richard Lynch who employs the black arts of sorcery to conquer the kingdom run by Horsley's father. Talon who is a child at the time flees, but grows up to be an adventurer medieval soldier of fortune with one nasty triple sword that actually fires two of its blades like a spring, the better to take care of more than one adversary. In the meantime brother and sister Simon MacCorkindale and Kathleen Beller are having Richard Lynch now threaten their domain. Of course it is the mysterious Horsley that comes to their aid. Lynch of whom I can't think of playing any good guys in his career is as evil as they come. Soon after resurrecting a wizard to help him in his quest, he kills the same wizard played by Richard Moll. But the sorcerer is far from done with him. And there's George Maharis a mysterious nobleman with his own agenda involving the kingdom. Horsley cut quite the romantic medieval figure and Kathleen Beller is a beautiful doe eyed princess who knows exactly where men are vulnerable in protecting her virtue. Nice special effects also characterize The Sword And The Sorcerer. I wish Horsley had done more films with his Talon character.

THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER is one sloppy, schlocky, terribly unfocused mountain of melted cheese. This was basically a 42nd ave version of a combination of THE EXCALIBUR & CONAN THE BARBARIAN. Even if I was halfway into the movie, I still didn't know who was who and who was the "hero". I was really surprised that I didn't like it as much as I thought I'd would. I mean, a HERCULES movie is more fun than this film. The whole thing is so unfocused and muddled that everything coalesced into one big block of melted cheese. It's not laughably bad as in a "it's so bad it's good" flick. It's just junk.

I'll admit right up front that 'Sword And The Sorceror' is NOT a good film or a classic one. It sets its sights too low for that. "S&S" just wants to be a good, cheesy, energetic adventure with lotsa Swords and Sorcery and even more "T&A". And in that sense, it is very successful. The lead, Lee Horslee, plays "Talon" with a wry awareness of the utterly derivative and crappy nature of the material, and he throws all subtlety to the winds and just goes for it. He smirks and swaggers and wades his way through a poor man's version of a Robert E. Howard epic, and looks as if he is having a lot of fun doing so. In fact, everyone here seems to be having a pretty good time, acting and Oscar Nominations be damned. And I think that is what makes the film pretty watchable even today. Several little touches help distinguish this film from your average 'hero avenges his family and wins the throne' movie. First of all is that infamous three bladed sword, of course. Second of all, "Talon" proves to be so doggoned tough that he manages to pull his hands off the stakes after he's been crucified. Geez, even Conan couldn't do that in HIS crucifixion scene! And thirdly, there's a wonderful moment when Talon's friend and sidekick makes a rousing speech to the rest of a motley crew urging them to come with him and attack the castle to rescue Talon. The actor (Joe Regalbuto,who went on to be in "Raw Deal" and "Murphy Brown") holds out the heft of a sheathed long sword. It's obvious that the script (or his improvisation) called for the rest of the gang to put their hands on the sword in a gesture of solidarity (kind of like an Eroll Flynn movie). But no one does that. They all just sit there and look at him. Poor Joe is left hanging, holding out the sword all by himself, for nearly 40 seconds. He looks like a total dork. It's an obvious miscue or misfire of some sort....BUT THE DIRECTOR KEPT THE TAKE!!! That's wonderful! My friends and I reran this scene at least twice more, laughing our selves silly at the sheer awkwardness of it. Since then, Albert Pyun has made a couple of decent films, several mediocre ones, and some real stinkers, but this little gem buys him a lot of good will as far as I'm concerned. Watch with an open mind, a tankard of ale in your hand, and a wench in a leather bikini at your feet, and you'll have a good time.

Ah, this brings back the memories. This was one of the scariest movies I saw when I was young, and one of the best adventure/d&d movies. Some of the scenes were truly gruesome, especially the big monster bloke with the beating heart. I still remember grimacing as the hero puts his hand on the tree and one of the baddies fires an arrow into it, and when Talon is attached to the cross and has to pull his hands with big nails in them out. Ouch, that gave me the heebygeebees. Classic stuff for kids, although I nearly died with embarrasment (watching this beside my mum at the time) when Talon is being chased through the castle and crashes into the bedroom filled with beautiful bronzed naked women. 9/10 as a kid, but the cast do know it's trash and ham it up for what it is.

Albert Pyun's minor budgeted sword and sorcery foray is just as amusing now, as I remembered it to be and one of the better (if not one of the best) attempts of the over-flooded sub-genre that skyrocketed in the 80s. Never does it cop out on the ingredients that make this type of b-films fun. The wonderful camp level is high, as blood and flesh (topless mainly) run freely. Pace stays zippy, and while the pulpy story has cut and dry outline, it still has personality and a complex array of schemes to keep it excitingly brash, and not just relying on set-pieces. Don't go looking for a mythical medieval journey filled with a variety of beasties, and obstacles on this one though. It's the standard boy seeks revenge when grown up on the man who killed his family, and took over his father's thrown. The hacked-up script is colourfully tacky, but has an agreeable sarcastic edge and unpretentious novelties streaming off it. Sure there are some untied plot details, but never does it fault the entertainment. Yes its entertainment, that's better not to delve too hard in to. Pyun (in his directorial debut) confidently does a workable job constructing an epic scale treatment, by using his budget wisely. Enthusiastic set-designs, and prop work look respectable and are well-integrated. We get bravado sword fights, busting with adrenaline and guts. It's pure mayhem during certain stages, but commendably executed. Then there's the potent make-up FX that holds a vivid imagination, and brutal punch. David Whittaker spirited score chimes in largely, and overwhelms many sequences. Lee Horsley makes for a charming, brawn heroine and a lively Richard Lynch mercifully eats it up as the clichéd villain of the piece. Kathleen Beller stands tall with her bold performance, and makes for nice eye-candy. Simon MacCorkindale has a strong showing, and Richard Boll (in gooey make-up) stands out too in his role as a monstrous sorcerer. In solid support are George Maharis, Joe Regalbuto and a formidable Robert Tessier.

I picked up this film, not expecting much. And my expectations were met. This is pretty boring, and the direction is extremely bad. The story does not flow well, and the action scenes, fight sequences, and other aesthetic arrangements are unconvincing. Poor characterization, dialogue, and odd narration do not add to the film, but serve only to take away. The musical score is just plain terrible, and does not flow with the movie. Many of the 'driving forces' of the film were atrocious. The heroic main character was only doing his fighting deeds to get laid by a princess, and there are many unfunny sexual jokes that do not work at all. Lots of cliches, and dumb sound effects are included. Again, the characters are not anything what so ever. Some shots are done OK, the direction of photography wasn't too bad, and it convinces the viewer that it takes place in a past time and wasn't shot in the 1980s. Some effort obviously went into this film, but more effort should have been given to the script and direction. 2.5/10

One of the first fantasy adventure flicks to cash in on the success of Schwarzeneggar's Conan, The Sword and the Sorcerer has stuck in my mind over the past 30 years thanks to its relatively high level of gore and female nudity. Unfortunately, what I couldn't remember was just how crap the less exploitative elements of the film are. Lame fight scenes, a confusing meandering plot, half-assed humour, characters with really dumb names, wooden acting, and terrible direction: they're all here in abundance. Let's concentrate on the positives then... Pop this one into the player and you'll be greeted by a surprisingly good opening scene in which ancient sorcerer Xusia, resurrected to help villain Cromwell (Richard Lynch) in his quest for world domination, demonstrates his power by using magic to tear the heart from a witch. Some decent splattery make-up effects easily make this one of the best parts of the whole film. Juicy! Not much later and we get to see the film's titular sword, a truly impressive piece of weaponry—triple bladed, with two of these blades able to be fired from the hilt at high velocity. This is inherited by young warrior Talon after Cromwell ruthlessly slaughters his family and their people. Boo hissss! Years pass, the story gets awfully convoluted and characters come and go, but at least we get some scantily clad wenches to help take our minds off the sloppiness of the script, best of all being buxom, doe-eyed beauty Alana (Kathleen Beller), who along with her brother Mikah (Simon MacCorkindale) is plotting a rebellion against Cromwell. They hire the now grown up Talon (played by Lee Horsley) to help their cause. Cool! Talon gets in lots of fairly bloody but badly choreographed fights, encountering more semi-clothed women along the way, but is eventually captured and crucified, large nails piercing both his hands. He gets free, of course, and with the help of Mikah, some friendly seadogs, and a few farmers, defeats Cromwell's soldiers. During this fight, we get a brief but really gory shot of a head being cleaved in two. Nice! The end of the film sees Talon, armed with his massive weapon (oo-err), chasing down Cromwell only to be confronted by Xusia, who has been masquerading as Cromwell's evil adviser Machelli. Here we get another decent effects scene as the sorcerer sheds his human guise, tearing away the flesh from his face and arms. Yuck! However, as enjoyable as certain individual moments are, the movie as a whole is a mess, a distinctly mediocre fantasy that I imagine will have many viewers fast-forwarding through in order to get to the next 'good bit'.