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Rating:  - Oldie but a goodie!
I was very surprised watching this ancient dungeons and dragons-esque film. it reminded me of the days of going to arcades and playing games like "asteroids"! this is a great nostalgia flick from the 80's that is filled with the cliche' "hero" type elements. evil king cromwell (richard Lynch)wants dominion over the land and attempts to do so through the aid of a demon's help (richard Moll as Xusia which is a very well playeed role) to rid himself of all competition. Enter Talon a daring mercenary, whom conquers dungeons, and castles alike! But when Talon learns that he is Prince of a kingdom controlled by an evil sorceror he seeks out the Tri-Bladed sword (the slide sword) and seeks out the demon and the king to save a beautiful princess. can Talon arrive in time? or will Cromwell and the Demon win? watch this excellent albeit old film and find out!
one of the few films like Krull, Conan the Barbarian, Legend, LOTR trilogy and more (just not quite the buget of LOTR) a wonderful adventure suited for advenurers everywhere! (Rated R by the motion picture association of america) color 99 minutes widescreen (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 tv's theatrical trailers and a tv spot wrap this dvd up nicely in a 4 Star package!
The Sword and the Sorcerer
Rating: - The Sword and The Sorcerer
This was one of the better sword fantasy movies of the 70's. I enjoyed watching this movie when I was younger and purchased this movie for my teenage son to watch. He enjoyed it as well, although he commented on the special effects being very cheesy compared to what they have now. I reminded him that this was 30 years ago. For then, I think the special effects were rather good.
Rating:  - The Best Cheesy Fantasy Movie Ever
So what if some of the dialogue is bad and some of the props are lame? This movie is fun, fast and never takes itself too seriously. Lee Horsley plays the archetypal mercenary/barbarian/Conan figure to perfection and is so likable it makes it all work.
Cromwell is great as is Xusia and Rodrigo and all the rest. A lot of these actors went on to successful TV roles in Murphy Brown, Night Court and of course Horsley in Matt Houston. Look through the credits to see.
I love the three bladed sword that shoots, I love the harem scene and the girls that trip up the soldiers chasing Talon, I love how Kathleen Bell keeps kneeing guys in the crotch until being blocked by the demon (and I learned a very important fact of life: demons have no nads), I love how the mercenaries all get caught trying to sneak back in the castle (hey potatoe head!), I love it all! It is all so much fun. I watch this movie at least once or twice a month and enjoy it again and again.
This film actually won some awards back in the day and made a ton of profit at the box office. It cost around 2 mil to film and raked in over 40 mil. That is why no sequel was ever made b/c the producers retired. But never fear fans of The Sword and the Sorcerer, I am in the works of obtaining the rights and making the sequel come true. Tales of the Ancient Empire will happen. Oh yes, it shall be done!
Rating:  - Talon and His Gillette Mach3 Turbo Razor
Our friends at Gillette would have us believe that three blades are better than one. Well then, Prince Talon in The Sword and the Sorcerer was waaaayyyy ahead of his time! Talon's triple-bladed sword not only would break any foe's single blade to pieces, it could launch two of its blades at its target(s).
Not to be one-upped, Gillette has launched the five-blade, battery powered (use a Gillette owned Duracell AAA please) Fusion shaving system that features a patented on-board micro-chip to optimize performance by regulating voltage and frequency. Good God...are consumers really so stupid as to go for such a crock? Oy.
Anyway....
How many movies do you remember seeing back in a different lifetime that you thought were really cool only to check 'em out in the current day and find that they really were average at best? The Sword and the Sorcerer is definitely one of those movies. 25 years is a long time, and my viewing of this film back in 1982 at age 20 was...let's just say..."enhanced" by...well...the things I used to do prior to plopping myself in front of cable TV at 2 a.m.
But The Sword and the Sorcerer is still fun. The audio magicians did a little sorcery of their own and gave Sword a surround sound update back in 2001, but the DVD picture is still as grainy as a VCR would be.
The story is cool. A fictional Days of King Arthur-ish tale of Tyrant Titus Cromwell's rise to power, and, Son of King Richard, Prince Talon's fight to take back the throne that would have been his. Throw in evil Sorcerer Xusia (also vying for the Crown), have him conjure up a ton of camp and a lack of continuity, and you have what-seemed-a-lot-better-at-the-time The Sword and the Sorcerer.
The Sword and the Sorcerer was Albert Pyun's directorial debut (and it shows). But the movie's $40MM box office take surprised even the producers that had originally planned a sequel called Tales of the Ancient Empire that continued the adventure of Prince Talon. Pyun said that Sword was so profitable that ironically a decision was made to scrap the sequel and just bank the profits of the original. Smart move.
Pyun went on to direct a score of B movies and clunkers. The little known lead actors all went on to lead pretty successful TV careers. No sequel was ever made. We all lived happily ever after.
Rating: - Sword and Sorcerey
Loved this movie when I first saw it and now I can see over and over again, arrived in great condition.
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