Forgotten Favorites: The Sword and The Sorcerer
The Sword and The Sorcerer
Back in the early and mid 80’s there was a glut of fantasy films that were produced. Many have become cult legends (like the aptly named Legend starring a gangly, young Tom Cruise) and cheesy epics like Hawk The Slayer. Many of these flicks have been forgotten on the dusty VHS shelves of yesteryear (and some of them blessedly so.) But every so often a gem will shine through and will find its way back into memory, and in the case of some onto DVD.
One such 80’s memory is The Sword and The Sorcerer. TSTS as I shall call it, was released back in 1982, the same year as Conan The Barbarian. Without the fanfare of Arnold’s epic, TSTS manages to in my eyes be more entertaining.
The story starts with the overthrowing of a good King and the death of his family by a tyrant named Cromwell (played by favorite baddie Richard Lynch). Cromwell is using an evil sorcerer named Xusia (Richard Moll under pounds of makeup) to win his battles. But when Cromwell realizes that he doesn’t need his magic man anymore he betrays him.
The Kings youngest son is the only survivor from the royal family and manages to escape using a sword that shoots blades from its hilt. He disappears and years later the only heir known of is Prince Mikah (played by Manimal himself, Simon MacCorkindale). Mikha and his sister Alana are planning a coup as everyone hates Cromwell.
Enter Talon and his band of mercenaries. Talon got hunky, and somehow Frank Fontana from the Murphy Brown news team is now a badass? Anyway…I digress. Alana hires Talon to help save her brother and save the day at the price of one night in the sack with her. Talon readily agrees. Oh, and Xusia is still alive and wants revenge against Cromwell. What follows is a great 80’s flick with really nifty special effects (at least for the time) and some cheesy fun.
At the end of the credits there is a hint that there would have been more Talon adventures, and I would have enjoyed it. But alas, no more were made. I’ve heard a couple rumors as to why, but I the one I believe was this. The film was made with a minimal budget, but went on to gross nearly 40 million dollars. The investors were leery of having that sort of luck again and decided not to follow through with a sequel.
A couple more little tidbits for you faithful reader:
Richard Moll would go on to do a couple more fantasy flicks following this one. Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn and the extremely bizarre Charles Band flick Dungeonmaster.
Stuntman Jack Tyler died while filming the movie when he jumped off a cliff and missed his airbags.
Albert Pyun, the director, has directed some pretty trippy stuff since this flick. Cult would be the best way to describe his resume with films like Dollman, Arcade, Hong Kong 97, and forgotten live action Capt America flick from 1990. Maybe direct to video would be a better description
— Jessica Dwyer
