Fantasy Flix: March 2012

Monday, March 19, 2012

The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)

Writers: Tom Karnowski (screenplay), John V. Stuckmeyer (screenplay)

A mercenary with a three-bladed sword rediscovers his royal heritage dangerous future when he is recruited to help a princess foil the designs of a brutal tyrant and a powerful sorcerer in conquering a land.

This is one of those 80's "sword and sorcery" flicks that seeks to capitalize on the success of Conan the.... Wait?... You mean this actually came out BEFORE Conan? Well, yes, according to IMDB, this was actually released one month before Conan the Barbarian.

I know this movie has a nice cult following, but... I wish this would have done better in the theater. I really enjoyed this movie. If this had been as popular as Conan, we would have gotten even more wonderful cheesy fantasy flix in the 80s.

The film is alot of fun. It is nicely paced with only a few slower parts. The plot is actually kind of complex with alot going on. Not only do you have your main hero looking for revenge for the death of his parents, but you have two villains battling it out, a kingdom in turmoil, and a king trying to regain his crown. To be honest, there were some parts that confused me, but it didn't take away from the fun of the movie.

Lee Horsley is excellent here. Lee was not a mega-star in the 80's, but he did well for himself. He's best known for the TV show Matt Houston (1982) I believe. I was only 10 when that show started, so it really wasn't my thing. The rest of the cast is pretty good. Kathleen Beller is freaking beautiful and I so wish we could have seen "more" of her in this movie. Richard Lynch is always fun as the villain.

The film looks nice and the sets and costumes are very well done. There's not alot of "special effects" in this movie, which I believe is a good thing. The make-up effects look pretty damn good too.

The action scenes are great with not alot of blood and gore. I wouldn't consider this family friendly, however as there is nudity (not alot), and the story could be considered too dark for the younger crowd.

Over all, I think this is a great film. It ends with a hint at a sequel which didn't come until 30 years later. I'll discuss Abelar: Tales of an Ancient Empire next.

Verdict: Very recommended

The Cast

Lee Horsley ... Talon

Kathleen Beller ... Alana

Anthony De Longis ... Rodrigo

Simon MacCorkindale ... Mikah

Richard Lynch ... Cromwell

Richard Moll ... Xusia

Joe Regalbuto ... Darius

Earl Maynard ... Captain Morgan

Reb Brown ... Phillip

Anna Bjorn ... Elizabeth

Erik Cord ... Eric

George Maharis ... Machelli

Robert Tessier ... Verdugo

Christopher Cary ... King Richard

Edgy Lee ... Acolyte

Buckley Norris ... Bartender

Emily Yancy ... Ban Urlu

Greg Finley ... Rumbolt

Hubie Kerns Jr. ... Renquo

James Jarnigan ... Young Talon

Jeff Corey ... Craccus

John Davis Chandler ... Guard 1

JoJo D'Amore ... Drunk

Michael Hoit ... Red Dragon Archer 1

Nina Van Pallandt ... Malia

Patrick O'Moore ... Devereux

Peter Breck ... King Leonidas

Michael Evans ... King Ludwig

Russ Marin ... Mogullen

Simmy Bow ... The Cardinal

Steve Davis ... Thogan

Suzy Mandel ... Uncredited

Tammi Furness ... Myra

Monday, March 12, 2012

Dragon Age: Redemption (TV Series 2011)

The protagonist, initially referred to as "Athlok", is tasked by her Qunari superiors to apprehend a rogue Saarebas, who was captured and imprisoned in Kirkwall by the templars, but managed to break out of captivity and embarks on a rampage to perform a dark ritual and wreak havoc throughout the world. If she succeeds, she will regain her name and title of "Tallis" (meaning "to solve" in the Qunari language), and be reinstated as a member of the Ben-Hassrath, after being demoted as punishment for previous transgressions. In her quest to find this dangerous mage, Tallis is joined by other companions: a templar named Cairn, who is tracking the Saarebas with his phylactery and later crossed paths with Tallis when trying to hunt down a criminal who helped free the fugitive; Josmael, the First of a Dalish Keeper who was taken away and imprisoned by templars (and later killed by the Saarebas during the prison breakout); and Nyree, a reaver mercenary from Nevarra who was hired by the Saarebas and later double-crossed by the renegade mage.

Dragon Age: Redemption was a web series based on the video game by Bioware. The series was created by and stars Felicia Day, who in geek circles is quite the popular little lady. I bought the DVD from my local video store, but you can get the whole thing online. The most unfortunate thing is that there are only 6 episodes. I can only wish Felicia continues this somehow as I thought it was quite entertaining.

So Hopefully that worked.

As I stated above, I quite enjoyed this web-series and so wish it would continue. Yes, it's very cliched. And yes, it was done on the cheap. But I think it looks great and feels like a fantasy flick.

I love Felicia Day, and she is awesome here and looks fantastic. I'm definitely going to have to watch this again because I couldn't stop looking at her when she's onscreen. The rest of the cast is quite good as well, I have no complaints about any of the acting here.

The action is very well done, and the minimal use of effects are also nicely done. I'm really looking for something to complain about here, but can't find anything.

The story is simple, but fun and the pacing is quick and doesn't get bogged down. Yes, it's a little campy, but I quite enjoyed it. Here's hoping we get more Dragon Age: Redemption.