Warrior Angels (2002) AKA Crusade of Vengeance

In 1190, the knight Elizabeth leaves her young son Peter in England, battles, and is wounded in the Third Holy Crusade. She must return to her village, where she is informed by the local priest that Peter was abducted by the wicked tyrant Grekkor and his powerful knights. Elizabeth decides to build an army to fight against Grekkor, but all the local men are afraid to join. For her crusade of revenge, Elizabeth only counts with the support of three other women: Hunter and her bow and arrows; the prostitute Eve; and the gypsy Sybil and her powders and herbs. Later, the strong Luke also joins her desperate struggle against Grekkor.

Director: Byron W. Thompson

Writer: Byron W. Thompson

This is not a terrible movie, but it's really not very good either.  I generally love me some Rutger Hauer, but even he cannot save this movie.  Frankly, it's just kind of boring.

I'm not really sure why I was bored with this movie.  The story moves fairly quickly with a decent amount of action pieces.  I guess I just didn't care.  There was very little here that I loved.

While there is plenty of action to be had, the fight scenes just aren't very good.  The four ladies here just aren't made to be action stars.  While Arnold Vosloo and Rutger Hauer are good, there just isn't enough of them to make the action exciting.

Overall, the acting is just ok.  While there are a few good ones, the rest of the cast is pretty terrible.  Vosloo and Hauer are obviously the good, with Joanna Pacula just being ok here.  Honestly, my favorite actor/character here was Charlotte Avery who provides some nice comic relief.

The movie is pretty PG even though they try to spice it up with a few non-stimulating breast shots and body-double close up nipples that aren't even worth posting pictures of.

In generally this movie is pretty boring and these leading ladies just can't hold my attention.  And, there's just not enough Vosloo and Hauer to make up for it.  I'd say it's pretty safe to skip this one.

Verdict: Skip

The Cast

Rutger Hauer ... Grekkor

Joanna Pacula ... Elizabeth

Arnold Vosloo ... Luke

Charlotte Avery ... Eve

John Vernon ... Ansgar/Baldrick

Molly Culver ... Hunter

Rimante Valiukaite ... Sybil

Nina Young ... Rachel

Sander Kolosov ... Peter

Sewell Whitney ... Father Charles

Greg Scopino ... Priest

Kristina Kaubryte ... Loren?

















Sword of War (2009)

German Emperor Barbarossa will stop at nothing to conquer and build his empire. But a young man from Milan, along with his army of 900 men known as the Company of Death, is prepared to challenge the Emperor.

Once again, the plot summary makes this movie sound WAY better than it really is.  Sword of War is an Italian movie shot in both English and Italian.  The version I saw dubs the Italian language out.  I can't say if there is a version that does the opposite. 

Besides the fact that this is a medieval epic of a movie, what drew me to it was the presence of Rutger Hauer.  Hauer is obviously getting up there in years, but he's still Rutger Hauer.  Unfortunately, even he can't save this snore-fest of a movie.

All I can say is that I'm thankful my blu-ray player has a fast forward in 1.5x.  It allows me to still hear the dialogue, only in faster speed.  It was really the only way I could get through this movie.  Now besides being absent a lot of the elements I enjoy in a movie; violent action, nudity, humor, this just plain wasn't done very well. 

The only aspect of the film that I'll give props to was the cinematography which was absolutely beautiful at times.  However, I can't help but feel this is often the case when dealing with a period film shot in Europe.

One other thing I did actually enjoy about Sword of War was the main actor Raz Degan.  Mr. Raz really had a certain charisma about him that I gave attention to.  Raz Degan Is the main Hero opposite Hauer's Villain.  I can't say he's a wonderful actor, I just felt he had great charisma.  Another standout was actress Kasia Smutniak, not because she was a great actress, but she was definitely pleasant for mine eyes to look at.  If only... well.  Nope, no nudity in this flick.

Towards the end of the movie, Sword of War really tries to be Braveheart and pretty much fails at it.  The final battle sequence, however was the most enjoyable part of the movie.  I haven't quite figured out if I like the digital gore in movies today or not.  But the pace did pick up at least.

All in all, I'd definitely say you can skip this one.  Unless you love Italian films, or have to see everything Rutger Hauer (Like Me).  I wish I had passed this one up, because this movie could take my 2 hours away from me, but it couldn't take my FREEDOM!!!!!

Cast

Rutger Hauer ... Federico Barbarossa

Raz Degan ... Alberto da Giussano

Cécile Cassel ... Beatrice di Borgogna

Kasia Smutniak ... Eleonora

F. Murray Abraham ... Siniscalco Barozzi

Federica Martinelli ... Tessa

Ladyhawke (1985)

Ladyhawke

Director: Richard Donner

Philipe Gastone, a thief, escapes from the dungeon at Aquila, sparking a manhunt. He is nearly captured when Captain Navarre befriends him. Navarre has been hunted by the Bishop's men for two years, ever since he escaped with the Lady Isabeau who the Bishop has lusted after. Navarre and Isabeau have a curse that the Bishop has placed on them that causes Navarre to be a wolf during the night and Isabeau to be a hawk during the day. Navarre insists that Philipe help him re-enter the city to help him kill the heavily guarded Bishop.

The Cast

Phillipe Gaston (Matthew Broderick)

 

Captain Etienne Navarre (Rutger Hauer)

 

Isabeau d'Anjou (Michelle Pfeiffer)

Father Imperius The Monk (Leo McKern)

 

Bishop of Aquila (John Wood)

 

Marquet (Ken Hutchison)