The 1980s was certainly the decade of "sword and sorcery," and "Dungeons & Dragons" inspired fantasy spectacles. Some were big budget studio productions, others were zero budget efforts from the Corman school. Some were good, and some were just plain awful. Made around the same period that gave us films like EXCALIBUR, CONAN THE BARBARIAN and THE BEASTMASTER, THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER is the best of its type. It's pure enjoyment, which today holds up a lot better than the aforementioned titles.
The plot is a rather simple one. Talon, a young prince, has his family's kingdom destroyed by the evil Cromwell (Richard Lynch). Years later, Talon grows up to be a skillful rogue/barbarian (played by Lee Horsley, TV's "Matt Houston") who uses a triple-bladed sword that shoots its two spare blades at the touch of a button. A young prince (Simon MacCorkindale), who's the leader of some sort of rebellion, is kidnapped by Cromwell, and his beautiful sister Princess Alana (Kathleen Beller) enlists Talon to rescue him. The price is one night of pleasure with the princess (yeah baby!). Talon excepts and organizes his men to break into the kingdom for a string of stimulating adventures.
Horsley is good (campy) as the Errol Flynn-type hero, Lynch comes of 100 percent evil and is perfectly cast, and Beller is wooden but irresistibly cute as the heroine who knees most of the males in the nuts. Aside from that, you got George Maharis (!) in a long wig as Cromwell's war chancellor, giant Richard Moll (Bull from "Night Court") as a demonic sorcerer/monster (the opening scene where he gets revived in a hell-like dwelling is deliciously scary), Joe Regalbuto (Frank from "Murphy Brown") as Talon's chum, and 60s biker film staple and one-time "Mr. Clean" Robert Tessier as the bald dungeon guard who uses MARK OF THE DEVIL tactics on his victims--he cuts out there tongues! Fanatic movie and TV watchers will also recognize Jeff Corey, Reb Brown, Peter Breck and Jay Robinson in smaller roles.
Sure, it's hokey and laughable in parts, but it all makes for great B movie watching. There's great sets, outrageous costumes, topless babes, gore, and some nifty special effects in the days before that overblown, dreaded CGI nonsense. The majestic score is by David Whittaker (VAMPIRE CIRCUS) and feels a lot like something you would hear in a Hammer fantasy epic. This modestly budgeted adventure did make some money in its initial release, but it seemed to be more popular as a late-night cable favorite. And now, after years of lying dormant, it's finally seeing the light of DVD.
Anchor Bay's DVD of THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER, has been culled from pristine source materials, but the picture is rather weak, with an overall murky look to it. The colors are undistinguished and dull, much of it being dark and soft, and there is also some digital artifacting present. Granted, the film always looked like this, so perhaps a breathtaking facelift is impractical for this title. It's letterboxed at 1.85:1 and anamorphic. The disc contains a new 5.1 Dolby Digital surround mix, as well as 2.0 surround track, and they sound fine.
There are several extras on the disc, including two widescreen theatrical trailers (one of them is the cheeky R-rated trailer) and a full frame 30 second TV spot. There's also a reproduction of the original one sheet poster, which is included as an insert in the keepcase packaging. (George R. Reis)