The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) Review

A tyrant named Cromwell aided by evil sorcerer Xusia wins a decisive battle against Richard leaving his young son Talon alive. As an adult, fate calls for Talon now a mercenary to face the evil Cromwell once and for all. 

 Atmospheric, low-budget heroic fantasy B-movie from 1982 directed by Albert Pyun and arguably his best. Hot off the heals of Hawk the Slayer (1980), Excalibur (1981), Dragon Slayer (1981), Clash of the Titians (1981), released the same year as Conan the Barbarian (1982), The Sword of the Barbarians (1982), The Beast Master (1982) and Sorceress (1982) it was a sleeper hit, in the USA making nearly $40 million from a $1 million budget, paving the way for the likes of Krull (1983) and a slew of debatably inferior films like Death Stalker (1983) The Warrior and the Sorceress (1984) and Barbarian Queen (1985) to name a few. 

 That said, nostalgia is a wonderful thing, this came out before the pre-cert video UK act (1984), at the time fantasy was at a fever pitch with He-Man, Lord of Rings (animated) trilogy and Dungeons and Dragons merchandise, so as with many others like myself (who probably shouldn’t have been watching it) we ate this up with its villains swashbuckling setups littered throughout and upbeat score. Of its time, it didn’t hold back on it blood or sleazy tone. It’s dark and creepy at times. Under scrutiny the make-up holds up better than Tom Karnowski, John V. Stuckmeyer and Pyun’s screenplay, characters motivations and meandering plot. Although some of the battles are off screen, there’s great costumes, props, adequate sets, visual effects and practical effects including of course a sword with three blades that can fire two blade like missiles! 

 Simon MacCorkindale is notable. Lee Horsley’s anti-hero Talon is no leading man but he does his best with the outlandish script. Likeable Kathleen Beller’s Alana has little to do aside from getting attacked throughout. However, star of the show is Richard Lynch as menacing Cromwell, he oozes screen presence taking the subject matter perfectly seriously. The film is also dedicated to stuntman Jack Tyree, who was tragically killed when he missed his airbags—killed for this! The credits promised a sequel, ‘Watch for Talon’s Next Adventure “Tales of the Ancient Empire” coming soon,’ which eventually materialised nearly 30 years later as the Tales of an Ancient Empire (2010) but was a terrible spiritual successor rather than a sequel, having almost no relation to the this film. 

 Overall, there’s better fantasy films, the poster delivers more excitement, but thanks to Lynch’s performance and Pyun’s atmosphere and visuals it worth revisiting.