I think nostalgia is the primary reason I like his movie so much. I remember seeing it as a kid and thinking "I want to shoot fire out of my hands like that dude." Now, let me put my critic mask on. Sure, a lot of the effects seem dated and the story is some kind of sci-fi fantasy amalgam that is just plain bizarre sometimes; however, this movie is original and there really are very few movies comparable to it. Its a grand adventure, swords and sorcery AND lasers AND aliens. Sweeeeeet.
Oh, and it has one of the most bitchin scores out there - all hail James Horner.
Entertaining if watched late at night. Some of the sets, like the warped insides of the ship/castle, are striking. It's also fun spotting big actors in the smaller roles, like Robbie Coltrane. I kept expecting the main characters to break into song, especially the way Ken Marshall moved so dramatic even when he fell down the steps.
Camp as hell but a rip-roaring yarn full of adventure, magic and colourful characters. The lovers and the main bad guy are the least convincing parts of the film but it's still enjoyable.
With the aid of a band of characters including a crusty apprentice sorcerer and a cyclops, a young prince must recover a mysterious weapon (the "glaive") to rescue his stolen bride from the Black Fortress. Blatant "Star Wars" ripoff, but decent nostalgia/kiddie entertainment. Watch for the white spider.
Some of the effects are still really great to this day, lots of now well known faces like Liam Neeson, but back then they were all pretty much never heard off.
Lysette Anthony was only 17 when she did this movie??? My god she did not look 17, I was shocked when I found that out in the commentary on the dvd.
The real star of this movie is the soundtrack, it's an amazing score and lifts the movie from being good to being great.
(bad things) the glave is under used and the movie can drag a bit as every 2 mins a member of the party dies, infact this movie has so many actors in it, but they die 1 a min or so through the whole movie, so it gets a bit old and slows the movie down to a crawl at times. (ok, so it's not as bad as that but it sometimes can feels like it)
This put me in the mood for Flash Gordon and I watched this movie after watching Excalibur again, these 3 movies should sit beside each other on your dvd shelf.
Oh and yes that is Bernard Bresslaw (carry on movies) as the cyclops.
"In the fortress you will need more than men and swords. You will need the power of the glave.
"
Fun campy Sci-fi fantasy adventure with an early appearence by the ever flawless Liam Neeson, this is a nice cross between "Flash Gordon" and "Excalibur".
suposedly one of the few good fantasy movies i found this one nearly unwatchable at moments
the plot is of course good vs evil, the acting is quite bad as are the dialogues, the requisites look really cheap and the soundtrac makes you wanna scream at moments
the pictures aren't especially good either
i found it imposible to watch to the end, which shows that i couldn't even hate it strong enough, for i always watch movies i really hate to the end, to be able to bitch better about them :)
Beware the beast.
Great film. I think it's also the first sci-fi movie to feature a "glave" (the weapon on the film artwork).
Note: Todd Carty (Mark Fowler from Eastenders) is in this! Also, so is Robbie Coltrane!!
Great fantasy movie with some good special-fx. The story is also quite good, and all the actors do their jobs well. The music by James Horner is probably the best about this movie.
This used to be SO cool when I was younger. I see it now and it's lost some of its magic, but it's still sort of fun to watch and remember how awed I was back then.
The plot is ridiculous, the dialogue atrocious, and the special effects as cheesy as they come. Yet somehow the story still fascinates me, and I came to love the characters. Plus you get to see Liam Neeson in one of his earliest roles.
Loved it when I was a kid. Now? Not so much. Painfully dated FX and corny dialogue make it hard to watch anymore. The Glave is still cool as hell though.
this movie was simply awful. It wasn't silly as the synopsis says... it's just out right bad. The actors give a mediocre performance and the special effects are awful. The set designs are great...
One of those cases where you get a bunch of good actors in a shitty movie. Neat sets and special effects though. Was one of my favorites when I was like, 5 or 6...
MCT:August 14, 2008
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MCT:July 28, 2007
