The Sword And The Sorcerer — The Sword And The Sorcerer(4K UHD & Blu-ray)
During the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, the sword and sorcery film genre was hugely popular. As with any popular genre it was split into sub-genres- there were even blends of action and fantasy, more horror-fed or erotic takes, or films that focused more on one facet of the genre. The Sword And The Sorcerer very much sits in the last category, as it focuses squarely on the action-bound/ swashbuckling side of the genre. The 1982 film was helmed by infamous low-budget/direct-to-video action director Albert Pyun- it’s a pacey & pulpy ride of a film, with sword fights a-plenty, a dastardly villain or two, a wise-cracking ‘n’ stubby hero, a maiden in distress, with a light sprinkling of sorcery/fantasy.
Here from 101 Films is a three-disc release of the film- taking in two Blu-rays and a UHD disc. With a new print of the film, and a good selection of archive extras/ featurette. All packed in a rigid box slip. With a set of art cards, a poster featuring original artwork, and an inlay booklet featuring the following write-ups ‘Cromwell’s Madhouse: The Sword and the Sorcerer Revisited’ by Mat Colegate and ‘The Sword, the Sorcerer and the Visionary’ by Paul Rowlands.
San Diego-born Albert Pyun has around fifty features to his name- these span mostly the more action-focused side of exploitation. Moving between post-nuke action comedy Radioactive Dreams (1984), through to a waitress involved in crime caper film Down Twisted (1987) onto low-budget superhero caper Captain America(1990), over to the sci-fi action/ cyberpunk thriller Nemesis (1992), and it’s three sequels Nemesis 2: Nebula, Nemesis 3: Time Lapse, and Nemesis 4: Death Angel
The Sword And The Sorcerer was Pyun’s debut – and it’s a fairly impressively produced, realized, and rapidly paced affair, and if you enjoy your action, with a very much sword fighting focus you’ll be most happy with what’s on offer.
The film opens with the villainous, piercing-eyed, and goateed King Titus Cromwell( Richard Lynch) breaking into the island tomb of Xusia of Delos- a long-dead sorcerer who is half demonic with long glowing-fingered hands. Titus needs Xusia's help to overthrow King Richard, who rules Ehdan -the richest and most peaceful area in the film’s world. The job is done quickly- with King Richard & his armies defeated…his wife, and young son Talon who carries a triple-bladed projectile sword try to escape- she is slaughtered, with Talon disappearing. Just before moving into Ehdan, Titus decides to get rid of Xusia- stabbing him, and then throwing him off a cliff.
Flash forward some years, and Ehdan is far from a peaceful & nice place anymore- with those who disagree with Titus being thrown into jail and tortured- including the real heir to the throne Lord Mikah (Simon MacCorkindale). But there is hope- as a stranger with a triple-bladed sword turns up in Ehdan- this is of course the now grow-up Talon(Lee Horsley), and he agrees to help the brunette beauty Princess Alana(Kathleen Beller) get her brother out of prison/ safe the day.
As mentioned already the pace of the whole thing is rapid- as we move from one sword fight to another, from one wisecracking line after another- with a fair bit of double cross/intrigue along the way. The fights are well enough choreographed- with some of the more creative places being a water-logged cave, and an underground crypt with swords sparking ‘n crashing, and tomb-stone breaking near heads.
The cast does a good enough job in their roles- though as you’d imagine they are a little campy, and often ham things up. I guess the standouts are Lynch as our baddie, and Horsley as our hero- though some of the latter one-liners/wisecracks are very innuendo-fuelled/ rather un-PC now.
I can recall the artwork for The Sword And The Sorcerer from back in the VHS days, but I never rented it. I think if I had rented it then around the age of ten or so I would have enjoyed it more than watching it today- you see it’s very swordplay bound, and lacks more horror/fantasy-paced elements- when I was a child I loved action films, and was a few years away from appreciating horror- so I would have been the target audience- so basically I can appreciate the film for what it is, but I’m afraid I did find it rather a trial to get through.
On the first Blu-Ray disc, we find the film- this gets a new scan, which looks bold & bright in its colours- nicely enhancing the fantasy and sword-fighting elements. The only extra on this disc is a commentary track with the director- not sure if this is new or not- but it’s worth a play as we get some great titbits of info. He starts off by talking about how he shopped the film around for four or five years in Hollywood- taking around sculptures and storyboards- doors were shut in his face, and in the most extreme he was told the police would be called on him. We find out the opening cave scene was shot in Bronson cave in LA, and that the actor who played the sorcerer had to have the contacts surgically removed- after they got stuck. He talks about the film being a horror/ adventure film?!. We find out that the stuntman who did the sorcerer's jump/ death- actually died doing the stunt- missing the safety mat by two feet. We find out that David Hasselhoff was up for the part of Cromwell, and at one point Oliver Reed was going to be the narrator in the film, but he was too drunk/ aggressive. Later on, he discusses the film's flame effects, shooting the sword fights, how the film was popular in Japan, and more.
Moving onto the second Blu-Ray disc- here we find a large selection of interviews brought over from the Shout Factory release from 2022. These take in Tales Of The Ancient Empire( 33.06) with director Albert Pyun. A Princess' Tale ( 24.08) with actress Kathleen Beller. Mightier Than The Sword (19.51) with co-writer/co-producer John Stuckmeyer. Master Of The Blade (13.53) with editor Marshall Harvey. The Specialist And The Effects ( 12.10) with special makeup effects artist Allan Apone. Brothers In Arms (10.23) with special effects artists The Chiodo Brothers – Charles, Edward And Stephen. Dedicated To Jack Tyree, Stuntman (11.50) The Cast And Crew Remember Stuntman Jack Tyree who died during the filming. Trailers From Hell ( 3.30) Editor Marshall Harvey On The Sword And The Sorcerer. Theatrical Trailers. TV Spot, and Stills Gallery.
The UHD disc takes in the film and the director's commentary.
It certainly was nice to finally see The Sword And The Sorcerer, after seeing the cover artwork/ posters back in the VHS days. So while the film was a little too sword-fight-heavy, and fantasy-light for my liking- it’s great to see it, with this new release from 101 Films is staked with extras.