You thought there was a wait between Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Albert Pyun has announced that he is at long last making the sequel to his 1982 film, The Sword and the Sorceror, with the original star, Lee Horseley. At the end of that epic, it was announced that there would be a sequel – “Watch for Tales the the Ancient Empire” – that never materialized. Now, over a quarter of a century later, here it comes.
The mind boggles. Mine does, anyway. I can’t believe that Pyun’s original opus racked up any significant profits. You mention the title and people say “what?”. You had to really dig to find this in video stores. It was a cheap little flick that, i was convinced at the time, was quickly made to cash in on the yet-to-be-released Conan the Barbarian film (because all the best parts were ripped off from Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories). It featured a hero with a highly improbable, totally unworkable triple-bladed sword , two blades of which were jet-propelled (in a quasi-Hyborian Age. They made as much sense as Raiders of the Lost Ark’s Jovito-area solar power-triggered blow darts)
I can’t imagine there was a lot of call for a sequel to this MST3K bait. But, dammit, there’s Pyun and Horseley signing up again, along with action stars Christopher Lambert and Kevin Sorbo. If Arnold wasn’t governing California, he might be here, too.
Maybe there’s hope for Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League yet.
It’s not like any of them (Pyun, Horsely, Lambert or Sorbo) actually have a whole lot to do at the moment. Has Horsely worked at all since Matt Houston went off the air? Likewise with Lambert and that Tarzan movie and Sorbo and Andromeda.
It’s not that you’ve got a bunch of out-of-work actors knocking around – it’s that somebody actually put up the money to make this sequel. They must assume that they’re going to make back their investment, or else that Pyun will be launching a religion based on the priciples expressed in the film.
Straight to video, I’m sure. But stil…
Ok, I have to admit, this movie has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I haven’t seen it in years, but there was something about it that appealed to the 14 year old me when it was released.
I imagine it was the naked and oiled Kathleen Beller, but I could be wrong.
Evidently SatS was more successful than I realized:
I could see investing in that. But I’ll bet the sequel doesn’t do as well.
And I never saw those toy swords. I’ll bet they broke right off the bat. My arm hurts just thinking about swinging that three-bladed monstrosity, even in a lightweight aluminum version (like they probably used in the film).
Xusia according to the iMDB.
He strongly resembles Xaltotun (notice the initial “X” in each case) from Robert E. Howard’s “The Hour of the Dragon” (published in book form as Conan the Conqueror), especially in his re-awakening, and his retaining his mummified form despite his apparent normal outward appearance to most people.
Played by Night Court’s Richard Moll, at least in the reseurrection scene. Reportedly, the scleral contact lenses irritated his eye and he had to go to the hospital after that. Someone else played the physical part, with Moll providing the dialogue.
That looks so cheesy 80s, but I reckon if it was re-edited, digitally enhanced effects, with a new sound and music track, it might clean up pretty good.
In March of 1983 our newspaper had a contest for picking the Academy Award winners of seven categories. Best Picture, Director, song, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Actress. I got all seven right and, having submitted my entry first, won the contest.
The prize was a pass to all local theaters, for two, for a year! I’d already seen The Sword and the Sorceror once, but with that pass I went back with friends and saw it four more times! I loved it in all it’s cheesy glory, and eagerly awaited the promised sequels.
Alas, they never came. But I still love it, it was a heck of a lot of fun.I remember all sorts of trivia about it. Anyone else remember Peter Breck(Nick Barkley, from The Big Valley) as one of the kings at the feast who helps rescue Talon? Or did you know that the initial speech by the cleric at the wedding was an old nuptual poem in Latin?(I recognized it from a high school textbook)
I don’t care if this is straight to video, I’m gonna see it!!!
I remember there were a lot of “Dungeons and Dragons” movies at the time, not just Conan. Beastmaster, Krull, Dragon Slayer, etc. They were always reliably cheesy fun … with a touch of soft porn thrown into the bargain. I don’t know if my middle-age self will enjoy the genre as much as my teenage self did, but I’m ready to give it a chance!
Dragonslayer was a great 1981 flick, with effects from Lucas’ company, but was a fantasy film not in the “Big Strong Conan-like Guy” mold.
Krull didn’t come out until 1983
**Beastmaster came out inn August 1982 and Conan in May.
**Sword and the Sorceror[/B beat them all by coming out in April, a month before Conan, which was a big-budget film with a big name and lots of buzz. As I say, SatS was clearly rushed out (and, I suspect, made in the first place) to steal Conan’s thunder. I suspect Beastmaster was piggybacking, too. (Krull, for all its faults, was, I think, an original product. It had some interesting ideas, good actors and effects, and spawned its own arcade video game. But it was fodawful dull. You’ll notice that nobody ever made a sequel to it.)