The Sword and the Sorcerer

The Sword and the Sorcerer
Directed by	Albert Pyun
Produced by	Robert S. Bremson Brandon Chase Marianne Chase
Written by	Albert Pyun Tom Karnowski John V. Stuckmeyer
Starring	Lee Horsley Kathleen Beller Richard Lynch Richard Moll
Music by	David Whitaker
Cinematography	Joseph Margine
Editing by	Marshall Harvey
Distributed by	Group 1 International Distribution Organization Ltd.
Release date(s)	April 1982 (1982-04)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4 million
Box office	$39,103,425

The Sword and the Sorcerer is a 1982 fantasy film, starring Lee Horsley, Richard Lynch, and Richard Moll, directed by Albert Pyun. A mercenary with a three-bladed sword rediscovers his royal heritage when he is recruited to help a princess foil the designs of a brutal tyrant and a powerful sorcerer in conquering the land. Reviews of the film are generally positive, with Rotten Tomatoes giving 80%. It has also managed to achieve a minor cult following among fans of 1980s sci-fi/fantasy cinema.

Plot

The film opens as King Cromwell (Lynch) and his men land ashore of Tomb Island in search of Xusia of Delos (Moll), a long-dead sorcerer who may be the key to overthrowing King Richard, a rival king whose land of Ehdan is the richest in the world. Using one of Xusia's worshipers to rouse the lich from his slumber, Cromwell convinces Xusia to join him in conquering Ehdan. With the sorcerer's black magic at his disposal, the evil king easily lays waste to Richard's formidable armies.

With his victory all but secured, Cromwell becomes eager to be rid of Xusia. Fearing that the sorcerer could very well turn against him, he attempts to kill the lich by stabbing him in the chest and chasing him off a cliff.

As Cromwell advances upon Ehdan, King Richard senses that all hope is lost. With only one army left to defend the city, he prepares to lead the charge against his rival in a last ditch effort to save Ehdan. Before leaving, however, he orders his family to evacuate to the river, and entrusts his youngest son Talon with his magnificent triple-bladed sword. "If I die," he tells the boy, "it will fall upon you...to avenge me."

"I understand." Talon replies.

With that, a decisive battle is waged for the fate of Ehdan. When King Richard fails to return home afterwards, Talon goes to find him. While searching the corpse-littered battlefield, he comes across Mogullen (Marin), his father's closest adviser. Alive but gravely wounded, the old soldier confirms that the battle is lost. At that very moment, Talon spies his father in the distance, just seconds before his execution.

Enraged, Talon starts off to claim his revenge, but Mogullen holds him fast. Knowing that Cromwell will be heading to the river in search of the queen, he implores the boy to save the rest of his family. Talon desperately races to the river on horseback, but once again, he is too late. Horrified, he watches as his mother is put to death at Cromwell's hands.

With Cromwell's men now in pursuit of him, Talon has no choice but to flee. After narrowly surviving an ambush, the boy manages to evade capture and disappear from the kingdom, never to be seen again.

Eleven years after the fall of Ehdan, Prince Talon (Horsley), now a seasoned warrior, returns to his homeland. With a small group of mercenaries under his command, he has only one goal in mind: to fulfill the promise he made long ago. Meanwhile, an underground rebellion has begun in Ehdan, aiming to overthrow Cromwell and appoint a rightful ruler to the throne. And in a secret cavern far beneath the Earth's surface, the sinister Xusia—still very much alive—has his own plans for the kingdom.

Cast

• Lee Horsley as Prince Talon
• Shelley Taylor Morgan as Barbro
• Kathleen Beller as Princess Alana
• Simon MacCorkindale as Prince Mikah
• George Maharis as Machelli, Cromwell War Chancellor
• Richard Lynch as Titus Cromwell
• Richard Moll as Xusia
• Anthony De Longis as Rodrigo
• Robert Tessier as Verdugo
• Nina Van Pallandt as Malia
• Anna Bjorn as Elizabeth, Cromwell's whore
• Jeff Corey as Craccus
• Joe Regalbuto as Darius
• Christina Nigra as Young Elizabeth
• Earl Maynard as Morgan
• Russ Marin as Mogullen

Hubie Kerns Jr. ... Renquo (as Hubie Kerns) Leonard P. Geer ... Cornellus (as Lennie Geer) Michael Hoit... Red Dragon James Jarnigan ... Young Talon Edgy Lee ... Acolyte Charlie Messenger ... Pablo Shelley Taylor Morgan ... Bar-Bro

Christina Nigra ... Young Elizabeth Buckley Norris ... Bartender Patrick O'Moore ... Devereux

Release

Variety gave the movie a negative review, citing its lackluster script, none-too-talented performers, and fastpaced, "atrocity-a-minute" action scenes. Despite the negative criticism, the film has gone on to be a cult classic and is regarded as one of Albert Pyun's best films.

The Sword and the Sorcerer was released theatrically in the United States by Group 1 International Distribution Organization Ltd in April 1982. The film went on to gross $39,103,425 at the box office, making it the most profitable independent film of 1982.

The film even spawned a short-lived production line of plastic swords in resemblance to Talon's.

Sequel

The Sword and the Sorcerer was originally conceived as the first in a series of several films.

Movie news website Ain't It Cool News reported on 5 August 2007 that the sequel, to be entitled Tales of an Ancient Empire (as trailed at the end of The Sword and the Sorcerer) was in preproduction, citing Pyun as the source of this information. In 2008 Lee Horsley, Christopher Lambert, Kevin Sorbo, Yancy Butler, and Victoria Maurette were named among the cast of the new film, described as a "sequel in spirit". Lambert and Butler, however, did not appear in the film.

See also

• List of American films of 1982

External links

• The Sword and the Sorcerer at the Internet Movie Database
• The Sword and the Sorcerer at AllRovi
• The Sword and the Sorcerer at Rotten Tomatoes