5.0 out of 5 stars - A magical blend of nostalgic S&S and Heavy Metal with fresh takes on adventure.
"Do not mistake ritual for truth. Do not mistake the desire for power with the desire for knowledge" --so says Tzod (voiced by Lucy Lawless)
Many of us old folk will adore the formatting and
production: rotoscoped classics like Bakshi's Lord of the RIngs and
Bakshi/Frazetta's Fire and Ice movie paved the way for this. Classic barbarism
vs civilization themes are explored but expanded from historical Sword &
Sorcery limits. Violence and nudity are shown in gritty detail. Lucy Lawless
voices Tzod, who leads the presentation as a sorceress heroine. Unlike Tegra
from Fire and Ice, her body is less young/model-like more mature/motherly; her
courage and strength rival that of Conan. So we get treated to S&S but with
a strong, older woman with sorcery skills as our protagonist. The story and
setting are epic and span centuries. This is well done, intellectually warfare
and art. Try it out, the Bloom is contagious. Here are some thoughts on it:
The Bloom
is knowledge and power.
Should the
Bloom empower nature, or mankind?
Who owns
it, really?
Should
anyone guard it against humanity? Disperse it, via scholar or the ruling
hierarchy of sorcerers?
What would
you do with the Bloom?
Watch it now online, from many venues .... including Amazon Prime (own the HD version for $10)
Oh, get the Spine of Night merchandise too. I am thinking each family member will get an eye-shirt for the Holidays!
First off, it is amazing that the roto-scoped masterpiece Spine of Night was made, and then cooler yet that a bunch of rogues cornered the creators to discuss all sorts of story & movie elements (from barbarism to the role of fertility gods and the bodily shapes of heroines). Check out the link above, or find the 11-12-2021 Rogues in the House Podcast episode on your favorite podcasting venue.
I just saw The Green Knight movie. The trailer was awesome. The reviews were promising..... but it was terrible. Beyond cinematics, it was not engaging, it was slow and incoherent. Sigh ..... stick with Excalibur (1980s), Clive Owen's "King Arthur", or even Guy Ritchie's Legend of the Sword. Well...there is always Monty Python's Holy Grail too.
Before I jump in, you may want to check out author Sean Poage's take. He is much more knowledgable than I am about the Gwain legends, having written one of his own too (The Retreat to Avalon, more on that below). Interestingly, he and his wife hit the movies as I did with mine (i.e., a post covid, first-time-back-to-movie-post-covid-wave-1 date). Here's his review of Gawain's legends and movie (link).
We are not treated to many Sword & Sorcery movies, let alone ones that promise some sense of intellectual content. So I was looking forward to this. As part of my grieving process.... I will go on a small rant.
Promises to be Broken
The intro sets up very clear "rules of engagement" (as revealed in the trailer). The Green Knight challenges a knight to strike him, and a year later he will return the wound to the challenger. Gawain cuts off the Green Knight's head...and a year later must confront the Knight again (who survived).
Bait and Switch Conflict
Although I am cool with a man-vs-self conflict..... the trailer, title, and beginning all promise a man-vs-man/creature (Gawain vs. Green Knight) conflict (which is not at the forefront). But let's say you get past that as you begin witnessing multiple, slow side-quests.
Incongruent Rules of the Game & Meaningless Fluff
The visuals were awesome. The pace couldn't have been slower....which I would have been okay with if the "rules of the game" were followed. Remember the super clear rules of the beginning? To Heck with clear rules going forward. One could literally cut the entire middle ~1.5hrs out (anything between the initial and final Green Knight interactions) and not change the impact of the climax. Actually, I think I would have loved this movie if were only 30min long.
Source Material?
Many claim that you can look beyond the "mysterious" presentation of the journey, and delight in a portrayal of the source material. Well, the movie should stand alone of course. Also, two of the best vignettes were not based on existing Gawain legends (the Saint Winifred tale is arguable a UK-thing, but it was never Gawain specific...and the cool, naked giants were just a throw in for fun and not tied to the story or myths....if you want to see a visionary story in which the giants are tied to the story, watch the anime or movie versions of Attack on Titan).
(below explains more with some obtuse/minor spoilers)
Gawain has several important items (sash, ax, jingle-bell, and fox) to take on a journey to reach the Green Knight's location. He loses sight of said items, and they reappear and disappear in ways that are incongruent across ~3-4 side quests/challenges/tests. Did he earn them back? Just stumble across them? How/why did they come back to him? You should care. Gawain doesn't.
The handling of the "rules" didn't feel intentionally done to be mysterious or engaging. It felt like the producers stitched together a few different historical legends of Gawain's journey/tests, and they did not harmonize the meaning/rules across them.
Frankly, if the conflict is indeed "man-vs-self" then Gawain strangely doesn't really seem affected/changed....nor does he seem surprised that his key items come back to him for no clear purpose... and he doesn't even seem to be in denial or fretting about his impending duel. What seemed clear is that the ~3-4 side quests (~1.5hrs of the 2hr movie) were actually pointless (they did not build-up to the climax or develop the character) and they were also full of non-sequitur events.
The Retreat to Avalon
So what should we do about scratching the Arthurian Legen itch? Monty Python's Holy Grail would have us "Run Away, Run Away!"Well, I recommend retreating..... ie to read Sean Poage's "The Retreat to Avalon"which will likely leave you excited about Gawain and Arthurian legends! Sean Poage is an accomplished author with a knack for storytelling.
Book Blurb:
Fifteen hundred years have turned history into legend…
After three generations of struggle against ruthless invaders, Britain has finally clawed its way back within reach of peace and prosperity. Across the sea, Rome is crumbling under an onslaught of barbarian attacks, internal corruption and civil war. Desperate for allies, Rome’s last great emperor looks to Britain and the rising fame of her High King, Arthur.
Arthur believes the coming war is inevitable, but many are opposed. Dissent, intrigue and betrayal threaten to tear the fragile British alliance apart from within, while the enemies of Britain wait for the first sign of weakness.
Meanwhile, Gawain, a young warrior craving fame, is swept up in Arthur’s wake as the king raises an army. While Gawain’s wife and kin face their own struggles at home, the young warrior finds himself taking on more than he bargained for, and heading into the greatest battle his people have faced in generations.
The Retreat to Avalon is the exciting beginning of the historical fiction trilogy The Arthuian Age, introducing readers to the origins of King Arthur and the world he lived and fought for.
The Head Hunter is well done. It's an 1hr 20min conflict between a monster hunter and the creature who killed his daughter.
It's a slow burn horror with Sword 'n Sorcery milieu. Photography, setting, and story rule here. Little dialogue (mainly one actor). Most action off screen.
Reminded me of the pacing/tone/setting of "Valhalla Rising" (Mads Mikkelseon, 2009), but The Head Hunter has a simpler story and is less grim (still grim...just less grim than Valhalla Rising).
I am guesting posting! This one discusses how three recent S&S movies (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword ; Conan The Barbarian ; and Hobbit: Battle of the 5 armies) lured us in with conflict based on a magical artifact, only to sandbag us as the stories finished.
Recommended for (1)
mature audiences who (2) enjoy literary, paced horror (with healthy doses
of disturbing erotica): This graphic
tale aims to disturb in elegant fashion. Note firstly that the script is an
adaption of a classic fairy tale La Barbe Bleue (Bluebeard, 1697) by
Charles Perrault. Most folks in 2014 in
the USA will not recognize his name, but he authored many famous tales
translated to the movie screen (i.e.,Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Puss
in Boots, and The Sleeping Beauty). Here, Bluebeard tells the story of a wealthy aristocrat who kills his
many fiancees.
Beautiful Serial
Killing: Bluebeard appropriately plays like the Sweeney Todd play. Viewers
watch as victim after victim are taken to Barbazul’s remote plantation to
suffer an unsuspecting death. The pacing is measured; the music and strange
situations carry the film. The beautiful remote setting and filming was
reminiscent of the cinematography of the Coen Brother’s Fargo (1996) and
Stanley Kubrick’s rendition of Stephen King’s The Shining (1980). About ~10 minutes could have been shaved off
the first third without lessening anything, so impatient viewers may lose
interest.
The acting, writing,
casting, and filming were all well done. The music score did overwhelm voices
at times (at least on the version I streamed); however, despite the writing
being good enough to listen to, the occasional dimmed conversation didn't detract from the film. For one, I was
reading the subtitles anyway. Also, the
acting is clear enough that this could have been presented as a silent movie
(keeping the wondrous soundtrack of course).
Each victim arguable
has more character depth than the titular Barbazul. They all have some artistic
bent (poor model, mature model, singer, writer, museum goer), which reinforces
the artistic nature of the film. Each death is intimately, and vividly,
captured at length. Despite the cruel
nature of the deaths, and the copious amounts of exposed flesh, the “blood and
gore” was kept at minimal levels; in short, the murders are done tastefully.
The beauty of each woman is torturously lost as viewers become voyeurs to fatal
sex. Bizarre, really.
Excerpt: Creating
horror with beauty is a tough task, yet screen writer Amy Hesketh (also Director and
actress for Jane) seems to reveal the movie’s core theme explicitly:
Barbazul: So, do you
enjoy modelling?
Annabelle: I am
enjoying the fact that I am still beautiful. I love taking photos, looking at
my photos. It’s something that will last forever. It’s artistic as well.Using your body,
knowing how to move, knowing yourself. To understand your own beauty is…not
that easy…
Art Horror: The film
crew at Pachamama Films have made a series of complex horror films,
each being unapologetic about graphically killing naked women. Yet they aim to
keep rooted in history or classic literary works, and they take their craft
seriously. Somehow they present loads of
erotic horror in a beautiful way; that is a stunning balancing act. I look forward to their film currently in
production called "Olalla," which is based off of Robert Louis
Stevenson’s story (Treasure Island, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.)
That tale originally featured an English soldier recovering from battle wounds
when he falls in love with a woman who belongs to a mysterious vampiric family.
Can’t wait to see the Pachamama adaptation of Olalla.
Availability (2014,
US): DVD’s in the US run ~$35; buying a streamable version from Amazon is ~$20.
Instead of maintaining separate postings for Sword & Sorcery movies (blog link) each year, I am now doing that via one list on the IMDB (the internet movie database). Please suggest any additions/edits. Here are some of the cool features:
Sort List: by Ranking, US release date (and flip/inverse ordering)
Immediate Streaming: Click the buttons on the side to see which one's you can stream immediately...and if you are a Amazon Prime member (watch some for free...right now!).
When did invading a fortress via a sewer become popular?
I do not know precisely, but there has been a recent surge. Between late 2011 and mid-2012, I saw three Sword & Sorcery movies that employed this tactic (details below). Two of these involved the protagonists breaking-in to their infested homes. I think the originality has been exhausted now, and I hope this fad fades away.
Star Wars IV: A New Hope 1977
Death Star Fortress- Sewer Exit-Escape
George Lucas deserves credit for cinematically popularizing a fortress escape sewer-scene in his 1977 Star Wars IV, A New Hope (Death Star garbage compactor scene). Ostensibly, Star Wars is Sci-Fi rather than Fantasy, but it employs most every Fantasy trope that exits. It certainly seems to have inspired the 2011 Conan the Barbarian break-in into Zym's tower (below).
The Sword and The Sorcerer 1982
King Cromwell's Castle: Sewer Entrance
The hero Talon sneaks through the sewers to rescue potential heir to throne Prince Mikah and his sister Alana.
Conan the Barbarian - 2011
Khalar Zym’s Castle: Sewer Entrance
More special effects were dedicated to the randomly-placed, lurking sewer-serpent "dweller" than were used to demonstrate the power of the magical mask of Acheron motivating the story. So strangely, this scene was more exciting than the climax of the movie (Here is a link to my rant on that).
Solomon Kane – 2009 globally (2012 in USA via Video Streaming)
Josiah Kane’s
Castle: Drainage Entrance
I enjoyed this movie (Link to review) , but I took a sigh when this sewer-trope was demonstrated.
Snowwhite had escaped the castle via
the drainage tunnels, so when she returns with and army, she sends some dwarves
in to raise the gate. Very clever...I suppose.
This exercise made me realize that I had missed seeing Roger Corman's 1980's Cult Classics movies: DeathStalker I,II,II, IV, the Barbarian Queen I,II, and the Warrior and the Sorceress (there are even more, most merely recycle footage). Amazon has a collection deal, in which I can get 4 of those. Would it be worth my time/money (6hrs/$18USD) to complete this gaping hole in my life? How essential are these B-movies toward developing a well-rounded S&S groupie? I have since ordered the movies...and will be watching them soon...more on that below. Therapy: I had turned to the Sword and Sorcery group on Goodreads for some biased advice. There author Bruce Durham directed me toward a great website that details what elements Sword & Sorcery movies are expected to have, and has a great list of movies listed by release date. To see the trends over time I graphed a histogram:
Quantity - Movies per Year
Quality
Trends: The trickle of movies in 1960's and 1970's was notably composed of Ray Harryhausen's classic clay-mation masterpieces (Jason and the Argonauts, Sinbad movies). The trends show clearly how John Milius's 1982 "Conan The Barbarian" movie, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, inspired a lot of others; it had followed closely on the heels of "Clash of the Titans," Ray Harryhausen's last animated masterpiece. Some featured new perspectives, like Excalibur, Fire and Ice, and Legend...and were good enough to enhance, not dilute, the genre (another blogger tackled the 1980's category thoroughly-link).
Unfortunately many "Conan clones" generally lacked in quality. Well actually, even Arnold's next Conan film, "the Destroyer" was more cheese than it was entertainment...and the 2011 Conan reboot with Jason Momoa (which, despite a good performance from Momoa) had a blatant disregard for basic story-telling. The 2010 reboot of Clash of the Titans and its sequel 2012 Wrath of Titans were lackluster (a third film is in development, for what that is worth). So with all this, should we have hope that quality fantasy will return?
Future of Hope: Yes, fans should be hopeful. Peter Jackson's excellent treatment of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings in 2001 seems to have sparked another surge. With the excellent translation of George Martins Game of Thrones on HBO (being a series and not a movie, that is not captured in the graph), Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy in progress, a live action version of Fire and Ice in the works, and even a sequel to Solomon Kane brewing...we have reason to beleive that the portfolio of Sword & Sorcery movies will grow in quantity and quality. In fact Dealine.com reports that "Legend of Conan ~2014" intends to redeem Conan's credibility:
"There are no plans for Momoa to return. Morgan said that in his mind,The Legend Of Conan not only skips over that film, but also the 1984 sequel that Schwarzenegger starred in. The direct link is to the original, which was directed by John Milius from a script he wrote with Oliver Stone."
Deathstalker: Anyway, as we await new flicks, I find myself checking out the old ones I had missed. I do not expect much. There is a stunningly hilarious and through review of the Deathstalker series on cinemassacre.com from 2010 (embedded video below). It dissects the absurdity of the series, even going as far as to quantify the ratio of fight scenes to women's breasts shown per movie. Of course, I have not seen the movies yet, but have just received them by mail and I am mentally prepared now. What is sad is that many of these had great covers by artist Boris Vallejo, which promised to deliver serious Sword & Sorcery. Great marketing I suppose.
I will periodically update this page throughout 2013. Here is the link to last year’s queue, provided since many films slip from year to year: 2012 Sword and Sorcery Film Queue.
Dec 14th 2012 (...but can be seen in 2013 )
And the rest of the trilogy:
Dec 13th 2013: “Desolation of Smaug”
Dec 17th 2014: “There and Back Again
2013 Hammer of the Gods
- Facebook Movie Page and Trailer Link
I heard about this via the Goodreads Sword and Sorcery group (link).
- Action epic sees a passionate young man transform into a brutal warrior as he travels the unforgiving landscape in search of his long lost brother Hakan The Ferrocious, whose people are relying on him to restore order to their kingdom
From Wikipedia: "The Seventh Son is an upcoming fantasy film based on the first installment in Joseph Delaney's children's dark fantasy novel series The Wardstone Chronicles titled The Spook's Apprentice."
According to Fangoria magazine's interview with Michael Basset. FANGORIA: So we can expect a sequel to SOLOMON KANE? BASSETT: We intend to film more of Kane’s adventures. The first one has done very well in festivals around the world; now we have to wait and see how it’s received by a larger audience. Our intention is to make a trilogy, and if everything goes as planned, we will leave for South Africa to start production on part two.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as Conan (~2015 "Legend of Conan" movie). Multiple news sources claim it will ignore the silly Conan The Destroyer and poorly produced 2010 Conan reboot (with Jason Momoa, who did okay but not well enough to compensate for other issues)...in other words, the 2015 movie is being designed as a direct sequel to the 1982 Conan the Barbarian.
A Fire and Ice live action movie began being produced in 2012 (and a possible Death Dealer after that?!~). IGN reports this remake of the rotoscoped classic in which Frank Frazetta and Ralph Bakshi teamed up.
Distribution nightmare: This was made for non-USA markets in 2009, not shared in the States until now, Aug 2012, via Video On Demand-iTunes. A complex distribution has it rentable via Amazon Instant Video (Watch Before it's in Theatres) for a limited time (perhaps only before it hits theaters?) ... and intermittently available for purchase/rental from iTunes. US Region 1 DVDs have not been released yet. It is due it theaters in select US locations this Sept. 2012.
A new Kane: This Solomon Kane is not R.E. Howard’s hero (Howard being the originator of the
character with his ~1930’s pulp fiction), but the movie remains true to the
core elements that made the Solomon Kane stories so appealing for Howard fans:
dark adventure, witches and witchcraft, puritan vs. devil conflict, cool
creatures, and emotive imagery. Rather
than a puritan hunting Satan’s devil with immeasurable passion, Michael Bassett
portrays Solomon Kane as a rebellious royal avoiding the devil claiming his sinful
soul.
Ultimately the conflict is
still “Solomon Kane vs. Devil”, but rather than Howard’s paranoid crusader who was
ostensibly “good” (motivated by his perception of God to confront evil), we get
treated to an anti-hero who avoids being dragged to hell. This Kane tries to
renounce violence, joins a ministry, and eventually gets paired with some
Puritans—so he still wears the Puritan hat and fights devils. Sparse guns exist, but this is best
classified as Sword & Sorcery. Those disappointed in the 2011 movies of the
same genre (Season of the Witch 2011 and Conan the Barbarian 2011) should be
very excited to see horror-fantasy done professionally. With the mix of adventure and spiritual
horror, expect a blend of the infamous Exorcist (1973) with Jackson’s famous Lords
of the Rings movie trilogy. As captured in an earlier post, Michael Bassett will be delivering the Silent Hill sequel!
Michael Bassett is director and writer of two movies on my annual Sword & Sorcery film queue (see post: 2012 movie queue), and this month two important updates were announced:
1) Solomon Kane
After three years, Solomon Kane has finally made it across the pond to the US; it is due out Aug 24 (video-on-demand, iTunes) and then select theaters Sept.. Granted Kane uses guns on occasion, but no one denies that R.E. Howard's dark hero is firmly in the Sword & Sorcery genre. Here is the US trailer:
2) Silent Hill Revelations 3D
The sequel is coming to US Halloween 2012! As I have conceded previously, Silent Hill is not 100% Sword and Sorcery, but it is a mix of Horror-Fantasy and Pyramid Head does have a large sword. It certainly appeals to the same crowd that enjoys the weird "pulp" style fantasy that included supernatural horror (i.e. original Conan). I have my doubts regarding the 3D hype since dark imagery does not usually lend itself to clear 3D viewing.
The yahoo embedded player crashes in the Chrome Browser, so here is the yahoo movie link: http://yhoo.it/OTKSuY
Snow White and the Huntsman:
Thor actor Chris Hemsworth teams up with the Vampire Diaries chick (Kristen Stewart) for some epic action. Should be an interesting comparison versus Julia Roberts’ rendition of Snow White in Mirror Mirror due out this year as well.
Silent Hill Revelation (sequel): Okay, not 100% Sword and Sorcery, but it is a mix of Horror-Fantasy and Pyramid Head does have a large sword and Michael Basset (who just delivered Solomon Kane) is leading the effort.
DEC
•The Hobbit (2012); stymied by a writer's strike and a legal tangle with the Tolkien estate, the prequel(s) to the Lord of the Rings trilogy promises to be great.
Unknown Release Dates
A Fire and Ice live action movie being produced in 2012 (and a possible Death Dealer after that?!~). IGN reports this remake of the rotoscoped classic in which Frank Frazetta and Ralph Bakshi teamed up. Bill Frazetta confirms the film's progress in this video from Comic Con 2011:
Release overseas in 2011.
Not available in US yet. Solomon Kane , a well received depiction of R.E.Howard's doomed, religious hero. Click here to request it to come state-side by "Demanding" it.
•Red Nails (Since 2006) this endeavor has struggled; based on REH's only full length Conan novel...see some pre-production animations that surfaced.
•Red Sonja: Let's hope it is better than the 1985 version... if it is made at all. The lead role was to be played by Rose McGowan, but she switched assignments to play Marique in the 2011 Conan the Barbarian movie.
for a limited time (perhaps only before it hits theaters?) ... and intermittently available for purchase/rental from iTunes. US Region 1 DVDs have not been released yet. It is due it theaters in select US locations this Sept. 2012.
