Cave Dwellers
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Cave Dwellers (Ator l'invincibile 2) was a European film that was made in 1984. The movie was written and directed by Joe d'Amato. The filming for this movie was done in Italy. It starred Miles O'Keeffe as Ator, a man skilled in not only fighting, but in many other arts as well. It also starred Charles Borromel as Akronas, a wise ruler and teacher who is also called the Great One. The ever beautiful Lisa Foster starred as Mila, the daughter of Akronas, and David Brandon starred as Zor - the principal villain in this film. The film was released in theaters as "Ator the Invincible" and later as "Ator, the Blade Master." It received the name "Cave Dwellers" after it was re-edited by distributor Film Ventures International. It is the sequel to 1982's "Ator the Fighting Eagle" and was followed by 1986's "The Iron Warrior." The movies were made to capitalize on the popularity of the Conan movies which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The movie was featured in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000; O'Keefe was allegedly amused by the show's take on the film and called Best Brains (MST3K's production company) to personally request a copy of the episode. It is one of the more popular episodes of the series. The movie is available in both VHS and DVD formats.
[edit] Plot
Akronas has discovered the Geometric Nucleus during the course of his research. The nucleus is a device of incredible power that could be a terrible weapon. Akronas feels that the nucleus must be kept from evil men at all costs. When he learns that the evil Zor and his army are approaching his castle, he asks his daughter Mila to bring his former student Ator back to help defeat Zor. Mila runs away to find Ator. Zor's soldiers enter and begin beating Akronas, but Zor angrily sends them away to maintain the image of a man who would only use violence if needed.
Mila is pursued by Zor's soldiers, and is wounded by them, but continues to stagger towards Ator's home. At last she arrives, and Ator uses his medical knowledge to heal her wound. She then is able to convince him she is the daughter of Akronas, and that her father is in terrible danger.
Mila, Ator and Ator's Asian assistant Thong (Chen Wong) begin the journey back to Akronas' castle, facing a variety of dangers along the way, including a group of cannibals, another group determined to sacrifice them to their god - which is a huge snake - and other soldiers.
Finally they make it back to the castle. While Mila and Thong sneak in the back way, Ator uses his knowledge of flight to quickly make a hang glider, which he flies over the castle, dropping bombs on Zor's soldiers. Having defeated most of Zor's forces, Ator takes on Zor himself and defeats him. Akronas convinces Ator to let Zor live to face trial, but when Ator steps away, Zor grabs a sword to threaten Ator, and Zor is killed by Thong.
Afterwards, Akronas gives the Geometric Nucleus to Ator. Ator tells Mila he has to leave, that his life is too dangerous to share with her. Mila says that she knows Ator must fight evil where ever it occurs. Ator leaves Thong behind to help take care of Mila and Akronas, and leaves. He takes the nucleus to a distant land, where he destroys it in a massive nuclear detonation.
[edit] Reviews
Cave Dwellers did not do well in critical reviews. Critics have pointed to the plot, or lack thereof, continuity errors, one dimensional villains, and stolen sound effects as examples of the problems that existed in the film. A few editing errors showed up in the final version of the film - such as Zor's face jumping in one shot. Several of the more well known errors were as follows;
- Hang glider - somehow Ator was able to assemble a hang glider, and use it to defeat Zor's forces. Even though the glider was disguised to make it look like it came from that time period, it was still evident that it was a modern glider. The scenery used during the flight was clearly from stock footage as the castle and surrounding lands was different than that shown on the ground. At one point, shots of Ator hang gliding showed a modern city in the background.
- Tire tracks - close to the end of the film, Ator is shown riding off to fight evil where ever it occurs. Riding on a horse, Ator crosses a field. In the background, tire tracks made by a modern vehicle are clearly visible.
- Sunglasses - during the attack on Ator's home village, one of the extras who appeared as an attacker is wearing sunglasses, which showed up on film.
- Handrails - several of the staircases in the castle of Akronas have modern handrails along the wall
- Nuclear Bomb- The Geometric Nucleus is destroyed by a World War II era nuclear bomb, which is detonated, followed by stock footage of a mushroom cloud
The first three errors in this list were brought to the attention of the "Mads" and consequently the audience of the film's MST3K episode.
Furthermore, the movie seems to be confused as to what time setting and location it takes place in. The title and slow motion footage during the opening credits (from the film Taur the Mighty) seems to suggest it takes place in pre-historic times, but Akronas' castle appears to be from medieval europe. Later in the film, Ator and his companions fight what appear to be samurai warriors from feudal Japan.
