The Sword and the Sorcerer

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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 of 1982
Running time	99 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

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 were generally negative, although it has managed to achieve a minor cult following among fans of 1980s sci-fi/fantasy cinema.

Taglines:

A kingdom ruled by evil. A princess enslaved by passion. A warrior driven by justice.
In a world of wicked kings and soldiers who rape and pillage, the sorcerer is the most powerful of all.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Reception
4 Sequel
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot

The film opens as King Cromwell (Lynch) and his men land ashore of Tomb Island in search of Xusia (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 anxious 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 tossing him from 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....

[edit] Cast

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

[edit] Reception

The Sword and the Sorcerer was originally conceived as the first in a series of several films, and the ending credits make mention of a sequel which never came to be. The Sword and the Sorcerer became the most profitable independent film of 1982, grossing $40 million at the box office in the U.S.. The film even spawned a short-lived production line of plastic swords in resemblance to Talon's.

[edit] Sequel

Movie news website www.aintitcool.com reported on 5th August 2007 that the sequel, to be entitled Tales of the Ancient Empire (as trailed at the end of Sorcerer) was in preproduction, citing Pyun as the source of this information. ^[1]