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One of the best things about watching a film with someone else is being able to talk about the event afterwards. Discussions about movies are the entire reason I started a couple of podcasts so you can imagine how many unrecorded gabfests I’m involved in every month. When Beth and I watched THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER (1982) the other night we talked a little about it at the time but the next day we really had a long conversation about it. I brought up several questions I’ve always had about it but she had a different take that showed me several angles I had not considered. From that conversation has come this list of questions. There might be more later!
1. Why is such a big deal made out of young Talon being shot through the hand if you aren’t going to reference that injury when the adult Talon is crucified? Seems an obvious callback and a missed opportunity.
2. Is the rebellious blond adult woman who betrays Cromwell near the end of the film supposed to be Talon’s grown sister? And if so, why not bring that up? And why didn’t Talon have some questions about his sister? The last time he saw her she was alive and being dragged away by Cromwell’s men so she is probably still alive someplace. Right? Why no concern about his possibly surviving sister? Did Talon forget she exists or did the script?
3. Why did those three buxom ladies come down to the dungeon with the keys to let Talon’s buddies out of prison? Was there a deleted scene showing these ladies being motivated to do this dangerous thing? And also somehow getting their hands on the keys? I want to see that scene.
4. How is Cromwell’s sword so strong that it seems capable of cleaving all other swords into pieces? Is it magical?
5. And the question that has haunted me since the 1980’s – how is that no one even mentions the rocket powered three bladed sword? It is never spoken about at all! Why? I would think it would be a major topic of conversation for everyone that ever sees it with questions like ‘How do you get the blade back into the hilt after you fire it into an opponent?’ or ‘What is the trigger mechanism’ or ‘How do I get one of those cool things’ being asked all the time! It’s the most amazing thing any of these folks are ever likely to see and they have no comment. Why? Can you buy replacement blades from Harry’s or Dollar Shave? So many questions and no one is asking!
My goodness this film is a mess! Are there any things we missed but you caught? Let us know. This list can easily be added to later on.
2 comments:
Re: 1, the script does seem to forget about the big deal it made of Talon's "gauntlet of steel."
Re: 2, everyone thinks Elizabeth is Talon's sister, but I don't think she's supposed to be. I don't know why they named both characters Elizabeth, but if the grown-up Elizabeth were Talon's sister, why didn't Cromwell just marry her? I think someone forgot that they'd named the sister Elizabeth earlier.
Re: 3, clearly they were so smitten by Talon during his run through their boudoir that they took the keys from the guards they tripped and beat and freed the prisoners. Clearly. (The main Buxom Lady is the same one Talon fell on and kissed after crashing through the window.)
Re: 4, you get what you pay for?
Re: 5, yeah, I got nothin'.
It is too bad that the 28 Years Too Late sequel TALES ON AN ANCIENT EMPIRE didn't answer all of those questions(as extremely disappointing and heavily schlocky as that latter film was).
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