For sure, the camera pays as loving attention to the impressive slow-motion explosions as it does to Claudia Jennings' nude form. More so, in fact, and more's the pity. The explosives credit is given to Roger George, who took advantage of every possible excuse to send fireballs roaring into the sky, so if that was you, Roger, we salute you!
Otherwise, well, you know you're in trouble when the movie opens with David Carradine riding on horseback in a fur cape and a loincloth, a scene which left me asking myself, "If I had a hand blaster that would vaporize people, would I really bother carrying around a heavy-ass sword?" The answer is, probably, because Range Guides think swords are awesome cool just like everybody else.
For most of its brief running time the movie is an unexceptional assemblage of awkward action scenes...for example, when the good guys battle the bad guys on motorcycles, it's rarely clear which stunt guy getting blasted is supposed to represent which actor...and cheesy dialog, although the late great Richard Lynch must have thought it ironic to mutter the lines "A man is a candle...He must set himself afire to create a life."
That the movie credits two directors might explain why the final duel, which is set up with a sweeping 360-degree tracking shot, has a sense of style and grandeur which the rest of the movie is sorely lacking, clearly inspired by someone watching a lot of samurai and Wuxia films. Suddenly we realize that wow, this really IS what we were waiting for the whole time, just as David Carradine was waiting for a chance to finally show his stuff.
