Hawk the Slayer

Back when this was released, when I was 9 years old and into Star Wars and Clash of the Titans and Beastmaster, a movie like this would have been right up my alley. I just saw it a couple days ago, as I am now proud owner of it on video, and let me say even now I was pretty impressed. Hawk was a very cool hero and his cohorts were all equally as unique, especially Crow the bowsman. Jack Palance puts in an over-the-top performance as Voltan (great name) the villain. I was also proud that I recognized Patricia Quinn (Magenta from Rocky Horror!) as the witch and Patrick Magee (from Clockwork Orange) as a fanatical priest who has a great little scene in the middle. The highlights: the cool rapid fire bow effects, the uzi crossbow (needs to be seen to believed), everything with Crow, the glowing elfstone sword, the hilarious disco music that swelled up whenever Hawk rides through the forest (its like Vangelis meets KC and the Sunshine Band, not kidding) and the interaction of Hawk and his friends. The lowlights: the bad acting, the crappy editing, the obvious painted matte of the abbott's castle, the slow sword fights, and the whiny nun who is way too trusting of Voltan and not of Hawk. Duh! He's saving you! Idiot.

I should say i would have overlooked all the bad points if I were a kid, anyone 7-12 would dig this flick. Overall, if you have a chance to see this, and its hard to find I understand, enjoy it for what it is and nothing more. You'll definitely get some laughs out of it at least. 8 out of 10.