...........well, not so much... Hawk The Slayer is a British-made fantasy film from 1980 and for the most part is a film that's depressingly drab in look and leaden in pace. But on occasion this disappointing fantasy flick comes (erupts!) to life, in a flurry rapid-fire cuts, ultra-cheesy FX, over-the-top characters spouting inane babble and one of the most ridiculous soundtracks you'll ever hear; that being Harry Robertson's vaguely disco-esque, electro-pop monstrosity. It's all quite cringe-worthy really. Ultimately what you end up with Hawk The Slayer is a film that's very uneven, that frequently alternates back and forth in both mood and appearance, which ranges from bland and lifeless, to moments of laughably ludicrous comical excess. Which as you'll see are typically bathed in the garish and gaudy hues of the films patently ridiculous looking special effects, which are typically tasteless done and utterly over-the-top. Once it's all said and done Hawk The Slayer is a joke of a movie and it's always been my assumption that it's an embarrassment to all involved, with that being said it's not ALL bad and I've certainly seen much worse.On the matter of casting the film stars the little-known American actor John Terry in the title role of Hawk (The Slayer), who possess a mighty magical sword which enables him to slay his enemies with the utmost ease. His nemesis is an aging, but still very vital, Jack Palance as "Voltan, the dark one". Jack's involvement in this really makes me wonder, did he do this just for a paycheck or was Old Jack honestly stoked to do it? I vote the former. In order to slay the mighty Voltan and his army, Hawk enlists the help of a select crew of mighty adventurer's: A giant, an elf, a dwarf and some crusty, middle-aged, one-handed, English guy with a beard, armed with a rapid-fire crossbow. Their war party complete, it's now time for them to rescue "a woman of faith", they refer to her as an abbess, but in reality she's just a nun; whose being held for ransom by Voltan. In order to raise the funds for the ransom, Hawk and his posse raid a slaver's camp along the riverside (which is certainly one of the movies best scenes). There are many skirmish's and flash-backs throughout the movie, which you think would be exciting, but unfortunately Hawk The Slayer is a very tepidly paced affair for the most part.A major sore point for me is the movies utterly vapid color. To my eyes it looks unbelievably drab and lifeless, which in turn drastically lowers the movies overall sense of vitality and visual grandeur. Undoubtedly filmed in sunless conditions, under the brooding gray skies of England, I'm sure that's the main reason for Hawk's utterly vapid color. Compare this to "Willow" which was filmed some eight years later, in some of the very same regions, Hawk simply looks terrible and utterly dated.It's strong-points are few, relegated to a mere handful of exciting action scenes (especially the ones with the rapid-fire arrows whizzing through the air), aforementioned crazy characters (most especially Jack Palance as Voltan) but basically it's strongest points are scored on account of it's sheer goofiness - like many of the bad movies I review. Let's get to the part of the "ultra-cheesey FX". During the start of the movies finale, the FX crew actually used what's unmistakably green Silly String! I kid you not! Then moments later a meteor shower of what looks like hundreds of golf balls blasting through the air, that had been film in front of a blue-screen, then had glowing neon hues added in post-production, creating some of the most ridiculous looking effects ever seen.Speaking of the finale, the sword duel between Hawk and Voltan, like most of the movie, is a disappointment; lasting less then a minute, shot entirely in slow-motion and it's choreographed very lazily, it's anti-climatic to say the least. But before that can even happen John Terry and Jack Palance have to bore us some more, with yet more tedious dialog. That's one of the great things about Hawk The Slayer, the voice of Jack Palance, it was a true one-of-a-kind voice and it simply sounds incredibly intense throughout the majority of his scenes, purely venomous and bristling with menace and utter hostility; it's easily one of the best voices I've ever heard in any movie. In his best scenes Palance delivers a powerful performance, as Voltan the dark one, a cursed demonic knight who suffers from an infliction to his face that cannot be healed. A broad shouldered 6'5 specimen, Palance looks quite convincing in his armor and cape.However Hawk The Slayer has entirely too many ponderous scenes and a slew of other problems: tasteless art direction, woeful special effects, lot's of wooden acting, lacking color saturation, numerous instances of questionable editing, uniquely terrible music, etc.Hawk The Slayer: Is a colorful failure in the Sword and Sorcery genre, made bearable by several entertaining high-light scenes, which are usually rife with garish tastelessness - as only this film can do.

In a time long long ago it was decided by a American film distributor that if a British movie was to be distributed among the masses and make some money it had to have an American star in the lead role.It is still happening today and yet still people apart from Britain and probably Australia only get to see a British movie so this distributor lied all those years ago and yet we still put Americans in the lead role and in my humble opinion the movies are the worse for it. Now take Hawk The Slayer as we have two Americans in the lead roles.Number one is Jack Palance a very well known actor who has played bad guys in numerous movies and number two is John Terry who apparently had a small part in an episode of Soap and Lou Grant before this film.All Jack Palance did was shout his way through ninety minutes of this movie and well John Terry who makes the phrase wooden acting an Oscar winning performance.Now the film...People who go on about the special effects don't realise that British films are made on a shoestring budget as we don't have the money and we don't have deep pocket producers like the American movies have so the £50 spend on the special effects weren't really that bad...lol.The story is quite simple and in my eyes a film is good if i don't half way through start thinking about what i am going to do later or the following day or whatever and i don't with Hawk The Slayer i just watch the film.

Hawk the Slayer is a basic story, revenge, magic, swords, assorted villains and one hero sort of the magnificent seven (if you include the sorceress). The acting with a few notable exceptions is wooden, the fight scenes are strained and the resolution unclear. But it works. Maybe it's the nostalgia factor, I was 6 when this was released. Maybe it's Jack Palance chewing the scenery for all he's worth. Maybe it's the amalgamation of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and the Magnificent Seven. It doesn't really matter. Hawk the Slayer has enough action, enough characters and enough raw concept to still make me smile and reach for the remote whenever it's on television. There have been rumors of sequels in planning for years which shows that the idea works and with some slick production and solid direction could easily fit into the sword and sorcery revival with the Hobbit, a new Conan and more. It does still stand up against the low budget fantasy DVD releases that you see at the supermarket each week and that is not bad for a TV movie over 30 years old. Ultimately it is a great piece of nostalgia, a movie where everyone is clearly committed to the cause and still a lot of fun.

Well intentioned sword and sorcery adventure has a few things going for it but there are far too many shortcomings to overcome.Our hero Hawk (John Terry) has inherited the "Mind Sword" from his father after he is murdered by his other son the evil Voltan (Jack Palance). Voltan has an army behind him while his brother gathers the stereotypical small band of hero's to help him defeat his brother. The small band includes a giant a dwarf and an elf and each gets a suitably stilted introduction.John Terry is ineffective and seems out of his depth at times, the fact he had some subsequent success seems to indicate either; poor casting, the obviously poor dialogue he was saddled with or a lack of direction. The largely British supporting cast is somewhat subdued and while they don't stand out they also don't embarrass themselves, they include; Annette Crosbie, Harry Andrews, Bernard Bresslaw (Carry On films), Roy Kinnear, W. Morgan Sheppard and Cheryl Campbell. Jack Palance as the villain of the piece is way over the top.The film sticks with many fantasy archetypes but strangely flips other on their heads. The result being that when these variations on the fantasy staples occur they are glaringly incongruous.The story is absurdly straight forward and simple as is the structure of the film, perhaps given a better budget it could have achieved more. The special effects are straight out of the era in which the film was made, and having a limited budget means they are somewhat embarrassing especially when they are poorly executed. We get big puffs of smoke to hide things, fairly cheap matte paintings for all the buildings, sped up film and spliced cuts to give the impression of speed.The films score is a very odd mix of orchestral and disco and while it may be appreciated my some it was far too strident and obtrusive to my ear.Despite the problems a true aficionado of fantasy might enjoy the film if they aren't too discerning.