Wizards of the Lost Kingdom

 Before "that" trilogy by Peter Jackson, fantasy movies where a rather obscure thing.

 

But in the 80s, Sword and Sorcery was a genre all in itself, with a lot of movies reaching cult status like Ladyhawke, Highlander, Conan, Krull, ...

 

So drawing from that huge library of movies, I spend a lazy sunday afternoon to have a look at the argentinian - american production Wizards of the Lost Kingdom.  And the intro alone promised everything that is great in those times: cheesy narration, a Sword of Power and a Ring of Magic, the former lost, as King Tyler rules a kingdom, Axeholme, where wizard used to fight wizard and warrior fought warrior before he installed peace.

 

The pacing is incredible in this movie though, within the first 20 minutes the kingdom is overthrown, Simon, son of the king's sorcerer ran in the wild and met the legendary hero, lost the ring, found the sword... and learned advanced magic.  And of course, expect all the 80s special effects, with "drawn" spells, animatronics and guys in big white furry suits.

 

But actually, the movie is enjoyable, even though on the short side with an hour and 15 minutes runtime, and this probably also explains the high speed pacing.  But it is that sort of innocent adventure movie, of a young kid finding tutelage of an experienced warrior, and through their adventures learns the needed skills to defeat the evil wizard and free his kingdom.

 

So yeah, if you are in for a dose of campy 80s fantasy, make sure to give the movie a look.  And yes, the score music sounds VERY familiar, giving a serious, and I mean borderedge used, Wrath of Khan feel...

 

But judge that for yourself!