I find I often like really bad movies,they can have a certain charm that is appealing. I can't say that this is one of them. Poorly written, bad editing, clumsy acting, goofy costumes, incredibly disjunct yet so simplistic you don't have any trouble following the lack of a sensible plot. It's sooo bad that it sucks you in and you feel compelled to see it through to the bitter end (ack, make it stop.....). Viewers will recognize Eric Allan Kramer from 'Men in Tights' and other movies, plus his most recent stint as 'Bob Duncan' on the Disney Channel. I like him a lot but I'm not sure what compelled him to do this rather fascinating bit of rot. At any rate even though I'm sounding really negative about it, if you've not seen this flick it's probably worth watching once so that you can say with pride that you suffered through it and can comment knowingly about it.
23 Reviews
So cheap they couldn't afford muscles
ofumalow27 October 2022
All the "Ator" films are on the dullest end of the cheap 80s sword-and-sandal revival, but this one has promise for its slender "Troll 2" connection. The reality is not all that much fun, though, despite being as dumb as you might hope for. In one of his last non-porn features, Joe d'Amato does the best he can with very limited means for a fantasy action film, but that only means it's got some professional sheen. It certainly isn't good, and it isn't so-bad-it's-good, either.
The weirdest thing about it is that it lacks the one minimal thing any movie of this type delivers: A warrior hero whose rippling muscles are constantly displayed, and usually seem to be the main reason he was cast. This guy had a career in fight choreography, yet he's got the face of an overfed ex-fratboy who "used to play football," and perplexingly he's always clad in in loose capes or ponchos or whatever, so it seems like they're going out of their way to hide paunch. He's not as wooden an actor as "Ator" originator Miles O'Keefe, or several other screen muscle dudes you could name, but let's face it, this is the kind of role where pecs speak louder than line readings. The women are attractive, including glorified cameos by veterans Laura Gemser and Marisa Mell. But it's all pretty dull, and silly in a self-conscious rather than unintentionally funny way.
The weirdest thing about it is that it lacks the one minimal thing any movie of this type delivers: A warrior hero whose rippling muscles are constantly displayed, and usually seem to be the main reason he was cast. This guy had a career in fight choreography, yet he's got the face of an overfed ex-fratboy who "used to play football," and perplexingly he's always clad in in loose capes or ponchos or whatever, so it seems like they're going out of their way to hide paunch. He's not as wooden an actor as "Ator" originator Miles O'Keefe, or several other screen muscle dudes you could name, but let's face it, this is the kind of role where pecs speak louder than line readings. The women are attractive, including glorified cameos by veterans Laura Gemser and Marisa Mell. But it's all pretty dull, and silly in a self-conscious rather than unintentionally funny way.
A great bad movie
Bneidl30 July 2003
I'll always have a special place in my heart for this movie, bad as it is. My sister and I ran across it years ago on HBO and quoted lines from it all summer. In fact, we taped the movie and I often made other people watch it, but nobody seemed to think it was as funny as my sister and I did.
I think what I find most interesting about this movie is that the filmmakers would even try to produce an action-fantasy epic with the $500 budget they apparently had. Usually, your independent filmmakers have a general sense of their limitations. They tend to shoot small films that can get by on small budgets. But the folks who made "Quest for the Mighty Sword" thought BIG. They must have had remarkable confidence in their film-making ingenuity--a real belief that through a little clever camera angling, they could turn their fifteen cents into a dollar--turn their plastic sword, overweight lead actor, and single troll costume (used for almost every monster who shows up in the film) into a passable fantasy experience. This isn't "the little movie that could." It's "the little movie that thought it could, but couldn't." Something about that, however, makes the film lovable in its own way.
In any event, I sincerely envy these filmmakers. Their power to view the glass as "half full" must be nearly inhuman. They must be pretty happy people, generally speaking.
I think what I find most interesting about this movie is that the filmmakers would even try to produce an action-fantasy epic with the $500 budget they apparently had. Usually, your independent filmmakers have a general sense of their limitations. They tend to shoot small films that can get by on small budgets. But the folks who made "Quest for the Mighty Sword" thought BIG. They must have had remarkable confidence in their film-making ingenuity--a real belief that through a little clever camera angling, they could turn their fifteen cents into a dollar--turn their plastic sword, overweight lead actor, and single troll costume (used for almost every monster who shows up in the film) into a passable fantasy experience. This isn't "the little movie that could." It's "the little movie that thought it could, but couldn't." Something about that, however, makes the film lovable in its own way.
In any event, I sincerely envy these filmmakers. Their power to view the glass as "half full" must be nearly inhuman. They must be pretty happy people, generally speaking.
Literally the worst movie I've ever seen... I want to watch it again.
ABFellows16 July 2007
The cream of the crap... This movie was literally the worst I've ever seen. Everything was wrong: plot, acting, music, costumes, special effects, script... the list goes on extensively. Every film-making mistake imaginable was made in this film... yet I loved every minute of it. Its hard to imagine it as being a legitimate effort at making a motion picture, but as far as I know, it wasn't intended to be humorous. A movie so terribly bad that it becomes so wonderfully good. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good laugh; I'm actually considering purchasing it (that is if I can find it anywhere... I doubt it).
I vote this one for the dumpster.
Director Jim15 November 2003
I must plea with you, do not watch this movie! Unless you want to know what not to do in a movie, then that's okay. We all must learn from others' mistakes. Such as: hiring people that can act; do make-up; edit sound; do special effects; edit film; produce; direct; and proper caterers, 'cause these people were emaciated from lack of talent.
A must see for those who thought Troll 2 was funny.
Pretentious_crap26 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
For me, this movie is kind of an inside joke for those who laughed their heads off at Troll 2. Most likely those who have seen Troll 2 will discover this later, and not the other way around.
Like Troll 2, there are tiny pauses throughout the movie where everyone just blankly stares at each other, also everyone seems like a real dullard and has a glazed-over expression. Ator is the biggest dullard of all-- oafish; with the face of Benny Hill; waxed-legs, and clad in leather short-shorts.
Other things about this movie include: the really cheaply made sets don't match the castle exteriors; the music goes from bad techno to 1970's Cop Drama theme; the plot is forgotten within twenty-five minuets of the movie; there isn't any fighting choreography-- it's "stab-stab, swing-swing, hope ya hit some thing", and this you will not believe: There aren't any horses in the movie and so to keep the pace THE ACTORS JOG THROUGH IT!
Finally, the icing on the cake-- after Joe D' Amato finished working on Troll 2, he decided to use three of the goblin costumes from that movie. If any of you who've seen said movie can recant that the goblins mouths were badly animated, and they couldn't say their two lines without struggling or that they could only eat the green-stuff by smearing it on their teeth-- well, D' Amato allowed the actor in the goblin costumes full dialogue!
Like Troll 2, there are tiny pauses throughout the movie where everyone just blankly stares at each other, also everyone seems like a real dullard and has a glazed-over expression. Ator is the biggest dullard of all-- oafish; with the face of Benny Hill; waxed-legs, and clad in leather short-shorts.
Other things about this movie include: the really cheaply made sets don't match the castle exteriors; the music goes from bad techno to 1970's Cop Drama theme; the plot is forgotten within twenty-five minuets of the movie; there isn't any fighting choreography-- it's "stab-stab, swing-swing, hope ya hit some thing", and this you will not believe: There aren't any horses in the movie and so to keep the pace THE ACTORS JOG THROUGH IT!
Finally, the icing on the cake-- after Joe D' Amato finished working on Troll 2, he decided to use three of the goblin costumes from that movie. If any of you who've seen said movie can recant that the goblins mouths were badly animated, and they couldn't say their two lines without struggling or that they could only eat the green-stuff by smearing it on their teeth-- well, D' Amato allowed the actor in the goblin costumes full dialogue!
There's nothing really mighty about it.
sirnas23 September 1999
This movie has some very goofy parts. Mainly when the troll, which was the same exact one that was used in "Troll 2" gets split in half by the mighty sword. This should not be a surprise since the director is the same for both films. The sets are also a hoot. Even though the film was made in 1990, it feels like you've been magically whisked away to an old episode of "Star Trek". The props and costumes also give off the aura that they are truly made of cardboard. I'm not even going to go into detail on how non-mighty the super sword looked.
See it just to find out how bad a movie can be.
ThatGuyBob11 October 2000
This one has been on my "Bottom 10" list since the first time I saw it, and it will probably remain there forever. There aren't enough of the right kind of words in any language to describe how awful this flick really is.
This is the single movie I can recommend to anyone who claims to have never seen a "bad" movie. Probably the only film that could be used in university courses to illustrate the wrong way to accomplish any movie-making goal. Absolutely nothing about this film was done correctly. The script, plot, acting, direction, lighting, sound, costumes, effects, and set design, to name a few, were individually atrocious. The combined effect of these is one that prompts a gag reflex from the audience for a good solid hour and a half, if they can manage to remain conscious for the whole thing.
This is the single movie I can recommend to anyone who claims to have never seen a "bad" movie. Probably the only film that could be used in university courses to illustrate the wrong way to accomplish any movie-making goal. Absolutely nothing about this film was done correctly. The script, plot, acting, direction, lighting, sound, costumes, effects, and set design, to name a few, were individually atrocious. The combined effect of these is one that prompts a gag reflex from the audience for a good solid hour and a half, if they can manage to remain conscious for the whole thing.
Truly the worst movie I have ever seen...................
fakerca21 April 2007
Well, I thought I had seen bad movies before............but this one is the worst by far. No plot, overweight and drag-queen-like "hero", cheap plastic monsters and effects, new york accents on all of the characters............. can you really get any worse? Even the background music is ridiculous.......often sounding Japanese, then techno, then just non-descript and drowning out the dialogue. Actually, the music drowning out the awful dialogue is probably the best thing to say about this movie. And just when you think the movie hits bottom, it never fails to disappoint you in reaching yet further into poor cheap effects. I am truly at a loss for words.
wow!
tyler_durden153 March 2000
The Ator Series Concludes!
IdolL0v3r24 April 2014
Quest For The Mighty Sword is the title used for the version of this movie that I watched. This is the third and rarest film in the Ator trilogy, written and directed by Aristide Massaccesi under the alias David Hills, and photographed using the alias Federiko Slonisko. The first two films in the series were Ator, The Fighting Eagle (1982) and The Blade Master (1984), both starring Miles O'Keeffe. Another movie titled Iron Warrior, directed by Alfonso Brescia, also starred O'Keeffe as Ator; however, he wasn't quite the same character in this movie. Massaccesi wasn't very pleased with Iron Warrior (he wasn't the only one), so he retook his series and made this official sequel with Eric Allan Kramer as Ator. (No surprise that O'Keeffe didn't return as Massaccesi has stated that he can't act!) Kramer makes a decent Ator, and I'm disappointed that he didn't make another Ator movie. Quest For The Mighty Sword has never been released on DVD, and the VHS tape is out of print. The budget is low, the effects aren't so special and the directing and acting are fair-to-middling. Still, I love these types of movies despite their low ambitions as they show that films don't need to have a huge budget or big name stars for me to have a lot of fun watching them!
Fellow bad movie fans rejoice!
HaemovoreRex18 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
If only all movies were this much fun! Cheap and cheerful best describes this tale of swords and sorcery brought to us by the late great Joe D'Amato who also directed the first two Ator flicks starring the one and only Miles O'Keeffe. Sadly O'Keefe doesn't return in the role this time around but is ably replaced by John Allen Nelson an actor who looks suspiciously like a young Brian Dennehy!
As with the previous entry, the continuity established in the first two films has been abandoned completely thus indicating that this is a sequel in name only and that the titular Ator is in fact a different character completely here.
In fact, there are TWO Ator's in this movie (!), the first is promptly killed off in the first ten minutes leaving his son who shares the same name to adopt the mantel and grow up to be the eventual hero.
The plot concerns our hero who, wouldn't you know it; is destined to assume his fathers role, to wield the magic sword, to put the world generally to rights AND to avenge his fathers death etc. etc.
But frankly you won't be paying much attention to the plot here anyway when there are so many hilarious scenes on offer! Witness such side splitting sights as an hideous goblin/dwarf type thing cut clean in two down the middle after repeatedly taunting our hero, a conjoined robot(!), a rubbery fire breathing dragon that more closely resembles a walking turd (just check out the hero's expression when he first lays eyes upon it!), a mad warty prince who wants to make a statue out of the films heroine and a wacky and completely unresolved ending! Add it all together and you've got a great piece of trash entertainment! Highly recommended for fans of bad movies although still far from on par with Ator The Invincible aka The Blade Master aka The Cave Dwellers which still stands as truly one of the highest pinnacles ever of trash cinema.
As with the previous entry, the continuity established in the first two films has been abandoned completely thus indicating that this is a sequel in name only and that the titular Ator is in fact a different character completely here.
In fact, there are TWO Ator's in this movie (!), the first is promptly killed off in the first ten minutes leaving his son who shares the same name to adopt the mantel and grow up to be the eventual hero.
The plot concerns our hero who, wouldn't you know it; is destined to assume his fathers role, to wield the magic sword, to put the world generally to rights AND to avenge his fathers death etc. etc.
But frankly you won't be paying much attention to the plot here anyway when there are so many hilarious scenes on offer! Witness such side splitting sights as an hideous goblin/dwarf type thing cut clean in two down the middle after repeatedly taunting our hero, a conjoined robot(!), a rubbery fire breathing dragon that more closely resembles a walking turd (just check out the hero's expression when he first lays eyes upon it!), a mad warty prince who wants to make a statue out of the films heroine and a wacky and completely unresolved ending! Add it all together and you've got a great piece of trash entertainment! Highly recommended for fans of bad movies although still far from on par with Ator The Invincible aka The Blade Master aka The Cave Dwellers which still stands as truly one of the highest pinnacles ever of trash cinema.
Forget the haters!
BandSAboutMovies3 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
If there's a 12 step group for people who watch too many Joe D'Amato movies, well I should be the counselor, helping talk people off the ledge after they think they need to watch Erotic Nights of the Living Dead or Eleven Days, Eleven Nights or...hell, I can't do it. For all people heap scorn on the movies of the man born Aristide Massaccesi, I find myself falling in love more and more with each movie.
There are four Ator movies and honestly, none of them need to be seen in order. The first, Ator the Fighting Eagle starts with our hero asking his father if he can marry his sister, at which point most people get grossed out and fans of Italian sleaze say, "Oh yes, this is a D'Amato movie." Throw in a spider cult, Sabrina Siani as a thief and Black Emanuelle herself, Laura Gemser, as well as a script by Michele Soavi, and you have paradise on VHS tape.
The second Ator epic - well, stretching the use of the word there, even I get that - is Ator 2 - L'invincibile Orion, which was released in the U.S. as The Blade Master and Cave Dwellers. It features modern technology - a hang glider and a nuke - within its sword and sorcery plot. Rushed to theaters to take advantage of Conan the Destroyer, it feels like more Yor Hunter from the Future than a trip to Cimmeria.
The third - and I'd argue best - Ator film is Iron Warrior. Directed by Alfonso Brescia, this is an MTV music video arthouse version of a peblum movie and it makes me mental every single time I watch it, screaming at the TV in absolute maniacal joy. It's like after all the Star Wars ripoffs Brescia made, he had to bless us with something from another universe. He'd follow this up with the equally astounding - and scummy as it gets - The Beast In Space.
D'Amato hated what Brescia's did, so he starts this one off by killing Ator and introducing us to his son. Obviously, Miles O'Keefe isn't back.
This one has nearly as many titles as Aristide had names: Ator III: The Hobgoblin, Hobgoblin, Quest for the Mighty Sword and Troll 3.
That's because the costumes from Troll 2 - created by Laura Gemser, who is in this as an evil princess - got recycled and reused in this movie. D'Amato proves that he's a genius by having whoever is inside those costumes speak.
Let me see if I can summarize this thing. Ator gets killed by the gods because he doesn't want to give up his magic sword, which he uses to challenge criminals to battles to the death. The only goddess who speaks for him, Dehamira (Margaret Lenzey), is imprisoned inside a ring of fire until a man can save her.
That takes eighteen years, because Ator the son's mother gave the sorcerer Grindl (the dude wearing the troll costume) her son to raise and the sword to hide. She then asked him for a suicide drink, but he gave her some Spanish Fly and got to gnome her Biblically in the back of his cave before releasing her to be a prostitute and get abused until her son eventually comes and saves her because this is a Joe D'Amato movie and women are there to be rescued, destroy men and be destroyed by men.
This movie is filled with crowd-pleasing moments and seeing as how I watched it by myself, I loved it. Ator (Eric Allan Kramer, Thor in the TV movie The Incredible Hulk Returns and Little John in Robin Hood: Men In Tights) looks like Giant Jeff Daniels and his fighting skills are, at best, clumsy. But he battles a siamese twin robot that shoots sparks, a goopy fire breathing lizard man who he slices to pieces and oh yeah, totally murks that troll/ghome who turned out his mom.
This is the kind of movie where Donald O'Brien and Laura Gemser play brother and sister and nobody says, "How?" You'll be too busy saying, "Is that Marisa Mell?" and "I can't believe D'Amato stole the cantina scene!" and "What the hell is going on with this synth soundtrack?"
Here's even more confusion: D'Amato's The Crawlers was also released as Troll 3. Then again, it was also called Creepers (it has nothing to Phenomena) and Contamination .7, yet has no connection with Contamination.
Only Joe D'Amato could make two sequels to a movie that has nothing to do with the movie that inspired it and raise the stakes by having nothing to do with the original film or the sequel times two.
There are four Ator movies and honestly, none of them need to be seen in order. The first, Ator the Fighting Eagle starts with our hero asking his father if he can marry his sister, at which point most people get grossed out and fans of Italian sleaze say, "Oh yes, this is a D'Amato movie." Throw in a spider cult, Sabrina Siani as a thief and Black Emanuelle herself, Laura Gemser, as well as a script by Michele Soavi, and you have paradise on VHS tape.
The second Ator epic - well, stretching the use of the word there, even I get that - is Ator 2 - L'invincibile Orion, which was released in the U.S. as The Blade Master and Cave Dwellers. It features modern technology - a hang glider and a nuke - within its sword and sorcery plot. Rushed to theaters to take advantage of Conan the Destroyer, it feels like more Yor Hunter from the Future than a trip to Cimmeria.
The third - and I'd argue best - Ator film is Iron Warrior. Directed by Alfonso Brescia, this is an MTV music video arthouse version of a peblum movie and it makes me mental every single time I watch it, screaming at the TV in absolute maniacal joy. It's like after all the Star Wars ripoffs Brescia made, he had to bless us with something from another universe. He'd follow this up with the equally astounding - and scummy as it gets - The Beast In Space.
D'Amato hated what Brescia's did, so he starts this one off by killing Ator and introducing us to his son. Obviously, Miles O'Keefe isn't back.
This one has nearly as many titles as Aristide had names: Ator III: The Hobgoblin, Hobgoblin, Quest for the Mighty Sword and Troll 3.
That's because the costumes from Troll 2 - created by Laura Gemser, who is in this as an evil princess - got recycled and reused in this movie. D'Amato proves that he's a genius by having whoever is inside those costumes speak.
Let me see if I can summarize this thing. Ator gets killed by the gods because he doesn't want to give up his magic sword, which he uses to challenge criminals to battles to the death. The only goddess who speaks for him, Dehamira (Margaret Lenzey), is imprisoned inside a ring of fire until a man can save her.
That takes eighteen years, because Ator the son's mother gave the sorcerer Grindl (the dude wearing the troll costume) her son to raise and the sword to hide. She then asked him for a suicide drink, but he gave her some Spanish Fly and got to gnome her Biblically in the back of his cave before releasing her to be a prostitute and get abused until her son eventually comes and saves her because this is a Joe D'Amato movie and women are there to be rescued, destroy men and be destroyed by men.
This movie is filled with crowd-pleasing moments and seeing as how I watched it by myself, I loved it. Ator (Eric Allan Kramer, Thor in the TV movie The Incredible Hulk Returns and Little John in Robin Hood: Men In Tights) looks like Giant Jeff Daniels and his fighting skills are, at best, clumsy. But he battles a siamese twin robot that shoots sparks, a goopy fire breathing lizard man who he slices to pieces and oh yeah, totally murks that troll/ghome who turned out his mom.
This is the kind of movie where Donald O'Brien and Laura Gemser play brother and sister and nobody says, "How?" You'll be too busy saying, "Is that Marisa Mell?" and "I can't believe D'Amato stole the cantina scene!" and "What the hell is going on with this synth soundtrack?"
Here's even more confusion: D'Amato's The Crawlers was also released as Troll 3. Then again, it was also called Creepers (it has nothing to Phenomena) and Contamination .7, yet has no connection with Contamination.
Only Joe D'Amato could make two sequels to a movie that has nothing to do with the movie that inspired it and raise the stakes by having nothing to do with the original film or the sequel times two.
Am I the only person who recognizes the plot?
cklein-210 July 2009
It's Richard Wagner's "Siegfried" With All The Names Changed!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_(opera)
Grindl- Mime. Ator- Siegfried. Dehamira- Brunnhilde.
I can't believe there was no credit at all given to Wagner. Sure, he was a proto-Nazi but the man at least could weave a yarn!
So is there any recognizable music at least in this? Maybe perhaps something operatic? Something vaguely... Wagnerian?
And how is it that I never saw this masterpiece? A message board I'm on had someone ask what the movie was with a plot about a young man raised by a evil dwarf & he reforged the sword that was rightfully his... and I said "Sounds like Wagner's Siegfried to me!" Someone else actually knew the movie & gave the title as "Quest for the Mighty Sword". And so I am here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_(opera)
Grindl- Mime. Ator- Siegfried. Dehamira- Brunnhilde.
I can't believe there was no credit at all given to Wagner. Sure, he was a proto-Nazi but the man at least could weave a yarn!
So is there any recognizable music at least in this? Maybe perhaps something operatic? Something vaguely... Wagnerian?
And how is it that I never saw this masterpiece? A message board I'm on had someone ask what the movie was with a plot about a young man raised by a evil dwarf & he reforged the sword that was rightfully his... and I said "Sounds like Wagner's Siegfried to me!" Someone else actually knew the movie & gave the title as "Quest for the Mighty Sword". And so I am here.
Cataclysmic Monstrosity
saint_brett22 November 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Legend has it that 'Contamination .7' AKA 'The Crawlers' masquerades as 'Troll 3' but I've heard that this movie is the true 'Troll 3.'
Movie starts out with Kelsey Grammer, Ceasar and a bunch of medieval 'Buck Rogers' weirdos beheading a grape thief.
Dehydrated rat soldiers, of the trumpet clan, then toot their bugles to commence some Olympus sword battle among iffy gladiators vying for a right to the throne, or shares in cooking oil.
Ator? That's right - this movie was originally called 'Ator 4.'
Ator 4 is impaled and killed by an RB7 demon who in turn turns into a Nilbog troll. Yep, there's the little critter right there.
The overdramatic score in this is drowning out the Roman soldier's vocals.
How can Ator 4 be in this scene now when he was just killed off a few minutes ago?
These ugly little trolls are just crossbreeds of Ugnaughts. Who are equally as ugly. The stupid thing talks and I didn't hear one word it said. In fact, I can't understand one word anybody is saying for that matter.
The terrible quality of this DVD is so rich it's bleeding shaded colors.
The dead guy, Ator 4, who's alive somehow has left his wife and son in the care of Gwildor. Now, Gwildor is that other mugwort twit from 'She-Ra: Princess of Power.' But to confuse matters more, he's also the same eye infection from Lundgren's 'Masters of The Universe.' Gwildor was never in He-Man. He's in this crap though. And he drugs Ator 4's wife with some GHB which causes her to make love to the little puppet. Is this scene for real? What he done is/was illegal.
This goofy score is abusing my inner eardrums. Tone down the music, please.
Ator 4 tries to kill the little Grizzlor from Nilbog but the blow is deflected with some, "I have spoken, this is the way," trash talk. He then meets Chaka Khan and is instructed to kill the Ewok again but it fails a second time and he becomes a prisoner of war trapped in Gwildor's man cave.
Ator 4 eventually splits the little gremlin in half then becomes 'Commando' and escapes the captured man lair and announces his desire to be Conan instead.
Wow - two knuckleheads, who are joined at the hip, are easily defeated by confined spaces then split in two by a cowardly Ator 4 backstab move.
Godzilla appears as the next wave of video game boss and is easily sliced opened and makes the same noises that the wizard from 'Conan the Destroyer' did.
This is the second time Ator 4 has moved a plastic movie prop and pretended that it was heavy.
They even have the gall to pull a 'Godfather' scene with a cat but the cat's an inanimate piece of plastic.
I don't know what this upbeat 'Fall Guy' music is as it's set in medieval times.
They're also trying to steal an Indiana Jones sequence here with the crumbling building and dead skeletons.
A sorceress, wearing an oversized domino on her head, desires Ator 4 and he becomes the apple in her eye so she sets a trap for him while he slays a gambler and then sets a woman on fire before walking around aimlessly lost in this movie's directionless plot with nothing to do and no purpose.
They're playing that hip, upbeat, 80's game show music again, which doesn't fit in. (Try and picture Robin Hood running around a castle as a score from 'The A-Team' plays.)
Another Nilbog troll shows up sporting Christopher Walken hair and is well spoken like a fine distinguished gentleman. (Or is it Frank Costanza hair?)
Him and some desperate pimple-faced wizard conspire to snare Valeria as they listened to the Guns and Roses song "You Could be Mine" too much and believed it.
The two baddies in this only want love and want to keep Ator 4 and Valeria as pets. Their intentions aren't really evil.
Aren't movie's supposed to entertain you? Then why am I sitting here thinking about the end of the world?
Dolph Lundgren can count his lucky stars he wasn't cast as the lead in this.
In the end, the guy with the blistered face picks up Troll 3, or Walken, and commits suicide in a tub of acid.
Ator 4 and what's-her-name run off like pixies happy as Larry and the melted troll returns and laughs before the end credits roll. Is that thing laughing at the viewer for enduring this nightmare? Is the joke on us?
People in this movie die but reappear unharmed and without explanation so it seems.
This movie is another torture device concocted by the entertainment industry to experiment on a gullible public who are already damaged from all the other mind-numbing crap they've been exposed to over the years.
Dehydrated rat soldiers, of the trumpet clan, then toot their bugles to commence some Olympus sword battle among iffy gladiators vying for a right to the throne, or shares in cooking oil.
Ator? That's right - this movie was originally called 'Ator 4.'
Ator 4 is impaled and killed by an RB7 demon who in turn turns into a Nilbog troll. Yep, there's the little critter right there.
The overdramatic score in this is drowning out the Roman soldier's vocals.
How can Ator 4 be in this scene now when he was just killed off a few minutes ago?
These ugly little trolls are just crossbreeds of Ugnaughts. Who are equally as ugly. The stupid thing talks and I didn't hear one word it said. In fact, I can't understand one word anybody is saying for that matter.
The terrible quality of this DVD is so rich it's bleeding shaded colors.
The dead guy, Ator 4, who's alive somehow has left his wife and son in the care of Gwildor. Now, Gwildor is that other mugwort twit from 'She-Ra: Princess of Power.' But to confuse matters more, he's also the same eye infection from Lundgren's 'Masters of The Universe.' Gwildor was never in He-Man. He's in this crap though. And he drugs Ator 4's wife with some GHB which causes her to make love to the little puppet. Is this scene for real? What he done is/was illegal.
This goofy score is abusing my inner eardrums. Tone down the music, please.
Ator 4 tries to kill the little Grizzlor from Nilbog but the blow is deflected with some, "I have spoken, this is the way," trash talk. He then meets Chaka Khan and is instructed to kill the Ewok again but it fails a second time and he becomes a prisoner of war trapped in Gwildor's man cave.
Ator 4 eventually splits the little gremlin in half then becomes 'Commando' and escapes the captured man lair and announces his desire to be Conan instead.
Wow - two knuckleheads, who are joined at the hip, are easily defeated by confined spaces then split in two by a cowardly Ator 4 backstab move.
Godzilla appears as the next wave of video game boss and is easily sliced opened and makes the same noises that the wizard from 'Conan the Destroyer' did.
This is the second time Ator 4 has moved a plastic movie prop and pretended that it was heavy.
They even have the gall to pull a 'Godfather' scene with a cat but the cat's an inanimate piece of plastic.
I don't know what this upbeat 'Fall Guy' music is as it's set in medieval times.
They're also trying to steal an Indiana Jones sequence here with the crumbling building and dead skeletons.
A sorceress, wearing an oversized domino on her head, desires Ator 4 and he becomes the apple in her eye so she sets a trap for him while he slays a gambler and then sets a woman on fire before walking around aimlessly lost in this movie's directionless plot with nothing to do and no purpose.
They're playing that hip, upbeat, 80's game show music again, which doesn't fit in. (Try and picture Robin Hood running around a castle as a score from 'The A-Team' plays.)
Another Nilbog troll shows up sporting Christopher Walken hair and is well spoken like a fine distinguished gentleman. (Or is it Frank Costanza hair?)
Him and some desperate pimple-faced wizard conspire to snare Valeria as they listened to the Guns and Roses song "You Could be Mine" too much and believed it.
The two baddies in this only want love and want to keep Ator 4 and Valeria as pets. Their intentions aren't really evil.
Aren't movie's supposed to entertain you? Then why am I sitting here thinking about the end of the world?
Dolph Lundgren can count his lucky stars he wasn't cast as the lead in this.
In the end, the guy with the blistered face picks up Troll 3, or Walken, and commits suicide in a tub of acid.
Ator 4 and what's-her-name run off like pixies happy as Larry and the melted troll returns and laughs before the end credits roll. Is that thing laughing at the viewer for enduring this nightmare? Is the joke on us?
People in this movie die but reappear unharmed and without explanation so it seems.
This movie is another torture device concocted by the entertainment industry to experiment on a gullible public who are already damaged from all the other mind-numbing crap they've been exposed to over the years.
Nothing to do with first 2 ATORS quite atmospheric fantasy.
andreygrachev3 January 2009
I do not agree with the previous comment. Last year we managed to find that rare late Damato exclusive. I loved the story it makes sense. The classic Film Mirage production. Looks pretty awesome, at least comparing with Ator 2, that I think really boring, comparing to this title. Yes I was actually surprised to read first that this one is not worth seeing, and then it turned out to be quite imaginative and magic fairytale that gives both wonders ,creeps and belief in real heroes who exist here. Lamberto Bava's Fantaghiro series are good connection to this wave of Italian look on myths and fairy tales. www.myspace.com/neizvest
Good and cheese fantasy exploitation.
MonsterVision9919 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This is my second favorite film in the Troll series of movies, even if they are not related to each other, I consider this to be my second favorite out of the four, my favorite is still Troll 2, but this one is very entertaining too, its the second third entry in both the Ator series and the Troll series of films, there are two parts int his movie, the first one is Ator trying to get the sword from this troll, Grindel, he is a lot of fun, his interactions with Ator are very funny, the second part, is about Ators romantic interest being captured by two siblings who want Ator and his Love interest as their lovers. The movie is very entertaining, I would recommend it , it has some comedy in it that its actually pretty funny, its a lot of fun.
Ugh...
almoagain26 September 2011
Think of the worst movie you have ever seen. Now go out and buy a copy of it on DVD. When you get home, open it up, pull down your pants, and take a huge smelly dump on the disc. Then load it into your DVD player and this movie should play.
If it doesn't play this movie than the only explanation is you somehow found a DVD of, The Room. In which case, taking a huge smelly dump on the disc might improve the movie.
Really, the only reason to watch this farce is to make fun of it.It might also make a somewhat funny bad movie night, or a good movie to make out too as you ignore it, though I find it hard to see how even the most skillful man could entice a women to sit through even the first ten minutes of this cinematic travesty. Was this even in the theaters? Maybe in Moldova.
Oh yeah, and the guy that plays Ator is the dad from Good Luck Charley. That makes it worth watching just to see that guy make an ass out of himself, if you happen to know his work from that show.
Otherwise, I'd steer clear of this dreck and leave such viewings to those of us with no lives, and more than enough time to waste between Leven Thumps novels, and tenth re-readings of Ender's Game
If it doesn't play this movie than the only explanation is you somehow found a DVD of, The Room. In which case, taking a huge smelly dump on the disc might improve the movie.
Really, the only reason to watch this farce is to make fun of it.It might also make a somewhat funny bad movie night, or a good movie to make out too as you ignore it, though I find it hard to see how even the most skillful man could entice a women to sit through even the first ten minutes of this cinematic travesty. Was this even in the theaters? Maybe in Moldova.
Oh yeah, and the guy that plays Ator is the dad from Good Luck Charley. That makes it worth watching just to see that guy make an ass out of himself, if you happen to know his work from that show.
Otherwise, I'd steer clear of this dreck and leave such viewings to those of us with no lives, and more than enough time to waste between Leven Thumps novels, and tenth re-readings of Ender's Game
All Ator films are fun
NuttyBaby12 February 2023
This is the fourth and last of the Ator fantasy series of films. Each one is so different. I believe they should rerelease these four films as a boxset as its just pure enjoyable fantasy and anyone who likes low budget fantasy can binge watch it.
The Ator character in this film is played by a different actor than the one who always played Ator before. I guess that this particular Ator is meant to be the son of the king Ator who we saw in the last three films. Its a shame they never made anymore of these. It would be great if they did! The entire series is really fun to watch and even though it can be quite daft at times, its also a gem.
The Ator character in this film is played by a different actor than the one who always played Ator before. I guess that this particular Ator is meant to be the son of the king Ator who we saw in the last three films. Its a shame they never made anymore of these. It would be great if they did! The entire series is really fun to watch and even though it can be quite daft at times, its also a gem.
Why'd They Even Bother?
Michael_Elliott15 March 2017
Quest for the Mighty Sword (1990)
1/2 (out of 4)
Ator is murdered so later in life his son, also named Ator (Eric Allan Kramer), goes for revenge when he learns that his mother was forced into prostitution. He also learns of a magical sword that belongs to his family and he wants it returned.
QUEST FOR THE MIGHTY SWORD was the fourth film in the series and the third to be directed by Joe D'Amato. The infamous Italian director helmed the first two in the series, skipped the third film and returned with this one. It's funny because the first film was so horrid that I found myself having a good time with it. The second film was so awful yet it was bad enough to be entertaining. This film here is just downright awful without any camp or entertainment value.
I'm really not sure where to begin but this here is certainly the bottom of the barrel as far as entertainment goes. The Italian horror market had already dried up and I'm really not sure why a film like this would be made since the genre was long dead and it's doubtful there was much demand for it. The film has the typical awful acting that you would expect, a stupid story and there's really not a single good thing you can say about it.
Fans of D'Amato who are nuts like me and want to see everything the man directed might want to check it out but it's a pretty bad film. With that said, Laura Gemser does appear briefly in the film.
1/2 (out of 4)
Ator is murdered so later in life his son, also named Ator (Eric Allan Kramer), goes for revenge when he learns that his mother was forced into prostitution. He also learns of a magical sword that belongs to his family and he wants it returned.
QUEST FOR THE MIGHTY SWORD was the fourth film in the series and the third to be directed by Joe D'Amato. The infamous Italian director helmed the first two in the series, skipped the third film and returned with this one. It's funny because the first film was so horrid that I found myself having a good time with it. The second film was so awful yet it was bad enough to be entertaining. This film here is just downright awful without any camp or entertainment value.
I'm really not sure where to begin but this here is certainly the bottom of the barrel as far as entertainment goes. The Italian horror market had already dried up and I'm really not sure why a film like this would be made since the genre was long dead and it's doubtful there was much demand for it. The film has the typical awful acting that you would expect, a stupid story and there's really not a single good thing you can say about it.
Fans of D'Amato who are nuts like me and want to see everything the man directed might want to check it out but it's a pretty bad film. With that said, Laura Gemser does appear briefly in the film.
Cheap and cheerful fantasy
amesmonde19 February 2022
When Ator senior is killed and his magic sword broken Ator junior raised by a sorcerer gnome troll Grindle goes on a quest to kill the wicked Gunther and free the treasure of the kingdom of the West.
Director writer Joe D'Amato returns under the psydonum of David Hill. Sadly Miles O'Keeffe doesn't reprise his role and is replaced by Eric Allan Kramer. Baby long-haired Kramer plays both Ator senior and junior; is reminiscent of a bulky He-Man, in-fact Ators costume could be straight out of from Masters of the Universe (1987).
Again it has all the D'Amato shortfalls synonyms with his previous instalments, clunky music, editing and the like. This also at times feels more TV-like than it's film feeling predecessors. That said, the real location exteriors offer atmosphere. Again although a low budget offering some of the craftsmanship on the production, from the sets to weapons and costumes is well produced. Also much of Carlo Maria Cordio music is quiet fitting and gives a little weight to shenanigans when it's not sounding like a game show jingle. There's plenty of cheap fantasy elements to enjoy, Two head clockwork robots; an evil Grindle (sporting a recycled by effective mask from D'Amato's Troll 2), fire breathing lizard man reminiscent of Godzilla. The third act loses focus, meandering on before coming to abrupt end.
Laura Gemser returns to the series's as a different character, an evil princess Grimilde. Marisa Mell's Nephele, Ator's guide and pops up as the script dictates. Memorable is Margaret Lenzey's DeJanira clad in an Ancient Greek-like armour. Donald O'Brien (Zombie Holocaust and Name of the Rose) briefly appears in leper make-up as Gunther. Actor Don Semeraro who died shortly after is credited as Thorn-Grindel Hagen, he plays Gunther's little sidekick Hagen and the gnome sorcerer Grindle who cruelly raised Ator.
Overall, it's cheap and cheerful and gives the Deathstalker series a run for its money, packed with fantasy elements; but it's also deeply flawed. However, if you enjoyed the other Ator films, there's no reason not to indulge.
Director writer Joe D'Amato returns under the psydonum of David Hill. Sadly Miles O'Keeffe doesn't reprise his role and is replaced by Eric Allan Kramer. Baby long-haired Kramer plays both Ator senior and junior; is reminiscent of a bulky He-Man, in-fact Ators costume could be straight out of from Masters of the Universe (1987).
Again it has all the D'Amato shortfalls synonyms with his previous instalments, clunky music, editing and the like. This also at times feels more TV-like than it's film feeling predecessors. That said, the real location exteriors offer atmosphere. Again although a low budget offering some of the craftsmanship on the production, from the sets to weapons and costumes is well produced. Also much of Carlo Maria Cordio music is quiet fitting and gives a little weight to shenanigans when it's not sounding like a game show jingle. There's plenty of cheap fantasy elements to enjoy, Two head clockwork robots; an evil Grindle (sporting a recycled by effective mask from D'Amato's Troll 2), fire breathing lizard man reminiscent of Godzilla. The third act loses focus, meandering on before coming to abrupt end.
Laura Gemser returns to the series's as a different character, an evil princess Grimilde. Marisa Mell's Nephele, Ator's guide and pops up as the script dictates. Memorable is Margaret Lenzey's DeJanira clad in an Ancient Greek-like armour. Donald O'Brien (Zombie Holocaust and Name of the Rose) briefly appears in leper make-up as Gunther. Actor Don Semeraro who died shortly after is credited as Thorn-Grindel Hagen, he plays Gunther's little sidekick Hagen and the gnome sorcerer Grindle who cruelly raised Ator.
Overall, it's cheap and cheerful and gives the Deathstalker series a run for its money, packed with fantasy elements; but it's also deeply flawed. However, if you enjoyed the other Ator films, there's no reason not to indulge.
Overdue clunker
lor_4 June 2023
My review was written in October 1990 after watching the movie on RCA/Columbia video cassette.
This chintz followup to the "Ator" fantasy films of the early '80s is aimed at small fry with its complement of silly monsters (all played by one actor in fake outfits). It's too little too late.
Helmer David Hills (reputedly one and the same as horror director Aristide Massaccesi) has fairly decent command of English dialog here, but that's about it. Blond muscle man Eric Allen Kramer portrays the son of Ator (long ago played by Miles O'Keeffe after his Tarzan debut) on a quest to free the beautiful Margaret Lenzey.
Laura Gemser (who also did the pic's costumes) guest stars with a fancy hairdo as an older woman who gets a crush on the hero. Donal O'Brien is extremely hammy as her brother.
A near-incest subplot is hardly suitable for kidies buthandled as lamely as the rest of the picture. Heroine Lenzey is quite lovely but can't act. The director doesn't help her cause by leaving a flubbed line of hers in the final cut.
This chintz followup to the "Ator" fantasy films of the early '80s is aimed at small fry with its complement of silly monsters (all played by one actor in fake outfits). It's too little too late.
Helmer David Hills (reputedly one and the same as horror director Aristide Massaccesi) has fairly decent command of English dialog here, but that's about it. Blond muscle man Eric Allen Kramer portrays the son of Ator (long ago played by Miles O'Keeffe after his Tarzan debut) on a quest to free the beautiful Margaret Lenzey.
Laura Gemser (who also did the pic's costumes) guest stars with a fancy hairdo as an older woman who gets a crush on the hero. Donal O'Brien is extremely hammy as her brother.
A near-incest subplot is hardly suitable for kidies buthandled as lamely as the rest of the picture. Heroine Lenzey is quite lovely but can't act. The director doesn't help her cause by leaving a flubbed line of hers in the final cut.
Hmmm. What can i say about this movie.
Draccus-114 December 2002
Me and my friends used to rent this movie whenever we wanted to show how horrible a movie could possibly get. I would suggest renting it just to see how terrible it is. Make sure you are drunk first though and bring enough liquor in case you sober up before its over.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
