Hawk the Slayer

I am aware that this film has been badly received by most reviewers, but I cannot get myself to agree. It may be corny, cheesy, gimmicky, but for me, all the gimmicks worked. I loved the matte paintings, which most sfx connoisseurs scoff at. I loved the stiff acting, and melodramatic cornball dialogue, and the shallow Tolkienesque ambiance. I adored Jack Palance's ham acting as the villain. I loved the Elf, and the Dwarf, and the Giant, and the Witch. I loved the music (and did not notice anything particularly "70s" about it, but perhaps that was because I grew up in that era). What I loved most about it was an aspect that another commentator complained about: its incompleteness. That other commentator (from IMDb) complained that he felt like he was watching part 2 of a three-act play. Well, that's a good thing, isn't it? What is the point of immersing oneself in a fantasy world if it is going to be so small it can contain itself in a single film. The implication that I was watching a small part of a much greater story was what gave this film its charm. The cryptic references to things beyond its borders made the world created seem far vaster than it was, and helped the matte paintings seem to come to life.

-- NystulC

Some would say this film is one of the poorest ever made. They would be correct. However it is also one of the most amusing. Such classic moments as 'a bit falls off the set really obviously' and 'the baddies lair is a skanky old tent', and of course the cheesy sound effect/soundtrack make this a great movie, especially when drunk. To assist this, the Hawk the Slayer Unofficial Drinking Game is as follows: Drink when: Anyone says 'Hawk'; Anyone says 'Voltan'; Every time they show a picture for the backdrop instead of a real set; Every time they use the ridiculous electronic sound effect (first used at the start with the sword); Every time someone dies (can be limited to 3 drinks for a fight scene as its hard to keep count); Every time the crazy disco soundtrack starts up; Every time there are poor special effects; Every time there is a cheesy flashback Every time the top of the set is visible.

Enjoy!

Mediaval romp about two brothers locked in deadly combat till the end of time . This is an atmospheric sliced chunk of swords , fights , sandals and witchery . It is set in a strange land of swirling fog , somewhere in the mists of time , there a misfit crew of rebels rides through orange-skied outdoors . There a good warrior , Hawk the Slayer (John Terry) , struggles against his malevolant brother (Jack Palance) , to possess a magic sword with incredible powers . After seeing both , his dad (Ferdy Mayne) and sweetheart (Catriona McColl) die at the hands of his ruthless sibling Voltan, then Hawk the Slayer sets out in pursuit him and the chance to live up to his title . As Hawk leads the battle against Voltan to free the land from the forces of evil and avenge his loved ones . The group is formed by an elf , a giant , a dwarf , an one-armed man with a machine-crossbow (Bernard Brasslaw) and a witch (Patricia Quinn) , who can turn an useful trick or to , all of them attempt to bring peace and order. These peculiar weird crew of reservists rides at the shoulder of the heroic warrior Hawk the Slayer . This valiant hero wielding a "mind-sword" has great opponents , the first : the big Brother , Jack Palance, along with his bunch of minions and guards under his stiff command. The object of the motley team , kill each other . As an Abbess (Annette Crosbie) is kidnapped and the brave outfit has to free her .

This is a comic-book fantasy with thrills , fierce fights , noisy action and necromancy .There is a vein of satire to all this and and references to legions of darkness . It is full of cardboard castles , painted backdrops , matte-painting , sorcery , and gauze-infested woods . It is all so incredibly tacky that it almost works . Here Palance makes a great villain , he steals the show , though giving overacting . A varied cast , it stars John Terry as Hawk the Slayer , tooling himself up with the magic sword and he sets out for vendetta , recruiting a motley band of warriors formed by an Elf interpreted by Ray Charleson , a dwarf played by Peter Farrell , a giant acted by Bernard Bresslaw , along with an Abbess perfomed by Annette Crosbie , and a nun performed by Cheryl Campbell , the wonder of it is that this cast can deliver their lines without cracking up , though packing unbelievably some anticlimatic , inappropriate and ridiculous scenes . And a notorious support cast formed by prestigious secondaries making brief appearances as Harry Andrews , Derrick O'Connor , Warren Clarke , Patrick McGee , Peter Benson , Roy Kinnear, Barry Stokes , Ferdy Mayne , Shane Briant and Graham Stark.

It delivers an unusual and inadequate musical score by synthesizer composed by Harry Robertson who also wrote and produced. Being well photographed in wonderful outdoors by Paul Beeson , Disney usual . Being shot on location in Buckinghamshire , Black Park , Mansfield , England and Pinewood Studios .The motion picture was original but regularly directed by Terry Marcel , a craftsman who has made some decent films such as : ¨Prisoner of the Lost Universe¨ , ¨Jane and the Lost City¨ , ¨The Last Seduction II¨ and several TV episodes of series as ¨Heartbeat¨ , ¨Trainer¨ ,¨Dark Night¨ , ¨Robin Hood¨ , among others .Rating 5.5/10 . Passable and acceptable in spite of some very silly scenes .

I need the music sound track for this movie but I don't know where to look for it, Can anyone help?

The sets are awful, the acting abysmal.John Terry looks petulant. I still enjoyed it, though. It is a good movie to watch, wasted, with your friends yelling at the TV. I look at this film and I can't think what caused these actors to be in it, it can't have gotten them that much money but I suppose there was a sort of notoriety. The music is great, though, cheesy and inspirational. I need it for when I'm doing heroic deeds and complicated tasks. It would be good to have to play when I enter a room or come running up the street.

I like Voltan but he does strike me as phenomenally stupid. He is terminally dedicated to EVIL. He doesn't seem to want things of do anything that isn't in the cause of EVIL. I would of thought his character would like power or perhaps just to survive.

They all have a great way with words, either whispering lines or shouting them. I enjoyed the emotional characterisation from John Terry. He almost acted.

As you watch this film, you will more than likely sit back and say, "This is so silly." Remember this is an 80's film. I remember first watching this film as a teenager and saying it was so cool. Well many moons later, I can see the aweful special effects, and the obvious mistakes made. The interesting things about "B" movies is that if actors know they are in one; it comes through in their acting. With this film, they try to act as seriously as possible, which makes it more believable. For people with a poor budget, they did quite well. The score is still some of the coolest music ever. It sets the tone for the film, and encompasses Hawk's mysterious nature.

As a regular film, it is aweful. As a "B" film, it does quite well. Cult classic.