Gor

I've read some of the Gor books and enjoyed them. (Norman's later writing became far too sexist for me to stomach, but the first several are pretty good stories if you like the genre.)

But this movie *totally* sucked and about the only thing one could do with it is to have MST3000 do their thing (good luck). I turned it off after about 15 minutes and was seriously tempted to burn the video store's copy to spare anyone else the pain of seeing the thing.

When I sat down to watch this movie the first thing I noticed was that nearly all of the voices were over dubbed, and the beginning has some of the worst over dubbing I've seen in an English language movie.

Overall the movie was pretty good, if you like Fantasy this movie is for you, if you like Rebecca Ferretti then this movie is for you....otherwise you probably won't like it.

A low budget Conan style movie, where all there budget probably went on paying Oliver Reed and Jack Palance. The acting is really bad and the script is terrible. Apart from seeing a very fit woman (Rebecca Ferretti) in hardly any clothing, this movie has no pluses. Having said that, I saw a sequel was made, so I'll probably watch it.

American professor Tarl Cabot is transported via a magical ring to planet Gor, where he must help an oppressed country overthrow its evil king and his barbarian henchmen.

Apparently this film was widely criticized for being campy, and also has come under attack from feminists for its sexist point of view. Of course, I cannot say it is not campy, but I will say that in some ways that is part of the charm. As for the sexism, well... this is another world. Should the attitudes of the people in this invented world be held against the film as a whole? (Honestly, I found it very tame -- not nearly as sexist as, say, "A Boy and His Dog".) We have the great Jack Palance and Hammer veteran Oliver Reed... how do you beat that?

Try, if you can, to imagine Disney's fantasy/sci-fi mega-budget flop John Carter as if it had been made in the '80s by The Cannon Group, producers of such cinematic clunkers as Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, American Ninja, Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold, and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. This might give you some idea of what Gor is like: dreadful production values, a terrible script, lousy action, unconvincing sets, cheap costumes, and a cast of has-beens and never-weres directed by the man responsible for Stephen King dud Children of the Corn.

The film stars Urbano Barberini as mild-mannered physics lecturer Tarl Cabot, who is transported to the planet Gor by his magic ring, where he helps a group of brave warriors to overthrow evil despot Sarm (Oliver Reed), who has enslaved the people of nearby villages and stolen their sacred homestones. Featuring wooden performances from everyone, with the exception of Oliver Reed, who hams it up to the max (his exuberant performance no doubt aided by enough alcohol to fuel a small plane), Gor is difficult to endure, although the generous curves of sexy warrior woman Talena (Playboy playmate Rebecca Ferratti) help to ease the pain just a little.

1 out of 10, with a generous extra point added for the battle of the bad '80s hair-dos, as Talena, with her massive rock-babe barnet, fights another woman sporting crimped blonde locks.