The Lord Protector

The story is a fantasy tale about the possible destruction of this world and a fight between good and evil. I noticed some reviewers glow about this film and give it scores of 8, 9 or even 10. I have a seriously hard time understanding it, as the film was one of the most amateurish looking movies I've seen...especially when it comes to the acting. The actors look much more like some friends who got together to make a film, not a serious production.

The only reason I watched the film is because it was one of Charlton Heston's final movies. However, it turns out that he only narrates and if you are watching for Olivia Hussey, she only is used as a voice actor as well. The rest...well, I just hope that they worked hard and have improved their skills since making this movie.

The budget on this film was nearly nonexistent, so with this in mind, I think they did a terrific job with what they had. Patrick, who I think is the most attractive in a very attractive family is a great person and I think that comes across very well. All of the other players are appealing as well and proved to be good sports. None of these actors are or were porn stars as was suggested in another review. Artists are just that, dreamers always striving to express themselves in a way that can touch other lives and I can only cheer on these artists in their quest to lift the audience out of drab reality into fun fantasy. It is nice also to see a film that doesn't pander to the least common denominator.

In the 80s, a film like this would have been awesome. Blood, muscles up steroid dudes wielding swords and hot gals that would go topless often. They would also have some practical effects monster that would sometimes look pretty good. Then the 90s came around and things became dull. Here we have annoying yelling nerds as our heroes, empty waterways and caves where one would expect monsters and okay looking women not topless. So everything that made the 80s sword and sorcery films awesome is missing here and we are left a bit bored.

The story has a very annoying guy gathering a group together to fight the darkness. He shouts a lot and lacks charisma. That is okay, so does most of the people he has join him with the exception of the swordsmen looking for a plant, he is alright; granted, I could not understand him a lot of the time. They battle people in this thing, no trying to have any cool battles here. They face obvious traitors, a romance and possibly victory with minimal effort put into the film as possible.

I did not really recognize most of the cast, Charlton Heston did narration and Olivia Hussey did a voice, but none of the people in the film looked familiar. Lead guy shouts to much, the doofus who follows the group could be called captain bland, the only one who seemed to try was the sword guy who was so immersed in character he was hard to understand because of the accent...

So, if watching a group of travelers going into a magical waterway and a cave where no man has returned despite there being nothing in either place, watching a romance flair that is totally predictable and that is missing everything that made these types of films fun then this is your movie! You also probably think mayonnaise is too spicy...

Okay, I haven't actually seen this film. But once upon a time I got a phone call from someone representing the producer of "Witchboard" and "Season of Fear" looking for investors for a proposed movie to be called "Lord Protector." They told me they had already lined up Charlton Heston to narrate, and were offering roles to F. Murray Abraham and Michael Rooker. They mailed me a prospectus and everything, but in the end I passed. I wonder if I would have made good on my investment? I really should try to find this and see how the movie turned out. I'd probably be a lot more interested if they'd really ended up with Michael Rooker.

Charlton Heston does a fine job narrating this fantasy film featuring an other-wordly plot and some neat special effects. Patrick Cassidy (David's brother)stars along with Jay Underwood (The Boy Who Could Fly). The entire cast seems to be having fun, playing their parts with tongues planted firmly in cheek. Of course, this sort of G-rated fare is produced primarily for the kid demographic, but grown-ups can enjoy it too.