The Warrior

Warrior and the Sorceress is a fantasy version of the classic Japanese film Yojimbo, which was later remade as A Fistful Of Dollars. Basically, a stranger with no name (David Carradine) comes into town amongst rival factions fighting over a well, the only source of water. He plays both sides of the fence, yada yada yada....you've all seen it a zillion times.

What makes this different, besides the setting, is the fantasy/medieval weirdness factor, including the sorceress (Maria Socas, looking fetching as she does the entire film sans a top), a telepathic (and incredibly phony) monitor lizard, and, to top it all off, a dance by a lady with four (count 'em, four!) honkers. And, I have to admit, her prosthetics seemed to me incredibly well done. Maybe that's just me.

The swordplay was quite good, and the acting (though not spectacular), was entirely adequate. It seems like everyone involved had a great time, and so did I.

For your rental (or purchase) dollar, you could do a whole lot worse...

Would you believe it, a sword and sorcery adaption of Akira Kurosawa's classic, Yojimbo?! Yes indeed and it's actually rather entertaining stuff to boot in fact.

David Carradine stars as a mysterious, monosyllabic, sword wielding wanderer (try repeating that when you're drunk!) who arrives in a town run by two warring factions and who subsequently proceeds to counter sell his fighting prowess to each side in turn, whilst simultaneously playing them both off against one another.

Containing some nicely implemented sword play (choreographed by fellow star in this and always fun to watch, Anthony De Longis), a fair quota of breasts including one woman who bears four, yes FOUR of them(!) and even a rubbery tentacled monster, this proves to be a highly satisfying watch if your in the mood for the like.

David Carradine really had it for the type of movie you can see here. Being a warrior and having a mentality for it. This is losely connected to Death Stalker (at least that's what the box set this is included suggests), but other than a similar themed fantasy and a lot of nudity, I couldn't really tell.

To be fair I liked David here more than in his dream project (also Bruce Lees pet project he unfortunately never got to realize). Then again, that doesn't say much and this still is not really reaching any heights ... it does what it does and it gives you what you should expect - nothing more though

Well, first off you can't expect much from the man who produced the Deathstalker Series.. =) But this film I think is the better of the whole sword and sorcery films he's released.

The story is set in a slave town where two clans are at swords with each other to control the well and the people in this desert wasteland. The film circles the adventures of the Dark One(according to the box and creds, Carridine's character's name is Kain, which I don't want to call him. Its just stupid to name him the same thing from Kung Fu. He's only called the Dark One in the movie), who has stumbled into this town, and begins selling his skills as a swordsman to the higher pay.

The film is pretty decent, but don't expect Conan the Barbarian, or Beastmaster. The only two questions I have are:

Why doesn't Naja(Maria Socas) EVER put on a bra or a shirt? The whole entire film she is topless. At first I thought it was because she was a slave wench to one of the clans, but even when she was free, she still didn't put anything on.

If the Sword of Ura can cut through an anvil, why doesn't it chop through everyone's swords like a hot knife through butter?

Eh, oh well. Watch the film if you have nothing better to do.

David Carradine can be entertaining if he has any chance at all, and this film provides him with the opportunity. He plays the disillusioned, violent, seemingly corrupt "Dark Warrior" to the hilt.

Maria Socas plays the entire film nearly naked. This has surely limited its "exposure" to the general media, including of course television. However, her natural state enhances the visual imagery of the film and she seems almost sacred in her devotion to her office of priestess. What a state we are in, when we so readily accept tremendous, gory violence in film, yet eschew nudity as something taboo and dirty.

This is, of course, a "cheapie B movie", but it isn't so badly done. I find it compelling, entertaining escapism. Its a good "guy" film, so just lean back and imagine.