Kull, o Conquistador

I saw the movie on television yesterday evening. When I had looked into the tv magazine I saw that the movie is rather new (1997), but I had never heard of it, which means nothing good. Then I saw that Kevin Sorbo starred in it. I don't have a problem with him, but he's absolutely fixed to that "Hercules"-role, so I knew exactly what to expect. But it wasn't THAT bad. The plot was mediocre, but not ridiculous. The special effects weren't too good, but some looked nice. The scenery looked extremely fake from time to time, but there also were some nice backgrounds and such. It's not really a bad movie, I was not bored when I watched it. If you are a fan of such medieval settings and lower your expectations a bit it might be worth a watch.

5/10

Kevin Sorbo goes from TV's legendary Hércules to Sword-witchery hero Kull the conqueror , a warrior who becomes king of a mythic land , Valusia . Overthrown by a corrupt nobility (Douglas Henshall , Thomas Ian Griffith) Kull starts a perilous journey to a Island of Ice to find God Balka and the one weapon that will destroy the she-demon , an evil sorceress Akiyasha (Tia Carrere) . Meanwhile , Kull falls for a slave (Karina Lombard) of the former harem of a nasty King (Sven-Ole Thorsen) .

Stars the hunk Kevin Sorbo who battles warlords in animal skins , wizards, sorceress and fantastic gods in this dumb-but -fun Sword and Witchery film . Featuring brutallity , magnificent production values by prestigious designer Benjamin Fernández , colorful cinematography and rousing musical score by Joel Goldsmith . Acceptable film , although the PG-13 rating keeps some the mayhem and violent fights less bloody than might be expected for this popular sub-genre : ¨Sword and Witchery¨ that had splendor in the 80s .¨Kull the Conqueror" is based on the 30s character created by pulp writer Robert E Howard who also originated Conan the Barbarian . A fine Sword and necromancy movie in the wake of Conan The Barbarian by John Milius and Conan the Destroyer by Richard Fleischer produced by De Laurentiis . In fact , it was originally going to be the 3rd Conan film "Conan The Conqueror" also financed by Raffaela De Laurentiis and would be an adaptation of the novel by Robert E. Howard. Which a 45 year old Conan, now King of Aquilonia, learns of a group of conspirator's plot to depose of him, by resurrecting the ancient sorcerer from the pre-Hyborian empire of Acheron. Camp fun , good humor and somewhat silly finale with embarrassing FX with a horrible , ugly and badly-made monster . Passable acting by body-builder Kevin Sorbo in heroic Hercules style , he maintains sympathy admirable sense of humor throughout . He is well accompanied by a good support cast , such as Tia Carrere , Douglas Henshall , Thomas Ian Griffith , Harvey Fernstein , Sven Ole Thorsen , Edward Tudor , Litefoot , among others .

Thrilling and exciting soundtrack by Joel Goldsmith , son of the notorious composer Jerry Goldsmith ; however , containing some inappropriated electronic sounds . Evocative and glimmering photography by Rodney Charters . This action-fantasy was professionally directed by John Niconella (1942-98) . He was a writer , director and especially producer . He directed a few films such as Sunset Heat , Runaway father and Finish line . And directed various TV episodes as Crime Story , Leg work , The watcher , Dark Justice , The Heights , Miami Vice and several others until his early deat at 53 . rating : 5.5/10 , decent action fantasy movie though it has some flaws and gaps .

Is the film any good? No. Is the film at least fun? Yes. I agree the film does not take itself seriously. It's one of those lazy afternoon films when there's not a lot on and you simply want to rest watching a silly film - but you'd have to like sword and sorcery films to even begin to enjoy this movie.

Acting is mediocre at best. Costumes, sets and creatures are cool enough. Lame story but somehow fun enough to keep me a bit interested. I can easily watch this film and let my mind wonder off without missing much of anything.

Some funny scenes - I like the farting camel. LOL.

The Conan films are better but this one but this one is alright enough for something different in the barbarian category.

5.5/10

KULL is not to be taken seriously, even though it is derived from a serious book by the author of the Conan stories, Robert Howard. Kevin "Hercules" Sorbo plays Kull, a warrior in search of a kingdom in a time long forgotten, in a breezy, off-handed manner -- and his refusal to take his character too seriously works in favor of this low-budget quickie. The ever-delectable Tia Carrere plays a witch who plans to take over the world, and she is absolutely delicious as a supernatural villainess. The fights are clumsily staged, the sets are from hunger, but the dialog is a lot of fun and everyone would appear to be having a good time. A rainy day pick. It certainly kicks Red Sonja's butt.

Ok ok, I know, you're not supposed to compare this movie to the Hercules series, but please, Sorbo's acting style is unchanged. Kull kills people in this movie and he's not a half-god, but that's where the differences end. This movie even has a Salmoneus-clone played (hilariously) by Harvey Fierstein. Watch it, enjoy it, but don't expect too much from it.