CONAN THE BARBARIAN has a lot to answer for. Not only did it inspire countless Italian imitations (THOR THE CONQUEROR, SWORD OF THE BARBARIANS, et al), it also led to ALTAR, which is a Turkish rip-off of all things! Actually, ALTAR is pretty damn good for a Turkish movie, when you consider their previous contributions to world cinema - like THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD for example. The production values aren't bad and the film actually has an atmosphere to it. In fact it's very realistic indeed and creates an excellent impression of a desolate, mystical landscape simply by panning over foreign countryside of hills and valleys and playing earthy, thumping, strangely familiar music over it. The sound effects crew also have a field day, filling their landscapes with all manner of weird echoes, mournful cries, lonesome howls and fearsome growls. This makes ALTAR a very visual and aural experience, which is good as it's in Turkish only and the plot doesn't make much sense!
The first half builds the characters and atmosphere, setting up the hero and villain and all the minor characters. Then, in the second half, there's plenty of the silly action that Turkish action fans have come to know and love, with our sweating hero wielding an unfeasably large sword around and knocking loads of guys over and killing them with it. It's a lot of fun! The acting is dreadfully wooden, but then again professionalism isn't something you come to expect from Turkish cinema - that would make it boring. Sait Seyit's masculine hero is pretty agile when it comes down to it, but he's no Cuneyt Arkin, despite all the desperate gurning (or is that emoting?) that he brings to the role.
Other elements thrown into the brew include a horned monster man in a swamp; a deadly spiked torture device; lots of half-naked women draped around the scenery; a few instances of mild gore including a decapitation; cannibalism; and costumes that aren't half bad, apart from some present-day clothing which somehow slipped in there by accident! Although the first half is a little tough to sit through, by the end the film has turned into the all-action, shoddy spectacle that fans of Turkish fantasy cinema all know and love, and thus it becomes a worthwhile venture.
