Ator

This film is absolutely brilliant. I was flicking through the sky channels today and noticed "Ator: Flight of the Eagle", and after seeing one of the first battle scenes i was hooked. Anyone who gave this film less than 8 out of 10 obviously missed the great comments like "but father, why cant i marry my sister" and Keog's the baby bears attempt to save Ator from the evil ladies by making love to the nearest tree.

Now I admit this is a bad film, but thats why its so good. Never have i seen such a bad film.

This is a must see. I give it 9/10.

The fearless warrior Ator and his brave female companion, the Amazon Roon, travel through miles of primitive villages, forests, caves and castles to destroy the "kingdom of the spider" (or something) and kill its evil ruler. It's a dull and clunky journey. My advice is: watch the sequel ("The Blade Master") instead. Not only is it slightly more watchable than this film, but it also includes a brief "recap" of it, which enables you to see every single scene of the original that's worth seeing (so to speak) in a matter of a few minutes. (*1/2)

Conan the Barbarian you could say was at the top of the pile of these derivative sword and sorcery enterprises that were being churned out in the early 80s and the main influencer for these films. "Ator" was at the very bottom of the pile and was a quick cash-in on the former by notorious director Joe D'Amato. It's quite bad. More so in a banal and simple-minded way, this is unforgivable. What happens is second-rate and hasty in its execution and with little fun attached to it. A bemused Miles O'keeffe plays the title character and goes about things in a rather laborious manner (uneventful journey with plenty of strutting and flat sword choreography)… although there are some amusingly terrible dialogue exchanges (the heart to heart talk about love with romantic interludes), a lousy twist… and a battle scene with a slow moving gigantic spider… but other than that not much to recommend. It's just risible more so than thrilling. Oh I did forget something… the bear cub. I don't know what it had to do with anything, but its presence was a welcome inclusion.

Ator, the Fighting Eagle (1982)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

After his village members are slaughtered and his love kidnapped, Ator (Miles O'Keeffe) must travel far to battle the High Priest of the Spider (Dakar).

When people ask me why I enjoy watching bad movies, this bit of dialogue from this film comes as a perfect example:

Ator: I love you.

Sunya: And I love you.

Ator: Why can't we marry?

Sunya: Ator, we are brother and sister.

Ator: I'll talk with our father.

You know, it's really hard to judge a film like this. I mean, it is a very bad movie full of awful acting, silly special effects, lousy direction and it rarely even looks like a "real" movie. Yet, at the same time, the film is so campy and silly at times that it's hard to hate the picture too much. Not only is it hard to hate the picture but it's also so campy that you might find yourself enjoying it somewhat.

With that said, there's no question that there are all sorts of problems with this film and heck, you could argue that there are countless problems with the entire sub-genre. There are many laughable moments throughout the film including that dialogue I highlighted but O'Keeffe was obviously hired for his looks here as his acting isn't all that memorable. Ritza Brown is at least good eye-candy and Dakar is over-the-top enough to where you can laugh and enjoy the performance. Laura Gemser appears briefly as a sex object.

Director Joe D'Amato was obviously working on a small budget and it shows throughout the picture but I will say that the final ten- minutes are actually entertaining and good. Well, as least they are until we get to the stock footage and the awful closing song. ATOR, THE FIGHTING EAGLE isn't a masterpiece, a good film or even a fair film. It's a bad movie but it's campy enough to where you can get some laughs from it.

And lo, trash director Joe D'amato did witness the success of mighty warrior Schwarzeneggar as Conan and did cash in on the great Austrian's success, fashioning a film in its image. And that film was called Ator, and it's star went by the name of Miles O'Keeffe.

It was written that O'Keeffe, as Ator, would defeat the evil Spider King and his ten loyal henchmen whilst on a quest to save the woman of his dreams—his sister! Travelling through lawless, cursed lands, accompanied by a blonde tribeswoman and a fearless bear cub, Ator doth battle with slow zombies and blind warriors, explore the Volcano of Shadows to find the Shield of Mordor, and finally defy the wrath of Dakkar, defeat his evil minions, and battle a giant, ancient arachnid.

A predictably dumb barbarian flick from Italian trash director D'amato, Ator, The Fighting Eagle is complete cobblers from start to finish, but oh so entertaining: a welcome appearance from sleaze goddess Laura Gemser, some unbelievably funny fight scenes, and plenty of crappy dialogue make this cheapo fantasy crap difficult to dislike.

I've not seen the MST3K version of this film, but it's hard to believe that anything could be much funnier than Ator, The Fighting Eagle in its original incarnation.