L'Archer et la Sorcière

I saw this movie many years ago in the 80's on TV and those snake men stuck with me. Their laugh/hissing and other mannerisms really brought them and the movie to life. Then, in the early 90's, I rented it some place and still found it to be an interesting, strange movie that seems more faithful to the look and feel of medieval fantasy than a lot of other movies at the time, or since! I could not care less about magic and whatnot in these movies but the snake men rock, no question about it. I recently won a copy on ebay and watched it. It still holds up. Yes it's dated, but it has an interesting sort of artsy feel to it. They made the most out of their budget on this one (think of the movie Laserblast), and the acting ranges from passable and good enough to pretty cool. The snake men STILL look great, as do plenty of other things in the movie, and for an 80's medieval fantasy flick it has an interesting, semi-complex story line that's not as cheesy as some far worse attempts at the time. A very dreamy like quality flows through the movie, with interesting camera affects here and there, including a sort reverse negative look (yet in color) if that's what it could be called. Another one of the things that helped this movie is that the cinematography is well done throughout, with some above average striking images here and there. No this is not Conan, or Dragonslayer filming quality, and it does have a made for TV feel to it (it was in fact a TV movie pilot for a series that did not happen). Even the electronic synthesizer score seems to get better as the movie goes along. The overall style of The Archer still is just enjoyable to watch. Indeed, in some places I far prefer it to the pacing of some recent flicks. They really try to immerse people here. This is very much a quest/adventure flick that seems greatly influenced by the rise of Dungeons and Dragons at the time. With the recent DVD release of so many other 80's medieval fantasy flicks (even Hawk the Slayer), I see no reason not to release The Archer to DVD. It was far more of a serious and well done attempt (by Universal Studios in 1981) at the medieval fantasy genre then many other medieval fantasy flicks were back then. Needs to be released on DVD!!

When this movie appeared in 1981, I was a young boy filled with dreams of one day becoming a great warrior. Silly as these dreams may seem now, at the time they helped fill what were otherwise boring afternoons in a time when we were all waiting for the 80's to fully materialize. Looking back on this film now after twenty-five years, I still feel young and strong and full of magical powers every time I see it as it gave us the feel of otherworldly power and secrets that may have existed long ago, before movies like THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy put that idea into the minds of young and old alike. The acting was weak and character development was pushed aside in favor of time constraints but all-in-all I liked the way the film made me feel. And, after all, isn't that why we give up two hours of our precious time anyway?

For a TV-pilot it was quite ambitious.

The premise is perfectly adequate and the actors do good jobs with what they have.

I think it could have been a good TV-series for its time.

However, the special effects haven't aged very well and the music is so off the overall feel of the film, it becomes more annoying and jarring than enjoyable.

Still, I give it high rating for a lot of good ideas. Maybe it deserves a second chance and a remake?

I was a 10 year old boy when I saw this on TV. Odd how certain things stick in your mind.

I still remember something about the evil guy--I believe he had a black beard?--and his magic item, as a sort of contrast to the Heartbow, was, if I recall, a sort of metal gauntlet thing with a blue gemstone in it. I don't recall what its power was, but if he put it on, he had some sort of energy power. I think the screen would turn blue and dark/light inverted, as when the Heartbow arrows "exploded". A modern film reference to the blue gauntlet would be a good obscure reference.

The great thing about the internet is you can ramble like this about things that don't matter in the slightest little bit...and it's okay.

I did enjoy this made for television movie far more than my rating indicates. My low rating is more for the fact many plot elements were introduced and only one resolved. If I remember the advertising at the time, this was supposed to be the first in a series of made for television movies, with each released at 3-12 month intervals. The movies would introduce characters giving their background. They would, across the series, slowly form a typical fantasy role playing adventuring group and save the day. It was essentially a pilot. This allowed the expectation many plot elements would be let unresolved but resolved in subsequent titles. The movie apparently was not as much of a draw as hoped and no further installments were ever made. If you enjoy fantasy AND enjoyed the movie Eragon you will probably enjoy this movie. Just do not expect to see a story with an ending.