The stage curtains open ...
"Two blades. Two men. One walks away."
Over 30 years ago, when I was in my early 20's, I was home alone one night with nothing to do. I had already watched the videos I'd rented, but I wasn't tired enough to go to sleep yet, I wanted to watch one more movie. I surfed the cable TV and came across HBO or Cinemax, or something like it, and this movie, "The Swordsman", was being advertised as coming up next. Sounded good, so I dimmed the lights back down and lost myself for a couple of hours.
It is the story of a clairvoyant cop, also an accomplished fencer, named Andrew Garrett (Lamas), who is assigned protective watch over a museum curator who witnessed the theft of a special sword - the actual sword said to have belonged to Alexander the Great. She has connections with a man named Stratos, who runs a fencing club - but more importantly, an underground swordplay ring where if you lose, you die. Troubled by visions and dreams of an unceratin future, Andrew follows Stratos into the depths of his exclusive fighting club in hopes of finding the answer behind the theft of the sword, as well as his clouded future.
I loved seeing Michael Champion take on a main charater's role in this film. I always remembered him in supporting roles in such films as "Total Recall", "Toy Soldiers", and "Pink Cadillac". I felt he did a good job as Stratos. Lorenzo Lamas was one of those actors I never really followed, but he had a good screen presence in this movie, and was convincing in his part. It had a made-for-tv feel to it, even though it did get a big screen release.
For the time I saw it, I loved the underground fighting aspect of it. However, it takes you on some dream sequences that were kind of weird, out of place, and hard to follow in parts. Overall, the story is pretty bland and serviceable at best. It is good for late night viewing when there is nothing else on, and nothing you'd want to rush out to buy, unless you are a huge Lamas fan. Not a recommend, but worth a watch.
