Le maître d'arme

The legendary sword of Alexander The Great has just been unearthed. It is said to have been blessed by Apollo. Stolen before it can be made the focus of a museum exhibit it is now being used in illegal swordplay exhibitions and Det. Andrew Barrett is on the case. Det. Barrett has been having strange dreams and visions. Julie Wilkins the archaeologist who found the sword believes it is because he is the reincarnation of Alexander The Great. But can she convince Andrew before it is too late? Lorenzo Lamas makes both a believable haunted detective and a vengeful Alexander. A pre-Renegade Lamas is unbelievably masculine in straight black hair that hangs half way down his back. Michael Champion as the long lost cousin is the perfect foil for Lamas.

Lorenzo Lamas stars as Andrew the reincarnation of "Alexander the Great" who receives visions to take on his long lost cousin Stratos (Michael Champion) in this stylish yet second rate knock off of Highlander. Some okay actionscenes but mainly it's a been there done that movie.

Not one of Lorenzo Lamas' best movies, but watchable. Predictably fights joined together by story with sex thrown in. It could have been better. I wouldn't liken it to Highlander at all except that they both contain sword fights - although the fighting music made me think of HL. If you want to see the outtakes, watch the sequel 'Gladiator Cop' which seems to have been put together almost entirely from the cutting room floor. The story is different enough to separate this film from other such 'B' grade movies which struggle to have a story at all. Will it make you truly believe in re-incarnation (which always seems to be of the famous)? I doubt it.

The Swordsman finds Lorenzo Lamas cast as a LAPD detective who is having some incredibly realistic dreams involving him in an ancient setting participating in a duel. When he gets assigned to a robbery/homicide where the sword of Alexander The Great is stolen those dreams take on an even greater clarity.

When he's not a cop, Lamas has fencing as a hobby and an illegal fencing club with duels to the death holds the key to both Lorenzo's dreams and the robbery.

What that is you'll have to watch the film for should you want to. Let's say that chief villain Michael Kitchen has a really long time grudge against Lamas.

I agree with the viewer that this film is a really bad ripoff of The Highlander. It's all kind of dumb, but Lorenzo does have his fans and you'll get many opportunities to see him in stages of undress. That's a good enough reason as any to see this film.

This film is a really bad ripoff of " The Highlander" . Reincarnation and illegal fencing club. Something like that , it doesn't really matter. It's very , VERY slow moving. Oddly the action scenes are few and they aren't exciting or memorable. The movie does have some weird , bleak , depressing atmosphere. I don't know why. I've struggled to finish the whole movie and now I barely remember anything what happened. That is a sign of a REALLY bad movie.

What else ? There is a sex scene thrown into the movie , some gay subtext and bad acting from Lamas. That's it. Avoid it.

I give it 1/10.