Wizards of the Lost Kingdom
| Wizards of the Lost Kingdom | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Héctor Olivera |
| Written by | Ed Naha (as Tom Edwards) |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Leonardo Rodríguez Solís |
| Edited by | Silvia Ripoll |
| Music by | |
| Distributed by | Concorde Pictures |
Release date |
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| Countries | United States Argentina |
| Language | English |
Wizards of the Lost Kingdom is a 1985
Plot
In the peaceful kingdom of Axeholme lives the teenage boy Simon, son of Wulfrik, the king's court wizard. The evil sorcerer Shurka starts a coup d'état, aided by the King's wife, killing the king, and imprisoning the princess, Aura. Before he is slain by Shurka, Wulfrik teleports Simon and his friend Gulfax to safety and gifts him his powerful magic ring. However, unbeknownst to all, Simon loses the ring during his escape.
Simon teams up with the warrior Kor to free the kingdom and rescue the princess. After narrowly escaping one of Shurka’s
On the way to the castle, Kor is then captured by
Returning to the castle after exile, they release a group of townsfolk from prison, leading to a huge battle outside. Simon, having retrieved the ring, and Shurka face each other on the towers using white and black magic, where the latter is slain. Simon and Aura are crowned the new King and Queen of Axeholme. Kor departs, looking for more adventure.
Cast
- Bo Svenson as Kor
- Vidal Peterson as Simon
- Thom Christopher as Shurka
- Barbara Stock as Queen Udea
- María Socas as Acrasia, the insectoid
- Dolores Michaels as Aura
- Edgardo Moreira as Wulfrik, Old Simon, and Gulfax
- Augusto Larreta as King Tylor
- Michael Fontaine as Hurla
- Marcos Woinsky as Rongar
- Marina Mangalli as Linnea, the Naiad
- Norton Freeman as Sipra
- Arch Gallo as Bobino
- Mark Peters as Timmon
- Rick Gallo as Malkon
Production
The film re-used a large amount of stock footage from Sorceress (1982) and Deathstalker (1983). Ed Naha later recalled:
I don't think this movie was so much shot as it was beaten to death. When they whittled it down to what was useful from the footage, it only ran 58 minutes. Now Roger had done a lot of sword-and-sorcery films, and so he told a couple of the editors to pull all they could from them and edit that footage in. So now the finished movie has a 15 or 20-minute prologue that has nothing to do with rest of the film![2]
Reception
Wizards of the Lost Kingdom received a mixed-to-positive reception from critics, who consider it a lighter and softer improvement on the Roger Corman Barbarian films of the 80s.[citation needed]
Legacy
Sequel
In 1989, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom was followed by a sequel (featuring none of the cast or crew of the original film), Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II. Ed Naha stated:
Three years later I'm at a wedding reception for a friend who still works for Roger. And Roger's there. So we're chatting and kidding around, and I said, 'Ah, man, remember that "Wizards of the Lost Kingdom" movie?' And he said, 'Oh, y'know, that did very well in video. We filmed a sequel!'[2]
Mystery Science Theater 3000
In April 2017 Wizards of the Lost Kingdom and its sequel were both featured on the eleventh season of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
References
- ^ "Hollywood in Don Torcuato (first part)": When Roger Corman and his B-movies invaded Argentina Cinematófilos.com.ar (in Spanish)
- ^ a b Lovece, Frank (9 July 1995). "Here's comes stormin' corman the baron of B-films expands into made-for-cable movies". FanFare.
