Hawk the Slayer (1980)

Out of all of the (somewhat) obscure swords-'n'-sorcery classics, Hawk the Slayer is perhaps the most beloved. For me, this was a very enjoyable romp through a simple but effective story, perhaps not quite living up to the hype, but engaging enough in any case. Particularly good is the score, which combines the expected orchestral and epic tunes with 80's techno to create a fusion that sounds unbelievably over the top and impressive, especially during the scenes of Hawk riding his horse in slow motion in no particular direction. Of course, being the 80's, there are some aspects of truly momentous silliness, usually when the blind sorceress turns up with her magical silly string, and snow machine. The story is a classic story of vengeance, and follows a fairly expected path, although my theory for why it has endured as a fan favourite is the open-ended nature of the finale, in which Voltan's body is carried off by a mysterious and actually rather terrifying demonic entity, and Hawk and Gort ride off south to meet up with a gathering of wizards. This had the potential for a great sequel (and one was planned to be Hawk the Hunter, but never materialised), and so speculation among nerds has been rife. And as we all know, speculation among nerds is both serious business and an industrious past-time. Either way Hawk the Slayer is definitely worth a watch, even today.


Even the DVD cover has epic silliness!

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

It's been a sad week for film fans, with the loss of comedy legend Leslie Nielsen at the tender age of 84. No-one can deny that Nielsen's performances in classics like Airplane! and The Naked Gun were utterly inspired and remain a benchmark of comedy up to this day. But there was another great loss this week; the man who directed what many consider (myself very much included) to be the best instalment in the Star Wars saga, The Empire Strikes Back, the late, great Irvin Kershner. So in his memory, I took another look back over Star Wars Episode V, and even after having seen it (at least) dozens of times, I can report that it remains one of the best examples of the genre, and a worthy sequel to its blockbuster predecessor. With established characters, Empire is able to continue the story and build on the foundations to show Luke's progression from a rather whiny backwater farm-boy to hero of the rebellion and Jedi-in-training, Han continuing his role as reluctant hero and space cowboy, and Vader manages to become even more sinister and begins to earn his reputation as one of the most iconic villains in cinema. It's certainly not without flaw - why would the rebels try to escape a planet by flying directly at the attacking fleet? - but both the characters and story buoy it up to the point where these are easily forgiveable. Irvin Kershner's meisterwerk deserves a place in any movie-lover's collection.


R.I.P. Irvin Kershner - 29 April 1923 - 27 November 2010