Iron Warrior (1987)

To me, this movie is perfection.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Ator il guerriero di ferro (Iron Warrior) is a 1987 Italian sword and sorcery movie and third entry in the Ator series, the only one not directed by the legendary exploitation and erotica director Joe D'Amato (a man of many pseudonyms) but instead directed by Alfonso Brescia (credited as Al Bradley) Joe D'Amato, who denounced this sequel as a cash-in to "Ator l'invincibile", a film which was a direct copy and cash-in of the 1982 John Millus film "Conan the Barbarian", would later return in 1990 to direct the fourth and final entry "Quest for the Mighty Sword" (Ator III: The Hobgoblin) "Iron Warrior" is often considered the overlooked addition in the series and often criticized for taking itself more serious than Joe D'Amato's more unintentionally campier movies.But for me, the change of tone is welcomed. Alfonso Brescia has a different style and a different vision making the movie a breath of fresh air and stands out in the series.Miles O'Keefe returns as Ator in name only. This would mark his final appearance as the bare chested warrior before being replaced by Eric Allan Kramer.The movie might not be as hilariously campy and entertainingly bad as the previous two entries or the forth film, but it's a unique film in its own right with some beautiful location shots of Malta that sets the mood for a mystical world perfectly, the most has clearly been used with the limited budget at the filmmakers disposal. The movie is an interesting blend of b-movie cheese and art-house creativity. The story is paper thin but is made up for it in the visuals.One scene in particular features Ator standing in front of a mirror as he practices with a sword, flexing his muscles, a poignant moment that orchestrates the often narcissistic vanity of heroes. There's also a catch, the scene has a second layer, with Ator training in his symmetrical reflection and the ball promptly shattering it, it creates a foreboding sense of the hero being warned that his twin brother Trogar, seduced by the dark side to be become the titular Iron Warrior, has returned.Despite it's more artistic tone, the movie contains many characteristics to Italian exploitation films, the dubbing, the over the top acting, in particular Elisabeth Kaza who is clearly having fun in the role of the villainess and gives an energetic flare to the film, and most of all, the blatant copying of more bigger known Hollywood movies. "2019: After the Fall of New York" borrowed from "John Carpenter's Escape from New York", "Hell of the Living Dead" borrowed from "Dawn of the Dead" in the case of "Iron Warrior", it's a mix of "Masters of the Universe" and for a complete genre change "Superman II".A noteworthy mention is the soundtrack, to many sci-fi fans they will no doubt recognize it as Jerry Goldsmith's theme to "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", later reused for the intro for "Star Trek: The Next Generation", once again following the movie's trend of being influenced by science fiction as opposed to traditional sword and sorcery.So sit back, sharpen your swords and embark on a mythical journey to the realm of Dragor for the unconventional Ator and fantasy film, "Iron Warrior"

*** This review contains many spoilers. *** The best, most fun, movie experience I had in over 10 years.IRON WARRIOR wipes away the silly cartoonish AVATAR, THE 300, LORD OF THE RINGS, and new-fangled non-classic STAR WARS, etc, and restores the dream that once was honest-to-goodness real life fantasy.The only downside with IRON WARRIOR is the realization that this type of movie could _NEVER_ be made in today's fake digital CG world.IRON WARRIOR is a fantasy movie filled to frame edge with crisp realism. Forget artificial studio reproductions of the great outdoors -- IRON WARRIOR is filmed in the real outdoors of Malta. Forget cartoon girls and cartoon boys -- IRON WARRIOR lets viewers enjoy the real flesh of nice looking actors.The movie contains many wide-angle views of open skies and blue seas. It is a wonder how these shots are not filled with jet trails and pleasure boats. Still, the picturesque sky and ocean are just the beginning of what IRON WARRIOR has to offer. IRON WARRIOR is very easy to watch. The good guys are young and beautiful. The bad guys are old and ugly. The lead male hero is a striking figure with a face that must have inspired decades of Japanese anime artists.The young females are all running around in a time before bras. The female costumes outdo any I can recall. Even better than the ST: TOS female costumes.Once the viewer comes to understand the implications presented by the female costumes, apt attention and an erect edge-of-seat position will follow right up until the ending credits.The costumes help make IRON WARRIOR stacked with great adult visual appeal. Visually stunning to be sure.IRON WARRIOR has Borg. It has swords. It has D-sized excitement.Just when you might think it could not be any better, there is slow-motion bouncing and slow-motion hero running.Then again, just when it could not be any better, IRON WARRIOR has swimming.And then close to the very end of the film, just when surely it could not get any better, the actors start talking and BAM! -- we viewers discover that IRON WARRIOR actually has a plot! IRON WARRIOR is the coolest most fun movie to watch -- specially when compared to the fake cartoons of today's childish "epics." Make sure to catch the Director's Cut Extended Version of IRON WARRIOR. Highly recommended.

This is the third out of four Ator films, and the sequel to MST3K's Cave Dwellers. This is probably the best shot but least entertaining film in the series. It was directed by someone other than Joe D'Amato who tried to take the subject matter seriously and make a dark, brooding Ator film. However, Ator and seriousness do not get along well at all. All Ator films are horrible. However, the other three are so horrible that they become funny because of their plagiarized plots, cliché characters, toy quality props, and outrageous dialogue. This movie has hardly any of these. It seems like there is nothing to this movie except for Ator and a Princess running around on a beach and getting into sword fights with the same group of extras over and over again. There is almost no plot to this movie: Ator has to defeat an evil witch by finding the "Golden Chest of the Ages". The movie's ending is not satisfying and does not resolve any elements of the plot; it's more like the movie just stopped when they ran out of budget. There is also little dialog; although the lines that are present are among the worst in the entire Ator Series. The evil witch character gets more dialogue and screen time than Ator, and she really gets annoying after a while. Much of the movie's running time is taken up with scenes where the witch takes the form of almost every other character in the movie just to trick Ator and make him flabbergasted.The best part about this movie is the filming locations and the cinematography. It was filmed on scrub deserts and ancient ruins on the islands of Malta and Gozo, including some of the oldest stone structures made by humans. In fact, the buildings in which Ator cavorts about are far more interesting than anything that happens to him in this movie. You might get some enjoyment out of the scenic backdrop if you turn off the sound to avoid the terrible music and witch cackling.

"Iron Warrior" introduces a new style both for Ator (he has black hair now, in a ponytail, and barely utters more than fifty words in the entire movie) and for the series itself. Director Brescia drops the silliness and campiness of the two D'Amato-directed "Ator" flicks in favor of a pseudo-arty approach. He employs every trick in the book: slow-motion, fast-motion(!), wide-angle lenses, cheap editing tricks to make people "disappear", etc. But the result in nothing more than a ponderous, often incomprehensible film that you may have to struggle to get through. The Malta locations are admittedly very beautiful, though. (*)