Hawk The Slayer (Special Edition) (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Standard
Soundtrack	Outstanding

Advantages:	An intriguing, fascinating, rather endearing piece of sword and sorcery with a wonderful soundtrack .
Disadvantages:	The creatures seen briefly in the haunted wood are dreadful .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

"This is the story of heroic deeds and the struggle for the triumph of good over evil and of a wondrous sword wielded by a mighty hero as the Legions of Darkness stalk the land"

Two brothers fight for possesion of the powerful Mindsword. Hawk must bring together the 'table of five'; Gort a giant from the edge of the world, Baldun the last of the Dwarves, Crow last of the Elves and Ranulf a one handed bowman to help him rid the land of the forces of evil.

THE PRODUCTION

It may not possess the grandeur, scale and dynamics of Conan the Barbarian, but this British sword & sorcery 'epic' is fascinatingly entertaining.

The somewhat thin plot, basically a kind of Sword and Sorcery Star Wars, concerns the bitter rivalry between the good and rightgeous Hawk and his evil and disfigured brother Voltan, and their battle for the Mindsword.

Hawk enlists a gang of followers to aid him in his battle with Voltan's forces and the scene is set for a fight to the bitter end.

However as thin as the plot may be it couldn't be considered predictable as the story flits between set pieces and flash-backs which give a little bit of background to Hawk and Voltan's relationship. Infact there are enough surprises to keep you perpetually bemused.

It is not in what the overall story is about but rather the events which take place within it which are so entertaining and interesting.

There is a strange sense of finality to the whole film, as if it is set in the dieing days of myth and legend. Hawk's friends, appearing to be the last of their respective races, for instance.

The 'star-name' of the film is obviously Jack Palance but the rest of the cast have appeared in many other films and television series. In fact the cast list runs like a veritable Whos Who of British film and television actors.

For example;

John Terry (Hawk) appeared in Full Metal Jacket (1987) as Lieutenant Lockhart, The Living Daylights (1987) as Felix Leiter opposite Timothy Dalton's James Bond. Played Slim in Of Mice & Men (1992) which starred John Malkovich and Gary Sinise as Lennie and George respectively.

Most of you will recognise him from his role in hit television series Lost, in which he plays Christian Shephard, Jack's father. He also provides the voice over "Previously on Lost".

Morgan Sheppard (Ranulf) has appeared in numerous UK television series including; Z Cars - The Five Whistles & Contact (1962 & 1976), Dial M for Murder - The Man in the Middle (1974), The Sweeney - Jackpot (1975), The Professionals - Stopover (1979), Minder - Come in T-64, Your Time Is Ticking Away (1979), Hammer House of Horror - Carpathian Eagle (1980), Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense - Paint Me A Murder (1986).

And US television productions; MacGyver - Deadly Dreams & Lessons in Evil (1989 & 1990), Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Schizoid Man (1989), Quantum Leap - Mirror Image (1993), played semi-regular role as The Professor in Seaquest DSV (1993-94), Babylon 5 - The Soul Hunter & The Long Twilight Struggle (1994), Murder She Wrote - Twice Dead (1995), Frasier - The Club (1995), American Gothic (1996), Star Trek: Voyager - Bliss (1999), Diagnosis Murder - The Unluckiest Bachelor in LA (2000), Charmed - The Day the Magic Died (2003), Alias - Echoes (2005).

His film appearances include; WWII horror The Keep (1984) and alongside Max Von Sydow in Needful Things.

Annette Crosbie (The Abbess) is best known for playing Margaret, Victor Meldrew's long-suffering wife in, British sitcom One Foot In The Grave.

Bernard Bresslaw (Gort) appeared in many of the Carry On films. He first came to fame in Granada's The Army Game in the 1950's.

Ferdinand Mayne (Hawk and Voltan's father) appears in Roman Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers.

Declan Mullhulland (The Slave Trader) was the original Jabba the Hutt, before the crappy computer graphics were superimposed over him for the rematered 90's re-release. He also featured in one of the all-time classic Doctor Who stories The Sea Devils.

Derrick O'Connor (Ralf) turned up as the tongueless hitman priest in End of Days and then played a priest again in Daredevil.

Graham Stark (Sparrow) appears alongside Peter Sellers in a number of the Inspector Clouseau films. And has also directed films including The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins for Tigon, whose 'all-star' cast included the likes of Bernard Bresslaw, Joan Sims, Leslie Phillips, June Whitfield, Geoffrey Bayldon, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan, Bruce Forsythe and Harry H. Corbett.

Roy Kinnear (Inn Keeper) was a prolific character actor who had appeared on television in such classic sitcoms as Till Death Us Do Part and Sykes. He also featured in the immensley popular Musketeer films which also starred Christopher Lee. It was during filming for The Return of the Musketeers in 1989 that he suffered a fall from a horse and susequently died.

He had been a regular performer on That Was The Week That Was (1962), and made guest appearances in The Avengers: Espirit de Corps (1964) & The Hour That Never Was (1965), The Goodies: Lost Tribe of the Orinocco (1971) and Jason King: An Author In Search of Two Characters (1972).

He played a pivotal role in Taste the Blood Of Dracula and even turned up in the Mike & The Mechanics video for All I Need Is A Miracle.

Warren Clarke (Scar) was one of Malcolm MacDowell's Droogies in A Clockwork Orange and is now more widely known for playing Dalziel in Dalziel and Pascoe.

Patrick Magee (Priest) also appeared in A Clockwork Orange. He was to make an appearance in another Sword & Sorcery production, namely The Monster Club directed by Roy Ward Baker.

The soundtrack composed by co-creator Harry Robertson (sometimes credited as Harry Robinson), whose other films included The Ghoul and Twins Of Evil, has elements of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds to it. The soundtrack on its own is superbly entertaining and yet another wonderful element to the production.

A curio of British film-making from one of its darkest periods of productivity.

EXTRAS

The best of these is the contemporary 'Making of'. Some new interviews and a commentary would have been nice.