Quest for the Mighty Sword (also known as Ator III: The Hobgoblin, The Hobgoblin, or Troll 3) is a 1990 Italian fantasy adventure film directed by Joe D'Amato. It is the fourth and final film in the Ator film series.[2]
| Quest for the Mighty Sword | |
|---|---|
 British home video cover | |
| Directed by | Joe D'Amato |
| Screenplay by | Joe D'Amato[1] |
| Produced by | Carlo Maria Cordio[1] |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Joe D'Amato[1] |
| Edited by | Kathleen Stratton[1] |
| Music by | Carlo Maria Cordio[1] |
Production company | Filmirage[2] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 94 minutes (United States)[3] |
| Country | Italy[1] |
Plot
editThorn, King of the Gods, gave the Sword of the Sacred Graal to Ator, King of the Akili, to bring justice to his people and lead them back to their home in the Middle World. When Thorn comes to reclaim it, Ator refuses to give it back because he wants to pass it on to his little son Ator. Dejanira, an immortal, arrives in time to plead for Ator's life. Nonetheless, Thorn kills Ator, splitting the sword in two, and orders Dejanira to be imprisoned in a circle of fire until a human arrives who is strong enough to free her, at which point she will lose her immortality.
Young Ator's mother Sunn places him and the sword fragments in the care of the ugly sorcerer gnome Grindel and asks him for a death potion. Giving her a love potion instead, Grindel sleeps with her and curses her to lead a life of eternal poverty and prostitution until a man comes who embraces her like a mother.
Years later, when young Ator is about to turn 18, the soothsayer Nephele shows him a vision of Dejanira, with whom Ator falls in love, and tells him of his destiny. Ator finds the sword fragments hidden in Grindel's cave, forges them together and kills the gnome with it.
Following Nephele's instructions, Ator first travels to the Western Kingdom, where he enters a cave to defeat deadly robotic warrior twins and a fire-breathing dragon, after which he sacrifices the cave's treasure to the Gods. In another cave, he finds and frees Dejanira, which rouses Thorn's anger, who makes a volcano erupt and the cave collapse.
In a tavern, Ator meets his mother and, without recognising her, rescues her from an abusive client. When she recognises him and falls into his embrace, Grindel's curse is lifted and she immediately turns old in his arms and dies.
After burning her body, Ator continues his quest for his people and the Middle World by travelling through the Eastern Kingdom, where he and Dejanira confront the treachery of King Gunther and his sister Grimilde.
Cast
edit- Eric Allan Kramer as Ator (as Eric Allen Kramer)
- Margaret Lenzey as Dejanira
- Donald O'Brien as Gunther (as Donal O'Brien)
- Dina Morrone as Sunn
- Chris Murphy as Skiold
- Laura Gemser as Grimilde
- Marisa Mell as Nephele
- Don Semeraro as Thorn / Grindel / Hagen
Production
editActress Marisa Mell returned to the screen in this film after a five years absence.[4] The film re-used some of the goblin masks from Troll 2.[5]
The film bears similarities to Der Ring des Nibelungen.[6] Ator is the equivalent of Siegfried, raised and abused by Mime (Grindel), who gets the magic sword Notung (The Sword of the Sacred Graal) and frees the sleeping warrior maiden Brünhilde (Dejanira) from a circle of fire. The last act of the film with the evil king and his gnomish advisor is similar to the last opera of the cycle, with the characters Gunther, his sister Grimhilde and Hagen even retaining their names from the opera, though unlike the opera, Quest for the Mighty Sword does not end with the hero's death.
Release
editIn the United States, Quest for the Mighty Sword was released direct-to-video on August 29, 1990.[1][7]
The film was also released as Ator III: The Hobgoblin, The Hobgoblin, and in Germany as Troll 3 (German release title).[5][8] D'Amato personally referred to the film as The Lord of Akili in a 1996 interview.[9]
Reception
editJohn Stanley called the film "[a]nother pathetic entry in the Italian-produced Ator series".[10] Keith Bailey gave it a rating of one out of five stars, categorising it as "so bad it's good", with reservations due to some "dull moments". He wrote that the film's hero "manages to avoid spaghetti sauce lava when not fighting Siamese-twin robots and mucus-covered Godzilla clones in a quest that really doesn't seem to have any specific goal" and thus grants that "there are some hilariously bad sequences that will please fans of the abysmal".[11]
References
editFootnotes
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 202.
- ^ a b Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 203.
- ^ Staff, Bowker Editorial (2001). Bowker's Complete Video Directory 2001. Bowker. ISBN 9780835244220. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ Schneider, André (2013). Die Feuerblume: Über Marisa Mell und ihre Filme (in German). Books on Demand. p. 195. ISBN 9783732275151. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ a b Collis, Clark (May 8, 2010). "The 'Troll' trilogy: Is this really the 'Best Worst' movie franchise of all time?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ Glaser, Ed (7 March 2022). How the World Remade Hollywood: Global Interpretations of 65 Iconic Films. McFarland. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-4766-4467-7.
- ^ Armstrong, Richard B.; Armstrong, Mary Willems (2015). Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Settings and Series. McFarland. ISBN 9781476612300. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ Rushing 2016, p. 187.
- ^ Palmerini & Mistretta 1996, p. 80.
- ^ Stanley, John (2000). Creature Features: The Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Movie Guide. Berkley Boulevard Books. p. 422. ISBN 9780425175170. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ Bailey, Keith. "Quest for the Mighty Sword – review | cast and crew, movie star rating and where to watch film on TV and online". Radio Times. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
Sources
edit- Kinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908-1990. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476662916.
- Palmerini, Luca M.; Mistretta, Gaetano (1996). Spaghetti Nightmares. Fantasma Books. ISBN 0963498274.
- Rushing, Robert A. (2016). Descended from Hercules: Biopolitics and the Muscled Male Body on Screen. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253022585.