2hotFeature
one of my absolute favorites!
CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Taraparain
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
Jonathon Dabell
The John Norman "Gor" series gets a thoroughly shoddy screen treatment with this hopeless Italian entry in the sword 'n' sorcery genre. Norman's novels blended magic and fantasy with elements of erotica, and the early entries in the series were quite highly regarded (though later ones received increasingly negative reviews). There is none of the sexual stuff in this film version and anyone expecting to be titillated will be sorely disappointed. In fact, anyone expecting to be entertained will be disappointed too – this is one of those films that bears few, if any, redeeming qualities.A nerdy American college professor, Tarl Cabot (Urbano Barberini), is involved in a car crash, but his body is catapulted by magic to another planet. This other planet, named Gor, is terrorised by ruthless tyrant Sarm (Oliver Reed), who spends most of his time leading his army from village to village enslaving the people and stealing their homestones. Tarl arrives just in time to witness an attack on yet another community. He accidentally gets caught up in the fight and kills one of Sarm's soldiers – who happens to be Sarm's son. The people hail Tarl as a champion, a warrior from another dimension sent to overthrow Sarm. It soon becomes apparent that this timid scholar is far from a hero, and he has to be trained in combat ready for his quest. Tarl and a small group of companions – among them accomplished swordswoman Talena (Rebecaa Ferratti) – set off across the desert to Sarm's realm to end his reign of fear once and for all.Where to begin with what is wrong with "Gor"? Finding fault is almost too easy – it's like tripping a handicapped kid. The performances range from the vacant (Barberini and Ferratti) to the downright bizarre (is there a scene in the whole film during which Reed appears to be fully sober?) The dialogue is utterly trite, the narrative is so episodic it becomes boringly predictable, and there is a distinct lack of conviction in the fight sequences. If Norman's novels contained any intelligent ideas, they are nowhere to be found here. The only thing saving "Gor" from a 1-out-of-10 rating is that it is at least ripe for unintentional hilarity. The joke turns a little sour when Jack Palance turns up in the final five minutes to set up a sequel – what has the population of the world done to deserve another dose of this moronic garbage?
ccmiller1492
Judged on their own merits, "Gor" and "Outlaw of Gor" are enjoyable tongue-in-cheek near spoofs of the sci-fi warrior genre. The belabored Norman books are in the films given a much needed dose of humor, making them more palatable as film fare. On this basis, I found them to be agreeably entertaining. Having read the first five or so books and been impressed with the original cover art preceding Vallejo's, I had envisioned somebody like Ron Ely playing the lead, but I thought Urbano Barberini was charming as the awkward nerdly scientist who through a series of unbelievable circumstances is forced to gradually transform himself into a more primal, aggressive hunk. Yes, they were far short of the books in detail and characterizations, but that only helped to liven what would have been a deadly slow pace. I suggest that the many negative critics of these films take a look at "The Invincible Barbarian" or "Throne of Fire" if they think these are bad. Compared to those films "Gor's" production values are lavish and the scripts Oscar worthy. The English dubbing of Barberini's Cabot sounds exactly as if it were done by Dan Quayle...and after watching a while he almost morphs into Dan Quayle!
Jim-499
If they made a movie true to the book, it would have been great. This is the first science fiction series of books I ever read starting in 1973. Instead of the Priest Kings being immense, highly-intelligent sophisticated insects that communicate via smell, we get Jack Palace as a man. Instead of traveling via tarns (immense hawk-like birds) and tharlions (mini T Rex like lizards) we get horses. I think a limited budget might have played a large roll in all this.I'm hoping they will remake these books into movies with modern special effects. The original story from the book is very well done too. In fact, the first 8 books are pretty good.
HP Winter
When I found out that there was a 'Gor' movie I was surprised, the long running series of bad pulp novels was bad enough but after finally trying to watch the movie I was amazed. Movie versions of decent books are often bad enough but this takes the prize for utter trash...and there was a sequel! In my opinion, worthless (as in not even awful enough to stand a chance of ever gaining cult status)
