Kull the Conquerer

“Kull the Conqueror,” released in 1997, is the third of the novel characters created by the 1930s writer Robert E. Howard, adapted on the screen. The others are “Conan the Barbarian” and “Red Sonja.” As you remember, the last two characters were played on film by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This film stars Kevin Sorbo (who you might remember playing Hercules in “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and Captain Dylan Hunt in “Andromeda”) as Kull, a character similar to Conan. As I said before, Sorbo is famous for playing Hercules in the popular television show; he is familiar with what he needs to do in this lighthearted sword-and-sorcery movie.

Robert Roten said in his review, “Thankfully, this film is not as dark as Howard's stories were (he committed suicide), but it does have Howard's anti-intellectual view that civilization is corrupt and that society can only be rescued from that corruption by the virtues of the barbarian.”

In the usual Howard story, Kull, a barbarian, becomes King of an evil kingdom (after the king (Sven-Ole Thorsen) has killed his own sons to make sure there is no one to take over the throne), only to be tricked out of his crown by an enchantress. He must travel to some distant place to bring back the black magic to save the kingdom from going under her evil spell.

Roten noted, “The typical no-emotion action hero would go through the film on a single note, but Sorbo is better than that. His performance is surprisingly subtle and well-rounded.” He is a far better actor than Schwarzenegger, but that’s not so far of a stretch. If he is smart in choosing his future movies he will have a really bright future in the movies. Tia Carrere is good as the evil Akivasha and Karina Lombard is helpful as Zareta, the love interest.

Roten made a comparison that, “The action sequences and the special effects are adequate and the sound track sounds like a rock and roll music video, but there are some nice humorous touches along the way.” This is not a bad film, but it is in no way a good one either.

I saw this film on NetFlix and I was laughing while I was watching it. This is one of those laughably enjoyable films that when you watch, you will have a great, fun time watching it. I know it may sound strange that I will say this, but you should see this to see how hilariously bad they made this. Just watch it once then you won’t have to see it again.

Look out next week when we finish off the month with the horrible remake that came out in the beginning of this decade. It sucks that we’re finishing this month off with a terrible film, but it’s not the first time. Just hold on to your vomit bags, as next week we finish off “Conan Month.”