In defense of Hawk the Slayer
It's been seemingly ages since my last post, I guess I've just been lazy and prefer reading other people's blogs to updating my own, but I felt I had to reply to Dan's brutal attack on the classic fantasy film Hawk the Slayer. Here is proof, if proof be needbe that it is god-rad!
1. It's ace! Are you sure you actually watched it Dan? Being able to watch a film in a group whilst making continuous amusing yet derisory comments and still enjoying the film makes it good not bad.
2. The music is wicked: Ok, Dan did pay a small concession to this, but not enough, almost as good as Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds (Oh-La)
3. It was the best fantasy film for ages : When the competition is Iron Warrior, Throne of Fire, Beast Master or one of the Death Stalker films, this is obviously a bold statement, but is easily corroborated by considering the rate of fire of Crow's bow, or the inclusion of the excellent mind sword, why bend down and pick your sword up like a sucker when you can magically float it into your grasp. Incidently anyone who thinks Krull or Ladyhawke are better films please keep it to yourselves.
4. It makes Live Role Playing seem more authentic: Films like the overblown adaptation of the Lord of the Rings have made the lives of people who like to run around in forests dressed as pixies or orgres a lot less satisfying. Hawk the Slayer's flimsy set construction, dodgy acting and poor costumes made it seem all the more real when you (er...I mean people that did live role playing) reanacted it yourself (I mean themselves).
These things are true, LIVE WITH IT!!!
1. It's ace! Are you sure you actually watched it Dan? Being able to watch a film in a group whilst making continuous amusing yet derisory comments and still enjoying the film makes it good not bad.
2. The music is wicked: Ok, Dan did pay a small concession to this, but not enough, almost as good as Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds (Oh-La)
3. It was the best fantasy film for ages : When the competition is Iron Warrior, Throne of Fire, Beast Master or one of the Death Stalker films, this is obviously a bold statement, but is easily corroborated by considering the rate of fire of Crow's bow, or the inclusion of the excellent mind sword, why bend down and pick your sword up like a sucker when you can magically float it into your grasp. Incidently anyone who thinks Krull or Ladyhawke are better films please keep it to yourselves.
4. It makes Live Role Playing seem more authentic: Films like the overblown adaptation of the Lord of the Rings have made the lives of people who like to run around in forests dressed as pixies or orgres a lot less satisfying. Hawk the Slayer's flimsy set construction, dodgy acting and poor costumes made it seem all the more real when you (er...I mean people that did live role playing) reanacted it yourself (I mean themselves).
These things are true, LIVE WITH IT!!!
posted by Scott at 5:10 AM
4 Comments:
In answer to your "defence":
1. Saying something is ace is not a justification.
3. The crucial words here are "fantasy film". The genre is generally shit, as you hint at. However, Crow's bow effect was (although high concept) poorly executed even for an 80s fantasy film.
4. LARP is not a justification for anything ever.
Although I slept through most of it the bits I saw were quite funny. The music was brilliant.
Will
As a connoisseur of sword and sorcery movies I believe my opinion on the matter is most authoritative. I have watched many many many many films wherein an evil (often deformed) villain (often played by Jack Palance) is killed by a younger relation with a better sword. Needless to say, Hawk the Slayer is one of the best. Here’s why:
1. Upon being assigned a quest Hawk sets about recruiting a ‘party’ to help him. This, of course, is a thoroughly realistic scenario - as any roleplayer will tell you. You can’t do a quest unless accompanied by an ensemble of racial stereotypes each with different skills and weaponry. It just wouldn’t happen. Whether or not Hawk really needs any help is another matter. His ‘mind sword’ seems more than adequate. Then again, why bother engaging in close combat when enemies can be instantly dispatched by a bloke with a repeating crossbow and an Elf with extremely quick arms.
2. The dwarf and the giant have several amusing conservations about food through which the audience learns that, a) the giant is always hungry and has a rapacious appetite, and b) the dwarf is always hungry and knows how to trick giants into not wanting sugared almonds. These scenes reveal both the giant’s gullible good-naturedness and the dwarf’s penchant for cunning mind games. Such subtle character development is unparalleled in films of this genre.
3. The subplot in Hawk the Slayer is particularly moving. The plight of Voltan’s son – and his earnest efforts to gain the respect of his negligent father – bear all the traces of classical tragedy. It is a profound, albeit cursory, attempt to portray the manifold repercussions of envy and rage upon familial relations. Most fantasy films barely have a plot. Let alone a subplot.
4. The music is ace. Or, as Scott would put it, ‘wicked wild’.
Refute me if you wish, but you are wrong.
"Howling 2 - Werewolf She-Bitch" is better though.
Will
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