Film: The Magic Sword - by Brad on 08:16 16 Feb 2004
The Magic Sword: 1962
Directed & Written: Bert I. Gordon
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Estelle Winwood, Gary Lockwood, Anne Helm.
The Magic Sword is an early fantasy movie that cannot decide if it is a serious drama, or a campy matinee for kids. Firmly, in the B-movie category the Magic Sword does not stand up as a serious movie. It is about an inexperienced young knight "George" (Gary Lockwood) who must go rescue a princess (Anne Helm), who has been kidnapped by and evil wizard (Basil Rathbone) to feed to his pet dragon. George is given a magic sword by his foster-mother (Estelle Winwood) which helps him through the trials and adventures as he journeys to save the princess.
The problem is that the directing is terrible and the script not much better. Both are probably comparable to the acting and directing of the 1940's and 50's serials than for a feature length movie. In fact this movie would have been better as a multi-episode serial. Special effects are about on the same level as many 1960's TV shows like Lost in Space, where people magically pop in and out with a little musical tone.
Unfortunately, the actors cannot rise above a bad script and directing. An elderly Basil Rathbone, tries but his heart is not in it. The lead actor, Gary Lockwood, (2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before), is just not up to carrying the movie. The sets and costumes are pretty good for a B-movie.
DVD: Alpha Video. This is a budget DVD and the film print they used to make this disk with is badly faded in many places. It looks washed out and in many places it looks like a black and white film with a red filter.
There is some camp value in the film and kids might like it, but don not expect more than drive-in theater fare.
The Magic Sword: 1962
Directed & Written: Bert I. Gordon
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Estelle Winwood, Gary Lockwood, Anne Helm.
The Magic Sword is an early fantasy movie that cannot decide if it is a serious drama, or a campy matinee for kids. Firmly, in the B-movie category the Magic Sword does not stand up as a serious movie. It is about an inexperienced young knight "George" (Gary Lockwood) who must go rescue a princess (Anne Helm), who has been kidnapped by and evil wizard (Basil Rathbone) to feed to his pet dragon. George is given a magic sword by his foster-mother (Estelle Winwood) which helps him through the trials and adventures as he journeys to save the princess.
The problem is that the directing is terrible and the script not much better. Both are probably comparable to the acting and directing of the 1940's and 50's serials than for a feature length movie. In fact this movie would have been better as a multi-episode serial. Special effects are about on the same level as many 1960's TV shows like Lost in Space, where people magically pop in and out with a little musical tone.
Unfortunately, the actors cannot rise above a bad script and directing. An elderly Basil Rathbone, tries but his heart is not in it. The lead actor, Gary Lockwood, (2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before), is just not up to carrying the movie. The sets and costumes are pretty good for a B-movie.
DVD: Alpha Video. This is a budget DVD and the film print they used to make this disk with is badly faded in many places. It looks washed out and in many places it looks like a black and white film with a red filter.
There is some camp value in the film and kids might like it, but don not expect more than drive-in theater fare.