Sword & Sorcery Set [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

These are some of my favorite B movies of all time - real guilty pleasures! Nothing beats a low budget barbarian film to lift the spirits! These films have never looked better. However, my favorite of the 4 films, Deathstalker II, appears in a cut version here. This Deathstalker II version has its pros and cons.

The Deathstalker II version in this set is the "Director's approved cut of the film" which is different in many ways from the previous DVD version which was released by New Concorde. The "director's cut" visually looks much better than the previous release. The image is widescreen and looks properly framed. The image is brighter and the colors look great. The previous DVD release often looked dark and murky. The film now looks magnificent!

However, the "director's cut" has a shorter running time than the previous release. Two scenes have been deleted entirely and there are numerous cuts to other scenes and dialogue. The back of the new Shout Factory case gives the film a running time of 85 minutes - my DVD player has the film's running time as 77 minutes. The previous New Concorde release box gave a running time of 85 minutes, but the film actually ran 88 minutes. Accordingly, this new release is 11 minutes shorter than the previous release!

I did a side by side comparison with 2 TV's and the cuts can be listed as follows (the time marker given is that of the new Shout Factory release):

11:00 - some dialogue between Deathstalker and Reena is missing
12:45 - some dialogue between Deathstalker and Reena is missing
16:45 - some dialogue between Sultana and Jarek is missing
17:44 - an entire scene between Sultana and Evie is cut
18:00 - some dialogue between Deathstalker and Reena is missing
18:45 - At the meeting between Chin and Sultana in the tavern the stock footage from Deathstalker I has been removed
32:35 - Stock footage from Deathstalker I has been removed and the following scene between Edie and the dwarf has been shortened by a few seconds
48:00 - Some footage of the celebration after Deathstalker's defeat of Queen Kong has been deleted
49:00 - Some dialogue between Deathsalker and the Queen of the Amazons has been deleted
51:49 - Some dialogue between Sultana and Reena has been deleted
55:45 - Establishing shots outside of castle (stock footage) has been deleted
58:25 - an entire scene with Reena and the Amazon Queen getting a massage is deleted
59:00 - Some dialogue between Deathstalker and Sultana has been deleted
1:07:00 - Some stock footage of fighting (taken from Roger Corman's Amazons movie is deleted)
1:08:45 - Some stock footage of fighting (taken from Roger Corman's Amazons movie is deleted)
1:12:18 - Shots of cheering crowds and a triumphant Deathstalker and Reena with their arms raised looking at the crowds have been deleted

Due to the above cuts, the director's commentary track has also been edited down to match the footage.

The above cuts make the film seem tighter, faster paced and more serious. However, some of the dialogue which was cut was funny and absurd (whether intentional or not) and was a big part of the film's charm. I also miss the two scenes which were entirely deleted from the new release. Of the two cuts, I prefer the previous version on the New Concorde DVD.

Regardless of the above, the film is still great and a lot of fun.

I highly recommend this dvd set to any fans of barbarian action films!

When it comes to schlocky, low budget "Conan the Barbarian" knock-offs none has a worse reputation than the "Deathstalker" tetralogy. Despite the entire series being completely inept and the lowest common denominator when it comes to filmmaking, it still has a small legion of cult fans... me included. These are just campy delights with unlikeable barbaric anti-heroes, buxom heroines that bare it all and shoddy effects. Basically the series is a B-movie fanatics dream come true.

Included in this quadruple feature, released though Shout Factory's wonderful 'Roger Corman Cult Classics' line, are the first two entries into the series. Both were previously released on DVD in Full Screen versions from the now defunct company New Concorde. These OOP releases were going for tons of money from secondary sellers and now we fans can get these films in this wonderful bargain set which contains both films in brand new anamorphic widescreen transfers! Thankfully the hilarious and insightful audio commentary for "Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans" (seriously one of the most entertaining commentaries I have ever heard) from the previous DVD release is included. To top it off a brand new audio commentary is included for the first "Deathstalker" film!

About a year ago Shout Factory released a double feature of "Barbarian Queen" and "The Warrior and the Sorceress" that was exclusively sold on their website, no doubt because they thought there wasn't a big enough fan base to warrant a wide release. As a bonus they throw this disc in with the first two "Deathstalker" films. Both are only anamorphic widescreen transfers and are far better than the previous out-of-print New Concorde releases.

This is a highly enjoyable collection of delightfully awful and campy sword & sorcery flicks but I had to deduct the release to a four star rating for one mistake. The mistake is that Shout Factory should have released two volumes of quadruple sword & sorcery features with the first containing all four "Deathstalker" films. Seriously why didn't they put all four "Deathstalker" films into one collection? Yes parts 3 & 4 are by far the worst but it would have been great to have all four in one collection (Part III has never even been given an official DVD release in America). The second volume should have contained "Barbarian Queen I & II", "The Warrior and the Sorceress" and "Amazons". This makes me worry that "Deathstalker III & IV", "Barbarian Queen II" and "Amazons" won't get another DVD release but I can keep my fingers crossed.... hopefully this set sells well to prove to Shout Factory that there are fans of these silly S&S films.

For people who want to complete their "Deathstalker" and "Barbarian Queen" franchises, you can still purchase the old out-of-print New Concorde releases of "Deathstalker 4" and "Barbarian Queen 2 - The Empress Strikes Back". "Deathstalker 3 The Warriors From Hell" was given a NTSC/Region 0 release in the Philippines and can be bought as a pricy import.

Yes, these Roger Corman movies are all a part of that 80's b-rated "So Bad It's Good" fantasy movie genre. The Shout Factory is the first company that's released these movies in widescreen and they all look great for when they were made and the budget they were given. I remember when David Carradine died I found out he was in a b-rated fantasy movie... of course since he died the movie was going for 60 bucks on Amazon, so I'm glad I waited. The movie he plays in "The Warrior And The Sorceress" is easily the worst of the bunch, even I had trouble finishing it. It's pretty neat watching these, seeing all of the naked women and how they were treated, I don't think any studio no matter how small would publish this. I know for a fact they're all too racy for an "R" rating these days. ANyway, great set, definitely worth the small price being asked. The only trouble I had was on disc 2 there's areas to click on to watch The Warrior And The Sorceress and Barbarian Queen. I thought something went wrong because clicking on the movies starts up trailers for Corman movies... I thought the movies weren't on there at all, but they are, you just have to wait for the trailers to play through. My buddy said since the graphics on the menu of disc 2 show a movie theater, maybe they put the trailers in there so it's kind of like you're in an actual theater... having to sit through the trailers before the main attraction starts.

After however many years, it's nice to see these films available on DVD again. Let me just clarify for those of you concerned about the fact that Barbarian Queen is the R-Rated version instead of the superior Unrated version, (Listen I know there are only 2 people in the world who care about this so let me just address the other one,) The scenes cut out of the Unrated version are NOT put back into this version HOWEVER they are included as deleted scenes. So, at least they're in there someplace, I guess. If it bothers you that much, get a VCR. I had never seen the Warrior and the Sorceress before but found it to be on-par with the other quality films in this collection, even if the cover was completely misleading! (no 4-boobs, boo!) The Deathstalker films are a must-see for fans of... I don't know, the 80s? Boobs? Bad jokes? Good times? Cardboard props? You can't beat em! Especially #2, featuring John Terlesky in what should have been a star-making performance. Not to mention Monique Gabrielle's turn as 2 different characters (spoiler: they both appear topless!)
R.I.P. Lana Clarkson

Make no mistake: these films never aspired to the artistic level of Conan the Barbarian. Red Sonja, tops. What they do aspire to is similar levels of undress, heroes and heroines sword-and-sorcerying their way across what must be a pretty Mediterranean climate. Deathstalker may be the highest T&A density I've ever seen outside of actual porn, but there's more than just flesh to its weirdly engrossing cinematography. Deathstalker II is a surreal parody of the original, rife with self-aware dialog and bargain-basement special effects. Barbarian Queen is played straight, and the misogyny of the skin would probably be easier to tolerate if one was seriously drunk (which if you're watching these in one setting, you'd better be by this point). The piece de resistance is David Carradine's sword-wielding remake of "Yojimbo", the closest thing to an 80's-live-action-fantasy film you might actually show your parents (modulo how the titular "sorceress" seemingly has costume budget for only a G-string).

Let's face it: nobody goes to Hooters for wings, and nobody buys a collection like this for high-concept filmmaking. If you like live-action fantasy and/or Carradine for their own sakes, these are as good a guilty pleasure-style outing as any.