Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1982
Ator, the Fighting Eagle
Buy Ator, the Fighting Eagle now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Ator, the Fighting Eagle
| image = Ator-linvincibile-italian-movie-poster-md.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| director = Joe D'Amato
| producer = Alex Susmann
| writer = Jose Maria Sanchez (as Sherry Russel)Palmerini, Luca M.; Mistretta, Gaetano (1996). "Spaghetti Nightmares". Fantasma Books. p. 79..
| screenplay =
| story =
| based_on =
| starring =
| music = Carlo Maria Cordio
| cinematography = Joe D'Amato
| editing = David Framer
| production_companies =
| distributor =
| released =
| runtime =
| country = Italy
| language = Italian
English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'Ator, the Fighting Eagle' (; translated: "Ator the Invincible") is a 1982 Italian adventure-fantasy film directed by Joe D'Amato, and the first film to feature the character Ator (played by Miles O'Keeffe).
Plot
As the film opens, a baby named Ator is born with a birthmark that signals he will someday destroy the Spider Cult, which currently holds power over the land. Fearing this prophecy, the leader of the cult High Priest of The Ancient One, Dakkar (Dakar) attempts to kill the baby. Baby Ator's birthmark is covered up, however, and he is whisked off to a village far away where he is given to a couple to raise as their own. Years later, Ator (O'Keefe), now in love with his sister Sunya (Brown), asks his father for permission to marry her. Ator's father reveals to Ator that he is adopted, and can therefore marry Sunya if he likes. On the day of their wedding, the village is raided by the Spider Cult's soldiers and several women are taken, including Ator's new bride.
After pursuing the soldiers, Ator soon finds himself training with Griba, a warrior who is an enemy of The Ancient One and also the person who whisked him away at his birth. Griba disappears, though, after which Amazons kidnap Ator, nearly seduced by a witch, and undergoes a quest to retrieve a magical mirrored shield. While kidnapped by the Amazons, Ator is "won" by Roon (Siani), a fierce blonde thief he helped earlier in the film. Roon is enamored with Ator, so she decides to flee with him and assist him during his quest. Ator successfully obtains the mirror, then uses it to fight and defeat Dakkar. His victory is muddied by the revelation that Griba is actually Dakkar's predecessor and had trained Ator so that he could retake his position as High Priest.
Ator defeats Griba, however, leaving him to be devoured by the offspring of The Ancient One, a giant spider that dwells within the temple. To ensure that the cult does not return, Ator then provokes and kills The Ancient One itself. Afterward, with Roon having perished while infiltrating the temple, Ator and Sunya head back to their village, presumably to live in peace together.
Cast
*Miles O'Keeffe as Ator
*Sabrina Siani as Roon
*Ritza Brown as Sunya
*Edmund Purdom as Griba
*Dakar as High Priest of the Spider (as Dakkar)
*Laura Gemser as Indun
*Alessandra Vazzoler as Woman in the tavern (as Chandra Vazzoler)
*Nello Pazzafini as Bardak (as Nat Williams)
*Jean Lopez as Nordya
*Olivia Goods as Queen
Production
Michele Soavi was hired to write the script for 'Ator, the Fighting Eagle'. He did it in collaboration with Marco Modugno. Both had previously worked together on the film 'Bambul' (1979)Modugno as director, Soavi as assistant director. Regarding the statement D'Amato gave to 'Nocturno', Giusti does not give an indication of edition or year, but seems to quote it word by word. The film was developed under the working title of 'Fantasy'.
Later, the script was revised by Jos Maria Sanchez and the film's director Joe D'Amato. D'Amato said in an interview that the script was "written by Jose Maria Sanchez", without mentioning Soavi or Modugno.Palmerini, Luca M.; Mistretta, Gaetano (1996). "Spaghetti Nightmares". Fantasma Books. p. 79.. In the credits, the pseudonym "Sherry Russel" was used.
In a statement printed in the Italian magazine 'Nocturno', director Joe D'Amato complained that although Miles O'Keeffe, the actor who played Ator, had a nice athletic physique and was a really nice guy (lang-it:'un ragazzo d'oro'), he recited his lines badly and was behaving listlessly during fight scenes. D'Amato praised the weapons master Franco Ukmar for doing "an incredible job" on him.
Release
'Ator, the Fighting Eagle' passed the Italian censorship board on 14 September 1982 and was released in Italy on 7 October. It was released in the United States on 11 March 1983.
The film was featured in Season 12 of 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' on November 22, 2018. as well as Rifftrax.
A Blu-ray release was set for September 2019 by Dark Force Entertainment. However, a few days after the release was announced, a controversial Facebook post[https://www.facebook.com/dawnofthediscs/photos/a.595632857446604/939000789776474/ Facebook post by Dawn of the Discs] surfaced promoting the movie, which contained a reference to Seth Ator, who killed 7 people and injured 25 others, including a 17-month-old girl, during a mass shooting in Odessa, Texas. The post resulted in backlash from Dark Force's customers and the families of the victims. On September 3, Dark Force announced the release was cancelled due to the controversial post.[https://www.facebook.com/158542421434304/photos/a.158545464767333/429776220977588/ Facebook post by Dark Force Entertainment] The film was finally released on Blu-ray in May 2020.
Reception
'Variety' described the film as a "dull, incredibly silly fantasy adventure" and that the director "creates no atmosphere, with picture's exteriors never achieving any period feel".: "Review is from 1984"
The Canadian magazine FFWD stated that "there are four Ator movies in total, and each one is staggeringly
awful".[http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/screen/video-vulture/terrible-sequels-to-terrible-movies-5280/ Terrible sequels to terrible movies] by John Tebbutt. FFWD magazine, February 25, 2010. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
See also
* List of Italian films of 1982
References
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
Buy Ator, the Fighting Eagle now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1982