I saw the first Deathstalker years ago and what I saw was certainly cheesy, but a fun film nonetheless. Had some decent kills, a monster type thing and loads of nudity! Well, never saw the second entry in the series, but I did manage to see this one which is the third thanks to Mystery Science Theater 3000; however, from what I have seen presented, I will not be trying to dig up that second film. My guess is that like a lot of sequels pre-1990, the budget to both sequels began to shrink! They also did not care much for continuity in films as much back in the day as Deathstalker is played by a different actor each time in the first three films. The guy who played it in the first film, would return to reprise the role in the fourth film. Cannot believe they made it that high considering how uneven the series seems to be. The first one had more of a barbarians and savagery feel to them, while this one seems a much lighter tone and is more middle ages. The start of the film reminded me of the video, Safety Dance by Men Without Hats. Deathstalker himself, this time looks more like he should be some guy's sidekick rather than the leading man and he is a lot more heroic than he was in the first film too. That one in the first film did a few more unsavory things suffice to say.
The story has Deathstalker at some sort of lame festival that is interrupted by a dude in a bat helmet and his troops. Deathstalker soon finds himself in the middle of a quest to get two stones together so that he may find a city of near limitless treasure! He runs afoul of a princess on her way to marry a man who is also looking for the stones so that he may have more power, though he already has a hot chick and controls most of the land anyway. This man unleashes the warriors from hell of the title, but they do not figure into the plot as much as their placement in the title suggests. Lots of bland sword fights ensue as Deathstalker only need wipe his sword across someone's stomach to kill them!
This made for a funny episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I really do not think they could have even attempted the first film. Sure, they mostly likely edited out the racy parts for the show for this episode, but if you did that for the first film, you would literally not have enough film to fill an episode of MST3K. It would be one of those episodes with two shorts. The violence and nudity were obviously scaled back immensely for the third film as this one ran the entire episode and is only 86 minutes, meaning only about 10 minutes had to be cut out.
So, Deathstalker is back, played by a different guy and is a bit weaker than he used to be. You have the Warriors From Hell, in the film, but all they are, are a bunch of dudes in a bit of makeup to simulate that they were back from the dead. You have a villain that is not very opposing at all and you have one of his henchman who looks like they were going for a General Kael from Willow look, but he ends up looking rather idiotic in his bat helmet. So this is what replaces the ton of nudity and the awesome Minotaur monster man from the first film? Weak; however, not a weak episode of MST3K.
The story has Deathstalker at some sort of lame festival that is interrupted by a dude in a bat helmet and his troops. Deathstalker soon finds himself in the middle of a quest to get two stones together so that he may find a city of near limitless treasure! He runs afoul of a princess on her way to marry a man who is also looking for the stones so that he may have more power, though he already has a hot chick and controls most of the land anyway. This man unleashes the warriors from hell of the title, but they do not figure into the plot as much as their placement in the title suggests. Lots of bland sword fights ensue as Deathstalker only need wipe his sword across someone's stomach to kill them!
This made for a funny episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I really do not think they could have even attempted the first film. Sure, they mostly likely edited out the racy parts for the show for this episode, but if you did that for the first film, you would literally not have enough film to fill an episode of MST3K. It would be one of those episodes with two shorts. The violence and nudity were obviously scaled back immensely for the third film as this one ran the entire episode and is only 86 minutes, meaning only about 10 minutes had to be cut out.
So, Deathstalker is back, played by a different guy and is a bit weaker than he used to be. You have the Warriors From Hell, in the film, but all they are, are a bunch of dudes in a bit of makeup to simulate that they were back from the dead. You have a villain that is not very opposing at all and you have one of his henchman who looks like they were going for a General Kael from Willow look, but he ends up looking rather idiotic in his bat helmet. So this is what replaces the ton of nudity and the awesome Minotaur monster man from the first film? Weak; however, not a weak episode of MST3K.