Lornsorrow Review of The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire

The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire (1981 TV Movie)

Snake men rock, release this to DVD!

[8/10 · 20 February 2004]

I saw this movie many years ago in the 80's on TV and those snake men stuck with me. Their laugh/hissing and other mannerisms really brought them and the movie to life. Then, in the early 90's, I rented it some place and still found it to be an interesting, strange movie that seems more faithful to the look and feel of medieval fantasy than a lot of other movies at the time, or since! I could not care less about magic and whatnot in these movies but the snake men rock, no question about it. I recently won a copy on ebay and watched it. It still holds up. Yes it's dated, but it has an interesting sort of artsy feel to it. They made the most out of their budget on this one (think of the movie Laserblast), and the acting ranges from passable and good enough to pretty cool. The snake men STILL look great, as do plenty of other things in the movie, and for an 80's medieval fantasy flick it has an interesting, semi-complex story line that's not as cheesy as some far worse attempts at the time. A very dreamy like quality flows through the movie, with interesting camera affects here and there, including a sort reverse negative look (yet in color) if that's what it could be called. Another one of the things that helped this movie is that the cinematography is well done throughout, with some above average striking images here and there. No this is not Conan, or Dragonslayer filming quality, and it does have a made for TV feel to it (it was in fact a TV movie pilot for a series that did not happen). Even the electronic synthesizer score seems to get better as the movie goes along. The overall style of The Archer still is just enjoyable to watch. Indeed, in some places I far prefer it to the pacing of some recent flicks. They really try to immerse people here. This is very much a quest/adventure flick that seems greatly influenced by the rise of Dungeons and Dragons at the time. With the recent DVD release of so many other 80's medieval fantasy flicks (even Hawk the Slayer), I see no reason not to release The Archer to DVD. It was far more of a serious and well done attempt (by Universal Studios in 1981) at the medieval fantasy genre then many other medieval fantasy flicks were back then. Needs to be released on DVD!!