Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Holstra Boring, long, and too preachy.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

TheLittleSongbird I'm all for watching a fantasy/action film and there are some good actors here. Hawk the Slayer is pretty bad with so much wrong with it, but it is not without its moments. The costumes are decent, the interaction between Gort and Baldin is enjoyable, there are some entertaining moments(though perhaps not intentionally) like Voltan grovelling amidst a red background and a hilarious near-sacrifice and Bernard Bresslaw is enormous fun as Gort.But Hawk the Slayer is one of those films, despite having some entertainment and having its heart in the place, where the cons far outweigh the pros. Visually the costumes are the only half-decent things. The sets while not too bad-looking are too limited with too many scenes shot in the same location- and lit in a drab way. The special effects are appallingly cheap, not just for an 80s fantasy film but they do have to be the worst special effects for any fantasy. The synthesised disco-like soundtrack would be reasonable on its own, but just felt ridiculously out of place here and constantly at odds with what was going on. The script takes silliness to a whole new level and goes overboard in its use of it, and doesn't even try to make sense, Jack Palance's line delivery sometimes has to be heard to be believed.Story-wise, while extremely derivative, there were some decent ideas but handled very unimaginatively and in an underdeveloped way. Structurally, it's also very episodic and sometimes badly drags with the action slowing things down rather than moving the story forward, some moments entertain but eventually the unintentional hilarity does get tiresome. The action sequences are nothing to write home about, the action itself is choreographed very clumsily and almost all of it is edited far too rapidly and shot in an unnecessarily gimmicky way(which is true for a lot of the film). Think the final battle, which was too brief but shot in slow-motion to try and hide that. Terry Marcel's direction is very gimmicky and confused, almost like he wasn't sure how to direct or tell the story. And the acting is terrible, with Bresslaw giving the best and only good performance. I like Jack Palance, and he often does excel in villain roles, and while he does try hard a lot of time it's like he's trying too hard to the extent it feels hammy and over-compensated. Then there's John Terry, who spends the whole time looking stiff and uninterested and everybody else look and sound robotic. There are numerous cameos/short appearances from talented actors but they have very little to do so they don't really register. All in all, not without its moments but pretty bad. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Warren Marris I am shocked that this was released in 1981... But either way, I just love the film.Its definitely a cult classic fantasy movie and I feel that it is one that stands the test of time. Maybe not effects wise which have moved on a lot but with the story.Some amazingly big names star from the likes of Jack Pallance and the late Bernard Bresslaw, who was sadly type cast to far more comedy roles.A well written script provides some good laughs as well.With todays action driven formula for movies, newer viewers would find this somewhat lacking as the emphasis is defiantly on a believable story - Which borrows more than a little from Tolkien (Just listen to a few names that are mentioned and you will understand what I mean...) but this should not put anyone off giving this film the once over.Could this be another title ripe for a remake for a new generation... Indeed it should be - But I feel that too many of our current talents may try too hard to make it an all action movie and lose sight of the plot.James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Ron HowardA not so guilty pleasure... Come on kids! have a look and see how times have moved on... And for a while, Enjoy a really good story!

patrickhamilton I'd like to point out that when i saw this film it was about 1 in the morning, i was on my own after having got home, and i wasn't drunk. however, i watched it. it is terrible, but seriously,just stick with me :P.This film is, i think, the worst film i have ever seen. i don't think I've ever seen such terrible acting as 'hawk' and (especially) 'crow'. The story is just very unimaginative and stupid, the casting is odd (as in bresslaw as the 'giant'.), and the special effects are awful... finally, the soundtrack is amazingly rubbish (i mean unbelievably shocking. i am young, but still... did someone at this point really think that disco-Celtic beats fitted a fantasy film?) the film's story revolves around the protagonist, hawk, vowing to kill his brother, who kills their father and then becomes truly evil, seemingly because hawk 'stole' his partner (Votlan then killed her by accident) and due to his brother burning his face with a piece of burning wood. everything about this quite simple plot then becomes... well, the best word to describe it would be.. 'what?!?!?!'. i assumed this was on purpose at first, but it really wasn't.the laughs for me started at the first scene - the textured gold paint on the walls of whatever room hawk's father was in, followed by Terry's awful acting as his father dies.trust me, this is the greatest ever 'drink some beers and get your friends round, watch some red dwarf and futurama then wack this on' movie ever. awesomely terrible, haha.

kid_called_quick I first saw this movie in 1981 at about 4 o'clock in the morning and I LOVED it. I had some friends staying over at my house for the weekend, we were 12 years old and lived to play D&D. About 2 minutes after the movie ended we all set about creating our own Mindswords and automatic crossbows for our characters. Yes, the acting is truly lame, but in a movie like this, who cares? I've always secretly hoped that there was a sequel made, as they totally left it open for one, but I guess that would be too much to ask for. I have always wanted to find the movie on DVD so I can show it to my nephews, who thanks to me, are also D&D players. The greatest cult fantasy movie ever!