Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Kahana Chin Other watchers of Archer: Fugitive from the Empire comment harshly about its dated special effects, not being really focused overall, average acting, etc. I believe they're lost to the Content and the Context of the movie's premise, target audience, and production values which made it a forerunner for later TV shows.1. It's a Sword & Sorcery Fantasy movie - our young hero is a rebel to his father, he uses a super-powered bow, his sidekick is a thief, he has semi-sexual tension going on with a rival sorceress.2. In the 1980's - the special effects, costumes, and makeup were very advanced. The armor & weapons were sturdier than a lot of the other films at the time. The snake-men makeup and their ability to rise suddenly from the ground was similar to the Terrians found in the later short-lived TV science fiction series, Earth 2.3. Like other movies and TV shows, the quest is the main theme. The hero, sidekick, and love-interest always have their quirks. If it's too obvious, the watcher loses interest - if too vague, we become lost to the plot line. This movie gave us several subplots: hero coming of age, prevent an invasion, rescue persecuted villagers & citizens, fight off the bad guy (who's so much like Darth Vader), and of course - search for your Mentor (who's like Obi-Wan Kenobi).4. Archer intrigues the viewer not by today's measurements of story-arc, pilot episode allure, best computer/explosion/gore effects. It makes the viewer wonder what amazing twist is going to happen in a subtle way apart from the obvious Fantasy movie stereotypes (just like Heroes did every week). The target audience in the 1980's were mostly teenagers and college guys who were into Star Wars, Conan, etc. Every critic I've read of seems to want a straight-forward action/adventure movie to play out like a Shakespeare drama with intensity. I think Archer did its job of making me wish I could be the Hero as I sat in my seat enjoying my popcorn and soda!!5. I have this movie in VHS video format - wish I could get it as a DVD. Even after all these years, I watch it late at night and weekends just to see enjoy the adventure as a teenager in a grown-man's body!

Tom Willett (yonhope) Hi, Everyone, I worked as an extra in this TV movie. We worked in the hills near Magic Mountain on December, 3, 4, and 5 of 1980. It rained most of the time. We wore fur hides that kept our upper bodies warm enough. We had some campfires going most of the time.On one of the days there was an invasion of some type of small winged insect that got into our food and probably can be seen in some of the scenes. The mud was very deep. We would wade into a muddy road area and made glopping sounds as we pulled our feet out.Somehow it was some of the most fun days I have ever had in the movie business. The group of guys who worked on the show, cast, crew and extras were laughing a lot. Nick the director, was very nice and articulate. Warren, the A.D. was a pleasure to be with. I worked with him many times, including on Thorn Birds and Airwolf.I watched the movie when they showed it on TV. I have not seen it since. I did enjoy it. I think it would stand up well today if it were re-released with some special notes about the making.When we did our village (hill dweller types) scenes with George Kennedy, there were more different kinds of animals in one scene than I have ever observed working together in any other project. There were dogs, a bear, cougars, horses and some falcons and a chimp.The horse was not at all pleased being near the bear and the cougars were not friendly except with their handlers.Well worth watching.Tom Willett (Yonhope)

stamper when I was a child. Damn, it's a long time ago I've seen this movie. It seems like an eternity, yet it was only six, seven, eight years ago, back when I was about 12. Man, this movie, it just rocks in my memory. I mean the fact that I saw it about 5 to 10 times and that I even remember seeing it now (about 8 years later) and being able to remember scenes and recognize photo's says it all. I think it is a great film. Underrated, not known to many folk but definitely a truly GREAT film. Although I liked the Neverending story too back then and now I think it is bad. But who cares I bet you it makes very good entertainment for kids. 8 out of 10

spidymac As with certain films of the filmed noir genre, there are unheralded fantasy films that also fall in to the category of "sleepers" i.e., very entertaining but not widely reviewed/seen. To name a few: Forbidden Planet, The Forbidden Street, I'll Never Forget You (Berkely Square), The Sword & the Sorcerer, Sinbad the Sailor, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Sinbad & the Eye of the Tiger, Demon Seed, Five Million Years to Earth, Omar Khayyam, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (now a classic), as well as The Dam Busters, (if you are not offended by the name of the dog) and the exceptional, Curse of the Demon.These are but a few examples of some lesser credited "sleepers", yet they are thoroughly entertaining films. I would handily rate it **** out of ***** stars.