'Hawk The Slayer' (1980) - Terry Marcel.

With the sole exception of the equally rousing fantasy epic 'Krull' no British-made Sword & Sorcery extravaganza would ever quicken the blood and galvanize the heart ventricles quite so thrillingly as, Terry Marcel's 'Hawk The Slayer'. A sublime, uncommonly thrilling blood n' thunder tale of dark witchery, pulse-pounding adventure, white-knighted heroism and fell wickedness. A stand-alone classic whose ceaselessly stirring themes of valour, brotherhood and the eternal struggle of good vs evil are no less immortal than the film itself. 'Hawk The Slayer' being strongly wrought of the most elemental mettle, impervious to vainglorious trends, no less resolute than our champion Hawk the Slayer himself!

In the time before a profound darkness polluted the land a great King (Ferdy Mayne) sired two sons, one pure of heart, Hawk (John Terry) the other, Voltan (Jack Palance) slowly corrupted by jealousy and a foul, soul-warping desire for power! Voltan driven to commit the terrible acts prophesied in tomes malign, and thus begins a blackened epoch of ultimate evil. Voltan aligns himself with a powerful sorcerer in his maniacal quest for wealth, power. The only way, Voltan could own the magic-infused Mind Sword, lovingly bequeathed to his brother, Hawk would be to kill him!

All the fabulous fantasy tropes are quite vividly realized by writers, Terry Marcel & Harry Robertson. Visually astute filmmaker Marcel clearly has a great passion and flair for this exciting milieu of marvellously mythical beings and their heroic battle against seemingly insurmountable odds which given the no doubt severe budget restrictions is quite majestically and robustly conceived!

The unleavened passion so many 'Hawk The Slayer' fans still maintain to this day is not simply due to a rose-tinted fanboy nostalgia. Gort, the Giant (Bernard Bresslaw), Baldin, The Dwarf (Peter O'Farrell), Crow, The Elf bowman (Ray Charlson), Woman, Sorceress (Patricia Quinn) are all vividly brought to life by a talented ensemble cast, with the masculine Hawk played with clear-eyed integrity by heroically handsome, John Terry. Legendary powerhouse actor, Jack Palance, full-bloodedly creates the most indelibly malevolent villain since Darth Vader. No overview of 'Hawk The Slayer' would be anywhere close to complete without celebrating the uniquely stirring, disco-infused score by the multi-talented, Harry Robertson.

In our new darkening age of global discontent wherein the myriad malevolent agents of Voltan are once again plying their black arts, we can only hope that the heroic Hawk and his stalwart band of brothers may once again come to our aid! Failing that we can still marvel at the revivified vibrancy of the beautifully restored Network Blu-ray!