519-Outlaw

Film Year:  1988
Genre:  Fantasy
Director:  John Cardos
Starring:  Jack Palance.  Does it really matter if anybody else is here?
MST Season:  5

The Movie

You kids and your mega-budget Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises.  Way back in the day the big talk of the town was the book-to-film fantasy series Gor!

Based on the second novel, Outlaw of Gor, this film reintroduces Tarl Cabot and sweeps him back into the Counter-Earth known as Gor, a fantasy land of violence and sex.  Cabot is reunited with his lost love Princess Talena.  Cabot's intentions of marrying Talena are shaken however when the King is murdered by his new wife and Cabot is blamed.  Cabot is now on the run from the land that he loves and must find a way to expose the truth and return to his bride.

As far as sword and sorcery flicks on the series go, Outlaw is probably one of the...least incompetent ones.  The film is downright lavish and epic in comparison to Cave Dwellers, Deathstalker, and Delta Knights.  But it's still a Cannon production, which means the budget has a limit.  There is a lot of lackluster action featuring guys thrusting the sword to the side of others to simulate stabbing and the acting is hammy and full of scenery chewing.  And then there's Jack Palance for some reason, doing his Jack Palance thing.  He alone is worth the price of admission.

I have not read any of the Gor books.  It seems like a fair or interesting concept at least in general.  From what I understand they're controversially considered somewhat misogynistic for its submissive treatment of women, which from what's on display here doesn't quite surprise me.  Though I'd say the film is somewhat tame considering the reputation of the series.  Maybe the racier stuff was edited for broadcast perhaps, but it's hard to really see how far that goes by what's featured here.

Outlaw is silly, outlandish fantasy, though it's so simple minded that I find it harmless.  It's a cute idea done very cheaply.  I mostly find myself wondering if maybe this would be more interesting if it were actually done well.

The Episode

With a movie this silly Mike and the Bots really have no trouble finding openings for their comedy.  This is T-ball.  All they have to do is swing, and chances are it's a hit.  I laughed a lot during this outing, because the movie is ambitiously bad and the humor adds a lot of flavor to it.  Whether it be constant up-skirt shots of men, female skin being shown, laughable fighting, not-very-special effects, or just bizarre characters, there is always something in the film to react to.  And if you love to see the guys react, this is a grand one to watch.

"GETOUTOFHERE!  You dis-GUSS-ting wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurm!"

The host segments get off on the right foot with one of the better Invention Exchanges of the Mike era, where Dr. Forrester and Frank's "time machine" is pretty hilarious.  Mike and the Bots offer up a "Fabio Kit" which is just an excuse for them to dress up as Fabio, which is still pretty funny.  Speaking of excuses for imitation, one of the highlights to this episode features the guys reading Jack Palance's diary, which is there just so they can do their best Palance voice.  It also works quite well and had me chuckling.  Other highlights include a disturbing buffalo shot montage and the song "Tubular Boobular Joy."

Outlaw further demonstrates that just because we saw a change in host doesn't mean the show's heyday is over.  This is one that holds up to the best of Joel's episodes and still manages to make me laugh no matter how much I watch it.  Outlaw is for the ages.

Classic

The DVD

Outlaw was released by Shout Factory in their Volume XXX collection and featured good audio and video.  The special features are will satisfy any Gor-hound.  First up is Writer of Gor:  The Novels of John Norman, where Richard Curtis discusses his friend John (Norman) Lange's novels, the themes, the controversy, and the resurgence in popularity.  Next is Director of Gor:  On Set with John "Bud" Cardos, where the director discusses working on the film and taking the reins from the director of the previous film.  He says he thinks it was "okay," and "not my cup of tea."  Finally we have Producer of Gor:  Adventures with Harry Alan Towers, where production manager Danny Lerner who discusses his mentor and working on the film.  No disrespect meant to Lerner, who shares some great tidbits that are much appreciated, but whether it's an accent, slurred speech, or a combination of both makes a lot of this feature hard to follow.  A subtitle option might have been welcome, but there's some great stuff here all the same.