Film Year: 1982
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Joe D'Amato
Starring: Miles O'Keefe, Sabrina Siani, Ritza Brown, Edmund Purdom
MST Season: 12
The Movie
One of the earliest classics in Mystery Science Theater history was a little number called Cave Dwellers, an FVI video release of a film called The Blade Master which saw a barbarian warrior named Ator on a mission to save a scientist. This film was actually the second in a series of four Ator films, spawning from a quickly filmed Conan the Barbarian knockoff called Ator, the Fighting Eagle (originally released in Italy as Ator the Invicible).
Now, many years later, we finally have the first Ator movie in the riffing circles. How does it stack up to the sequel that we're far more familiar with? In a lot of ways, it's the same. Ator is played by beloved MSTed actor Miles O'Keefe, and he goes on a grand series of misadventures through a quest he is given. Ator, the Fighting Eagle has a leg up on its sequel in that while it's just as hammy and cheap as its follow-up, it never ventures out of its comfort zone as to what a sword and sandal fantasy/adventure movie typically is and doesn't bother with a hard "science" subplot about nuclear weapons. On that level, the original Ator is more of a "Sure, whatever" surface level movie.
Ator, the Fighting Eagle tells a more straight forward tale of Ator falling in love with his sister...wait...WHAT?! Actually she is just his foster sister, though this is unknown to both of them when they decide they should get married (how long have these two been doing the nasty behind their parents' backs?). Ator discovers his true lineage as an adopted son and they decide to marry, though the nuptials are interrupted by a raid by the soldiers of the Spider Cult, who steal his bride/sister. Ator is then trained by an ancient warrior who claims he is the man prophesied to destroy the Spider Cult once and for all.
Ator, the Fighting Eagle is a very "What you see is what you get" movie. If you like sword swinging barbarian movies, then it's a movie for you. Though to be sure, Conan the Barbarian it isn't. It was made as a reaction to that film, but Ator has none of the care that was put into it. It's a budget movie using budget locations, budget actors, budget props, and budget scenarios to work around the lack of money. Ator goes from one location to the next, fights off bad guys, have women faun for him (including a scenario that reminds me of the "Death by Snu Snu" episode of Futurama), all the while letting his pecs glisten in the sun. All things considered, Ator is fine. There are things about it that show that it's not exactly high filmmaking, such as most stabbing motions with swords aiming at the sides of enemies instead of actually hitting them. There is also a sequence in which Ator fights a shadow, where you can tell the intent just fine, but mostly just comes off as Miles O'Keefe swinging around like a lunatic. But hey, at least he's not fighting invisible bad guys, like he is in the second one, am I right?
All of this leads up to a final confrontation with the Spider Cult (whose leader may or may not be heavily inspired by James Earl Jones in Conan the Barbarian...oh who are we kidding? He definitely was), and coming to a head with Ator fighting a giant spider that mostly stays off-screen to hide how fake it is. There is also a twist enemy at the end that is spoiled in the prologue montage from Cave Dwellers, but is almost hilariously out of left field and without purpose. Ator is a bare bones warrior adventure that will be fun for genre enthusiasts and tells its story of action and incest with the basest level of near-competence. Cave Dwellers might be more amusing in that there are sillier aspects to it, but I wouldn't say no to either of these goofy movies.
The Episode
Kinga's Gauntlet is at its final hurdle. Jonah, Servo, and Crow are on their knees, but we've been offering them moral support during this entire ride, whether they can feel it or not. The one consolation for them on this one last movie in their eight hour marathon is that it's the superior original film to a sequel that has already been featured on the show, so it's something that we already know can be overcome. But then again, Cave Dwellers, as bad as it was, didn't have five movies setting up the pain immediately before it when we initially watched it.
The new MST is sometimes shameless in trying to appeal to the nostalgia feels, and the inclusion of Ator this season is probably as shameless a pandering they can come up with. Last season they brought back Hercules, and while that was wonderful and all, I don't think there was ever a Hercules episode as iconic as Cave Dwellers was. Finally bringing on the movie that spawned it is a totally calculated "right in the feels" move.
The new MST is sometimes shameless in trying to appeal to the nostalgia feels, and the inclusion of Ator this season is probably as shameless a pandering they can come up with. Last season they brought back Hercules, and while that was wonderful and all, I don't think there was ever a Hercules episode as iconic as Cave Dwellers was. Finally bringing on the movie that spawned it is a totally calculated "right in the feels" move.
I had some initial disappointment with the movie selection for this episode because, like Wizards of the Lost Kingdom last season, Ator, the Fighting Eagle was already riffed by Rifftrax several years prior. Personally, one of the reasons I watch these riffing projects is to see movies I've never seen/heard of before, and when one pops up that another riffing project already covered, I'm not too enthused. I mostly gave Wizards a pass due to the fact that Rifftrax pulled that riff almost immediately because of licensing complications, while Ator stings a lot more because not only is it one I've seen before, but it's taking up a slot in a very abbreviated season. If season 12 were maybe thirteen episodes instead of six, I might not be too bugged by Ator's inclusion, but our new batch is so limited that I feel cheated out of a movie.
But when the episode started, I began to smile from ear-to-ear. Yes, I've seen a riff of this movie before, but Ator belongs on MST, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Is Ator as good an episode as it's classic predecessor? Not really. Ator, the Fighting Eagle is in several ways a "better" movie than Cave Dwellers, though I'd admit Cave Dwellers is a more flavorful film in general, because it's more random and goofy with its badness. Because of that, Cave Dwellers is the more memorable experience, and this is without mentioning the practically perfect commentary on top of it.
"What better for a workshop of blind laborers than a gaping pit in the middle of the floor?"
The riffing also has that hurdle to jump in that it has a riffing precedent in the Rifftrax version to overcome. It's been a while since I watched Ator via Rifftrax, but from what I recall they rode the incestuous relationship between Ator and his foster sister a lot harder than the MST version does. Jonah and the Bots do tap that well, though they're cautious enough to know that if they tap it too much the riff will become a one-trick pony. I felt a more joyous spirit in the theater here than I did in the Rifftrax version. To an extent, that slightly goes against the fact that Jonah and the Bots are supposedly worn down by these movies at this point in their marathon, but this is the long gestating return of Ator to the series that we're talking about. This episode should be fun. And it is, making the experience worthwhile. I think I enjoyed the approach featured here more than I liked Rifftrax's, but that version was worth watching as well, from what I recall.
"Oh yeah, I call this ArachnErotica!"
The host segments spend a little bit of time mocking certain elements from the movie, mocking Ator's training sequence and his pet baby bear. Meanwhile, J. Elvis Weinstein delivers his second and final cameo of the season as Dr. Erhardt, and we have a food themed Invention Exchange, the Swiss Army Wheel and the Totino's Pizza Rolls Popper.
But the moment we are waiting for is the conclusion to the Gauntlet, and the rest of this paragraph is spoilers, as Kinga successfully subjects her test subject and the loyal viewers to six movies in a row. The rest of this paragraph is spoilers, so tread lightly. What is the endgame to this? Not a lot. She just gloats. Meanwhile the Mads set up a live tour on Earth (which was a prologue to the actual 2018 live tour that featured both Jonah and Joel riffing on The Brain and Deathstalker II). But Jonah has one final trick up his sleeve that traps both Kinga and Max inside a theater watching Mr. B Natural before the space bus leaves. If season 12 were to be the final season of the show, the image of Jonah outsmarting his captors and heading back to Earth is as good as any to end on. Personally, I'd like to see the show continue forever, so pardon me for wishing he is somehow thrown back into captivity in the near future. I'm also hoping that this ending may set up a Last of the Wild Horses style experiment in the season 13 premiere which features Kinga and Max riffing on a portion of the film (if not a whole movie).
What lies in the future is up in the air, though I remain just as optimistic about the series as I ever was. The Gauntlet was a fun spin on the MST formula, though I'd point to several aspects of the season and argue against continuing to apply Netflix's bingewatch formula to the show because it doesn't really suit it. Also, despite the improved riff pace and production in general, the highs of season 12 didn't soar quite as high as season 11, and the batting average of the episodes in general is a bit middling (it's really bookended by the big highlights of the season).
But I need to take a step back from the successes and failures of the season as a whole (which I will go in depth on in a future season overview) and comment upon the episode as an individual, which is a pretty solid trip down memory lane that takes that prologue montage from Cave Dwellers and finally gives it its own episode. If the series were to riff Iron Warrior and Quest for the Mighty Sword and give MSTies the entire Ator library, I wouldn't complain. I just hope it doesn't take another twenty-eight years to get to that point.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch Cave Dwellers again.
But when the episode started, I began to smile from ear-to-ear. Yes, I've seen a riff of this movie before, but Ator belongs on MST, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Is Ator as good an episode as it's classic predecessor? Not really. Ator, the Fighting Eagle is in several ways a "better" movie than Cave Dwellers, though I'd admit Cave Dwellers is a more flavorful film in general, because it's more random and goofy with its badness. Because of that, Cave Dwellers is the more memorable experience, and this is without mentioning the practically perfect commentary on top of it.
"What better for a workshop of blind laborers than a gaping pit in the middle of the floor?"
The riffing also has that hurdle to jump in that it has a riffing precedent in the Rifftrax version to overcome. It's been a while since I watched Ator via Rifftrax, but from what I recall they rode the incestuous relationship between Ator and his foster sister a lot harder than the MST version does. Jonah and the Bots do tap that well, though they're cautious enough to know that if they tap it too much the riff will become a one-trick pony. I felt a more joyous spirit in the theater here than I did in the Rifftrax version. To an extent, that slightly goes against the fact that Jonah and the Bots are supposedly worn down by these movies at this point in their marathon, but this is the long gestating return of Ator to the series that we're talking about. This episode should be fun. And it is, making the experience worthwhile. I think I enjoyed the approach featured here more than I liked Rifftrax's, but that version was worth watching as well, from what I recall.
"Oh yeah, I call this ArachnErotica!"
The host segments spend a little bit of time mocking certain elements from the movie, mocking Ator's training sequence and his pet baby bear. Meanwhile, J. Elvis Weinstein delivers his second and final cameo of the season as Dr. Erhardt, and we have a food themed Invention Exchange, the Swiss Army Wheel and the Totino's Pizza Rolls Popper.
But the moment we are waiting for is the conclusion to the Gauntlet, and the rest of this paragraph is spoilers, as Kinga successfully subjects her test subject and the loyal viewers to six movies in a row. The rest of this paragraph is spoilers, so tread lightly. What is the endgame to this? Not a lot. She just gloats. Meanwhile the Mads set up a live tour on Earth (which was a prologue to the actual 2018 live tour that featured both Jonah and Joel riffing on The Brain and Deathstalker II). But Jonah has one final trick up his sleeve that traps both Kinga and Max inside a theater watching Mr. B Natural before the space bus leaves. If season 12 were to be the final season of the show, the image of Jonah outsmarting his captors and heading back to Earth is as good as any to end on. Personally, I'd like to see the show continue forever, so pardon me for wishing he is somehow thrown back into captivity in the near future. I'm also hoping that this ending may set up a Last of the Wild Horses style experiment in the season 13 premiere which features Kinga and Max riffing on a portion of the film (if not a whole movie).
What lies in the future is up in the air, though I remain just as optimistic about the series as I ever was. The Gauntlet was a fun spin on the MST formula, though I'd point to several aspects of the season and argue against continuing to apply Netflix's bingewatch formula to the show because it doesn't really suit it. Also, despite the improved riff pace and production in general, the highs of season 12 didn't soar quite as high as season 11, and the batting average of the episodes in general is a bit middling (it's really bookended by the big highlights of the season).
But I need to take a step back from the successes and failures of the season as a whole (which I will go in depth on in a future season overview) and comment upon the episode as an individual, which is a pretty solid trip down memory lane that takes that prologue montage from Cave Dwellers and finally gives it its own episode. If the series were to riff Iron Warrior and Quest for the Mighty Sword and give MSTies the entire Ator library, I wouldn't complain. I just hope it doesn't take another twenty-eight years to get to that point.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch Cave Dwellers again.
Good
The DVD and Blu-Ray
Ator, the Fighting Eagle currently is not widely available to the public outside of Netflix, but those who contributed to a pledge drive shortly before the twelfth season's release were offered a chance to order an early copy of Shout Factory's Season 12 box set, offered in both DVD and blu-ray. I do have the "Pledge Drive Edition" blu-ray and can confirm that it has good audio and video. There are no bonus features on the disc, though it shares it with the preceding episode, Killer Fish.
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