Red Sonja

Let´s go back in time, to a year where film studios still made some really fun 80´s movies. The year we are about to enter is 1985. Most people would think of Michael J. Fox in the cult classic Back To The Future. But we have some more films to discuss on this year. Does anyone of you remember Iron Eagle, the action film about a young pilot, who travels to the middle east to save his father from terrorists ? This was a year before Top Gun, and if you ask me personally, i enjoyed Iron Eagle more, especially with Louis Gosset, Jr as an retired vietnam war hero. The song One Vision, by legendary rock band Queen, also made this film fit the concept. David Suchet, who have played Agatha Christie´s Poirot, in many tv films, was great as the terrorist leader. So what else is worth remembering in 1985 ? One film that i think many people should see, that most of you have probably forgotten is Terry Gilliam´s crazy science fiction film Brazil. This is a very odd combination of styles, and looks really good, considering being made in the middle of the 80´s. The cast is also great, how about Robert De Niro, Bob Hoskins, Jonathan Pryce and Ian Holm, included in the cast ? If you have not seen it, i suggest you buy the dvd, it is worth having in your collection. If you do get your hands on the blu ray release, i know that this includes a longer version of the film. Have you ever heard of the name Richard Fleischer ? Maybe a bell will ring inside your head if i say Conan The Destroyer ? Yes, the director of the sequel to the cult film Conan The Barbarian. The first film was really good, so the sequel was not on the same level, in fact, it was pretty silly in some moments. But from an entertaining perspective, there was some details that made the film fun to watch, including Arnold Schwarzenegger´s hair style. So just a year after Conan The Destroyer was released, director Richard Fleischer decided to direct a film adaptation of the Marvel comic book character Red Sonja. Birgitte Nielsen was chosen to become Red Sonja, the danish woman who took Hollywood by storm in the 80´s, being in several big Hollywood films, like Cobra with Sylvester Stallone, and Beverly Hills Cop 2 with Eddie Murphy. Arnold also said yes to do a different character, that looks like Conan, but with more dialogue. Since it is 30 years ago, Red Sonja came out, i decided to look back and see what i feel about this movie today. Is this a sword fighting film, that still deliver entertainment , after so many years, or is Red Sonja a bad transformation of a comic book character, that should have been left untouched ?

Red Sonja ( Birgitte Nielsen ) is raped, and left on the ground, while her family home is burned down by Queen Gedren´s ( Sandahl Bergman ) men, where her parents are killed, including her brother. Red Sonja wakes up, as she is confronted by a spirit, who give her the strength to seek revenge. Lord Kalidor ( Arnold Schwarzenegger ) finds wounded Varna ( Janet Agren ). She have escaped from her temple, where Queen Gedren´s army killed her friends, and she is the only survivor. Varna asks Kalidor to find her sister, and bring her back to her. Kalidor goes out on a journey to find Red Sonja. Kalidor manage to locate her training, with a sword master. He inform her of her sister´s bad health, and she goes with him. Just as Red Sonja arrives, Varna only manage to tell her some details, before she passes away. Since her whole family is now dead, Red Sonja rides towards Queen Gedren´s castle to finish her for good.

If you think that Red Sonja is just like Conan The Barbarian, but a female version, i would say that is not completely true. Since we are dealing with a completely different character, you can clearly see that there is a different message with the film. There are influences here, from Conan, no doubt about that, but i would say that Red Sonja is more of a feminist warrior. She fights, kills with her sword, but also try and do what´s right, while Conan would probably just kill anyway. I like the fact that we get to see more women fight, with swords, in a temple scene, almost in the beginning of the film. This gives the tone of the film, a positive touch, that women are not afraid to stand back against evil. Birgette Nielsen in the lead role as Red Sonja, may not be a good actor, but she does handle the sword battles pretty well, and looks tough. Sandahl Bergman, who also were in the first Conan The Barbarian film, is now the evil Queen Gedren in Red Sonja. Not the greatest cinema villain we have seen, but functional. Arnold Schwarzenegger is actually a more sensitive guy in this film, with his long hair. His dialogue is actually the best part of this film, because he is acting really bad. There are some scenes where he tries to sound emotional, and i just cant stop laughing. You got to love Arnold for being who he is, even if he does not always choose the best characters. I know that Arnold himself have said that Red Sonja is one of the films he does not like in his career, and i can understand why in some ways. At the same time, i see Red Sonja as a fun tribute to sword films, with some entertainment value for the fans of Conan The Barbarian. When i listened to the interview with assistant director Michel Ferry, of Red Sonja, he expained some interesting details that i have never heard before. For example, Arnold was only supposed to shoot a couple of scenes, but ended up staying on set much longer than planned. The budget was also much more expensive, because Arnold demanded a certain amount of payment to do the film. I also understand that Birgitte Nielsen was not happy with the film, because she did not like the portrait of Red Sonja. Looking at this film 30 years later, i can still say that i see some entertainment value here. Is the acting bad ? Yes, but better than any of Helena Bergströms movies, so that is a good sign. I think that director Richard Fleischberg at least tried to give us an image of Red Sonja. Could he have made a better film ? Of course, there are many things he could have improved. But with the cheesy dialogue, Arnolds terrible dramatic scenes, and the sword fights, we still get some entertainment here worth watching. I am interested in this new Red Sonja remake, that have been talked about since 2010. From what i understand so far, director Simon West, who directed The Expendables 2, could be the director who makes this remake come to life. Until then, sit back at home, order a pizza, and a couple of beers, and just have fun with 80´s nostalgic sword fight action. I suggest you watch the blu ray, with the interesting interviews, nice to hear stories from the set of this box office bomb.

Rating: DDD