10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Sword and the Sorcerer
This past week I celebrated the recent 40th Anniversary of The Sword and the Sorcerer by finally cracking open Scream Factory’s recent Collector’s Edition release.
Not only did Scream Factory do a 4K scan from the original negative, they also included a bunch of special features including exclusive interviews, a tribute to stuntman Jack Tyree who sadly lost his life while working on the film and a commentary track hosted by John Charles, associate editor of Video Watchdog, and featuring Director Albert Pyun.
Pyun shared a lot of interesting nuggets of information about The Sword and the Sorcerer and also got very emotional at one point when he talked about what directing the movie meant to him personally. And the commentary track served as the source material for this post as I present, 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Sword and the Sorcerer…
1. Pyun shopped The Sword and the Sorcerer around Hollywood for three years, lugging around his storyboards and models that he had hoped would help others see his vision for the film. Pyun’s persistence obviously paid off.
2. One major name Pyun wanted for the film was none other than Charlton Heston. Through some friends, Pyun was able to get backstage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where Heston was starring in a play. Pyun snuck into Heston’s dressing room and left a script with his contact information on it… but alas, Chuck never called.
3. Richard Moll, who played Xusia, had to have the contact lenses his character wore surgically removed at UCLA Medical Center. At one point in the movie Xusia rises from a liquid filled crypt and the liquid in the crypt caused the contact lenses to fuse to Moll’s eyes. This put Moll out of commission and the role of Xusia had to be recast to finish the scenes involving the character.
4. The temporary track Albert Pyun was using during the production of The Sword and the Sorcerer was John Williams’ score for Superman… wise choice Albert, wise choice.
5. Lorenzo Lamas was among the actors that auditioned for the lead role of Talon, that ultimately went to Lee Horsley.
6. The producers originally wanted David Hasselhoff to play Talon.
7. The original narrator of the film was set to be Oliver Reed… however when Oliver showed up he was drunk off his ass, insulting the crew including the producers and Pyun. And by the time he was done bitching about all the things he didn’t like and was ready to work… he sounded like a man who just woke up out of a drunken stupor… so the decision was made to have Simon MacCorkindale, who played Mikah in the film, also serve as the narrator.
8. Oliver Reed was not the only one reportedly under the influence on set… Richard Lynch was said to be partaking in some recreational drugs in his trailer during the shoot, which could explain why Lynch saw the Academy Award in his future for his portrayal of Cromwell.
9. Leading lady Kathleen Beller, who played Alana, surprised many on the set when she didn’t want a stunt double for the scene with the 16 foot python… this was because growing up Beller had two pet boas and had zero fear of snakes.
10. A piece of the epic three bladed sword that Talon uses broke off at one point during a fight scene and lacerated Lee Horsley’s scalp.
