Ator
Encyclopedia
Ator is a film series of four European movies made in the 1980s created by Italian director Joe D'Amato
, under the pseudonym David Hills. D'Amato wrote and directed the first, second, and fourth films in the series, himself disregarding the existence of the third. Ator was played in the first three films by Miles O'Keeffe
and Eric Allan Kramer
in the fourth.
Swordsman, alchemist, scientist, magician, scholar, and engineer, with the ability to sometimes produce objects out of thin air (see Ator 4). Unintentionally comic moments sometimes arise when writer/director Joe d'Amato has Ator use modern-day technology in the film's medieval setting. For example, in the second film of the series, Ator storms a castle using a 1980s style hang glider
, and later destroys the "Geometric Nucleus" with what appears to be a nuclear bomb, complete with mushroom cloud
, at the end of the film.
The series to be a parody (or direct copy) of the main character in the popular Conan the Barbarian
movies (the first Conan film, Conan the Barbarian, was released May 14, 1982; the first Ator movie was filmed shortly thereafter and came out later the same year, premiering October 7, 1982). Both Conan and Ator are heavily muscled, scantily clad Western European men (Ator is meant to be Scandinavian, whereas Conan, portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, appears to be Eastern European
) who do battle against bizarre monsters and fantasy villains in unspecified time periods based on the Middle Ages. Controversy has existed for some time that D'Amato—who was repeatedly blacklisted in Europe—created Ator as an attempt to make money from the success of the Conan films.
, lends credence to the argument that Joe D'Amato was using Ator as a ploy to make money from the Conan franchise. Like its predecessor, it went into production shortly after the theatrical release of another Conan movie, in this case Conan the Destroyer, and was released later the same year. In addition, large portions of the film use stock footage directly taken from other films, and it remains a question whether or not d'Amato actually received permission to use the footage. Notable movies featured in Ator l'invincibile 2 include Where Eagles Dare
and Taur the Mighty.
In this film, Ator and sidekick, Thong (a mute man of indeterminate Asian ancestry), travel from the mythic "ends of the Earth" to save Ator's mentor from an evil wizard. The film ends with Ator destroying an ancient object of power (the Geometric Nucleus) that his mentor was guarding to protect it from evil men (this scene used stock footage of a nuclear bomb.)
A number of composite archetypes (or stereotypes) masquerading as themes are woven together here: the 'intelligent he-man;' the 'triumph of science over magic;' the 'spiritual Asian warrior;' and the 'neutralized / eliminated hero.'
The film was a box office and home video failure. It was received so poorly that the director's cut Cave Dwellers was featured on the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000
, causing it to become a cult sensation. The episode that it was featured on is routinely voted by fans as one of the ten best of the series. The American theatrical cut, The Blademaster, now enjoys modest success on home video and DVD as a cult favorite. It has remained in the top twenty of IMDB's Worst Films List ever since the website's creation.
picture, utilizing a variety of cinematic techniques and camera tricks to act as symbols or give deeper meaning to the film. Ator's character is also drastically changed: Here, he has black hair in a ponytail, and speaks roughly 50 words in the entire movie.
Unlike its predecessors, Iron Warrior does not use footage from other films to account for lapses in special effects scenes. The film does pay homage to a number of popular films from the time, including the first Superman
film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
, Excalibur, and Raiders of the Lost Ark
. The film's score is, as with the first of the series, provided by Carlo Maria Cordio - one of his themes for the film is a simple reworking of a very similar cue heard throughout Joe D'Amato's 1981 film Rosso Sangue (also scored by Cordio).
, and Hobgoblin. Here, Eric Allan Kramer
plays Ator; this is the only film in the series not to feature Miles O'Keeffe in the role.
The "hobgoblin" suit was recycled from the notorious Troll 2
; in fact, this film was released as Troll 3 in Germany
.
Joe D'Amato
Joe D'Amato, was a prolific Italian filmmaker who directed roughly 200 films, usually at the same time acting as producer and cinematographer, and sometimes providing the script as well...
, under the pseudonym David Hills. D'Amato wrote and directed the first, second, and fourth films in the series, himself disregarding the existence of the third. Ator was played in the first three films by Miles O'Keeffe
Miles O'Keeffe
Miles O'Keeffe is a television and movie actor. O'Keeffe got his first big break playing the title role in the 1981 version of Tarzan, the Ape Man.-Early life:...
and Eric Allan Kramer
Eric Allan Kramer
Eric Allan Kramer is an American actor, perhaps best known as Little John in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, as Thor in The Incredible Hulk Returns, as Whitey van de Bunt in Bob and as Dave Rogers in The Hughleys...
in the fourth.
Swordsman, alchemist, scientist, magician, scholar, and engineer, with the ability to sometimes produce objects out of thin air (see Ator 4). Unintentionally comic moments sometimes arise when writer/director Joe d'Amato has Ator use modern-day technology in the film's medieval setting. For example, in the second film of the series, Ator storms a castle using a 1980s style hang glider
Hang gliding
Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider ....
, and later destroys the "Geometric Nucleus" with what appears to be a nuclear bomb, complete with mushroom cloud
Mushroom cloud
A mushroom cloud is a distinctive pyrocumulus mushroom-shaped cloud of condensed water vapor or debris resulting from a very large explosion. They are most commonly associated with nuclear explosions, but any sufficiently large blast will produce the same sort of effect. They can be caused by...
, at the end of the film.
The series to be a parody (or direct copy) of the main character in the popular Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...
movies (the first Conan film, Conan the Barbarian, was released May 14, 1982; the first Ator movie was filmed shortly thereafter and came out later the same year, premiering October 7, 1982). Both Conan and Ator are heavily muscled, scantily clad Western European men (Ator is meant to be Scandinavian, whereas Conan, portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, appears to be Eastern European
Cimmeria
Cimmeria may refer to:*Cimmeria, an ancient name of the Crimea, a peninsula in the North part of Black Sea, or the Eastern part thereof*Cimmerians, an ancient people who lived in the south of modern-day Ukraine in the 8th and 7th century BC, usually associated with the ancient Cimmeria or Crimea...
) who do battle against bizarre monsters and fantasy villains in unspecified time periods based on the Middle Ages. Controversy has existed for some time that D'Amato—who was repeatedly blacklisted in Europe—created Ator as an attempt to make money from the success of the Conan films.
Ator l'invincibile
The first film in the series is 1982's Ator l'invincibile, translated into English as Ator the Invincible. It was released in America as Ator, The Fighting Eagle. As the film opens Ator asks his father for permission to marry his sister. Ator's father tells Ator that he is adopted and so he can marry his sister if he likes. The rest of the film deals with Ator's sister being kidnapped by the high priest of the Spider Kingdom and Ator having to go on an epic quest to save her.Ator l'invincibile 2
1984's Ator l'invincibile 2, released in America as The Blademaster and in a re-edited version as The Cave DwellersCave Dwellers
Ator l'invincibile 2 is an Italian film that was made in 1984. The movie was written and directed by Joe d'Amato...
, lends credence to the argument that Joe D'Amato was using Ator as a ploy to make money from the Conan franchise. Like its predecessor, it went into production shortly after the theatrical release of another Conan movie, in this case Conan the Destroyer, and was released later the same year. In addition, large portions of the film use stock footage directly taken from other films, and it remains a question whether or not d'Amato actually received permission to use the footage. Notable movies featured in Ator l'invincibile 2 include Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 World War II action-adventure spy film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton and shot on location in Upper Austria and Bavaria....
and Taur the Mighty.
In this film, Ator and sidekick, Thong (a mute man of indeterminate Asian ancestry), travel from the mythic "ends of the Earth" to save Ator's mentor from an evil wizard. The film ends with Ator destroying an ancient object of power (the Geometric Nucleus) that his mentor was guarding to protect it from evil men (this scene used stock footage of a nuclear bomb.)
A number of composite archetypes (or stereotypes) masquerading as themes are woven together here: the 'intelligent he-man;' the 'triumph of science over magic;' the 'spiritual Asian warrior;' and the 'neutralized / eliminated hero.'
The film was a box office and home video failure. It was received so poorly that the director's cut Cave Dwellers was featured on the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
, causing it to become a cult sensation. The episode that it was featured on is routinely voted by fans as one of the ten best of the series. The American theatrical cut, The Blademaster, now enjoys modest success on home video and DVD as a cult favorite. It has remained in the top twenty of IMDB's Worst Films List ever since the website's creation.
Iron Warrior
Joe D'Amato dropped the Ator franchise in 1986, around the same time when it became public knowledge that there were no plans to make a third Conan movie. Instead, in 1987, a new director, Alfonso Brescia, wrote and directed the third Ator film, Iron Warrior, which follows the same loose plot as Ator l'invincible 2. The film abandons the continuity of the first two films (even so far as to completely contradict Ator's established back-story of having been adopted as a baby, instead opening with him playing as a child with a twin brother), and with writer/director d'Amato gone, the unintentional plot device of anachronisms disappears. Instead, Brescia turns the film into an art houseArt film
An art film is the result of filmmaking which is typically a serious, independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience...
picture, utilizing a variety of cinematic techniques and camera tricks to act as symbols or give deeper meaning to the film. Ator's character is also drastically changed: Here, he has black hair in a ponytail, and speaks roughly 50 words in the entire movie.
Unlike its predecessors, Iron Warrior does not use footage from other films to account for lapses in special effects scenes. The film does pay homage to a number of popular films from the time, including the first Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second film in the Indiana Jones franchise and prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark . After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone...
, Excalibur, and Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
. The film's score is, as with the first of the series, provided by Carlo Maria Cordio - one of his themes for the film is a simple reworking of a very similar cue heard throughout Joe D'Amato's 1981 film Rosso Sangue (also scored by Cordio).
Ator 4
Joe D'Amato was reportedly displeased with Brescia's approach to his character, and so re-took control of the franchise in 1988. In 1990, D'Amato released the final Ator film, Ator l'invincible, a retooling of the first film in the series. It was released in Europe and the United States under a variety of titles including: Ator III: The Hobgoblin (indicating D'Amato's disregard for the previous film), Quest for the Mighty SwordQuest for the Mighty Sword
Quest for the Mighty Sword is the fourth and final film in the Ator film series, although it is regarded as the third film to the series creator, Joe D'Amato, who disowns Iron Warrior which was the only film in the series not to be directed by D'Amato...
, and Hobgoblin. Here, Eric Allan Kramer
Eric Allan Kramer
Eric Allan Kramer is an American actor, perhaps best known as Little John in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, as Thor in The Incredible Hulk Returns, as Whitey van de Bunt in Bob and as Dave Rogers in The Hughleys...
plays Ator; this is the only film in the series not to feature Miles O'Keeffe in the role.
The "hobgoblin" suit was recycled from the notorious Troll 2
Troll 2
Troll 2 is a 1990 horror film directed by Claudio Fragasso and starring Michael Stephenson, George Hardy, Margo Prey, Connie Young , Deborah Reed, and Jason Wright...
; in fact, this film was released as Troll 3 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
External links
- Ator l'invincibile (1982) at IMDbInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Ator l'invincibile 2 (1984) at IMDb
- Iron Warrior (1987) at IMDb
- Quest for the Mighty Sword (1990) at IMDb