Thursday, July 6, 2023

Outlaw of Gore (1988)

Tarl Cabot (Urbano Barberini) is leading an unhappy life since his return from Gor.  One of his fellow professors, Watney Smith (Russel Savadier), is failing miserably in his efforts to hook up with any woman who will have him.  Though Watney wants to try another bar, Cabot is ready to call it a night.  He offers to drive Watney home first.  While driving, Cabot's ring starts glowing.  The pair find themselves in the midst of a desert on Gor!  While Cabot is thrilled, Watney is baffled and concerned.  Eventually, the pair find their way to Koruba, the place that Cabot freed on his last visit to Gor.  Now, a new danger threatens.  The young queen has conspired with Xeno the Priest (Jack Palance) to usurp the throne and lay the blame on Cabot.  Can Cabot escape Queen Lara's clutches and also rescue his beloved, Talena (Rebecca Ferratti)?

This is worse than the last film.  The fight choreography is pathetic.  The queen's plans are so obvious that no one would fall for them.  Jack Palance, like Oliver Reed before him, is here for the paycheck only.  His villian might have been more impressive if he wasn't constantly thwarted by the brainless queen.  His death is so sudden and badly done that I had to rewind to see what happened.  Rather than some great and heroic warrior, Cabot comes across as a dull-witted fool.  He doesn't win because he outsmarts or outfights the enemy, but because he is the good guy.  Worst of all, everyone is saying 'Cabot' repeatedly and endlessly.  His name is spoken 55 times in the first 10 minutes!  35 times, it was the tediously annoying Watney.  Speaking of Watney, he proves to be even dumber than Cabot.  What college is it that these two are professors?  Yikes, don't enroll there.

Being set in Gor, one expects sexy women wearing next to nothing.  Talena, Queen Lara, and the nameless slave that Cabot rescues are all quite attractive but there isn't a lot of focus on them.  The 'plot' is more important than the eye candy.  Where Talena and Cabot traveled together in much of the previous film, in this one they are separated early and have individual storylines; that really limits Rebecca's screen time.  It's like the filmmakers don't understand the main draw for a Gor film.

Skip this one.

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