What if Conan invaded Star Wars? The adventures of physical specimen Yor, a warrior with blond hair(Reb Brown, with a ridiculous wig)who desires to know where he came from, battling prehistoric creatures, nasty Neanderthals, and the Overlord(John Steiner), a cloaked menace with a Robot army(..they strikingly favor Darth Vador)who lives within the futuristic fortress hidden on an island.
Along the journey, Ka-Laa(Corinne Clery, who is smokin' in her prehistoric garb), Yor's love-interest, and Pag(Luciano Pigozzi)whose village and people were killed by the savage Neanderthal tribe, join the hero on his quest to discover his identity..and the meaning behind his odd medallion necklace. Yor soon discovers one of his own kind, the lovely Roa(Ayshe Gul)who is worshipped by crazed nuclear rejects with bad burns throughout their bodies. Soon, Yor will have to evade them, with Roa in tow, before having to fight more Neanderthals. Soon, Yor and company(..minus Roa who becomes a casualty of the Neathderthal attack)will find a peaceful prehistoric tribe he saves from a dinosaur, before they are bombarded by laser fire. A running theme..wherever Yor goes, death and troubles follow. Pag finds an abandoned radio with voices communicating across it, perhaps proving that someone is behind the laser attacks. Soon he, along with Ka-Laa and Pag, will take a boat, specially made by the nearly distinct tribe just attacked by laser fire(..coming from the "radio people")and head for the island where the diabolical Overlord awaits. What Overlord desires is to create a hybrid man-robot(..or "robo-man"?)race, perfect for conquering the world using Yor and Ka-Laa to "spread the seed". But, Overlord wasn't preparing for a revolting mutiny of his own technical staff, tired of his tyranny ready for a new peaceful world to inhabit.
Yes, as most will go out of their way to tell you, this film is just plain wacky, but so energetically presented, fast paced, with non-stop action. Margheretti's camera is in full zoom or constantly following the action, but never too annoying. The hokey nature of the film, blasted by most(..deservedly I guess), kind of stuck to me. This is the very definition of guilty pleasure. It plays, to me, like a comic book series with Yor going from one scenario into another, always fending off some fiendish group of people. Reb Brown is rather charisma-less, but the film constantly moves, moves, moves, I had a hard time really focusing on his presence on screen. The film isn't "Conan The Barbarian" or "Star Wars", but the audacity to mix the two completely different themes makes for a rather jaw-dropping experience. Seeing Pag, for instance, shooting a laser at a robot after firing his bow and arrow at a Neanderthal, not too long ago, is almost surreal.
The film explains that a nuclear fall-out caused a return to prehistoric times, with "survivors" infected spread throughout, and those few uninfected on the island. Overlord kept his people in the belief that outside..on the mainland away from the island..everything is radioactive and poisonous. Yor and his band prove otherwise. It's absolutely an insane premise, but I couldn't resist it..it was like chocolate, or something. Just don't trust my feelings about it because seeing a space ship setting off for a prehistoric mainland is plain ga-ga. I'm even questioning my own taste this moment wondering why I enjoyed this crazy movie so much.
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