''Ator, the Fighting Eagle'' ( 'Ator the Invincible') is a 1982 Italian

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

film directed by

Joe D'Amato Aristide Massaccesi (15 December 1936 – 23 January 1999), known professionally as Joe D'Amato, was an Italian film director, producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter who worked in many genres (western (genre), westerns, ''Commedia sexy all' ...

. It stars

Miles O'Keeffe Miles O'Keeffe (born June 20, 1954) is an American film and television actor. O'Keeffe got his first big break playing the title role in the 1981 version of '' Tarzan, the Ape Man''. Youth O'Keeffe was born in Ripley, Tennessee. A star footba ...

Sabrina Siani Sabrina Siani (born Sabrina Seggiani in Rome, 1963) is an Italian film actress. She also used pseudonyms such as Sabrina Sellers and Sabrina Syan. She starred in numerous films, mostly violent cannibal films and sexy barbarian "sword-and-sandal" ...

, Ritza Brown, and

Edmund Purdom Edmund Cutlar Purdom (19 December 19261 January 2009)

. The story follows the eponymous warrior setting out on a journey to bring his wife Sandra home after her kidnapping by the Spider Cult. It was followed by the sequels '' Ator 2 – L'invincibile Orion'', ''

Iron Warrior ''Iron Warrior'' () is 1987 film directed by Alfonso Brescia. Plot Ator The Fighting Eagle returns again to the legendary realm of Dragor to do battle with Phoedra, an evil sorceress. Her main weapon is an unstoppable warrior, known as the Master ...

'', and '' Quest for the Mighty Sword''.

Plot

As the film opens, a baby named Ator is born with a birthmark that signals he will someday destroy the Spider Cult, which currently holds power over the land. Fearing this prophecy, the leader of the cult – High Priest of The Ancient One, Dakkar (Dakar) – attempts to kill the baby. Baby Ator's birthmark is covered up and he is whisked off to a village far away where he is given to a couple to raise as their own. Years later, Ator (O'Keefe), now in love with his sister Sunya (Brown), asks his father for permission to marry her. Ator's father reveals to Ator that he is adopted, and can therefore marry Sunya if he likes. On the day of their wedding, the village is raided by the Spider Cult's soldiers and several women are taken, including Sunya. After pursuing the soldiers, Ator soon finds himself training with Griba, a warrior who is an enemy of The Ancient One and also the person who whisked him away at his birth. Griba disappears, after which Ator is kidnapped by

Amazons The Amazons (Ancient Greek: ', singular '; in Latin ', ') were a people in Greek mythology, portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, Labours of Heracles, the ''Argonautica'' and the ''Iliad''. ...

, nearly seduced by a witch, and undergoes a quest to retrieve a magical mirrored shield. While kidnapped by the Amazons, Ator is "won" by Roon (Siani), a fierce blonde thief he helped earlier in the film. Roon is enamored with Ator, so she decides to flee with him and assist him during his quest. Ator successfully obtains the mirror, then uses it to fight and defeat Dakkar. His victory is muddied by the revelation that Griba is actually Dakkar's predecessor and had trained Ator so that he could retake his position as High Priest. Ator defeats Griba, however, leaving him to be devoured by the offspring of The Ancient One, a giant spider that dwells within the temple. To ensure that the cult does not return, Ator then provokes and kills The Ancient One itself. Afterward, with Roon having perished while infiltrating the temple, Ator and Sunya head back to their village, presumably to live in peace together.

Cast

as Ator *

as Roon * Ritza Brown as Sunya *

Edmund Purdom Edmund Cutlar Purdom (19 December 19261 January 2009)

as Griba *

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

as High Priest of the Spider (as Dakkar) *

Laura Gemser Laurette Marcia Gemser (born 5 October 1950) is an Indonesian-Dutch retired actress, model and costume designer. She is primarily known for her work in Cinema of Italy, Italian Sex in film, erotic cinema, most notably the ''Emmanuelle#Other film ...

as Indun * Alessandra Vazzoler as Woman in the tavern (as Chandra Vazzoler) *

Nello Pazzafini Giovanni "Nello" Pazzafini (15 May 1933 – 9 January 1996) was an Italian actor who appeared in a very large number of Peplum film genre, Peplum movies, Spaghetti Westerns and Poliziotteschi. Life and career Born in Rome from parents originall ...

as Bardak (as Nat Williams) * Jean Lopez as Nordya * Olivia Goods as Queen

Production

Michele Soavi Michele Soavi, sometimes known as Michael Soavi (born 3 July 1957)Baldassarre, Angela (1999) "The Great Dictators: Interviews with Filmmakers of Italian Descent", Guernica Editions, is an Italian filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter best known f ...

was hired to write the script for ''Ator, the Fighting Eagle''. He did it in collaboration with Marco Modugno. Both had previously worked together on the film (1979) with Modugno as director and Soavi as assistant director. The film was developed under the

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

of ''Fantasy''. Later, the script was revised by José Maria Sanchez and the film's director Joe D'Amato. D'Amato said in an interview that the script was "written by Jose Maria Sanchez", without mentioning Soavi or Modugno.Palmerini, Luca M.; Mistretta, Gaetano (1996). "Spaghetti Nightmares". Fantasma Books. p. 79.. In the credits, the pseudonym "Sherry Russel" was used. In a statement printed in , director Joe D'Amato complained that although Miles O'Keeffe, the actor who played Ator, had a nice athletic physique and was a really nice guy (), he recited his lines badly and was behaving listlessly during fight scenes. D'Amato praised the weapons master Franco Ukmar for doing "an incredible job" on him.

Release

''Ator, the Fighting Eagle'' passed the Italian censorship board on 14 September 1982 and was released in Italy on 7 October. It was released in the United States on 11 March 1983.

Reception and legacy

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' described the film as a "dull, incredibly silly fantasy adventure" and that the director "creates no atmosphere, with picture's exteriors never achieving any period feel". The Canadian magazine FFWD stated that "there are four Ator movies in total, and each one is staggeringly awful". The film was featured in Season 12 of ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then ...

'' on November 22, 2018. It was parodied by RiffTrax, consisted of former ''MST3K'' alumni

Michael J. Nelson Michael John Nelson (born October 11, 1964) is an American comedian and writer, most known for his work on the television series ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''). Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's origi ...

, Kevin Murphy and

Bill Corbett William Daniel Corbett (born March 30, 1960) is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''), for which he voiced Crow ...

, prior to the show's take of the film on March 10, 2017.RiffTrax: Ator, the Fighting Eagle (Preview Clip) on official YouTube channel
/ref>

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * *

External links

*
RiffTrax treatment on official YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ator The Fighting Eagle 1982 films 1980s fantasy adventure films 1980s Italian-language films English-language Italian films 1980s English-language films Ator Films about barbarians Films directed by Joe D'Amato Films scored by Carlo Maria Cordio Italian fantasy adventure films Sword and sorcery films Sword-and-sandal films 1982 multilingual films Italian multilingual films 1980s Italian films Films about Amazons English-language fantasy adventure films Mystery Science Theater 3000