The Sword and the Sorcerer

A mercenary who wields a distinctive three-bladed sword is drawn into a rebellion against the tyrant who seized his homeland. The usurper owes his power to a sorcerer he raised from the dead, and the mercenary joins forces with a princess and her allies to free their captured leader. The mercenary has his own claim to the kingdom, though he keeps his identity hidden.

Albert Pyun directed this 1982 fantasy adventure, his first feature, from a screenplay he wrote with Tom Karnowski and John V. Stuckmeyer. Lee Horsley plays the mercenary Talon, with Kathleen Beller as Alana, Simon MacCorkindale as Mikah, George Maharis as Machelli, Richard Lynch as the tyrant Cromwell and Richard Moll as the sorcerer Xusia. The production credits list 50 cast members and 134 crew.

Made for about 4 million dollars, the film took roughly 39 million worldwide, a strong return for a modestly budgeted release. On IMDb the film sits at 6.1 from 12 critics' reviews, while on TMDB users rate it 5.5 from 146 votes, so critics rated it somewhat higher than the audience did. Pyun went on to direct Journey to the Center of the Earth, Cyborg and Captain America, among many later films.