Kull the Conqueror

Kull the Conqueror was quite a disappointment, considering that it supposedly follows in the footsteps of such films as the two Conans and Red Sonja!
The movie brings to the screen the story of Kull, as he ascends to the throne of Valusia only to be overthrown by a long dead witch-queen brought back to life by an evil wizard.
The acting is weak, the humor and the dialogues are way below average, while the plot is just bearable.
The major setbacks are in relation to:
1) Kevin Sorbo playing Kull the Barbarian. Am I missing something here? With his "pretty" looks and mannerisms, his civilized way of fighting and his liberal 20th century ideas, it seems he is anything but a Barbarian!
2) The dialogues-oh my- the dialogues are beyond words...
School plays (and pre-school for that matter) have better lines! It is truly sad...
3) The awful amateurish fight scenes that I could have staged better myself...
4) The annoyingly bad heavy metal/hard rock music out of hell that greatly contributed to the lack of enjoyment for the movie.
5) The apparently low budget that made the whole thing look fake and cheap.
6) The weak minor characters like the eunuch who was plain sad, and the wizard and his "pet" that were just pathetic.
7) The plot where things were happening too fast and with no logic or continuity e.g. how did Kull get to the palace so fast in the very beginning of the film, and how did he sail back on his own from the Isle of Ice to mention a few.
8) The poor acting, which brought to mind Xena and Hercules (it was bad enough with Kevin Sorbo there not to think of the latter of the two abominations). And then out of nowhere appears Harvey Fierstein (!!!), a dreadful actor (if one may call him an actor) who was not surprisingly dismal in his respective role.
9) The terrible plot/storyline, which turned out what should have been a film related to Conan the Barbarian with the realistic violence and mature and explicit scenes to another episode of sadly... Hercules.
10) The humor, or lack of it.
It seems that the only positive aspect of the film was the ladies: Tia Carrere is one of the most beautiful and attractive actresses out there and Karina Lombard was doing just fine, though a little exposure would have definitely spiced things up...
Though the potential for a good, or even decent, movie was definitely there it fails to take off, primarily due to the writers.
In a nutshell, it's an ok movie if you're under 13 and/or are heavily intoxicated, and
that's about it. Wait till they show it on TV. 1.5 Stars

Well.. at least this time. This movie is a funny, action packed, sword slashing, babe rescuing, good time.

'Kull' released in '97 is an enjoyable fantasy action/adventure starring Kevin Sorbo as the invincible barbarian Kull. There's not much difference in Kevin's characterization in this film from his 'Hercules' role he played so well for 6 seasons on television, but when you've got a good thing going why change.

The film has all the required elements; attractive hero Kull (Kevin Sorbo), beautiful love interest Zareta (Karina Lombard), sexy evil villianess Akivasha (Tia Carrera), likeable side-kick Ascalante (Litefoot), an oncoming invasion of demons, and a dangerous quest against impossible odds. What else could anyone ask for? Add to that a superior supporting cast of other would be heroes and villians and you've got a pretty good evening of entertainment awaiting.

Maybe it's not exactly a classic, but if you're a Hercules fan or just a kid (chronologically or at heart) who loves sword and sorcery movies this is one you'll watch over and over again.

Kevin Sorbo is fun to watch, with or without a shirt. But for a rainy Saturday afternoon, I will opt for this delightful actor, fencing across the screen, tossing one-liners such as "She said she was only 18" and doing in the bad guys, or bad girls, as the moment requires.

Is the story original? No, but it is intertaining.
Is the acting legendary? No, but does it matter?
Are the special effects the best I have ever seen? I don't know, I got lost in the movie again and forgot to pay attention to the electronic wizardry.
Does the good guy get the girl? Silly question, considering the good guy is a tall, gorgeous man with muscles and a twinkle in his eye.
Go get the popcorn, pour out a glass of iced tea, turn off the phone and settle back and just enjoy the show.

This movie is just horrible. Whereas Robert Howard's Kull was a somber, brooding character capable of both savagery and scholarly pursuits, this movie's Kull lacks any definable personality at all. Sorbo--horrible actor he is--simply is not the right actor to play Howard's first savage barbarian. Putting Acheron ahead of Valusia's time shows the writers couldn't even research the source naterial carefully enough to at least try to translate Howard to the screen. In addition, Howard's Kull is uninterested in women, while this Kull is almost as much a womanizer as Conan. (If they wanted to make another Conan movie, they should have done so. This is a completely different character.) Almost all--if not all--of Kull's supporting characters are removed in favor of holdovers from Howard's Conan stories (ie, Ascalante, Akivasha, et al). Though the story vaguely borrows from several Howard stories like The Hour of the Dragon (Howard's Conan novel), "By This Axe, I Rule!" (the story Howard converted from a Kull story into the first Conan story), and Exile of Atlantis (Kull's origin story), it is sloppy and incoherent and reduces his lyrical writing to dissonant garbage. Although of course it too has its flaws, Conan the Barbarian featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger is a much more satisfying rendition of one of Howard's creations. This movie should definitely be avoided while someone in Hollywood finds a way to bring a worthwhile version of something the late, great Texan wrote to the screen. Lastly, even the reviewer couldn't get things right, for Kull was an Atlantean of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age even as Conan was a Cimmerian of the Hyborian Age of several thousand years after Kull's time. Ah, well. I'm done venting.