Ator the Iron Warrior (1987)

I’m desperately trying to find words for Ator the Iron Warrior, the official third part in the Italian franchise – until Ator 3: The Hobgoblin came. So I guess this is Ator 2,5 – like some damn sequel to The Naked Gun. This time Alfonso Brescia is behind the camera, under his classic alias Al Bradley. I was prepared to not like this movie, but even of the story was non-existent and puzzled together from a couple of other flicks, this was really a fun and gorgeous-looking movie. Like a ninety minute long eighties music video, but with Miles O’Keeffe flexing his muscles instead of Huey Lewis flexing his… hair.

This movie actually looks so good and has such cool shots and angles that it’s hard to believe that it’s Brescia behind the camera, dictating what to do. But why not? The budget seem slightly higher, or at least there must have been more time to shoot the movie because it never seem sloppy. The script is a mix between Star Wars (but this is not son and father, but brother and brother against each other), the two first Indiana Jones-movies (copying two very central and famous scenes from both of them) and Superman (when you see it you will understand).

But the main idea with Ator the Iron Warrior must to have to set up über-stylish shots of handsome people posing in cool positions – and long slow-motion takes which makes the action seem even more dramatic than it probably was in the beginning. One scene is actually quite cool, when Ator and the princess are being chased by huge rolling stones (just like in the first Indy-movie), which shows some excellent rapid editing and cool sets (which I guess is a real ruin on Malta).

Miles O’Keeffe look weird as possible, like a cat on steroids – but I’ve been a fan of him a long time and he’s a great action actor, always doing his best in ridiculous movies. One of my favourite Mattei-movies is Double Target, which is one big excuse to show big explosions and gun fights. He’s also brilliant in Relentless 2, one of the best DTV sequels ever made.

The Italian DVD from Stormovie looks quite good, in anamorphic widescreen and with English language. I wish the other three Ator-movies could come out in versions this good. None of them are masterpieces, but a lot of cheesy fun for the whole fucked-up family.