Outlaw of Gor
Outlaw of Gor
PG-13 | 01 December 1988 (USA)
Outlaw of Gor Trailers

An Earthman returns to the planet Gor, and fights against tyranny.

Reviews
Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
stargzer I like reading SciFi and Fantasy, but I've neither read nor heard of the Gor novels. I saw the summary on the Comet TV listing on cable and figured I'd record "Gor" and "Outlaw of Gor" for later viewing. I was never expecting a classic film like "The Best Years of Our Lives" (one of my favorites) or a classic fantasy saga like "The Deed of Paksenarrion," just a generic Hack-And-Slash time filler, and that's what I got.A lot of both Gor movies reminded me a bit of the Edgar Rice Burroughs "Barsoom" novels I read in my youth--deserts, fights, hero transplanted from another world. Cabot's friend Prof. Watney Smith, an annoying schmendrick if there ever was one, reminded me of the incompetent sidekick Trent in the old "Leather Goddesses of Phobos RPG, which was released three years before this film; I guess this film compares a bit to the "lewd" mode of LGOP. He's not as treacherous as Dr. Smith in "Lost in Space," but you still want to slap him silly. I did, however, like the midget comic sidekick character Hup.Fight scenes? Check. Skimpy costumes, including some string bikini tops designed to look topless in a long shot? Check. Sleazy sidekick you really want to slap silly? Check. Comical "short person" sidekick who sometimes finds a way out of trouble? Check. A true actor stuck in a film just to maintain his union membership so he retains health insurance and retirement benefits? Check. A couple of plot twists about who takes out the villains at the end? Check.Three stars, something to pass the time; don't go in expecting any more that a time filler.
azazeleblis Most simply, these movies are proof that science fiction and fantasy have fallen completely.From Asimov's foresight and Tolkien's epics... devolve this sexually awkward televised game of Dungeons and Dragons?! I am disappointed with the genre because of this film.No plot, annoyingly hollow characters that never develop, horrible actors, and a poor concept from the beginning make this movie (and it's twin) worthless. Quite literally, Mother Goose's simplest tale has miles more to say about the world. While such a feat used to be hard for this genre, now it seems 9 year olds get novels published, and screenplays filmed.It gets a second star simply for being so easy to heckle. The Mystery Science Theater 3000 version is more enjoyable, and illustrates my point beautifully. However, this episode is a little wasted if you don't watch with friends and heckle along too.
Rob_Taylor Let's see.... take one of the more infamous literary staples, namely the Gor books by John Norman, convert it to film and you'd think you'd be onto a winner. Why? Well, the Gor books, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure, or pain, can be summed up as follows: Conan with pornography. Each and every novel was chock full of porn, sado-masochism and bondage. In short, a "raging-hormone-male-teenager's" wet dream. Hidden amongst the sleaze and thinly-veiled attempts to make the reader think of women as nothing but objects, there are actually some pretty good action-adventure stories. So it would seem that converting them to celluloid would be a winner, even if only on the soft-porn circuit.Sadly, Outlaw of Gor is nothing like the books. Given my description above, some might breathe a sigh of relief at that. Unfortunately, by taking away the sex, having a budget less than that of the average teenager's weekly pocket money and doing some awful re-inventing of the novels' original ideas (yes there were some!), the filmmakers literally killed the golden goose and replaced it with a prize turkey.Outlaw is just horrendous throughout, from the acting, the sets, the laughable "costumes", the editing and dialogue right down to the fight scenes that appeared to have been choreographed by the Marx Bros. But the worst thing is seeing how little they used the original material. Nevermind the porn, they plucked names out of the books and didn't do a whole lot else. Tarl Cabot, the hero of the novels, is translated into a weedy vegetarian who is totally against slavery - a complete reversal from the novels. Likewise the Priest-Kings - In the books alien insectoids who ruled the planet. In the movie we get.....Jack Palance, who doesn't seem to be in command of his own lines, let alone the planet. And yes, Jack leers and mugs his way throughout the movie, at least having the grace to look embarrassed at several points.The plot is feeble, centering around an evil Queen's attempts to take control of the city of Koroba by murdering her husband and blaming it on Cabot. There then follows interminable amounts of wandering about in the desert by Cabot and his midget henchman (I kid you not!). We're also treated to far too many shots of the midget's rear end during the film (I mentioned the costumes were rubbish, didn't I?) and awful moralising dialogue by Cabot about the evils of slavery.There are no special effects to speak of - the budget was too miniscule for that, just the heady excitement of one lame swordfight after another. At the end, which really sums up the whole movie and had me in hysterics, Tarl Cabot makes as if to snap his sword over his knee - a symbolic gesture of peace. Would have been good too, except that the sword does not break - it bends into a U shape like it was made out of thin tin. Yep, that's Outlaw of Gor for ya - all bent out of shape.Even on MST3K this is one of the lamest excuses for a movie. It really is best avoided.
mfujie I found the story concept to have some potential but the film was poorly made. Tarl's sidekicks could have been different and better (and less irritating). The props could have been improved at lot more. As for the lead actor, Urbano Barberini looks right for the role but his acting skills were rather bad.