Red Sonja (1985)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Robert E. Howard (character)
Clive Exton (written by) ...

Release Date:

3 July 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

A woman and a warrior that became a legend.

Plot:

The tyrant Gedren seeks the total power in a world of barbarism. She raids the city Hablac and kills...

Plot Keywords:

Talisman | Sea Monster | Based On Comic Book | Psychotronic | Pulp Fiction

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Kalidor
Brigitte Nielsen	...	Red Sonja
Sandahl Bergman	...	Queen Gedren
Paul L. Smith	...	Falkon (as Paul Smith)
Ernie Reyes Jr.	...	Prince Tarn
Ronald Lacey	...	Ikol
Pat Roach	...	Brytag
Terry Richards	...	Djart
Janet Agren	...	Varna, Red Sonja's Sister
Donna Osterbuhr	...	Kendra the High Priestess
Lara Naszinsky	...	Gedren's Handmaid
Hans Meyer	...	Red Sonja's Father
Francesca Romana Coluzzi	...	Red Sonja's Mother
Stefano Maria Mioni	...	Barlok, Red Sonja's Brother (as Stafano Mioni)
Tutte Lemkow	...	Wizard

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

Netherlands | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor) | Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Italy:T | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Australia:PG | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | UK:PG (cut) | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12 (f) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Italy

Company:

Dino De Laurentiis Company

Trivia:

Maria Shriver said in a TV interview that at the premiere of 'Red Sonja' she remarked to her husband, "If this doesn't kill your career, nothing will".

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Kalidor lifts Prince Tarn into the air with one arm, the wire attached to Tarn's back is visible.

Quotes:

Ikol: [Gedren's fortress continues to shunt aside the Talisman's earthquakes and storms. In her throne room... ] Majesty, the Talisman is almost beyond control. We must bury it in the dark before it is too late.
Queen Gedren: It'll be buried when I have no further use for it, and that time shall come with the end of time itself.
Ikol: *It will kill us all.* Majesty, what do you want? Our vaults are brimming with gold. Great kingdoms live in terror of us! *What more is there?*
Queen Gedren: The *world,* Ikol! Today we took the kingdom of Toktyl. But I have wider claims, and the Talisman will enforce them!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Version of Red Sonja (2010)

Not much of anything.

Sometimes intentionally campy, at other times unintentionally silly (like in the opening scene, where a woman is "informed" that she has been raped and that her family has been slaughtered, just for the sake of exposition), this film is ultimately neither funny enough nor competent enough (as a straightforward adventure story) to be really enjoyable. I'll leave you to decide which may be the highlight, but the low point is probably the fight with a silly metallic dragon. Brigitte Nielsen was a good choice for Sonja, with her fresh face and her firm, slightly muscular body (and I think that her dark-red hair suits her perfectly), but Schwarzenegger gives one of his few colorless performances as Calidor. (*1/2)