1110. Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1985)

Among ten pictures Roger Corman produced in Argentina in the 80s beginning with Deathstalker (1983), Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1985) goes full 80s. Child hero, nefarious baddie, adult sidekick, fantasy. Fully cut the footage lasted 58 minutes. Corman ordered several editors to cull whatever was serviceable from his earlier sword and sorcery fare and a 15-20 minute prologue was born. Max’s discovery, Verbal Smoke Bombs, The Sponsor Clock, Warrior Nicknames, “The Magic in You”, Letters. “Mortal Kombat!”, “How do you lose a whole kingdom?”, “OMG, I reanimated Slipnot!” “Dragon’s Lair beckons you to press play” or “Gidget Goes Satanic”?

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MST3K Season 11 Movie Title Riffs.

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I think both Wizards movies are extremely solid episodes. I don’t know why they got some blowback at the time - I think mostly for the presence of Bobby Jacoby in Wizards 2, infamous for playing the loathsome teenage punk Melvin in Tremors a couple years later, and not exactly deviating from a similar profoundly annoying performance here. I think they’re two of the strongest in Season 11, and I love that Joel brought back the old habit of going through a franchise or series a la Master Ninja, Fugitive Alien, etc.

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God I love this episode.

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What exactly? All of it or something specific?

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I’ll get back to you when I’m not groggy, but off the top of my head BIG FLUFFY MANDOG!

Or I could just link my review and call it a day:

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I really like this episode and its “sequel.” I think they are perfect examples of movies that just keep giving the crew material to goof on.

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the hysterics of lost kingdom go on for days . kor just reminds me of a gym teacher. the creature work is fun too.

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This one is seriously one of my favorite episodes. I’m partial to the fantasy genre and I love Wizards I and II. Kor is great, as is Shurka (and Crabby - even though he doesn’t get paid enough for subway fare), even Apula. Hadouken!

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Bo Svenson makes any dreck soar. He should be in more MST experiments.

Soap opera legend Thom Christopher is a double MST threat at this point (he’s the villain in both Deathstalker and Wizards 1) and as an avid fan of his other work it always delights me to see him turn up again.

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These are some of my favorite Season 11 episodes. They’re both so weird and each embraces the use of old footage in its own unique way. The first one is almost weirdly wholesome (in a Corman fantasy flick?!), and the little kids’ playhouse always makes me crack up. The second one is more typically sleazy, but clearly doesn’t care about taking itself seriously while at the same time doing a better job of mixing in the old footage.

Both are custom made for riffing, and the pair makes a good dual episode.

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There really should be more 80s Corman in the mix, but I guess we just had one with Lords of the Deep (one of very few S12 eps I really love).

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Their cynical addendum as the credits roll, with our hero growing up to be the standard-issue weird Medieval despot, is in the grand tradition of the ones at the end of Hercules and Soultaker. But with the lighter touch of that first one more than the claws-dug-in tone of the second one.

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Kor uses nods/head tilts to punctuate his sentences. One night i counted 4 in one shot and could never unsee it

image

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I think slightly obnoxious kid Tyor (or whatever the heck his name is) is still more fun that dulldulldull Simon.

But Bo Svenson (Kor) absolutely kills as the first adult sidekick.

The second one is better, though, due to David Carradine’s thighs.

Oh, and I know why they cut the battle with the tentacle monster - it’s actually a scene from The Warrior and the Sorceress (a lot of DC’s scenes in WotLK2 are from that movie) and there’s some female nudity).

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“Does my helmet look crooked?” Always gets me

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Fun fact: Simon also has a classic movie pedigree, as he’s one of the two lead kids in Something Wicked This Way Comes.

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not as rewatchable as Wizards II but a solid episode. Elevated by the host segments. The magic inside you is such a great skit.

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Re-watching this, and thinking about the many complaints of riffs in this period being too rapid-fire. I… half-agree? In the action sequences (borrowed though they are) I think fewer riffs might have had more impact. But vast expanses of this movie are the patented COR-Man walking. Or someone attempting a meaningful look and not much else. Or special effects on loan from late-night used car ads. Etc. In those circumstances, they can shoehorn in as many riffs as they want and I’m fine with it.

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there could never be too many riffs… imo

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