Where to watch Gor
1 1/2 Stars
American professor Tarl Cabot is transported via a magical ring to planet Gor, where he must help an oppressed country overthrow its evil king and his barbarian henchmen.
A philosophy professor writing under the pen name John Norman is the person responsible for the Gor book series. I mention this as the film adaptation is, awkwardly, titled John Norman’s Gor. An above-the-title credit is typically only for esteemed authors and filmmakers, neither of which characterizes Norman. Judging from the material on screen, Norman liberally borrows from John Carter, Lord of the Rings, and Dune to name the most obvious influences on the narrative. Yet John Norman’s Gor is a campy, low-budget production from Cannon Film’s international branch.
The film’s producers were able to secure the acting talents of Oliver Reed, the only actor not over-dubbed, to add a shred of class to this chintzy affair. The end result is a lackluster movie with underwhelming production values, costume design, and an even more threadbare script. Further proof of the filmmaker’s laziness is that the entire score is cobbled together from other Cannon Film’s movies, specifically Hercules and The Barbarians. Somehow, this is just the first installment, with a sequel to follow one year later. The stunning Rebecca Ferratti, a beautiful barbarian queen, is the film’s best special effect.
Directed by: Fritz Kiersch
Written by: John Norman, Rick Marx, Harry Alan Towers
Starring: Urbano Barberini, Rebecca Ferratti, Jack Palance