Amazons (Argentina 1986)

Rating: *
Review Date: 5/12/19
Cast: Mindi Miller, Penelope Reed, Joseph Whipp, Danitza Kingsley

Disappointingly bad. Kalungo (Joseph Whipp) is a power-mad sorcerer who is bent on ruling the entire world. A group of Amazon warriors stands against him, and a woman named Dyala (Mindi Miller) has a vision of a sword that can defeat him. The queen sends her and another warrior named Tashi (Penelope Reed) to retrieve the sword, while others take measures to ensure their mission doesn't succeed. The women have to fight against numerous enemies to get to the sword, while getting topless as often as possible.

The production values of this low budget adventure are poor to begin with, but the appallingly bad editing makes the story nearly incomprehensible. The acting is atrocious, with the exception of Joseph Whipp's sneering villain and a barely passable Mindi Miller. Bad ADR just adds insult to injury. While the women are athletic and physically capable, the fight scenes are weak and a jumbled up mess. The story is confusing and inconsistent, and the visual effects are so terrible that you can't really tell what's going on. Sadly, the film seems to be a victim of its own overreaching ambitions, and tries to do way more than its meager budget can support. On the plus side, it manages to maintain a serious tone throughout, and never resorts to campy action or cheap laughs. Portions of the film were later spliced into the embarrassingly awful "Deathstalker II" (1987), which adds to the confusion.