I only really remember Marc Singer in “V” (1984) but he does ok in this derivative but quite entertaining fantasy adventure. Starting off with shades of this year’s other sword and sandals fantasy “Conan”, his village is razed to the ground and “Dar” (Singer) is left amidst the ruins with only his sword in his hand to avenge himself on the evil high priest “Maax” (Rip Torn) and his “Juns” supporters. That malevolent creature lives atop a great stone pyramid where he routinely sacrifices children to the gods and we already know that he had an hand in the predicament faced by “Dar” (Singer) who is, of course, really the king of “Aruk” and whose father was betrayed by that self same priest - all without him having a clue. His unique upbringing has given him special advantages, though. He can talk to an eagle, a black tiger and a couple of mischievous but sharp-toothed ferrets. As “Dar” closes in on his quest, he also encounters the feisty temple maiden “Kiri” (Tanya Roberts), the mighty “Seth” (John Amos) and his protégé “Tal” (Joshua Milrad) but are they going to be anywhere near enough muscle to overthrow the terrifying regime and their henchmen? Singer makes for quite a good hero here as he parades about in his loincloth twirling his sword and dispatching the baddies. Torn doesn’t feature so often, but hams up nicely - in a Frank Langella sort of vein and the whole scantily-clad enterprise rolls along quite entertainingly until a fiery conclusion that gives everyone, even the ferrets, a moment in the sun. The production standards are reasonable, though the editing leaves something to be desired at times, and with a score that reminded me the whole time of “Battlestar Galactica” I quite enjoyed it.

The sword and sorcery movies of the early 80s weren't able to capture public interest like Star Wars or The Terminator films, but this one might be more agreeable than most. It's faster paced than Clash of the Titans. The hero is more willing to save innocent people than Conan. And the locations (some around L.A. and Las Vegas) look really beautiful. Dar (Marc Singer) is like a mix of Tarzan and the standard barbarian hero. He uses his animal friends to create some mischief and tease the beautiful slave girl (Tonya Roberts) before he takes on one of those crazy cult leaders (Rip Torn) that are always causing trouble in barbarian movies. It may not impress anyone with special effects but given the restrictions of the time, I think they put together a fun story. The final battle scenes where a mote of tar errupts in flames should give one pause because that ain't CGI.