Heath Holland On...Fantasy and Sword & Sorcery Movies in the '90s

by Heath Holland

Know, oh prince, that between the years after the Reagan administration and the coming of Y2K, there came an age undreamed of, of low art and even lower production values, where even the most stalwart of sword and sorcery loyalists found they could not defend what had become of their genre. It was a time of darkness, gnashing of teeth, and lamentations. Hither came the nineties, and long did it suck upon the scrotum of the beast. And the memory of the many and wondrous sword and sorcery movies, movies of gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth which had come before, were trod to dust beneath its sandaled feet.

Heavy Action: Kull the Conqueror / The Scorpion King

What is it that makes an action star? Why do some "pop" and others don't? Steven Seagal becomes a movie star and works consistently for two decades, while Jeff Speakman disappears almost immediately after The Perfect Weapon is engineered to make him a household name. Michael Jai White has incredible chops (both literal and figurative), but hasn't enjoyed one third as much success as Wesley Snipes. Then there's polar opposites Kevin Sorbo and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who met with very different career fates despite being launched as action stars in very, very similar movies.