Red Sonja (1985)
Running time: 89 minutes
Rating: MPAA – PG-13
DIRECTOR: Richard Fleischer
WRITERS: Clive Exton and George MacDonald Fraser (based on the character created by Robert E. Howard)
PRODUCER: Christian Ferry
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Giuseppe (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Frank J. Urioste
COMPOSER: Ennio Morricone
FANTASY/ACTION
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brigitte Nielson, Sandahl Bergman, Paul Smith, Ernie Reyes, Jr., Ronald Lacey, Janet Argen, and Tad Horino
Red Sonja is a 1985 American action-fantasy, sword-and-sorcery film from director Richard Fleischer. The movie focuses on a fearless warrior who sets out to avenge the murder of her family and to rid the kingdom of the evil queen who had them killed.
Red Sonja is female high fantasy and sword and sorcery comic book character that first appeared in Marvel Comics' Conan the Barbarian #23 (cover dated: February 1973) and was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith. They loosely based Red Sonja on “Red Sonya of Rogatino,” a character who appeared in a short story written by Robert E. Howard (1906-36), the creator of pulp character, Conan the Barbarian.
Red Sonja the movie introduces a young, red-haired woman named Sonja (Brigitte Nielson) She watches as the soldiers serving Queen Gedren (Sandahl Berman) murder her parents and her brother. Seeking revenge, Sonja trains under the warriors of the sword-master called “The Grand Master” (Tad Horino), although she has come to distrust nearly all men. Sonja sets off to avenge herself against Gedren and to end the Queen's tyrannical rule over the kingdom.
Assisting Sonja – whether she likes it or not – are the swordsman, Kalidor (Arnold Schwarzenegger); the boy prince of Hablock, Tarn (Ernie Reyes, Jr.); and his servant-bodyguard, Falkon (Paul Smith). Together the four must enter Berkuban, the “Land of Perpetual Night,” and stop Gedren from using the mysterious relic, “the Talisman,” to destroy the world.
I've been putting off seeing Red Sonja for decades, but because I want to see director M. J. Basseet's Red Sonja (2025), I thought it was time to finally see the 1985 film. Red Sonja was directed by Richard Fleischer (1916-2006), who also directed the second of the Conan the Destroyer (1984), the sequel to Conan the Barbarian (1982).
Red Sonja is a charming, even quaint sword-and-sorcery and film. Brigette Nielson is not a strong or particularly talented actress, and her performance gets no favors from this film's stilted dialogue. Still, Nielson is quite a trooper here and gives her all in her performance. I was definitely sold on the notion not only that she was Red Sonja, but also that Red Sonja was a real person.
Back when this film was initially released to theaters, a few of my friends saw it and hoped that Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in this film, Kalidor, would be revealed to be Conan. Apparently, contractual obligations and rights issues meant that Schwarzenegger ended up as “Kalidor,” essentially a Conan substitute-character. I really like Kalidor because Schwarzenegger plays the character in a somewhat lighthearted manner and also because in the 1980s, we got peak physique Schwarzenegger.
I was surprised that Red Sonja has attractive production values. The costumes by designer Danilo Donati and the work of the “Costume and Wardrobe Department” deliver costumes that were certainly worthy of some kind of contemporary awards recognition. I love them. Ennio Morricone's score for Red Sonja, while not among his best work, blends the sweep of forceful action with a surprising sense of romantic adventure that tells a story as much as it delivers cues.
Red Sonja is not a great film, and it did not need to be then or now. It is a true B-movie delight. Red Sonja is what it is, and that is a delightful cult film for those who want it to be that.
B
★★★ out of 4 stars
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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