This German production is produced by a hack named Roland Emmerich. The man’s name sends shivers down the spines of film purists and common man alike. This man has made his career by directing sub par sci-fi movies. He also makes no bones or qualms about ripping off superior works to incorporate them into his films (I could write a whole paper about this topic alone). Emmerich began his career in Germany with films like MOON 44, and when he hit Hollywood somehow he managed to get himself into the director’s chair with STARGATE, which turned out to be a success when released in 1994 (I’m not sure why). Next he ripped off the classic WAR OF THE WORLDS and gave us the overblown INDEPENDENCE DAY. His most recent atrocity was ripping off the JURASSIC PARK films to give us that stinker of all stinkers, the American GODZILLA 1998. After that fiasco, he should be banned from Hollywood for life. During his career he has occasionally gone back to his German homeland to produce a film and in 1994 he produced THE HIGH CRUSADE. Well guess what folks, he’s still ripping off other more talented artists. In this case, Monty Python’s comedy troupe and film series get their bones pecked dry by Mr. Emmerich and his disciples.

The film itself actuality has a good concept behind it. During the Crusades, a messenger gives word that the British army has suffered a huge defeat from the Muslims. Lead Knight Sir Roger (played by comedian Rick Overton) meets with his brother knights and holy man Brother Rarvus (played by John Rhys-Davies of SLIDERS fame) to discuss how to assemble a team to turn the tide of battle for the Brits. Suddenly, out of nowhere a giant alien spaceship lands (stealing from CE3K) on the castle grounds. A group of heavily armored (though diminutive) aliens emerge from the spaceship and start attacking the knights. Sir Roger orders a counterattack and in a brief battle the bumbling aliens are defeated by the aggressive knights! Sir Roger and his friends commandeer the space ship, complete with alien pilot. Sir Roger gets the idea of joining his brothers on the battlefield and order the pilot to fly the ship to the holy land.

Doesn’t sound too bad, huh? A medieval movie mixed with alien invasion. Unfortunately, the filmmakers drop the ball by playing the whole thing for laughs. Not only that, they imbue the human cast with more Monty Pythonerisms that a Monty Python fan convention. They do not use Python as an inspiration, it’s more of outright plagiarism. How Terry Gilliam and the others never slapped lawsuits on this film I’ll never know. Probably because nobody’s ever heard of this film. If they dropped the Monty Python and the comedy as a whole, they might have actually had something original here. Don’t the filmmakers know that there is only one Monty Python, a conglomeration of talented individuals that know how to create and present their trademark comedy expression and they cannot be duplicated.

Robert Browne’s screenplay comes off as a patchwork creation. Sir Roger’s character starts as a barbarous war-monger type, yet by the middle of the movie he has become the great buffoon. Rick Overton can probably act well when his character has direction, but here he is unsure how to deliver the comedy and the humor comes off as forced (as does most of the humor in the movie). When all else fails he delivers his lines like John Cleese. In the final act, Browne’s screenplay resorts to fart jokes, crotch shots, and aliens who spew four letter words. John Rhys-Davies is the only actor who plays his role straight, and he is the only one who can really act. He has a great bit where he discusses religion with the alien pilot. Davies manages to bring some likeability to the film and makes you wonder how it would have come out had they played the entire film straight.

Technically, the movie is not to bad for a low budget film. There are some cheesy effects scenes and some of the sets are quality. The cinematography is good, but constrained, as the actors always huddle together on the small sets. The movie has a quick pacing, and because of the forced humor has kind of an outrageous Troma feel to it. The actors all look like they are having a good time; too bad the audience didn’t.

SIGHT

To be fair, this is a good (though not spectacular) 2.35.1 widescreen transfer. Wolfgang Aichholzer’s widescreen cinematography is preserved here nicely. There is good detail in the castle walls, the space ships interiors, etc. The editing is done in such a way as to not reveal just how small the sets are. This gives the presentation somewhat of an epic feel. That is, until the fart jokes kick in. Karl Christmann’s and Franz Loeding’s special effects are low budget by today’s standards, but are captured adequately on film. The aliens designs are generic but well done. All the effects get the most mileage from angle shooting, quick cutting and editing, and compositing to give the impression the effects are better than they are. The colors are genuinely bright and appear accurate. Contrast and brightness are good with decent shadow detail. The image is somewhat glossy, as if they are going for a bid-budget approach. The blacks are deep and true. The lighting on the film is masterfully done, having a big effect on how glossy some of the scenes look.

SOUND

The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo surround soundtrack is adequate. The mix is fairly active across the front soundstage and some decent bass kicks in during the spaceship landing. Frequency response is good, but the bass is inconsistent. There is little activity is the rear speakers save for some reverb of the front soundstage and some of the score leaks out (but nothing dynamic in the rears). The score is pretty good, being a synthesized electronic/symphonic composition with medieval orchestration. The score matches the look of the film but not the actions of the script. The dialog comes from the center channel and sounds crisp. This is a film with a lot of accents, both real and fake, and the mix is mostly vocal activity which is done justice by this mix.

FEATURES

No extras, not even a trailer.

CONCLUSION

I just read this movie is based on a novel by Paul Anderson. Readers of that book will be mortified if they see this movie and expect something of the same. Monty Pythons fans should avoid this one if you don’t want to be insulted. But if you like to laugh at rather than with movies, then this may worth a rental for you. Pioneer does a good job in delivering a widescreen transfer and surround sound mix. This sure must look good on Roland Emmerich’s resume right next to MOON 44, UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, and of course GODZILLA 98.

                                                 Rating (out of 5):