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Saturday, April 24, 2021

LORD OF THE ELVES (aka CLASH OF THE EMPIRES)

 
Publicity poster for Lord of the Elves aka Clash of the Empires (© Joseph Lawson/The Asylum – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Earlier tonight I watched my recently-purchased DVD of a movie that I'd only learnt about a few days previously. I know of at least three different titles for it (more about which later), but its most famous one, and which featured on its official DVD, is Lord of the Elves.

Directed by Joseph Lawson and released in 2013, Lord of the Elves is somewhat of a curiosity in terms of slotting comfortably into any well-established movie genre, because it seems unsure of whether to be a prehistory-themed docu-drama or a swords-and-sorcery fantasy. Instead, it opts to be both, at the same time, which makes for very unusual viewing to say the least. Suspension of disbelief is very highly recommended here, that's for sure!

Set 12,000 years ago on the Indonesian island of Flores (but actually filmed in Cambodia), this movie is nothing if not novel in that it focuses upon that island's fairly recently-discovered species of fossil mini-human Homo floresiensis, Flores Man, but which on account of its diminutive stature has become popularly known colloquially as the hobbit. Also represented here are the rock men, the name given in this movie to a second, larger species of fossil human, Homo (formerly Pithecanthropus) erectus or Java Man, plus a third species, the so-called giants, which in reality is our very own Homo sapiens or Modern Man. These species in turn represent three separate human empires that as far as this movie's plot is concerned are traditionally in conflict with each other, thus explaining its alternative title of Clash of the Empires. So far, so prehistoric.

But then we very swiftly and entirely unexpectedly switch from watching a film about competing fossil hominins to one that plunges headfirst into epic fantasy (or as epic as this low-budget Asylum-produced movie can stretch to) when we discover that the rock men ride around on giant winged monitor lizards that except for not breathing fire are basically dragons, and are even referred to as such by various characters in the film. And somewhere midway between fossils and fantasy straddle the likes of some earthbound but no less gargantuan monitor lizards that could chew up a real-life Komodo dragon with a single bite from their venomous teeth, plus a rampaging hairy rhinoceros that was clearly inspired far more by the woolly rhinoceros of Ice Age Eurasia than by this tropical southeast Asian region's native hairy rhino species, the Sumatran rhinoceros. There are also two immense, venom-spraying, cannibalistic spiders that are not recommended viewing for anyone with an aversion to arachnids.

The basic storyline for Lord of the Elves tells how the peace-loving, plant-eating, earth goddess-worshipping hobbits (in the H. floresiensis usage of this name, but which are also, confusingly, the elves referred to in one of this movie's titles) are regularly hunted down and seized as food by the rapaciously-carnivorous dragon-riding moon-worshipping rock men. (Incidentally, these latter entities exhibit a most unsightly, ill-fitting dentition of long pointed teeth that are decidedly unlike any human chompers that I've ever seen, and which make them look far more like vampire extras from Salem's Lot than anything known from the fossil record!)

Anyway, following one such incident, three brave hobbits are able to convince some of the equally carnivorous but rather more civilised sky-worshipping giants to join them on a hazardous quest into rock man territory in order to locate and free their recently-kidnapped hobbit kin - during which the afore-mentioned leviathanesque lizards and mega-spiders make their prodigious presence well and truly felt.

The only famous name to appear in Lord of the Elves is Christopher Judge (of Stargate SG-1 TV fame), who plays noble warrior Amthar, one of the giants who assist the hobbits in their bold quest. In terms of acting ability, Judge stands head and shoulders above the others metaphorically speaking too. The CGI monsters are by and large effective - the spiders a little too effective, to be honest - but overall this movie in my opinion never recovers from its fundamental identity crisis.

This in turn may possibly stem from the fact that Lord of the Elves was originally intended to be entitled Age of the Hobbits, the term 'hobbit' succinctly conveying both prehistoric and fantasy connotations. In 2012, however, Warner Brothers, who at that time was promoting its forthcoming trilogy of official Tolkien-sanctioned hobbit movies, was not best pleased about this title, and eventually commenced legal action against The Asylum on the grounds of trademark infringement, which resulted in the release of Age of the Hobbits being temporarily blocked. Following a title change, however, albeit to one that was still decidedly Tolkien-reminiscent, it was released in 2013.

Lord of the Elves is certainly a strange little movie (under 90 minutes long) in my view. Yet for me this is actually part of its charm, together with just enough action and sufficient monster moments to entertain.

If you'd like to watch an official Lord of the Elves trailer to visit the warring Flores folk and the ferocious fauna confronting them, be sure to click here.

And to view a complete listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE!

 

1 comment:

  1. As someone who watched "Stargate SG-1" religiously back in high school, it always pleases me to see that Chris Judge is getting work in something that actually looks interesting especially for a The Asylum production.

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