Review: 1985 "RED SONJA" is Charming and Fun

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 of 2026 (No. 2059) by Leroy Douresseaux

Red Sonja (1985)

Running time:  89 minutes (1 hour, 29 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 Rotunno

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.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, October 16, 2026

The text is copyright © 2026 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "The Hateful Eight" is Certainly Great

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

The Hateful Eight (2015)
Running time:  188 minutes (3 hours, 8 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong bloody violence, a scene of violent sexual content, language and some graphic nudity
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Quentin Tarantino
PRODUCERS:  Richard N. Gladstein, Shannon McIntosh, and Stacey Sher
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Robert Richardson
EDITOR:  Fred Raskin
COMPOSER:  Ennio Morricone
Academy Award winner

WESTERN/CRIME/DRAMA/MYSTERY

Starring:  Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, James Parks, Dana Gourrier, Zoe Bell, Lee Horsley, Gene Jones, Keith Jefferson, Craig Strark, Belinda Owino, and Channing Tatum

The Hateful Eight is the 8th film from writer-director Quentin Tarantino.  A Western and mystery-thriller, The Hateful Eight focuses on two bounty hunters, a prisoner, and a new local sheriff who find themselves stranded in a cabin with a collection of nefarious strangers.  At least one of those strangers may be connected to the prisoner.

The Hateful Eight opens in the dead of a Wyoming winter some years after the Civil War.  O.B. Jackson (James Parks) drives a stagecoach through the snow-covered landscape.  Aboard his stagecoach is bounty hunter, John Ruth the Hangman (Kurt Russell), and his prisoner, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh).  Ruth is taking Domergue to Red Rock, Wyoming where she is to be tried and hanged for her crimes.

The stagecoach comes across a second bounty hunter, Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), who was transporting three dead bounties to Red Rock when his horse died.  It takes some convincing, but Ruth allows Warren to board the stagecoach.  Shortly afterwards, former Confederate, Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), who claims to be heading to Red Rock to assume the job of sheriff, hails the stagecoach.  It takes some talking, but Ruth also lets him aboard.

A sudden blizzard forces this quintet to seek shelter at the stagecoach stopover, Minnie's Haberdashery, but Minnie (Dana Gourrier) is nowhere to be found.  Instead, they are met by Bob (Demián Bichir), a Mexican who says that Minnie is visiting her mother and has left him in charge; Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth) who claims to be Red Rock's hangman; Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), a quiet cowboy; and General Sanford Smithers (Bruce Dern), a former Confederate officer.  John Ruth and Marquis Warren believe that at least one of the men they have found at Minnie's is in league with Daisy Domergue, but which one and when will he strike?

Although The Hateful Eight displays Quentin Tarantino's signature blend of wisecracking social commentary, action, humor, and over-the-top violence, this film is not like Tarantino's more popular films:  Pulp Fiction (1994), Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012).  These three films received best picture Oscar nominations, while The Hateful Eight did not.  The Hateful Eight is a parlor-room drama, but the parlor room is set up like a stage for live theater.

The other three films were wide-ranging epics full of hyper-kinetic violence.  They are flashy examples of Tarantino's bravura film making, while The Hateful Eight is quiet and edgy and brimming with malice, menace, and venom.  More than half the characters in The Hateful Eight really are fucking hateful, and that is a ratio that can be off-putting for the audience.

But not for me.  I would put The Hateful Eight in the top half of Tarantino's filmography.  This isn't Tarantino's best dialogue or screenplay for that matter, but his execution is impeccable, as usual.  The Hateful Eight is a riveting piece of work, three hours of glorious film narrative, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  I wanted more.

Besides Tarantino's stellar work, there are a number of good performances in this film.  Samuel L. Jackson, a Tarantino regular, gives his best performance in a lead role in years.  He gives the sly Marquis Warren layers, from vengeful former slave to death-dealing former P.O.W., but Jackson suggests that there is so much more to this man that it would take at least two movies to discover what is inside him.

Jennifer Jason Leigh also turns Daisy Domergue into so much more than what she seems.  Her performances is built on subtle changes in note; it is a bouquet of scents meant to keep the viewers on their heels when it comes to what her motivations are.  Joined at the hip with Kurt Russell, who also gives a spry, spicy turn, they make a good pair.  Walton Goggins also surprises, especially since his career, thus far, has been filled with oddballs who are odd for the sake of being an oddity in a film.

Ennio Morricone's score and the film's soundtrack offer a nice backdrop, heightening the sinister mood of the story.  The Hateful Eight might not be a Tarantino audience favorite; it is too slow for the kick-ass crowd.  However, I think that it is a masterpiece, a great modern Western that stands with the very few great Westerns of the previous four decades.

9 of 10
A+

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Revised:  Thursday, July 16, 2020

NOTES:
2016 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Ennio Morricone); 2 nominations:  “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and “Best Achievement in Cinematography” (Robert Richardson)

2016 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Ennio Morricone); 2 nomination:  “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Quentin Tarantino)

2016 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Best Original Music” (Ennio Morricone); 2 nominations: “Best Supporting Actress” (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and “Best Original Screenplay” (Quentin Tarantino)


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.

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