Yor, the Hunter from the Future Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Yor, the Hunter from the Future Blu-ray Movie Review

Yor going to love it! If you like early 80s cheese, that is.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 21, 2018

Scour the Internet and find plenty of purported ancient drawings depicting what people today see as aliens visiting earth, big discs beaming lights to the ground, tall and slender gray aliens with large black eyes appearing and interacting with the artists who depicted them. Maybe they're really from a distant star, maybe they're just visitors from another time, maybe it's all bunk. Yor, the Hunter from the Future tells the story of a warrior who finds himself on ancient Earth, falls in love, and does battle with harry cavemen, dinosaurs, and robots. No gray aliens or perfectly round flying saucers, but same basic idea. It’s ridiculous at face value but a charmingly enjoyable low-budget romp through cinema absurdity. The film plays with a Battlefield Earth vibe about it, following a blonde hero who saves the day from an advanced race, the difference being that he’s a hero not of the world rather than a native, de facto caveman who becomes brainwashed into an intelligent warrior by the very race enslaving him.

The gang's all here!

Way back when near the dawn of man, a mysterious hero named Yor (Reb Brown), wearing a more mysterious medallion around his neck, battles a deadly creature and saves several lives, including that of Kala (Corinne Cléry) and her father figure Pag (Luciano Pigozzi). Kala grows fond of Yor, and he of she. Yor continues the good fight in the defense of Kala and those around her, fending off waves of fur-wearing, club-wielding enemies. But as Yor and Kala fall in love, he's tested when he begins to learn more about his origins and grows fond of another woman, Tarita (Marina Rocchi), who wears a medallion not dissimilar from his own. But little do they all know that an even greater danger, one unlike anything they have seen before, lurks above in the heavens.

This is a Sci-Fi movie made for next to nothing, cobbled together with scraps and gumption. It was shot out in the desert, where spartan set pieces and vast emptiness equal a large playground for next to no investment beyond the drive out there. Everyone runs around in as little clothing as possible. The hero goes shirtless practically for the duration. A few cheap props appear (particularly the laser blasters in the third act), some light digital effects do enough in support (particularly the laser blaster bolts), and a few admittedly well made practical creatures get bludgeoned to death. It’s not until that third act when the movie stretches a bit, visually and narratively, building towards the revelation of who Yor is and where he’s come from. He’s ultimately tasked with battling a villain who looks straight out of a Flash Gordon rehearsal and an army of robot soldiers who look like Darth Vader design rejects. Toss in an Enter the Dragon room of mirrors scene and it’s clear the movie has little direction or unique vision, but its simple charms and alluring goofiness carry it through even the most sluggish stretches and comically absurd moments.

The film is certainly one of limitations, budgetary, story, and otherwise, but one thing that props it up through the would-be doldrums of cheap and empty moviemaking are the key cast performances. Ranging from stout to surly, comical to charming, the work on the film is certainly not award worthy but infectious enthusiasm carries the day. Reb Brown smiles through much of the movie, comfortable playing the shirtless hero who is physically and emotionally stretched throughout the movie. Brown knows those stretches don't amount to any truly strenuous physical and mental exercises, even if the script would have the audience believe otherwise, but he plays along with the proper attitude and rolls with the movie's ups and downs as well as can be expected. He's happy, it seems, to be the hero, and no matter what is asked of him -- how silly the line, how ridiculous the stunt -- he gives Yor everything he has. Additional characters are portrayed to varying degrees of success, from stoic and blank-stare heroes to mischievous yet somehow flat villains. No two primary or secondary character performances are anywhere close to one another in terms of quality or cadence, but that diversity of workmanship at least gives the movie a flavor beyond its otherwise insipid construction.

Yor, the Hunter from the Future Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Yor, the Hunter from the Future's Blu-ray release was destined to lack the finesse of more revered classics and refined 1080p transfers. Mill Creek's presentation is by-and-large "good enough" and of a quality befitting the film's age and the studio's price point. The image is besieged by print wear, heaviest over the opening title sequence but never going away thereafter. If anything it does give the film that aged, worn and weathered look that almost seems to compliment a film of this style rather than detract from it. The picture enjoys the resolution boost 1080p affords it, revealing a series of pleasantly sharp details including rocky formations, sandy and pebbly terrain, skin textures, minimalist garments, ropes, and more complex leatherette attire found later in the film, all of which find sustainable complexity and sharpness but never extreme intimacy. Colors are fairly drab; the palette never explodes, favoring a dull, flat appearance where even natural greens and red blood can't really pop against the dominant earthen shades that define much of the movie. Black levels are raised and never achieve true black. Skin tones appear a bit flat but in-line with the somewhat drained color palette.

Yor, the Hunter from the Future Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Yor, the Hunter from the Future arrives on Blu-ray with an LPCM 2.0 uncompressed soundtrack. The opening title song, still gloriously cheesy even in this state, lacks placement or detail precision, getting lost in between sides and center and never really picking one or the other. Scratchy lyrics and cramped and muddled instrumentals are the rule. Sound effects struggle with clarity. Piercing screams, crackling fire, heavy rushing water at the 26-minute mark, an earthquake not long after that, none of it finds any real definition or sense of precise stage saturation. They're more painful than powerful. Dialogue delivery lacks the precision of better tracks, but it plays with enough clarity to satisfy core requirements. There were a few moments of lip sync troubles, probably the most notable right before the 12-minute mark.

Yor, the Hunter from the Future Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Yor, the Hunter from the Future contains a commentary track and a trailer.

• Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 1:12).
• Audio Commentary: Actor Reb Brown shares a consistent, well-spoken, and delightfully engaging track that offers some quality insight into the production, tackling core filmmaking elements but diverting to some priceless anecdotes as well. Take a listen to the first two minutes below, and check out the Blu-ray.com news piece on it here.

Yor, the Hunter from the Future Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Yor, the Hunter from the Future hardly classifies as a classic, but it perhaps does classify as an enjoyable cult-favorite romp. Low budget, goofy acting, and a scattershot narrative define the movie, but it's hard to watch without a smile, even as it slows down a bit in the middle. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is of course nothing special. Video is decent at best, audio a little behind that, and supplements include an enjoyable commentary track featuring the man who played Yor. This is a solid party movie that's well worth the $7 or so it's selling for a time of writing. Recommended.