Nomination Year: 1996

SYNOPSIS: A champion fencer accidentally kills an opponent during a match and is blacklisted. Desperate to find work doing what he loves, he eventually comes to the attention of the enigmatic Man in Black (Joe Don Baker), who runs an illicit swordfighting arena. When the protagonist refuses to play ball, they kidnap his girlfriend. He reluctantly agrees to fight. While training for the matches, he befriends a wisecracking swashbuckler and runs afoul of another swordsman -- a brutal maverick out for blood. All in all, the "steel-good" movie of the year.

Smithee Award Nominations

Deus Ex Machina

Driving a Point Home The club is on fire. The hero and his girlfriend are racing atop the building to escape, when suddenly they find themselves cornered by the psychotic Jack. Good guy and bad guy fight, but it looks like Jack might get the upper hand. Suddenly, he stiffens and drops, and we can see that he's been stabbed from behind. The mysterious Man In Black (Joe Don) wipes off his sword-cane, shakes his head, and says, "How many times do I have to tell you? No fighting outside the ring!"

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Acting Appropriately Stupid

Make a Saving Throw vs. Stupidity A bearded, bespectacled, overweight role-playing gamer calling himself "Trebor, a Chaotic Evil Barbarian from the Shire of Pasadena" shows up at a practice session of the illegal, underground fencing group. He sports a homemade viking costume and a duct-taped stick he calls "Stormbringer." Though the mysterious Mister X asks Trebor if he knows the difference between real-life swordfighting and fantasy role-playing, Trebor insists on sparring. When the group proceeds to humiliate and beat the crap out of him (and who wouldn't, really?), he loudly threatens to call the cops to tell them "what really goes on in this fucking place." (You should always tell the bad guys you know what they're up to and you intend to expose/destroy/stop them.) The swordfighters give him one final opponent -- the main, bloodthirsty baddie: Jack. You don't even have to roll your polyhedra dice to guess the outcome. The amusing thing is that Trebor's death is what eventually involves the police and brings down the organization.

Sorry, this clip has not yet been made available!

Directors

Director	Claim to Fame
David Frost

Cast

Actor	Character	Claim to Fame
Joe Don Baker	<Not Yet in Database>	Was in a few Bond films, but this portly actor has a Bad Movie career all his own
Carol Alt	<Not Yet in Database>	Famous supermodel known for Private Parts, My Last Best Friend, To Rome with Love, and Deadly Past.
Robert Chapin	<Not Yet in Database>
Michael Blanks	<Not Yet in Database>	Brother of Tae-Bo master and Bad actor Billy. Only seven credits to his name...and at least three are Smithee films...and counting.
Deron McBee	<Not Yet in Database>	McBee was an "American Gladiator" under the name of "Malibu." He was the monster in Monster Mash: The Movie and played henchmen in the Batman movie franchise of the '90s.
James Lew	<Not Yet in Database>	Plays a lot of martial arts instructors. And Kung-fu zombies.
Roger Yuan	Ninja	The Master Monk in Bulletproof Monk, Huang in John Wick 3: Parabellum, and Duba Tegin in the live-action Mulan. But he got his start in American Kickboxer 1.

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