Hawk the Slayer

handler

Well-Known Member
I've done a lot of researching (not the correct spot, obviously!) and haven't found much information at all about any props--replica or original--from the movie Hawk the Slayer. What I have found is extremely limited after checking the major prop suppliers. I've even contacted a couple of them and asked for their assistance in finding anything and they are clueless, as well.

Does anyone have any ideas or knowledge about about props from this b-flick movie?
 
Wish I could help you on this one. I watched that movie over and over with my older brother back in the day, then we would reinact several of the scenes in the woods outback of our house with some of the neighborhood kids. Loved Jack Palance as Voltan in this movie. Whenever I bring this movie up though, seems that no one, and I mean no one has heard about it. What a shame. I know it was overboard cheesey but still a fun movie.
Hawk-Slayer.jpg
 
OMG! Hawk the Slayer! LOVED the movie! There was also another from the same people if I remember correctly it was "Archer, Fugitive from the Empire". Please let us know if you have any luck. I would think not, but hey you can always make your own.
 
Wish I could help you on this one. I watched that movie over and over with my older brother back in the day, then we would reinact several of the scenes in the woods outback of our house with some of the neighborhood kids. Loved Jack Palance as Voltan in this movie. Whenever I bring this movie up though, seems that no one, and I mean no one has heard about it. What a shame. I know it was overboard cheesey but still a fun movie.
Hawk-Slayer.jpg

That's awesome! I never got out and acted out scenes, but it was a great movie for a youngster like I was. I agree, hardly anyone has heard of this movie, which is a shame because I would like to find out what happened to the Mind Sword as I cannot imagine that hero sword ever getting thrown out. Various brigand and warrior costumes, I could see getting lost, but major weapons and even Gort's breastplate should have gone somewhere. At this point I have to imagine that whatever got saved went into private ownership and has never surfaced...current owner(s) are probably enjoying it privately. Still, it would be great if anyone has contacts with the right contacts who know the right people who know what ever happened to the props from this film.
 
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OMG! Hawk the Slayer! LOVED the movie! There was also another from the same people if I remember correctly it was "Archer, Fugitive from the Empire". Please let us know if you have any luck. I would think not, but hey you can always make your own.

I remember Fugitive from the Empire!! Wow! I loved that movie...I'll bet not many have ever heard of that one.
 
OMG! Hawk the Slayer! LOVED the movie! There was also another from the same people if I remember correctly it was "Archer, Fugitive from the Empire". Please let us know if you have any luck. I would think not, but hey you can always make your own.

Actually Archer Fugitive from The Empire was a tv movie made by Universal Studios. No connection production wise to Hawk The Slayer
 
I'm pretty much starting a personal quest to do a replica of the Mind Sword. I'd love to have any info on it, but as you've stated, the info out there is almost nil. I thought about trying to get in contact with Bernard Hearn who was the Prop Master on the movie, but honestly after 30 years I'm not sure even he could be of much help.

However, after re-watching the movie, I think I can gather enough info from the film to get pretty close. I have found that some of the stuff I thought you couldn't make out (lik the texture of the grip) are actually visible in some of the scenes. So, when I can get the time I'm going to start building the sword as a 3d model to get the dimensions right and then start looking at how to reproduce it.

I'm pretty sure that the blade used was a flat piece of aluminum stock that had been shaped up a bit. Best I can tell it had three grooves routered in it to simulate a fuller. One groove runs almost the entire length of the blade and two go from the hilt to about half way up.

The hilt looks like it could be easily machined from aluminum, or sculpted in some other medium and cast. Obviously the pommel will be the hardest part. I would love to know if they used a found piece (like say a mannequin hand) or a cast thereof to make it, or if it was a custom sculpt. The thought occurred to me that perhaps I could cast one of my children's hands in some sort of medium and then use that. Still working on that idea.

Oh, and while I agree that the loss of these props is somewhat of a travesty, it is certainly not unusual. Most of the props that are used for low-budget (an many high-budget) movies tend to either get tossed, since no one really wants to pay to store them, or reworked and used in other productions.

Anyway, if you turn up any useful information, please share. :)
 
I've gotten in contact with John Waller who was the weapons specialist and trainer who trained fight scenes for the movie and he has informed me of several things regarding the weapons in the movie:

1. Hawk's sword: there were two swords with steel blades. He supplied the blades, which were antique and not used for fighting. The fighting swords had duraluminum blades. The design for the Mind Sword was just an art director's idea. The hilts were aluminum and the stone was covered with some reflective material. The Mind Sword was taken by Terry Marcel.

2. Voltan's sword: Waller kept the steel-bladed sword after filming. He de-bladed the sword and cut the skull off and threw the rest of the hilt away. (One of the duraluminum swords is in private collection and can be viewed on YourProps.com)

3. He knows nothing about what happened to the rest of the fighting swords.

4. He has Crow's elf bow as he made it as well as the arrows which he then dismantled. He also has the four throwing axes which he supplied to the set.

Interesting trivia: the skull pommel from Voltan's sword is now on the top of one of his swordsticks.

If anyone can add to this or make use of this info, then good luck with it. I can't seem to get any further information from anyone, so this is probably the most information about Hawk the Slayer props on the internet.
 
Awesome info Handler. Thanks for sharing. :) Now I wonder if Terry Marcel still has the sword and if he be adverse to taking a few good photos of it. LOL
 
And since we are on the subject, I wonder what happened to Hawk's cross. That would be an interesting prop to reproduce.

cross1.jpg
 
Awesome info Handler. Thanks for sharing. :) Now I wonder if Terry Marcel still has the sword and if he be adverse to taking a few good photos of it. LOL

That would be interesting...I wish there were more detailed pictures of it.

As for the necklace, I thought about that, too. It wouldn't be difficult to replicate the front of it, but I don't recall there ever being a screen shot of the back. The picture you posted has a good enough close-up that the details could be easily copied, but the rear is a different story.
 
True, I don't think there is any instance in the film where the back it shown. :( Plus,, the film quality is not spectacular, so unless you have a really close shot, it is hard to make out much detail. I guess you'd have three options for the back; blank, mirror the front, or come up with your own design. Of course it would also be great if it was a functioning prop too, but I can't figure out what he triggers the blade with.

I might try my hand at this as well. As I said, I'm not much of a sculptor, but this doesn't look too hard.
 
Holy thread ressurection, Batman!

Sorry, but I am a H-U-G-E fan of this movie! Definitely in my top 3 "guilty pleasure" movies, along with "Sword and the Sorcerer".

Coming from a family of archers and bow hunters, I am a big fan of fantasy bows. Crow was one of my fave characters too.

With Hollywood so busy doing remakes, I wonder what a modern interpretation of this movie would be like. Tweak the story a little, expand on some of the supporting characters and you have a prime source for some awesome fantasy.

Who would you cast in a modern adaptation, and what story changes would you make?

My fantasy cast would be:

Voltan---------- Stephen Lang(Avatar, Terra Nova)
Hawk----------- Henry Cavill(Man of Steel)
Gort(Giant)------ Dalip Singh(Longest Yard, Get Smart)
Crow(Elf)-------- Anton Yelchin(Star Trek)
Baldin(Dwarf)---- Jordan Prentiss(In Bruges)
Ranulf----------- Bryan Cranston(Breaking Bad)

As for story changes, that's going to take me a while to think about and organize.
 
This was the movie with the full auto crossbow, right? I loved that thing, but its all I remember about the film.

Scott
 
Um was Hawk related to Buffy? Never even heard of this movie (and that is saying something) but from the description of all the props, it sounds like I am gonna have to track it down.
 
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