paladin-70605 I am writing this in 2015 and Arrowstorm Entertainment as well as Splendid Films (Mainstay Productions for this piece) are getting a reputation for being masters of good, low-budget films. One of their first films was this piece, SAGA: Curse of the Shadow, which is a story of a rebellious bounty hunter she-elf that finds herself, unwittingly at first, within the mix of a motley crew (paladin and orc) that ends up saving the world while looking past their differences and becoming the best of friends. Yes, it is low budget so the CG, by today's standards, is sub-par. But, if watchers can get out of their visual-dependent box and take in all that matters in terms of movies, then this movie certainly stacks up to be... dare I say, "excellent"? I never thought I would like B-movies until I saw the several from Splendid films and Arrowstorm Entertainment. SAGA: Curse of the Shadow has a strong storyline, solid character development, well-done environments/scenery, REALLY good soundtrack (and they mix the music well). The music by Panu Aaltio really adds a lot to this piece. I highly recommend this film if you are out to be entertained. That is what movies really are for, aren't they?

steve_pickstock As some of the other reviewers have said this is good.There is some dross out there, but this was good quality Sword and Sorcery. Made very much on a shoestring, by a 'repertory company' of actors, actresses, and crafts people, but despite that, overall, it was entertaining, the script worked, the VFX were functional and not over-powering, and the actors delivered good performances. Costuming in particular worked well and weaponry - one of my pet hates is stupid swords, and the ones in Saga - the Shadow Cabal, are nice bits of cutlery, good functional swords.There are somethings that could have been done better - some of the fights sequences are little bit over choreographed, and someone tell the extras to stop all that swaying, but I reckon it's well worth effort.

suite92 Filmed in Utah, with lots of sand, caves, and huge rock formations.Prehistory: the Gods, on some planet, at some time, have put down civilization for some reason, and killed a big portion of humanity. The Order, led by the Prophets, tries to restore civilization, while the Shadow rises and awaits the awakening of the God of Death. So, we have a familiar environment for swords, sorcery, battles, revenge, and conflicts on a dying world.We open the narrative with a fight between the female elf bounty hunter Nemyt and the male orc thief Fangtor Bloodmoon. Nemyt kills Fangtor, but Fangtor curses her body as she delivers the fatal blow with her sword. The fight scenes here were absolutely terribly done. Meanwhile, Keltus interrogates a dwarf to discover the motives of the Shadow in the current conflict. The dwarf tells him of Kullimon's Raiders, who will deliver some artifact ('the Vessel') to the representatives of the God of Death. Among the orcs, Mulgrut and Kullimon have a bit of a disagreement. Kullimon loses, and Mulgrut takes leadership of the 'Horde' of ten orcs. Oi, totally disappointing.When Nemyt goes to collect her bounty reward, she is imprisoned by the local magistrate because of the Mark that Fangtor cursed her with. Keltus, the Ambassador of the Prophetess, releases her in the hopes that she will aid him find the Bone Vessel. On the way, they meet up with Kullimon, who has been tied up, bleeding, and left for dead by his erstwhile allies. The absurd trio advance to get the Vessel, so that the God of Death (Goth Azul) is not awakened.As they advance, they encounter difficulties, and best them, but usually with stiff prices. When Nemyt meets Mulgrut as representative of the Shadow, things get very dicey, very fast. The real representative of the Shadow appears, and the hopes of Goth Azul being kept contained slip away.Will the trio reverse the disaster at hand? -----Scores-----Cinematography: 7/10 Rather good for this sort of tale. The costumes were a bit better than I expected, at least here and there.Sound: 10/10 Amazingly good. I seldom experience fantasy films with such excellent musical accompaniment.Acting: 5/10 The actors who play the three protagonists hit their marks and speak their lines, but acting? Not so much. The orc Horde was about as convincing as the Keystone Kops.Screenplay: 6/10 Yikes. A story was told, and the plot moves along, but the dialog is stilted past the point of believability. Orcs taking the higher moral stances? An orc leader singing like he was on Wagon Train? An orc sounding like Yoda? -----The film did grow on me, especially the last 15 minutes.

andrmortensen Objectively, this is a low-budget movie with high-quality make-up, choreography and photography. Fighting scenes, costumes/scenery and background music lacks nothing. It is engaging in image as it is in dialogue. It correlates completely with what you would expect from a fantasy/adventure book/movie. The enactment of different races, the small racial details that are so well synergized between actor and environment is perfect.Subjectively, i thought this movie had so many details about races, so well executed, that it surpassed the performances of any orc/elf/human fantasy actors in any other low-budget movie in the genre. Its a story that doesn't have to explain the universe it unravels in, as the story itself and its characters will all alone enthrall you with all the glorious adventure-feel that you love so much. Recommended to all fantasy fans.