From The Flames of Time comes a Legend...
The first time I saw Goreblade: Warrior King of the Universe was some time in the mid 80s.  It was a summer weekend and my dad rented a Beta machine from our local video store Video Plus, and two movies.  I can't remember what the other movie was, but I remember we watched Goreblade twice that night!  I was hooked.  The movie had everything a kid could ask for: action, swords, a Cyclops and 80s special effects galore.  I drew pictures of Goreblade at school and I begged my mom to buy me a Goreblade costume for Halloween.  (NB: A Goreblade Halloween costume was never officially licensed which is surprising since the license seemed to get tossed around pretty liberally - more on this later.)  It wasn't until I was a grown man working on my first degree at the University of Manitoba that I finally got my hands on my very own copy of this epic fantasy movie.  When Video Plus closed its doors forever, the owner Dave handed me a worn, faded movie box.  I was touched by his gesture and immediately the flames of nostalgia were rekindled... on VHS no less!   Of course the effects are dated, and the movie owes a hell of a lot to Conan (The Barbarian not The Destroyer) but this is Goreblade, and somewhere under the protagonist's smarmy smile and matted hair, the seams on the latex prosthetics, and the cheesy dialogue lies the charm of a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously.


The Cartoon...
Yes there was a cartoon ... well sort of.  A pilot episode was produced but never aired on television (in North America.)  It aired for some reason in Argentina and parts of Europe.  I've personally only seen parts of the pilot episode on the internet and I can tell you it hardly resembles its namesake.  In an attempt to pander to a younger audience it features cute and cuddly, cartoony "Friends" to annoy or amuse Goreblade while he waxes didactic - "If you get bullied in school, tell a teacher or a parent and leave the slaying to the professionals."  Wha??? 


Code RED...
This one blows my mind.  A Chinese mini-series spin-off entitled Go-Blade: Code RED came out shortly after the Warrior King's theatrical nose dive.  It is more like an unauthorized bootleg than international licensing agreement, as Goreblade is for some reason called Go-Blade and seems to be some kind of pseudo sex offender.  This show bears as much resemblance to the source material as the Japanese Supaidaman does to Spider-Man.  Bootleg DVDs of this mini-series were sold on Ebay for as much as $300 each in 2005 before Astron-6 threatened legal action, and Ebay banned the items.

© Astron-6 Video International