In
“Raiders of the Abyss,” a tribe of rag-tag humans living in a capsized ocean
liner from the twentieth century, face peril from a race of bat-like humanoids
and their flying, giant rodents. These “raiders”
have, for generations, threatened the people of the ocean liner, and captured
them for use as slaves.
Thundarr,
Ookla and Ariel happen onto the scene, and realize that the bat people are
taking the slaves to their subterranean cave, which exists behind the deadly
waterfall known as “the Abyss.”
Upon
scouting out the cave, Ariel is captured and taken to a ritual chamber, where
strange vapors threaten to sap her strength, youth and vitality…forever.
First
off, I love the title of this week’s episode: “Raiders of the Abyss.” The title captures perfectly the pulpy,
heroic nature of Thundarr the Barbarian.
All
the titles of this series showcase a real Howard-esque imagination in terms of
words and that’s just one real pleasure of re-watching this 1980 series in the
year 2014.
Secondly,
I must comment meaningfully once more on the series’ visualizations (courtesy
of Alex Toth and Jack Kirby). Although the narratives are rather straight-forward
in terms of their plotting and characterization, the imagery remains incredibly
imaginative. More than that, the episode’s images really resonate.
For
instance, here we meet another post-apocalyptic culture that, like the mutant
city in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, seems to worship 20th
century technology. The same culture is
also based on bat biology. These
cloak-wearing, bald, pointy-eared creations are pretty creepy. The
moment when bat-people attack the ship -- astride
the backs of giant bats and capturing unwitting humans in nets -- is likely
worthy of a live-action blockbuster or two.
By
the same token, the episode’s depiction of the good guy village -- a twentieth
century ship “speared” on a rock -- is very
inventive, and recalls The Man with the Golden Gun
(1974). I just wish the episode had more
time to explore this setting, beyond the mere decks, where villagers are
imperiled.
The
stories, I must say, are falling into a bit of a rut.
The
formula goes like this: Thundarr and his friends discover a problem/injustice
while riding through the post-apocalyptic landscape, and must rescue some
humans, and destroy a villain. The
villains, meanwhile, boast some weapon or device related to the “destroyed”
culture of the 20th century.
In “Raiders of the Abyss,” that weapon is the life-sucking vapor, which
is a deadly gas leaking from a bomber plane inside “the Abyss.”
I’ll
be looking to see how much or how little this formula varies as we go
forward. But I’ll close with this
thought: Thundarr the Barbarian is very lucky so much imagination goes
into the visualization of the stories.
It is those visuals which, at this juncture, continue to impress.
Next
Week: “Treasure of the Moks.”
John nice review. I agree that the images of this post-apocalyptic landscapes are impressive. That cruise ship impaled is fascinating. I often wonder hope visually awesome it would have been if ARK II had the budget and could have roamed the post-apocalyptic landscapes as seen in THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN.
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