Theater 3000, causing it to become a cult sensation. The American theatrical cut, The Blademaster, now enjoys modest success on home video and DVD as a cult favorite. Iron Warrior Joe D'Amato dropped Ator in 1986, around the same time when it became public knowledge that there were no plans to make a third Conan film. Instead, in 1987, a new director, Alfonso Brescia, wrote and directed the third Ator film, Iron Warrior, which follows the same loose plot as Ator 2 – L'invincibile Orion. The film abandons the continuity of the first two films (even so far as to completely contradict Ator's established back-story of having been adopted as a baby, instead opening with him playing as a child with a twin brother), and with writer/director D'Amato gone, the unintentional plot device of anachronisms disappears. Instead, Brescia turns the film into an art house picture, utilizing a variety of cinematic techniques and camera tricks to act as symbols or give deeper meaning to the film. Ator's character is also drastically changed: here, he has black hair in a ponytail, and speaks roughly 50 words in the entire film. The film pays homage to a number of popular films from the time, including the first Superman film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Excalibur, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film's score is, as with the first of the series, provided by Carlo Maria Cordio - one of his themes for the film is a simple reworking of a very similar cue heard throughout Joe D'Amato's 1981 film Absurd (also scored by Cordio). Ator 4 Joe D'Amato was reportedly displeased with Brescia's approach to his character, and so he re-took control in 1988. In 1990, D'Amato released the final Ator film, Ator l'invincible, a retooling of the first film in the series. It was released in Europe and the United States under a variety of titles including: Ator III: The Hobgoblin (indicating D'Amato's disregard for the previous film), Quest for the Mighty Sword, and Hobgoblin. Here, Eric Allan Kramer plays the son of Ator. This is the only film in the series which does not feature Miles O'Keeffe in the lead role. The "hobgoblin" suit was recycled from the notorious Troll 2 and this film was released as Troll 3 in Germany. External links Ator l'invincibile (1982) at IMDb Ator 2 – L'invincibile Orion (1984) at IMDb Iron