Back in the 1990's, there was an explosion of fantasy on television. While mostly in syndication, viewers could still watch Hercules, Sinbad, Robin Hood, and many more all flying around on wires. Even Conan came back, albeit with a lesser budget than the other mentioned properties.
That's when it was decreed that the time was perfect for another Conan film. Titled Conan the Conqueror, it would have been the long mentioned revealing on how Conan became a king. At least that's what was supposed to happen; thanks to changing budgets and a much larger star (Arnold had pretty much become a household word by this point) the de Laurentiis group decided to go with another Howard character. One name change later and Conan became Kull.
Who is Kull you ask? In many ways he's the prototype of Conan. He was a man of many titles; slave, pirate, warrior, and finally king. An unpublished tale in Howard's lifetime, "By this Axe I Rule", told the story of Kull. Howard also rewrote it to create "the Phoenix on the Sword", the first Conan story. So it seemed fitting that a reworked Conan script would became Kull's debut.
Akivasha (Tia Carrere) is Sorcerer Queen of Achreon and rules most of the known world with her magic and demons until she is overthrown by the god Valka. A burning torch is left to remind man of her dark age. In time the kingdom of Valusia is established over the remains of Achreon.
In this new age walks Kull (Kevin Sorbo). Despite his impressive performance in combat he is denied a place in the Dragon Legion. The reason, General Taligaro (Thomas Ian Griffith) swears, is simply because Kull isn't a noble and therefore not fit to clean his men's stirrups. Word from the king stops his further dressing down. The word being 'kill', as King Borna (Sven-Ole Thorsen) has snapped and is busy slaughtering the entire royal family.
Kull rides with the Legion and finds the king knee deep in the dead. Kull manages to kill the mad monarch and Borna's last moments on earth end with him declaring Kull his true heir. Taligaro, who was the king's cousin, is not amused.
With a little bit of help, Taligaro brings Akivasha back to life. With a little bit magic and low cut dress, Valusia has a new queen. It also has a dead king, as Kull suddenly dies...maybe. Yeah, it turns out that men from Atlantis are a hardy breed and soon finds himself on a quest to get his kingdom back. He is joined by the priest Ascalante (Gary Davis), and the priest's fortune telling sister Zareta (Kristen Lombard) after the latter is framed for Kull's death.
All in all...utterly unremarkable. Sorbo is what you could call a living room actor. I can believe him hanging out on a sofa. Being an ancient warrior king? Not so much. If you ignore the production values, you might think this was an extended episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys only without the camp and occasional Bruce Campbell cameo.
In keeping with the new tradition, it would be over ten years before another Howard film came to be.
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