Episode 79: Gor and Bottom Five Epics

Jay sends Mike hurtling through an interdimensional portal and into the loincloth-garbed wasteland of Gor, an ’80s Cannon Films sword-and-sorcery “epic” about a nebbish professor transported to another world where he discovers he’s aces with a sword. With Oliver Reed chewing scenery, and enough sand, leather and exposed flesh to make Conan blush, Mike tries to determine whether Gor is the gloriously entertaining disaster its reputation suggests or simply a very long walk through the desert. After the review, the guys go big with their Bottom Five Epics before taking a moment to say goodbye to Phantasm icon and cinema’s most rogue ice cream man, Reggie Bannister. Then it’s back to battle for another round of Dueling Double Bills before Mike reveals the next cinematic punishment awaiting Jay. On the podcast that wields films like deadly weapons, sometimes the real fantasy is believing the movie might eventually get better.