Line #33 Film/RedSonja


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red-sonja_7164.jpg]]
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3	->'''Sonja:''' No man may have me, unless he's beaten me in a fair fight.
4	->'''Kalidor:''' So, the only man that can have you, is one who's trying to kill you. That's logic.
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6	''Red Sonja'' is a 1985 film based on [[Comicbook/RedSonja the Marvel comic book series]], starring Creator/BrigitteNielsen in the title role. Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger also stars as Prince Kalidor (an {{expy}} of Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian).[[note]]Indeed, it was originally supposed to have been a third Conan movie (following ''Film/{{Conan the Barbarian\|1982}}'' and ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer''), but [[ScrewedByTheLawyers things happened]]...[[/note]] Music/EnnioMorricone composed the soundtrack.
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8	After the slaughter of her family and her rape by the men of the evil Queen Gedren, a young redhead woman named Sonja is empowered by a mysterious being so that she can seek revenge, and becomes a matchless sword-wielding warrior. She gets her chance when Gedren steals a powerful object named the Talisman (which only women can touch), and she is tasked to destroy it. She is joined in her journey by Lord Kalidor and the young Prince Tarn and his aide Falkon, who both are the remnants of a fallen kingdom.
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10	A new live action ''Red Sonja'' project was in DevelopmentHell for quite some time and eventually started filming in August 2022.
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12	Has a [[Characters/RedSonja1985 character sheet]].
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14	!!This film has the examples of:
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16	* ActionGirl: Both Sonja and Gedren are proficient sword fighters (especially Sonja).
17	* AdaptationalModesty: Sonja ''never'' wears her iconic chainmail bikini, instead wearing standard action-girl fantasy attire (mostly-covered torso while keeping her arms and legs bare).
18	* AllAsiansKnowMartialArts: Sonja learns sword fighting from the Grand Master, who is East Asian along with the rest of his students. Even little Prince Tarn knows some moves (though being a child, there is a lot he still has to learn).
19	* ArtifactOfDoom: The Talisman can cause disasters on demand.
20	* AsYouKnow: The movie starts out with the title character lying barely conscious in a field as a mysterious spirit grants her the power to get her revenge, but first it explains Sonja's own backstory to her in great detail. It's especially awkward because it presumably all happened to her moments before the movie started, and involves her [[RapeAsBackstory being raped]] and having her family killed off, which are things you'd think she wouldn't need (or want) to be reminded about.
21	* BadassBoast:
22	-->'''Brytag:''' I will tell the future in your entrails, Red Woman!
23	-->'''Sonja:''' I know my future. You have none.
24	* BadWithTheBone: Falkon's weapon of choice is a bone club.
25	* BattleButler: Falkon is both Prince Tarn's bodyguard and manservant.
26	* BestHerToBedHer: The character is the former TropeNamer. The film provides the page quote.
27	* BigBad: Queen Gedren. She threatens neighboring kingdoms with her powers, and she is Sonja's personal enemy.
28	* BrokenBridge: In the opening credits, Kalidor is seen riding on the way to the temple of the Talisman. At one point, a broken bridge over a ravine forces him to take a detour that prevents him from being there when Queen Gedren's forces storm the temple.
29	* CaptainErsatz: Kalidor to Film/{{Conan\|The Barbarian 1982}}, to the point where he's played by the same actor as Conan. He was initially ''supposed to be'' Conan, [[invoked]][[ScrewedByTheLawyers but legal troubles prevented it]].
30	* CaptainObvious: Sonja is weeping over her sister, who's just died. Kalidor leans down, touches her lightly on the shoulder and says "She's dead."
31	* CollapsingLair: Gedren's castle after destroying the Talisman.
32	* ComicBookAdaptation: It got adapted in ''[[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel]] Super Special #38''.
33	* CourtMage: Queen Gedren has a wizard who serves her. He aids her in the final battle against Sonja, until the latter kills him.
34	* TheCreon: Ikol acts as the loyal second-in-command to his Queen Gedren, as TheDragon with no desire to become TheStarscream, he never tries to take over! On the contrary, he suggests caution in regards of the Talisman, and after a last failed attempt to convince her he abandons his Queen!
35	* DisappointedByTheMotive: When Sonja and Gedren finally face off, Sonja asks Gedren why she had to kill all of her family (she thought that it was only because of the Talisman). Gedren shows her the scar on her cheek and goes on about how it's a just revenge for such a besmirch. Sonja gets pretty angry at the fact that the people she loved were massacred over such a petty slight.
36	* DisneyVillainDeath: Gedren falls into a river of lava after she is stabbed by Sonja.
37	* DisposableWoman: ''Every single female character'' except Sonja and Gedren is this. They (including Sonja's sister) are massacred or tossed into a pit to die early on, and once Sonja learns of Gedren from her dying sister, are quickly forgotten for the rest of the film.
38	* DisproportionateRetribution: Queen Gedren has Sonja's entire family killed and her gang-raped. Why? Because Sonja gave her a small cut on the cheek when fending off [[PsychoLesbian unwanted advances which Gedren had made on her]].
39	* DoesNotLikeMen: {{Discussed}} and {{subverted}}. Sonja understandably has issues being touched by men, after she'd been gang-raped. However, when the Grand Master urges her to get past it, Sonja denies hating all men, and shows affection for him (he's much older, saying it would have made his day thirty years ago). She warms up to Kalidor, kissing him, but prevents anything going further (as she's vowed not to unless a man ever beats her in combat) until the finale where they kiss again (when it's implied they get together).
40	* EightiesHair: Sonja's waist-length mullet certainly qualifies.
41	* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: The spirit that grants Sonja's strength in the opening.
42	* EvilIsPetty: Gedren ordered the massacre of Sonja's entire family because she got a scar on her cheek from her. Sonja, who up until the moment Gedren explained herself thought that the massacre had been because of the Talisman, gets even more enraged as a result.
43	* FieryRedhead: Sonja is a red-haired, hot-blooded swordswoman who has righteous fury for Queen Gedren, who had her raped and ordered Sonja's family slaughtered, on whom she has sworn vengeance.
44	* {{Flynning}}: Subverted; Sonja shows the prince why this wouldn't really work in a real fight.
45	* GenderRestrictedAbility: Wielding the Talisman can only be done by women. If touched by a man, he instantly disintegrates. Gedren's soldiers find this out the hard way.
46	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Queen Gedren is a brutal female ruler who orders people killed if they stand in the way of her acquiring a magical artifact, or Sonja's entire family [[EvilIsPetty when Sonja cut her cheek]] after she had [[PsychoLesbian tried to force her to have sex with her]]. After acquiring the artifact, she uses its magic to conquer everything in sight.
47	* HandsOnApproach: Sonja with young prince Tarn.
48	* HarmfulToTouch: The Talisman can only be touched by women. If a man touches it, he will instantly disintegrate.
49	* InventionalWisdom: The TrapDoor through which Falkon falls leads to the Gedren's mooks' mess hall, for some reason.
50	* LadyOfBlackMagic: Gedren, though not able to do magic innately, becomes this after she acquires the Talisman. A cruel yet elegant queen, she uses it to conquer many rival kingdoms and destroy any who resist.
51	* LadyOfWar: Queen Gedren serves as an evil example. She's a beautiful and elegant conqueror who leads her troops into battle, using a powerful magical artifact named the Talisman against enemies.
52	* LargeHam: With this sort of film it's arguably inevitable, but Sonja and the boy prince in particular can get quite dramatic with their lines. It really says something when, in the famous scene with the page quote, ''Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger'' seems quite subtle and nuanced compared to Brigitte Nielsen.
53	* LeotardOfPower: Sonja's outfit, [[AdaptationalModesty in lieu]] of the regular ChainmailBikini.
54	* LiteralDisarming: Kalidor cuts off the arm of one of Gedren's soldiers in the fight following Falkon's involuntary "DynamicEntry".
55	* MechanicalMonster: Sonja and co. fight an aquatic one on their journey to Gedren's castle.
56	* MinorInjuryOverreaction: When Sonja accuses Gedren of slaughtering her family, she dismisses the accusations as from her point of view, the victims' lives are nothing in comparison with a minor scar Sonja made on her cheek.
57	* MookLieutenant: Ikol is in chrage of Gedren's men.
58	* MsFanservice: While Sonja's outfit in the film is not ''quite'' as revealing as her ChainmailBikini in the comics, it's still quite {{stripperific}}.
59	* OffWithHisHead:
60	** Kalidor beheads one of Gedren's mooks who's after Varna after the storming of the Talisman's temple.
61	** Sonja beheads Gedren's court wizard after he tries to kill her.
62	* ProtagonistTitle: Red Sonja is the protagonist.
63	* PsychoLesbian: Queen Gedren propositioned Sonja in the backstory. Sonja had rejected her, slashing her face as Gedren tried to force things. In retaliation, Gedren orders Sonja gang-raped by her soldiers, and her family killed.
64	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Queen Gedren doesn't shy away from combat, as she takes on Sonja herself in the climax.
65	* RapeAndRevenge: Half of Sonja's motivation. The other half is her dead family.
66	* RibcageRidge: Used as a bridge over a river of lava.
67	* RoyalBrat: Prince Tarn starts as an arrogant little snot, really getting on Sonja's nerves (she almost spanks him at one point, and had urged his servant earlier to), but he [[CharacterDevelopment mellows over the course of the film]].
68	* ShootTheMageFirst: In the climax of the film, Sonja is fighting Queen Gedren. Every time she gets close enough to attack, a {{mook}} teleports Gedren away and Sonja has to chase her down again, while the mage uses Voodoo-like magic to cut Sonja with a dagger. After this happens two or three times, Sonja has enough and chops the guy's head off.
69	* StatuesqueStunner: Brigitte Nielsen, aside from being a looker, is 6'1 and it shows.
70	* TakeOverTheWorld: What Gedren plans to do with the Talisman.
71	* VirginPower: Sonja got powers bestowed on her by the goddess Scáthach. With the rule that she'd lose them if she slept with a man who hadn't beaten her in fair combat.
72	* VowOfCelibacy: Sonja swore to never have sex with a man after her rape, unless he beat her in a fair fight.
73	* WarriorMonk: The priestesses from the Order of the Talisman wield swords to protect the artifact from Queen Gedren and her troops. Although they get massacred in the end, they take many soldiers with them first.
74	* WeCanRuleTogether: Gedren's offer to Sonja...or ''would'' have been, if not for the whole "scar" thing.
75	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The final fate of Gedren's handmaiden (''i.e. her younger [[SexSlave teenage consort]]'') remains unknown (out of the rest of the cast), though she is shown running away after being forced by Gedren to serve as bait in order to catch the prince.
76	* WritingAroundTrademarks: Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger was to reprise his role as the Hyborian Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian. Instead, Schwarzenegger plays the OriginalCharacter Kalidor.
77	* YouKilledMyFather: Sonja swears vengeance on Queen Gedren for murdering her whole family, (along with ordering her to be raped) because Sonja had rejected [[PsychoLesbian her advances]]), and [[EvilIsPetty gave her a slight cut on the cheek]].
78	* YoureInsane: Ikol reacts this way when Gedren rejects his plea to stop using the talisman before it's too late. Sonja shoots this at her, too.

Context Film / RedSonja