Written and directed by Joe D'Amato, Quest For The Mighty Sword may be the most retitled fantasy film ever made. Alternatively released as Troll 3, Ator 4, The Lord of Akili, The Hobgoblin (not to be confused with Rick Sloane's Hob Goblins), and Ator 3: The Hobgoblin, it is nominally a sequel to D'Amato's earlier fantasy films Ator, the Fighting Eagle and The Blade Master, but doesn't seem to be connected to them apart from having a hero named Ator. It was reportedly made in protest of the third Ator movie, Iron Warrior, which was made without D'Amato's participation.
VERY loosely based on The Ring of the Nibelung, the movie opens in the kingdom of Lord Ator (Eric Allan Kramer), who swiftly sends away his son, Ator, and queen, Sunn, after having a premonition of his death. Lord Ator dies after the god Thorn tries to take back the Cool Sword he gave Lord Ator. However, the sword is broken thanks to the efforts of the Valkyrie Dejanira, who fell in love with Ator. For this, she is imprisoned behind a wall of fire until the day a worthy mortal man can rescue her.
18 years later, Ator The Younger (Also Eric Allan Kramer) frees himself from the bondage of his foster father, the dwarf Grindl, reforges the Blade of the Sacred Graal, and goes on a quest to rescue Dejanira and restore justice to the realm.
It was famously reviewed in 2010 by The Cinema Snob, as he unraveled the mystery of the three In Name Only sequels to the original Troll (1986). It also provides the clip for the "Rape Horn" running gag in the reviews of Phelous.
This film provides examples of:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: The Blade of the Sacred Graal truly is a Mighty Sword!
- Achievements in Ignorance: Ator somehow restores his sight after being blinded by Grindl and stumbles across the fragments of his father's broken sword.
- Ancestral Weapon: The Blade of the Sacred Graal.
- Barbarian Hero: Ator. Both of them.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Unfortunately implied by the source material (Sieglinde and Siegmund conceive Siegfried in The Ring of the Nibelung) and the fact that Lord Ator's wife Sunn is similar to the name of Ator's beloved, Sunya, in Ator, the Fighting Eagle. Granting that Ator and Sunya weren't blood relatives, it's still weird.
- The Chosen One:
- Ator The Younger
- To a lesser degree, Lord Ator, who was implied to be chosen by the gods to rule his land until they changed their minds.
- Cool Helmet: Dejanira favors the classical winged-ears Valkyrie look.
- Cool Sword: The Blade of the Sacred Graal.
- Does This Remind You of Anything??: Several examples.
- The plot is a blatant ripoff of The Ring of the Nibelung.
- Dejanira's name is taken from the Hercules legends rather than German mythology.
- Fan Disservice: Sunn has to give herself to Grindl for him to agree to raise Ator.
- Forged by the Gods: The Blade of the Sacred Graal.
- Idiot Hero: In marked contrast to the Ator of The Blade Master, this Ator isn't exactly a rocket scientist.
- In Name Only: It was released as Troll 3, because one of the goblin masks from Troll 2 was recycled for Grindl's costume.
- Lady of War: Dejanira
- Sword and Sorcery
