Il Mondo di Yor (Yor's World) Episode 2

Yor and his Flaming Sword of Fire

Directed by Anthony M. Dawson (Antonio Margheriti)

Written by Robert Bailey and Anthony M. Dawson, based on the Argentinian comic book Henga, el cazador ("Henga, the Hunter", 1974, reprinted in the Italian fumetti Lanciostory in 1975)

Music by John Scott

Theme song by Guido De Angelis & Maurizio De Angelis

Special effects by Antonella Margheriti, Edoardo Margheriti and Antonio Margheriti

Stunt coordinator: Arnaldo Dell'Acqua

An Italy/ Turkey co-production

It's time for episode 2, which once again begins with Yor running around the Cappadocia mountains. Let's listen a bit closer to the lyrics this time: these were clearly written by guys who don't use English every day:

In Yor’s World, he’s the man! In Yor’s World, he’s the man! Yor’s World!
Lost in the world of past, in the echo of ancient blast. Yor’s World!
There is a man of future, a man of mystery. Yor’s World!
No tribe to lead the way, in his search for a yesterday. Yor’s World!
Misty illusions hiding, his famous destiny. Yor’s World!

Yor, the touch of fire, Yor the proud and free desire,
He never sees the sun, he’s always on the run, him and his days are gone.
They say he will go on, his search goes on and on.
Yor’s World! He’s forsaken the name! Yor’s World! And the world was like fire! 
He’s gonna make all the wild things look tame tonight, in his fight!

In Yor’s World, he’s the man! In Yor’s World, he’s the man!
Yor’s World! He’s forsaken the name! Yor’s World! And the world was like fire!
Yor’s World! On the sun there’s a soul? Yor’s World! And the world was like fire!
Yor’s World! He’s forsaken the name! Yor’s World! And the world was like fire!

He never sees the sun? Only if he has lost the ability to look up. It's sunny literally every day, as the perfect tan on his ripped torso attests.

I've seen them. They are definitely not women

At the end of the first episode we left Yor (Reb Brown) and Pag (Alan Collins, aka Luciano Pigozzi) heading off to rescue Ka-Laa (Corinne Clery) from the evil blue men (or are they purple? I've seen people online describe them as purple) lead by Ucan (Aytekin Akkaya). Whilst they are trekking through the mountains we see what's going on with Ucan. he spends his evenings sitting on a giant throne made from a dinosaur skull whilst his hairy friends drink, dance and harass the women they just kidnapped. When Ucan spots Ka-Laa being brought out of the cage he decides that he will make everyone fight him for the honour of claiming her, even though we thought he already had, and they are all not really that bothered. In order to keep him happy they reluctantly start fighting, and of course he kicks their butts all over the cave.

"It's alright boss, honestly, you can have her"

As this pub carpark-style brawl unfolds, Ka-Laa is naturally worried, not knowing that Yor and Pag are watching from across the valley. How is Yor going to get there in time to save Ka-Laa?

Ucan really knows how to charm them

As fortune would have it, a large flying creature circles overhead. Quick-thinking Yor grabs Pag's bow and shoots it down when it heading straight towards them.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it Rodan?

Amongst Yor's skills are supreme accuracy at hitting fast-moving airborne objects with his first arrow, something which we have never seen him do before. Clearly he has a knack for learning how to use new weapons very quickly, something which will come in handy in episode 4.

"Up a bit"

Yor then grabs the dead creature and uses it as a makeshift hang glider to fly across the valley, through the mouth of the cave and straight into Ucan, causing no end of commotion. This sequence is pulled off almost entirely with miniatures, and you can really tell. Ucan is severely unimpressed, and more fighting breaks out. Yor grabs Ka-Laa and they leg it further into the caves, whilst Pag fires off his arrows at anyone who strays into his sights.

Yor glides to the rescue

Yor and Ka-Laa are pursued by Ucan and his men into this subterranean complex,  as they try to find a safe way out. Ever the improvisor, Yor spots a dam and smashes it, causing water to flood through the caves and destroying Ucan's forces. This is a good opportunity to see some more of Margheriti's legendary use of miniatures in action, and it is a very effective sequence.

The first bath Ucan has had in years

Now safe, they completely ignore the dozens of women from Ka-Laa's tribe who are either still trapped in a cage, or worse, drowning because of their reckless actions, and head out to meet Pag. Ucan must surely be dead now too, right?

Return to the Blue Lagoon

Yor, Ka-Laa and Pag head into the woods where Yor hunts for food and shares a tender moment with Ka-Laa, where they finally snog. It's definitely serious now. They also discover the former dwelling of a long-since deceased man who conveniently has supplies they can borrow, including a nice fur coat for Ka-Laa.

The last guy who tried to watch all four hours of Yor

Even though they were only just reunited, Yor is determined to head to the desert in order to find the strange woman he was told about in episode 1. He must find the answer to the mystery of his life, and he must do it alone. He insists Pag and Ka-Laa stay behind, so naturally they wait until he's wondered off and then follow him.

He will, you know

We find ourselves back in the familiar mountains of the opening credits, which leads one to wonder if those credit sequences are a flash-forward to this part of the story, or has he simply been here before? In the credits he seems as happy as Larry, yet now that he's here in episode 2 he seems a bit more trepidatious. During this sequence we are treated to several shots of a particularly phallic rock formation.

Even this rock can't make Yor feel inadequate

Meanwhile, Pag is attempting to teach Ka-Laa about men. He's full of wisdom, even if it does not particularly make any sense. 

She's not buying this crap

After wandering through the mountains for what feels like half the episode (there's a bit of padding here), Yor finally comes under attack from a bunch of guys who look like they might have been formally employed as Tuskan Raiders, but have since fallen on hard times.

"Things haven't been the same around here since George Lucas left"

Despite fighting bravely, Yor is finally caught in a net and taken into a cave where he allows himself to be tied to a pillar in order to be allowed to speak with their queen, Roa (Turkish model Ayshe Gul, about whom little is known). 

"Last week my tongue was stuck to the ice for two days"

She seems to be effectively held prisoner by these people, who have some sort of sickness caused by the poisonous atmosphere of the region, although it clearly hasn't affected her too badly. She spends all day in her cave, looking at a wall of ice which appears to have people trapped inside. The ice provides the water that these sand people so desperately need. They are drinking frozen man water. Yor tries to convince her that she needs to help him escape so that together they can go and solve the mystery of their lives. It is clear that they are somehow connected as they are both blond, gorgeous, half-naked and wearing the same medallions. The sand people however have other plans. They want to sacrifice Yor with a flaming sword. Of course, it's never a good idea to go near Yor with a weapon as he will inevitably steal it and be really good at using it.

How is this story going to improve on a flaming sword? Have they peaked too soon?

Whilst Yor is fighting to escape from yet another cave, Pag and Ka-Laa have stopped for a quick rest only to suddenly find themselves beset with hungry-looking tarantulas. There are dozens of them, all heading straight for them. Pag knows what to do, and Ka-Laa is handy with her knife, and once again an animal dies on camera for a Magheriti production.

No tarantulas were harmed in the making of Il mondo di Yor. Hopefully

Yor manages to get the upper hand and gets away, but Roa is injured in the process and needs to be carried to safety. He gets her out of the cave, barely conscious. Once clear he sits down, and makes the unfortunate mistake of trying to check her pulse by feeling her thigh, just as Ka-Laa comes running round the corner, still upset about having just killed a tarantula.

"Is she still breathing? The lungs are just here, right?"

As we already know from the dancing in the opening scenes of episode 1, Ka-Laa is definitely the jealous type. She is singularly unimpressed with the scene she has just stumbled upon.

"Bloody men"

Yor meanwhile reacts in the way most men in his predicament would. I have seen this expression as the final shot in a thousand sitcoms. You can almost hear the descending "waa waa waa" comedy trumpet as the camera closes in on Yor's silly face.

"Doh!"

And that is the end of episode 2. Stick around for coverage of episode 3, coming soon! In the meantime, why not check it out for yourself below?

I recently made an appearance on the B-Moviecast to discuss all things Yor. You can hear the full episode below or find it in your usual podcast app:

You can also hear the gang at the Bloody Pit podcast discuss all four hours of Yor in one of their very early episodes: