New Movie Trailer: Red Sonja
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Long ass wait for red Sonja stuck in development hell and this is the version we end up with lol can't say I'm surprised it looks straight to Walmart bargain bin. Smh
Good looks on sharing the trailer though, I had stopped following development on this movie after the like 15th director/actor/budget dropped out lol
Good looks on sharing the trailer though, I had stopped following development on this movie after the like 15th director/actor/budget dropped out lol
respect the OGs
Guess Ronda Rousey passed on this
Was waiting for the sci fi channel logo to pop up
It never came it never came
It never came it never came
Red Sonja review – pixie-ish Matilda Lutz steps into Brigitte Nielsen’s battle corset for action remake
The revival of Nielsen’s 80s classic applies CGI and flashbacks a little too liberally, but there’s the odd glimmer of wit in an otherwise clunky script
Review: They Have Made A Terrible Mistake With The New Red Sonja Movie
They made a terrible mistake with the new Red Sonja movie, which is in very few theaters this weekend. Is there still time to fix it?
bleedingcool.com
Review: They Have Made A Terrible Mistake With The New Red Sonja Movie
They made a terrible mistake with the new Red Sonja movie, which is in very few theaters this weekend. Is there still time to fix it?Published Fri, 15 Aug 2025 08:17:04 -0500 by Rich Johnston
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Article Summary
- Red Sonja movie delivers a surprisingly strong adaptation of Gail Simone and Mark Russell's comics run.
- Matilda Lutz shines as a fresh, layered Red Sonja, with Robert Sheehan excelling as Emperor Dragan.
- Physical effects, fantasy worldbuilding, and clever humor set this Red Sonja apart from past versions.
- Limited release is a missed opportunity—this is the best comic book movie adaptation of the year so far.
Red Sonja is a new film directed by M. J. Bassett, written by Tasha Huo, starring Matilda Lutz as Red Sonja, up against Robert Sheehan as Emperor Dragan the Magnificent. And he is rather. I say "new" but Red Sonja was filmed in 2022, finished in post in 2023, and has sat on a shelf, unreleased until now. If you call this a release. Red Sonja premiered in Russia on the 31st of July and received a limited theatrical release in the United States on the 13th of August. You probably missed it.
Yesterday, it received its UK premiere, one screening upstairs at the Prince Charles Cinema on London's Leicester Square, to a completely packed audience. M.J. Bassett presented the screening and took questions at the end. I understand the demand was such that the cinema could have filled many a screening, but there are no more scheduled for the entirety of London. On Saturday, there will be a double bill with Bassett's previous Robert E Howard movie, Solomon Kane, in Bristol. I am half-minded to travel up this weekend to watch it again,
Because I went in with very low expectations, the memories of the original Red Sonja movie, forty years ago, starring Brigitte Nielsen, and some of the awful comics over the decades, and I was confounded by the film that I saw, in a very good way.
Red Sonja by Way of Gail Simone and Mark Russell
An origin tale, this is Red Sonja Year One, but as an adaptation of the Dynamite Entertainment comic book take on the character, specifically the Gail Simone version, shown most visibly with the crow make-up, though also reflecting others. Nick Barrucci does get his producer credit after all. Aspects of her Robert E Howard/Roy Thomas origin have been swept away, including rape and sexual abuse. Instead, Red Sonja is a creature of the forest, at one with nature and the goddesses, and a survivor of an attack against her adopted people. The comic had her killing the raiders as she found them, but the film instead has her trying to live her life until the world encroaches on her and her horse.
Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films
Red Sonja #2 (2013)And as the world encroaches, she does it right back. A resultant sword fight with Wallis Day as Dark Annisia, from the very first issue of Gail Simone's run on the character, gains the attention of Dragan, who sends her to his gladiatorial arena. And what an arena it is, massively impossible and gorgeous. Like the comic, she is captured and forced to fight there, though it is more like three nights rather than three years spent fighting. This Red Sonja, like the original, has a supernatural bent. But sending her to the arena might, in retrospect, have been a mistake on Dragan's part, and the events of the film turn on what happens next.
Red Sonja (2025) screencapI was expecting Red Sonja to be a bit cheesy and campy, and mark my words, it is that in places. Love a soft focus eighties candle? They have you covered. But this film embraces all that, and makes it part of the film's own language, in a similar way that Red Sonja wears – and then owns – the chain mail bikini. When Dave the Blacksmith offers it in the arena, played by a personal favourite of mine, Tony Way, she asks what protection it will give her. "Nothing, absolutely nothing. But the crowd will love it", giving the chains a little shake. It's a laugh-out moment in the cinema, one of many, but this is the closest the film comes to breaking the fourth wall. The jokes are actually funny, with nary a groan to be heard, and they interperse the film perfectly, lightening the mood, even as it explores how trauma affects the main characters, and the result plays out across the land.
Red Sonja (2025) screencapI could have done with a little less of the Gaia/Mother Earth aspects of the character that begins Red Sonja. However, that is balanced by the whole fantasy world, clearly influenced by Ray Harryhausen, with the Cyclops and the Giant Scorpions. Their budget clearly hampered the amount they could use or show, but they helped colour the world, which primarily uses physical effects; CGI is kept to a minimum, portraying the occasional creature. We don't need explanations for them or the Mandrill apemen who live alongside the humans, treated as just another tribe, and ripped out of the Roy Thomas Conan comic books. The world is vast and weird and has all manner of aspects of science and magic, often working together at the same time.
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Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films
Red Sonja (2019)Talking of which, that's where Robert Sheehan's Emperor Dragan, the standout role of the film, a character created in Mark Russell's comic book run on Red Sonja, comes in, with his best performance since he burst onto the screen with Misfits. Dragan is the tech bro of the Hyborian Age, seeking ancient wisdom and using it to create devices that first power his city, then enslave its monsters, with people next on his list. He is cruel, whimsical, and controlling, but his history, rise, and fall are the film's emotional highlight.
But Matilda Lutz as Red Sonja is a joy as well. A slighter, smaller Red Sonja than we might have expected, that reflects that these are her first days thrust into this role, and the film sees her, frame by frame, become the Red Sonja of the comics and books. By the end, she is utterly convincing, having been on that journey, and her adventures are only just beginning. And all of Hyboria is waiting for her to slash through it.
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Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films
Red Sonja #1 (2013)Wallis Day as Dark Annisia is another highlight, a constantly haunted second hand to Dragan, she is just as cruel and vindictive as he is, she wields the sword that he cannot. She may be free, but she is trapped by duty, by honour, by love. And Dragan, who exploits all of it. Also of note is the swordsman Osrin The Untouched, from a later run of Gail Simone's Red Sonja, based initially on Supernatural actor Osric Chau, and named initially Osric The Untouched. Here, he is played by Luca Pasqualino with an irrepressible lightness.
Red Sonja (2025) screencap
Red Sonja #10 (2014)Throw in Trevor Eve as the Machiavellian Maester Crudelis, and Tim McMullan as the simpering courtesan Coltar, and they manage to pull off convincing period fantasy performances without resorting to chewing the furniture, a mean feat.
Badass Horse Girl
And then there's Red Sonja's horse. In the true love story of the film, she cares more about her horse than anyone else. And it's justified as well. She is there for her horse, and her horse is there for Red Sonja. It's a love story that will stand the test of time.The tragedy of Red Sonja is that so few will see it. It will come to digital quickly, but this film benefits from a large screen and a thumping soundtrack, the kind only a cinema can provide. And, given his $15 million production budget, it feels as if this film, based on existing familiar IP and doing a crowd-pleasing job with it, should have more of a cinematic chance. Enough people will love this film: those who like fantasy, those who like women in chain bikinis, and those looking for a fun story with snow, fire, and Cyclopses. There may have been some narrative shortcuts, but what it shows on the screen doesn't look low-budget.
How could a wide release not make its money back? A modest hit would make it more profitable than some current blockbusters. And that's the thing, taken as a whole, looking at the story, the world, the emotional journey, the acting, and the writing, this is a better film than the recent Superman and Fantastic Four. There is no reason it couldn't have gone up against both of them. Red Sonja is fun, affecting, and the best comic book movie adaptation of the year so far. It is a terrible mistake that it has been denied the chance to show that to more people.
Red Sonja will be released on video on demand on the 29th of August by Samuel Goldwyn Films. A screening will be held on Saturday in Bristol in England with a director Q&A.
MJ Bassett outside the Prince Charles Cinema / Rich JohnstonRed Sonja (2025)
Review by Rich Johnston
8/10
I was expecting Red Sonja to be a bit cheesy and campy, but this film embraces all that, and makes it part of the film's own language, in a similar way that Red Sonja wears - and then owns - the chain mail bikini. It's the best comic book movie of the year so far.
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'Red Sonja' Review: This Conan the Barbarian Spinoff Warrior Gets a Welcome Reintroduction
Matilda Lutz and strong combat make this a solid update.
collider.com
..and directed by a tranny..
I wonder if this will get a higher rotten tomatoes score than ice cubes war of the world's lol
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