This book is the first critical survey of sword and sorcery, one of the most popular subgenres of fantasy cinema.

Sword and sorcery films and TV shows such as Excalibur (1981), Conan the Barbarian (1982) and, more recently, Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001) and The Scorpion King franchise (2002-2018), were not only major commercial successes, but also global cultural phenomena influencing music, literature and gaming. For many viewers fantasy is a synonym of Sword and Sorcery as the genre is often associated with epic tales featuring heroes in violent conflict with wizards, evil spirits and other supernatural creatures.

Alfio Leotta traces the illustrious heritage of sword and sorcery in literature and cinema and offers an in-depth discussion of the golden age of the subgenre in the 1980s. Sword and sorcery films have often earned the scorn of film critics because of both their alleged lack of artistic merits and their exploitative content. Leotta explains sword and sorcery's reputation as a 'bad' genre by combining the examination of the context of its production and reception with the analysis of the representation of gender, race and place in these films.