# Yor, the Hunter from the Future
**Yor, the Hunter from the Future** (*Il mondo di Yor*, literally "The World of Yor") is a 1983 science fiction fantasy film directed by Antonio Margheriti, in which a muscular prehistoric warrior searches for his origins in a land that turns out to hold a technologically advanced slave civilization. It stars Reb Brown as Yor, with [Corinne Cléry](https://www.edgepedia.org/corinne-clery) as Ka-Laa, John Steiner as the Overlord, Carole André as Ena, and Luciano Pigozzi as Pag.[1](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Yor%2C_The_Hunter_From_The_Future) • [2](https://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=AG4943) The film is an Italian, French, and Turkish co-production, and it originated as a four-part television miniseries for the Italian broadcaster RAI before being edited into a feature.[1](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Yor%2C_The_Hunter_From_The_Future) • [3](https://www.fanta-festival.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CatalogoFantafestival2015.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | *Il mondo di Yor*; released in the US as *Yor, the Hunter from the Future*[1](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Yor%2C_The_Hunter_From_The_Future) |
| Director | Antonio Margheriti, credited under the pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson[4](https://watch.afi.com/movie/yor-the-hunter-from-the-future-il-mondo-di-yor) |
| Formats | Four-part RAI miniseries; 98-minute director's cut for theaters, 88 minutes in the US[3](https://www.fanta-festival.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CatalogoFantafestival2015.pdf) • [1](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Yor%2C_The_Hunter_From_The_Future) |
| US release | August 19, 1983, distributed by Columbia Pictures on 1,425 screens[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Yor-Hunter-From-the-Future) • [6](https://goodefficientbutchery.blogspot.com/2012/05/cult-classics-revisited-yor-hunter-from.html) |
| US box office | $2,810,199, all earned in the opening weekend[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Yor-Hunter-From-the-Future) |
| Music | Guido and Maurizio De Angelis, with John Scott; theme song "Yor's World"[1](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Yor%2C_The_Hunter_From_The_Future) |
| Reception | 14% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (7 reviews); 46% Popcornmeter from 500+ audience ratings[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/yor_the_hunter_from_the_future) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Yor, a blond, powerful hunter in a primitive world, lives as a stranger among nomadic tribes and is searching for his own identity. He rescues Ka-Laa and her guardian Pag from a prehistoric monster, and the three travel together. After a raid by the blue-painted tribe, Yor learns of a woman revered as a goddess who wears the same mysterious medallion he has carried since childhood, and the companions set out to find her.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/yor_the_hunter_from_the_future) • [8](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-12438/)
The journey takes them through the land of the pygmies, where a young woman of Yor's own kind is killed in an ambush by the blue men, and on to the sea, where a storm strands them on an apparently deserted island. The island is home to Yor's own people, enslaved by the "Supremo", leader of an army of androids and robots; with the help of part of the population, Yor kills the Supremo.[2](https://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=AG4943) The American Film Institute's synopsis compresses the same arc: the prehistoric hero saves his companion from a dinosaur before the story shifts into a futuristic wasteland battle.[4](https://watch.afi.com/movie/yor-the-hunter-from-the-future-il-mondo-di-yor)
## Origin and production
**From miniseries to feature.** The production was made as a four-part miniseries of 60-minute episodes, co-produced by RAI and Diamant Film, and a 98-minute cinematic version was cut from it, dropping many sequences.[3](https://www.fanta-festival.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CatalogoFantafestival2015.pdf) IMDb describes the television version as running 200 minutes in four 50-minute episodes, a different accounting of the same material.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084935) Margheriti directed under his usual pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson and supervised the special effects with his son Edoardo.[4](https://watch.afi.com/movie/yor-the-hunter-from-the-future-il-mondo-di-yor) • [3](https://www.fanta-festival.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CatalogoFantafestival2015.pdf)
The miniseries was shot mainly in Turkey, in the landscapes of [Cappadocia](https://www.edgepedia.org/cappadocia) and on the lava coasts of Antalya. The prehistoric creatures were built at full size and animated by technicians hidden inside them.[3](https://www.fanta-festival.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CatalogoFantafestival2015.pdf) Reb Brown performed all of his own stunts on the film.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084935)
## Release and reception
[Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures) released the feature in the United States on August 19, 1983, on about 1,400 screens, in a summer season dominated by *Return of the Jedi* and a week before the [Lou Ferrigno](https://www.edgepedia.org/lou-ferrigno) *Hercules*.[6](https://goodefficientbutchery.blogspot.com/2012/05/cult-classics-revisited-yor-hunter-from.html) The Numbers records a domestic gross of $2,810,199, with the entire total earned in the opening weekend at 1,425 theaters, an average of $1,972 per theater; inflation-adjusted, the gross is about $10 million.[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Yor-Hunter-From-the-Future) In Spain, where it opened on March 1, 1984, it sold 152,166 admissions.[10](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=778151) In Italy, RAI held the series on the shelf for nearly ten years and gave it its first television airing in 1992, in a late-night slot.[3](https://www.fanta-festival.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CatalogoFantafestival2015.pdf)
Critical reception was poor. The film holds 14% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 7 reviews, with an average rated score of 3.50/10, against a 46% Popcornmeter audience score from more than 500 ratings.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/yor_the_hunter_from_the_future) Alan Jones of *Starburst* called it an "inept, cheesy muscleman epic that thinks mixing Conan with Star Wars is a stunningly original idea".[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/yor_the_hunter_from_the_future) Despite this, the Fantafestival catalog notes that the film achieved unexpected success in the United States and was one of Margheriti's most commercially successful films.[3](https://www.fanta-festival.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CatalogoFantafestival2015.pdf)
## Genre context
The film belongs to the wave of sword-and-sorcery and barbarian productions that followed the success of *Conan the Barbarian* (1982), in which Italian filmmakers in particular produced low-budget imitations of the style between 1982 and 1987.[11](https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jicms_00063_1)
The film has since circulated as a cult item. It was featured in the compilation *42nd Street Forever: Volume 4*,[1](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Yor%2C_The_Hunter_From_The_Future) and Mill Creek Entertainment released it on video in the US on September 6, 2011.[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Yor-Hunter-From-the-Future) The De Angelis brothers' synth-rock theme song, played over the opening credits and two heroic moments, is repeatedly singled out by later reviewers as the film's most memorable element.[12](https://theactionelite.com/yor-the-hunter-from-the-future-1983-review/)
## References
1. [Yor, The Hunter From The Future, The Grindhouse Cinema Database](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Yor%2C_The_Hunter_From_The_Future)
2. [Il mondo di Yor (1983), Archivio del Cinema Italiano](https://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=AG4943)
3. [Fantafestival 2015 catalog (entry on Il mondo di Yor)](https://www.fanta-festival.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CatalogoFantafestival2015.pdf)
4. [Yor, the Hunter from the Future, American Film Institute](https://watch.afi.com/movie/yor-the-hunter-from-the-future-il-mondo-di-yor)
5. [Yor: Hunter From the Future (1983), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Yor-Hunter-From-the-Future)
6. [Cult Classics Revisited: Yor, the Hunter from the Future (1983), Good Efficient Butchery](https://goodefficientbutchery.blogspot.com/2012/05/cult-classics-revisited-yor-hunter-from.html)
7. [Yor, the Hunter From the Future, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/yor_the_hunter_from_the_future)
8. [Yor, el cazador del futuro, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-12438/)
9. [Yor: The Hunter from the Future (1983), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084935)
10. [ICAA Film Data, file 778151](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=778151)
11. [From Conan the Barbarian to Gunan il guerriero: Re-contextualizing spaghetti sword and sorcery, Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies](https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jicms_00063_1)
12. [Yor, The Hunter From the Future (1983) Review, The Action Elite](https://theactionelite.com/yor-the-hunter-from-the-future-1983-review/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 1980s › Released 1980 to 1985*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license