Good Fantasy Movies

[Nato]

Having almost completed my first fantasy artwork assignment for Fantasy Hero, I find myself bitten by the Fantasy Bug. Can't get enough of it. When working, I often like to have movies playing. Now there are hundreds of thousands of fantasy novels to choose from, but I don't know of too many movies. Well, movies worth watching that is. I'm interested first in a great story, but will also settle for an OK story if the visuals are excellent - meaning great armor and weapons and period scenery. That sort of thing. Can you guys recomend some good one? Here's what I know of already...

LOTR obivously
Conans
Scorpion King

Really nice animation is cool too.

That's about it for me. Was never all THAT interested in the genre, other than enough to play the D&D basic set in junior high.

Thanks.

Nato

[Talon]

Willow, while not a good movie, does have some good scenes in it.

For animation, Princess Mononoke is hard to beat.

Princess Bride (not exactly what you're looking for, I suspect, but an excellent movie)

Shrek

[Melchior777]

Legend
The Princess Bride
Ladyhawk
Gladiator (historical fantasy)
The dozen or so different TV movie renditions of King Arthur
Robin Hood: Prince of thieves
Willow

Can't think of any other Hollywood fantasy movies right now, but if you expand to the Anime venue...

Record of the Lodoss War
Those who hunt elves
Princess Mononoke
Bastard!!
Ys
Orphen
El Hazard (kinda)
Rayearth (kinda)

Many more that aren't comming to mind right now.

[Nato]

Actually, Princess Bride is another one I have. It's great. A different flavor of fantasy, but great fantasy none the less. The whole fairy-tale medieval thing.

Thanks.

[Vondy]

I can't believe no one has mentioned -- EXCALIBUR!

If you don't mind b-movies there's always --

The old Saturday afternoon Sinbad movies
Beastmaster
Barbarians

[Old Man]

You have to, Have To, HAVE TO see Musa: The Warrior. It's in Korean and the subtitles aren't fantastic, but the costumes, and action sequences are a MUST SEE.

If you cannot find it on Ebay, let me know. I can lend you my copy.

[Killer Shrike]

I dont think these have been mentioned:
13th Warrior
Lodoss Wars
ahem...Highlander

[joen00b]

Dragon Slayer
Sword and the Sorceror
Willow

[MarkusDark]

I always stop channel surfing if I find the original Beastmaster movie.

[Nightshade]

Dragon Slayer is really good, if only to see the dragon. Vermithrax is how I view dragons everytime.

DragonHeart is okay, but not the best. It has a couple good scenes.

Excalibur is really excellent.

If you don't mind some camp, Krull isn't too bad, plus you can see a very young Liam Neeson in it!

Good luck!

Nightshade

[allen]

Originally posted by D-Man
...The old Saturday afternoon Sinbad movies


throw in Jason and the Argonauts and you can have a Harryhausen film fest (Jason and the Argonauts also has a neat set for Hecate's temple).

Also Clash of the Titans.

The Kull movie (not to be confused with Krull) with Kevin Sorbo... don't pay to see it, but not bad if you catch it on TV and don't have anything else to do and can't even think of anything else worth doing.

[Bartman]

Legend - With a young Tom Cruise. It isn't actually a very good movie but it has some incredible cinematography, sets and costuming. The extended/directors cut version makes slightly more sense, but not by much.

Ladyhawk - With Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. Already mentioned, but an excellent movie. If it doesn't make you want to roleplay, you aren't a roleplayer.

Flesh & Blood - With Rutger Hauer. Excelent: nasty and brutish portrayal of some medieval mercenaries. Its not light fare but quite good.

And my favorite pure B grade (or maybe C grade) fantasy:

The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire - Fun story of a boy and his bow. Interesting in that the super weapon is a bow rather than a sword. And there is something entertaining about watching Thoran blow apart mountains with his bow.

Hawk the Slayer - Watch Jack Palance chew up the scenery as one of the most over the top villians of all time. Watch the autofire elf mow down armies in seconds. Watch the teleporting Hula hoops and wonder why you are watching this at all.

[Nato]

Originally posted by Bartman
Ladyhawk - With Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. Already mentioned, but an excellent movie. If it doesn't make you want to roleplay, you aren't a roleplayer.


Interesting you should say that. Back when VCRs were invented, my local video rental guy recomended I get this one. Said that it would give me some great ideas for role-playing. I still haven't watched it but it's probablly time I should.

[Bartman]

Originally posted by Nato
Interesting you should say that. Back when VCRs were invented, my local video rental guy recomended I get this one. Said that it would give me some great ideas for role-playing. I still haven't watched it but it's probablly time I should.

Well I won't post any spoilers then. But I do highly recommend it. A great story where you get to see the character of the characters. One of the few fantasy where the characters have real motivations. I could probably do all the characters' disadvantages easier than their stats which is a rare thing.

[Monolith]

I have not seen a great many fantasy (and in this case historical) films but the ones that I have seen which I though were not to bad are:

Excalibur
Conan the Barbarian
Ladyhawke
LotR (both versions)
Braveheart
Rob Roy
First Knight
13th Warrior
Dragon Heart

There was also an animated movie which I believe was called "Fire and Ice" which I though was interesting just because of the Wolf Lord/Demi-God character in it.

[Steve Long]

Here's the filmography from FH, if that's of any interest:

Braveheart
Brotherhood Of The Wolf
Excalibur
Highlander
Kull
Labyrinth
Ladyhawke
Monty Python And The Holy Grail
The Princess Bride
Rob Roy
The Thirteenth Warrior
The Three Musketeers (various versions)

[Nevenall]

It's more of a martial arts thing, but you might enjoy the Anime, Ninja Scroll. Both the story and the artwork are excellent. After I saw it the first time, I just HAD to start a martial arts campaign.
I mention it as fantasy because there is lots of monsters and magic.

[Springald Jack]

in addition to what I've seen mentioned don't forget The Dark Crystal Labyrinth's more serious no humans necessary older sibling

--
Patrick Ley
who realizes this is his first post here

[Galadorn]

Originally posted by D-Man
I can't believe no one has mentioned -- EXCALIBUR!

If you don't mind b-movies there's always --

The old Saturday afternoon Sinbad movies
Beastmaster
Barbarians

I agree D-Man. The Following list notes rating (stars):

Western Mythology:
Excalibur *** (1982?)(Academy Award Winner for Special Effects)
Fellowship of the Ring (2001) **** (Academy Award Winner for Special Effects)
The Two Towers (2002) ****(Academy Award Winner for Special Effects)
Dragonslayer (1981) ****

Eastern Mythology:
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Academy Award Winner) (2001) ****
Sinbad (All Titles) many *** or ****

[Storn]

I read these fast, so I might have missed it....

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Ok, the martial arts are SO interwoven in this movie, but the costumes and sets, the magic, the scrolls of wisdom, the green sword. Seems like fantasy to me.

and Dragon Inn is a great plot that could easily be taken into a fantasy realm.

But funny enough, Gregory Peck's passing, the biggest influence a movie ever had on my fantasy campaign... in fact, launched my current campaign of some 7 years.... was a western. Peck played an ex-ship capt and a pacificist in the middle of a feud between ranchers over river water rights. The scene of him going out into the desert with only a sextent was great. I can't remember the title; Big Country? Big River?

That movie inspired me to start my Blue Gryphons campaign in a young frontier country, many cattle ranchers, big country, small population. The Gryphons were cross between Texas Rangers (including a traveling Judge/cleric of Tyr) and Queen's musketeers. But the idea of taking Western themes and incorporating into fantasy was very cool. Mostly it was the horse culture, the idea of cattle drives, vast tracts of land being roamed, the small population. And a few tough men and women keeping the law.

[Tempuswolf]

I see Steve put Braveheart, Rob Roy, and The Thirteenth Warrior on the list; more "no magic" fantasy candidates would be:

El Cid with Charleston Heston as Spain's national hero, a man so noble both Christians and Muslims knelt in fealty before him.

and

Flesh & Blood with Rutger Hauer as a surly robber picking through the spoils (including Jennifer Jason Leigh) of the Black Death. Dark Fantasy Hero.

[Storn]

Originally posted by Tempuswolf
I see Steve put

El Cid with Charleston Heston as Spain's national hero, a man so noble both Christians and Muslims knelt in fealty before him.





Good one. Gots to mention the Heston as "The Warlord". Norman warriors doing the siege thing.

[Nolgroth]

Most of the pure fantasy movies have already been listed. These are movies that also have had some measure of influence on my "style" of fantasy role-playing. Probably missing a few, but there you have it.

Treasure Island. The book was infinitely better IMO, but a couple of the movie renditions were not bad. Treasure Island has so many inspirations for leading characters on a puzzle-ridden quest for buried treasure that no perspective GM or player should miss it.

Moby Dick. The semi-recent version that USA produced had some very nice cgi of Moby Dick. A lot like Treasure Island, except that it has a monster hunting theme to it.

The Mummy and the Mummy Returns. I liked both movies for what they were, but the psuedo-mythology and cutscenes of ancient eqypt were very inspiring.

Young Sherlock Holmes. I'm starting to see a trend in movies that have influenced my style of play. Anyways, there were some fantastical elements in the movie that could be played up. The assassins guild was a big influence on one that I cooked up.

From Hell. More like gaslight detective fiction, but there are some supernatural elements. It's a wonder that I haven't picked up some sort of Victorian-esque role-playing setting (other than Ravenloft) before now.

Sleepy Hollow. Probably a different era and maybe too dark. Has some interesting twists.

[Thag13]

Wow, nice list of films, but here are a few more obscure films to round out the watch list


Captian Kronos, Vampire Hunter, At one time this film was hard to find but now just released to DVD. While mostly a horror film, it could be considered a dark fantasy with vampires. Cool sword scenes and Hammer chick galore.

Seven Samari, Yojimbo, Ran, all movies by Korasawa.
Fantasic sword play, great stories and just fun to watch.
Japaneese movies at thier finest.

BBCs Nevewhere is being released very soon. Neverwhere is a modern Dark Fantasy about a magic underworld excisting under modern London. Its a six part TV series. low budget, but it has the basis of a great game




I wish there were copies around of the old 60 sword and sandle Italian movies. When I was growing up there were a staple of Saterday afternoon movies....

Speaking of which Steve Reeves Hercules is out on DVD and worth watching....its silly and dated, but some of the scenes still work.

Disneys prince and the pauper is a great one if you can find it, but it looks like most of the Vault disney is not going to be avaible for a while, although there is word of a third disney channel just for the old stuff

I liked Mists of Avalon the TNT movie of recent showing.
SCi FI is running Roar right now....its not bad.....

look for Richard Lesters Flashman movie on Turner classic or amc. Based on George Mcdonalds Flashman book series, its about a upper class bastard bedding and drinking his way across late 19 century europe. Not quite fantasy, but close enough. Great fight scenes and sight gags

The Sharpe Series. Its a Strech to Add them to a Fantasy list, but heroic action abouds in this series and is worth a look. I made a great Deadlands series of adventures of these and I am betting many GMs would get great ideas watching this series of 14!!!! movies

[tkdguy]

The Vikings. Tony Curtis and Kirk Douglas star.
Spartacus. Tony Curtis and Kirk Douglas star in this one too.
The Vagabond King, if you like musicals.
The Desert Song, another musical.
The Sea Hawk, starring Errol Flynn.
The Prisoner of Zenda, starring Stewart Granger.

[GreyGuardian]

Ok it's more kind of horror comedy than fantasy but Evil Dead 2 and of course the sequel Army of Darkness - its cheesy, it's bruce campbell, it's lots of skeletons and other horrid things and some great one liners.

definetly NOT the dnd movie that came out a few years ago...

some of the diseny movies, snow white, cinderrella kind of qualify.

There really aren't too many good fantasy movies out there. I think this thread hit most of them.

[allen]

Originally posted by Thag13
BBCs Nevewhere is being released very soon. Neverwhere is a modern Dark Fantasy about a magic underworld excisting under modern London. Its a six part TV series. low budget, but it has the basis of a great game


hmmm... I think BBC did an adaptation of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels too.

[The Mad GM]

If you like Monty Python style humor, "Monty Python's The Holy Grail" "Jabberwocky" are good rents. "Eric the Viking" is another good comedy, with Tim Robbins of all people. Love the token christian missionary. Good take on gods.
BBC did a live action "Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe" a few years back, but it moves pretty far from standard fantasy
I always thought Indiana Jones movies had an amazingly gameable atmosphere and visuals, as well as the original Star Wars trilogy, even though the settings are very divergent. Ditto with Harry Potter.

[Nightshade]

Perhaps this is just me, but I never considered a lot of the Anime to be fantasy, but more of a martial arts genre. Sometimes that line is extremely fuzzy. For example, I never liked Xena or Hercules, the TV series, because of all the oriental martial arts.

I wouldn't classify either Iron Monkey or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as fantasy, just because they were both more than a little heavy on the "kung fu" side of things. Both are good movies, though

Perhaps I am too idealogically focused on western culture, though.

I would like your thoughts on this.

Nightshade

[allen]

Originally posted by Nightshade
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as fantasy...I would like your thoughts on this.


i definitely consider Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fantasy...

has sword fights and a magic sword.

has a bar fight.

conflict is settled via violence.

romantic love, love at first sight stuff going on.

set in an historical never-was (at least, as far as my limited knowledge of Asian history goes).

*shrug* i think it's certainly more akin to fantasy than some historical adventure movies, like Gladiator, The Three Musketeers, etc.

haven't seen Iron Monkey...

allen

[The Mad GM]

I've always thought of most gonzo martial art movies as being a subgenre of fantasy, since most of them involve manuevers that are essentially magic.

[Galadorn]

Originally posted by allen
haven't seen Iron Monkey...

allen

Iron Monkey is great, if you can stand subtitled movies. Very 1st Edition D&D-like monks. Brought back some good memories of my 11th level lawful good monk - LOL.

Anyway, I think we can all agree that, while the D&D movie made a breakthrough for Fantasy in the movie industry, it was not the best example of Fantasy.

For plot, special effects good for the time, and the feel of realistic and historical fantasy, Dragonslayer is tops for 1980s movies in my book. Definately far better than Dragonheart. :D

I hoping a movie about EarthSea, by Ursula Le Guin will come out. Thats another top series, in my book; at least the first four books and Tehanu.

But I'm sure sooner or later a book of Shannara will come out, by Terry Brooks. I'm not a big fan of this series, though. Too me it's too much like eating popcorn, to J.R.R. Tolkien's hot buttered corn bread. ;)

[Galadorn]

Originally posted by allen
i definitely consider Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fantasy...

has sword fights and a magic sword.

has a bar fight.

conflict is settled via violence.

romantic love, love at first sight stuff going on.

set in an historical never-was (at least, as far as my limited knowledge of Asian history goes).

*shrug* i think it's certainly more akin to fantasy than some historical adventure movies, like Gladiator, The Three Musketeers, etc.

haven't seen Iron Monkey...

allen

You forgot the treewalking, and running on water. LOL:D

[tkdguy]

Lots of martial arts movies and stories are definitely part of fantasy, considering some of the legends about some grand masters. Consider Wong Fei Hung, China's most popular hero (he was the kid in Iron Monkey). He actually lived, but so many movies about him, both factual and fictional, have been made about him, he has become to China what Robin Hood is to England.

Historical fantasy is also valid. I say "historical" loosely because many of the facts are changed. The Three Musketeers actually was based on real people, but the account was almost entirely fictionalized. The real Athos actually died before the real D'Artagnan had the chance to meet him. Gladiator used the emperor Comodus, who was more insane than he was portrayed. He would fight in the gladiatorial games dressed as Hercules. He was murdered by his own soldiers, not a gladiator. And Braveheart IS a fantasy, even if a real-life person was the hero. The man was real; the movie is all made up.

Crossover elements are interesting to play. My fantasy campaign (in the works) is basically a combination of Enter the Dragon and The Three Musketeers. I'll let you know how it works out.

[joen00b]

For good political intrigue, you might want to add: The Count of Monte Cristo (not the lame one they recently made, but the older one in French dubbed to English starring Gerard Depardieu) or even better: Read the book (http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext98/crsto12.txt)!

This was always one of my favorite stories growing up, it shows the lengths one man goes to for revenge!

[Mancer]

Well, looks like most things have been pretty much covered...but I would definitely add "Brotherhood of the Wolf" to any list of Fantasy genre movies.


MANCER

[1Big Rich]

Deathstalker and Deathstalker II aren't bad for completely B, low-budget movies. To the "A" list, I'll go on a mild Robin Hood kick. I'd add The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. Basil Rathbone (that's Sherlock Holmes to those of you in Lake Geneva) was one of the most accomplished swordsmen in Hollywood, and Flynn was no slouch either. Their swordfight alone is worth the price of admission, IMHO.

I'd also add the Robin Hood movie that was contemporary to Costner-Hood: Prince of Bad Movies, starring Patrick Bergan and Uma Thurman. It's a very 'historically accurate' for a fictional film in that the Saxon/Norman conflict is a key to the story, the Normans are using Norman style shiields as depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, etc. I'd recommend it.

Robin and Marian with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn was a pretty good tale of the couple years after the traditonal story.

I'd also say Sword of the Valaint, with Trevor Howard and Sean Connery. It's basically Gawain and the Green Knight. (Connery in Green). Not quite stellar, but a decent fantasy flick nonetheless.

And if I'm gonna throw down Robin Hood, I have to throw in his contemporary, Ivanhoe. I actually like the '82 TV movie with Sam Neill and James Mason. John Rhys-Davies even has a part. But the '52 version is really good too. See 'em both.

Everyone has already piled on most of my favorites, like LOTR, the Sword and the Sorcerer, Excalibur, etc, but I want to add that Conan the Barbarian is one of my favorite fantasy films. More of a low-fantasy than LOTR or Excalibur, it has a good story, fantastic music and great cinematography. It's sets a different stage than Howard's actual work, but it captures his character of Conan rather well.

Well, I'm sure as soon as I post this, I'll think of another...

Regards,

Big Rich

[McCoy]

Originally posted by Nightshade
Dragon Slayer is really good, if only to see the dragon. Vermithrax is how I view dragons everytime.

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that the dragon wasn't a dragon, bu a wyverine?

Good movie, but that was not a dragon!

[Galadorn]

Originally posted by McCoy
Am I the only one bothered by the fact that the dragon wasn't a dragon, bu a wyverine?

Good movie, but that was not a dragon!

Ummmm, I remember some scaled reptilian creature breathing fire. I remember this creature being called a dragon. I don't remember a stinger tail.

[Thag13]

A&E recent Ivanhoe is worth setting thru also. A bit more correctly done costume wise and with casting.


1BigRich, excellent movie list. I was trying to remember some of the 80s low budget fantasy movie and I could not remember the name of that movie. Thanks

Also when you mentioned the 52 version Ivanhoe, that reminded me that Robert Taylor also did Knight of the Round Table, a delightful retelling of the Camolot myth. Just released on DVD and worth seeing a Technicolor movie.

Joen00b, I have to major disagree with you on the recent Monte Cristo movie. I found it very well done. I have a soft spot for the late seventies version with Richard Chamberland, but hey....

To be fair to Cosner, Prince of thevies is a fair movie and its been admitted the sound guys messed up reels in the final cut of the movie....I think the dvd fixes some of those mixups...

the above is just my opinion. Please no flame wars


Who is looking forward to League of Extordinary gentlemen
\

[tkdguy]

The main difference between dragons and wyverns is that dragons had four legs (the heraldic dragon) and the wyvern had only two. The dragon in the movie had 4 legs; it's definitely a heraldic dragon.

[Galadorn]

Originally posted by tkdguy
Lots of martial arts movies and stories are definitely part of fantasy, considering some of the legends about some grand masters. Consider Wong Fei Hung, China's most popular hero (he was the kid in Iron Monkey). He actually lived, but so many movies about him, both factual and fictional, have been made about him, he has become to China what Robin Hood is to England.

Historical fantasy is also valid. I say "historical" loosely because many of the facts are changed. The Three Musketeers actually was based on real people, but the account was almost entirely fictionalized. The real Athos actually died before the real D'Artagnan had the chance to meet him. Gladiator used the emperor Comodus, who was more insane than he was portrayed. He would fight in the gladiatorial games dressed as Hercules. He was murdered by his own soldiers, not a gladiator. And Braveheart IS a fantasy, even if a real-life person was the hero. The man was real; the movie is all made up.

Crossover elements are interesting to play. My fantasy campaign (in the works) is basically a combination of Enter the Dragon and The Three Musketeers. I'll let you know how it works out.

Well, simply adding the component of magic, would change historicity of historical fantasy, I think. At least a type of magic that is completely under the magic users control, and not subject to demonic and other forces.

I think we are using the definition of fantasy too broadly, I hate to quote WOTC, but the component that makes fantasy, fantasy, is magic. Even if this magic takes the form of fantastic physically impossible feats. I don't think the old Robin Hood movies, or "Flesh and Blood," meets that criteria.

[tkdguy]

Magic definitely defines fantasy; maybe non-magical fanasy is better described as fiction. As for Robin Hood, check out BBC's "Robin of Sherwood." That definitely had magic in it. The spirit of King Arthur even makes a cameo appearance in one episode. And there is an Arabic Merry Man, which Costner's film borrowed to make Morgan Freeman's character. Except this guy fights with twin scimitars (Drizzt Do'Urden, anyone?).

[1Big Rich]

I don't remember that one, Thag13; I'll look for it. I haven't seen the A&E Ivanhoe, either. But A&E does some pretty good stuff; as a Justice, Inc. fan, I like Poirot and Nero Wolf. I'll have too look for Ivanhoe, too. Thanks for the recommendations.

I have to diasgree with you on Prince of Thieves. I find it barely watchable. It seems like everyone else in the move is in character, KC is still acting in "Dances with Wolves." Freeman was good in this one, though, and Rickman is one of my favorites. Hey, I'm sure someone will say even Plan 9 has a redeeming quality, (though I'm not sure anyone would defend "Waterworld...")
:-})

I seem to remember a fantasy movie about Archers with magic bow, and the archer with the bow had mark over his heart. I think they called themselves 'Heartbowmen' or something. Does anyone else remember this movie, or anything about it? I've searched imdb.com for it, but without the name I can't find any info...

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Big Rich

[Tempuswolf]

The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire (www.scifilm.org/reviews/archer.html)

[1Big Rich]

Thanks, Tempestwolf. I had no idea it was a pilot, I thought it was just some made for TV fantasy flick...

Regards,

Big Rich

[McCoy]

Originally posted by tkdguy
The main difference between dragons and wyverns is that dragons had four legs (the heraldic dragon) and the wyvern had only two. The dragon in the movie had 4 legs; it's definitely a heraldic dragon.

Two Legs.

Two wings.

And tail ending in something resembling a scorpion's sting.

http://www.dracoslair.net/slay10.jpg

[Galadorn]

Originally posted by tkdguy
Magic definitely defines fantasy; maybe non-magical fanasy is better described as fiction. As for Robin Hood, check out BBC's "Robin of Sherwood." That definitely had magic in it.

Yes I saw that one, but I think quality was lacking.


The spirit of King Arthur even makes a cameo appearance in one episode. And there is an Arabic Merry Man, which Costner's film borrowed to make Morgan Freeman's character. Except this guy fights with twin scimitars (Drizzt Do'Urden, anyone?).

Right, Drizzt. LOL. I thought Kostner's Robin Hood was far better then many of the older versions. I'm not much of a Robin Hood fan anymore.

[Nightshade]

I forgot all about this one, and I can't believe no one else has mentioned it:

Red Sonya with Arnold.

That was actually a pretty poor movie, but the sword fights weren't too bad.

As to the idea that magic makes the fantasy, does that mean that Indiana Jones was fantasy? The first movie had some magic with the arc, but the second one had voodoo-like spells and glowing rocks.

Now that I have read all of the arguments, I would definately consider the martial arts films as at least a subgenre of fantasy. Thanks for the perspective!

Nightshade

[Old Man]

Originally posted by McCoy
Two Legs.

Two wings.

And tail ending in something resembling a scorpion's sting.

http://www.dracoslair.net/slay10.jpg

I suppose it would depend on your definition of legs. The dragon was modelled after a bat's anatomy with the front legs doubling as arms/wings. From what I can tell, wyverns only walk on their (rear) legs like birds and do not breath fire.

The tail was more like a rudder in form and function. Watch the movie.

[Nightshade]

I always thought that wyverns were related to dragons, anyway. I think I read that somewhere, but memory may be failing....

Anyway, I'd call it a dragon. I don't think that wyverns get quite that large.

Nightshade

[Melchior777]

I noticed someone mentioned Deathstalker. Note that Deathstalker and the warriors from hell has be MSTed, which makes it much more watchable.

Also, one more to mention:
SHREK

[McCoy]

Originally posted by Nightshade
I always thought that wyverns were related to dragons, anyway. I think I read that somewhere, but memory may be failing....

Anyway, I'd call it a dragon. I don't think that wyverns get quite that large.

Nightshade

Who says dragons get that large? On a tour of Europe we visited the church were St George is suppost to have slain the dragon (don't remember where this was and I'm too tired to look it up now). The facinating thing was the medeval mural behind the altar showed a critter more the size of an alligator than a dinosaur (and yes, I am aware there were small dinos).

[Toadmaster]

How could you people forget

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

[Talon]

I thought of Robin and Marian this morning and was embarrassed to not have recommended it the first time. It's a kick-ass movie that is not fantasy, but is the most medieval movie I've ever seen. It takes up the story of Robin Hood about 20 years after the original stories, when he returns from the Crusades (without Morgan Freeman this time). It includes:

--Sean Connery (in "good movie" mode) as an aging Robin Hood;
--Audrey Hepburn as Marian, no more need be said;
--Robert Shaw (Quint from Jaws) as the best Sheriff of Nottingham ever;
--Richard Harris (Arthur from Camelot, English Bob from Unforgiven, Dumbledorf from some other movie) as King Richard;
--Some guy I don't know as a great Little John

This is one of my all-time favorite movies. I haven't seen it in quite a while.

[Killer Shrike]

Originally posted by Toadmaster
How could you people forget

Monty Python and the Holy Grail While a funny movie, is it really a "fantasy" movie?

IMO its ust a spoof and not particularly suited to the Fantasy...um...uh...the fantasy...

"Idiom, sir?"

YES! Not particularly suited to the Fantasy idiom!:D

[NuSoardGraphite]

HAWK THE SLAYER!!!

Oh, wait. You said good fantasy movies.

Oh well then that excludes Hawk the Slayer.

Personaly, its one of my favorites, but even I will admit its far from "good". I just happen to like really cheasy b-flicks.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Dragon Inn, Iron Monkey all count as fantasy. In china, they come from the Wuxia genre of films...they are not considered to be simply "Kung Fu" movies (which encompass the likes of Jackie Chan's films and some of the more sedate Jet Li movies). Wuxia is fantasy, just from an Asian (specifically, Chinese) perspective. So these movies are quite valid. The formulas are the same, just add lots and lots of martial arts into the mix and you are good to go.

As far as "The Anime" films are concerned, many, many of them are deeply rooted in Western (really, D&D based) fantasy tradition. Anime like Record of the Lodoss War, Slayers, Legend of Lemnear, Berserk and Heroic Legend of Arislan have little to no traditional asian martial arts in them to speak of. There are a whole host of Anime fantasy tittles of this type (most of them worthless, though the above mentioned tittles are excpetional..well, maybe not Lemnear)
Then there is the Anime that is a blending of Asian and Western fantasy ideas. This includes the likes of Escaflowne (one of the most excellent Anime ever!) Bastard! and Those Who Hunt Elves (yes, thats the actual tittle)
Rounding this out is the tittles that are most definately fantasy, but in the asian (mainly Japanese) tradition. These include the various Ninja and Samurai tittles popular amongst anime fans including Jubei Ninja Chronicles (aka Ninja Scroll), Yotoden, The Hakkenden (most excellent, Highly recommended) Shadowskill and even Fushigi Yuugi (based on Chinese culture, rather than Japanese culture)

So Anime runs the gamut from traditional Tolkien-esque fantasy (Lodoss) to Sword and Sorcery (Berserk) to political intrigue (Arislan) to Mystial Ninjas (Makai Tenshou) and everything in-between. Don't dismiss it out of hand. You might miss something that would otherwise inspire you.

[Vondy]

Not a movie, but the old Showtime Robin Hood series was pretty cool. Its also the first place I heard Enya.

I think it was titled Robin of Sherwood and appeared on British TV first. Not sure.

[Old Man]

In addition to my recommendation of Musa, I'll add Hero (neat title huh?) to the list of good Fantasy movies to watch. It stars Jet Li. It's a little confusing but really worth watching.

[PhilFleischmann]

There's a few classics that have been missed:

The Wizard of Oz
Gulliver's Travels (there was a theatrical movie from the early 80's, and a more recent, more complete, made-for-tv version)
Ulysses (aka, The Oddessy. I believe this was a British production, never released in the U.S. I saw the video in a high school English class. It's probably available somewhere.)

True classics of fantasy literature.
And other made for tv fantasy movies like:

The 10th Kingdom
Dinotopia

I do not make any special claim for the quality of any of the above movies but they all have good fantasy visuals (which was the original idea for this thread).

[McCoy]

Originally posted by Shadowpup
I suppose it would depend on your definition of legs. The dragon was modelled after a bat's anatomy with the front legs doubling as arms/wings.

I've never heard any definition of leg that says the term may be used interchangeably with wing. I've never heard of a bat's wing being referred to as its leg. If they use it to fly, it's a wing, even if it is also used to schlep around on the ground.

A dragon has 4 legs and 2 wings, six "limbs" total. (Part of the heraldric symbolism is that a dragon is a beast that has its feet foursquare on the ground, yet aspires to heaven.) Vermathrax had 2 legs and 2 wings, four "limbs" total. Not a dragon.

[Rob_Knotts]

It's a shame that a lot anime from the 80s and earlier will never be produced for the English-speaking market. One outstanding anime film that most English speaking fans have never heard of is Arion (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0090658#comment), a harsh, over-the-topic epic about the Greek gods wiping each other out. This is the sort of serious anime film that can only be compared with the likes of Akira or Mononoke, and I simply can't put into words the kind of ambitious fantasy imagery it contains.

[James Gillen]

And then in the Fantasy category, there's always
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Which is significant to gamers in the sense that it is to D&D what This is Spinal Tap! is to rock music. :D

JG

[Melchior777]

"It's a shame that a lot anime from the 80s and earlier will never be produced for the English-speaking market. One outstanding anime film that most English speaking fans have never heard of is Arion, a harsh, over-the-topic epic about the Greek gods wiping each other out. This is the sort of serious anime film that can only be compared with the likes of Akira or Mononoke, and I simply can't put into words the kind of ambitious fantasy imagery it contains."

You want it? I got a bootleg copy around here somewhere. You wouldn't beleive the amount of fansub's exist out there.

[Melchior777]

"It's a shame that a lot anime from the 80s and earlier will never be produced for the English-speaking market. One outstanding anime film that most English speaking fans have never heard of is Arion, a harsh, over-the-topic epic about the Greek gods wiping each other out. This is the sort of serious anime film that can only be compared with the likes of Akira or Mononoke, and I simply can't put into words the kind of ambitious fantasy imagery it contains."

You want it? I got a bootleg copy around here somewhere. You wouldn't beleive the amount of fansub's exist out there.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Arion!

Talk about "old skool"

You know, Melchior, I'd like a copy of that...

[Nightshade]

I just looked up Dragon in the Webster's dictionary and there was no mention of number of limbs. There was only one mention of size, but that was for Dragonet, which means "little dragon." The root word for dragon actually means serpent or reptile.

I had never heard of the 4 feet on the ground, but attempting to get to heaven thing before, but that is a pretty cool idea. Nice symbolism there. I think I'll do some more in-depth dragon research.

Oh, and for other movies in the fantasy genre, the Harry Potter movies are actually pretty good. My wife liked them so much, she read all the books. They are a little light compared to most of what I read, but I was entertained.

Nightshade

[austenandrews]

From what I've seen, wyverns are depicted in heraldry as standing upright like a bird. The dragon in Dragonslayer crawled on all fours, like a bat.

Anyway this assumes a "monster manual" mentality that applies to no one outside of gamers. Despite MM-type definitions, the distinctions in myth & folklore are not clearly drawn. It was a dragon because it looks like a dragon, they called it a dragon and it was in a movie called Dragonslayer.

Though if we were talking about a heraldic device instead of a movie, I'd say it's up for debate. :)

-AA

P.S. For me the best fantasy movie are:
LOTR movies
Conan the Barbarian
The Princess Bride
CrouchingTiger, Hidden Dragon
Legend
(maybe Wizards)

[Gandalf5]

If we're going to bring up Deathstalker and Hawk the Slayer, how can any one forget that super cheesy Conan rip-off, Ator the Fighting Eagle starring Miles O'Keefe (who also played Tarzan with Bo Derek as Jane), both fine examples of wasted celluloid.

[Gandalf5]

Just thought of another one: Flight of Dragons, a made for TV (I think) animated movie based on the Dragon and the George, with the voice talents of John Ritter and Harry Morgan.

[tkdguy]

So the dragon/wyvern debate continues. I searched high and low for a picture of the beast with no luck. However, I do have a sourcebook about dragons and wyverns. It's from The Enchanted World Series from Time-Life Books. Here are the types of dragons listed in pages 32-33:

Heraldic Dragon: It is described as having "massive fangs, four clawed legs and a ridge of sharp spines that stretched from its spiked nose to its barbed and stinging tail."

Wyvern: Wyverns have "a coiling trunk that bore a pair of eagle's legs, which were tucked beneath its wings." There's no mention of a stinger here, but see the heraldic dragon.

Amphiptere: This one is described as a "legless, winged serpent."

Guivre: This wyrm is legless and wingless and "would have seemed a mere serpent...except for its massive dragon head, horned and bearded." (It's REALLY ugly!)

Lindworm: The lindworm has "a serpentine body with one pair of legs. It was flightless." Marco Polo allegedly reported seeing some in Central Asia.

So drawing from folklore instead of TSR's depictions, we can infer that wyverns are a subspecies of dragon. That is, all wyverns are dragons, but onot all dragons are wyverns.

Okay, no more lecturing. Now for the weird stuff. I came up with the idea of a Highlander/Dragonslayer crossover. The last two immortals fight for the Prize. The last surviving dragon swoops down and eats the winner. But the Quickening released is so powerful, they both explode. No, I don't sit around all day thinking up this stuff. This type of "inspiration" comes to me at random intervals. I actually did get a friend to post it on the Highlander online rpg.

[ShinDangaioh]

Dark Crystal
Legend
Labryinth
Flight of Dragons
Dragonslayer
Dragonheart
Clash of the Titans
Jason and the Argonauts
The various Sinbad movies.
The 2 Hercules movies starring Lou Ferigno

[Hermit]

Well, some of my favorites have already been mentioned. However, one area I think has been neglected is some "kid stuff" :)

Long, long before Disney could only produce a hit with Pixar's help... they put out a breathtaking animated film known as Sleeping Beauty . I'm probably going to get teased for this, but the movie is one of my favorites of all time for fantasy. The animation was done painstakingly and deliberately to have a medievel art feel. The dragon scene alone is breathtakingly bad a$$!

I might also reccomend the Last Unicorn, an animated movie who's script writer was also the author of the book it was based on. One of the songs makes me cringe, but other than that, it's truly a magical work. The book is still better, but then the book nearly always is.

[Le Schtroumpf]

Hook.

[tkdguy]

How about Big Trouble in Little China, with Kurt Russel? That movie had everything. Guns, knives, swords, magic, kung fu. Even a couple of monsters.

Sounds like a good modern fantasy to me.

[Le Schtroumpf]

Brilliant film - not everyday that you see a movie where the main character is the hero's comic relief sidekick.

[Nato]

After watching Gangs of New York last night, I would say this almost qualifies as a fantasy movie.

[Shaddakim]

Pardon me for coming in late, but has anyone suggested "The 13th Warrior"? It would be low fantasy, but a good one none-the-less.

[AnotherSkip]

Hmmm What About Sleepy Hollow?
Pretty decent sci/fantasy mix.

basically being a witchhunter in NY.

Definately Kool.

[Dr Rotwang!]

*ahem*

Xanadu.

...

*cricket* *cricket*

...*sigh* Okay, okay. In...1992 or so, ABC ran a series called "Covington Cross". It lasted maybe 6 episodes, but not from lack of quality. It wasn't a fantasy series, really; it was a medieval family drama...with swords, crossbows, hot red-headed horse-ridin' sword-swingin' daughters and swords and crossbows and the hot redhead.

Awesome.

Speakin' of brief-lived TV on ABC, there's the totally freaking radical program that was replaced by "Baywatch":

The Henson Hour.

Thirty minutes of Muppety hijinks followed by thirty minutes of Labyrinth-quality art design and asbsolutely beautiful productions of classic farie tales, including the ones no one's ever heard of. Double awesome, order of killer, biggie-sized!

So where're you gonna get this stuff? Hell if I know. I'm assuming you're all a bunch of crafty, resourceful little devils who can get ahold of video unattainable by me, so obviously you can work the magic and get your mitts on this goodness.

Huzzah!

[Dr Rotwang!]

Oh, hey, here. Last night Fraulein Codename (my wife) and I went to see Sinbad- Legend of the Seven Seas, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michelle Pfeiffer's character's hair. It's a DreamWorks animated flick with no dang singing.

What do you want in your fantasy movie? Here, lessee...

Swordfights? Check.
Over-the-top heroics? Check.
A quest? Check.
Divine intervention? All over the place.
Sexy, competent love interest? Yes. Hubba. Check.
Giant monsters? Two. No, wait -- three.
Planar travel? Check.
Exotic locales? Briefly, but check.
Fertile ground for a campaign setting of your own? It worked for me!
Funny NPCs? Check.
Slobbering dog? Check.
Your wife comes home and makes a pirate-chick PC with HERO Designer as soon as she can sit down? Well, mine did, so check.
...and no singing, no cute talking animals, plus innuendo aplenty. It's not so much a fantasy romp for kids as much as it is a fantasy flick that kids can watch with their parents. And you eventually forget that the guy doing Sinbad's voice is that one guy from that movie I didn't wanna see.

Swordfights, man.

Rotwang! sez check it out.

[RevHooligan]

Originally posted by McCoy
Am I the only one bothered by the fact that the dragon wasn't a dragon, bu a wyverine?

Good movie, but that was not a dragon!


Yes. Yes you are.

[buzz]

Originally posted by Dr Rotwang!
Okay, okay. In...1992 or so, ABC ran a series called "Covington Cross". It lasted maybe 6 episodes, but not from lack of quality.

I'll take issue with you on that one. Despite the presence of Excalibur alumni NIgel Terry and Cherie Lunghi, that show pretty much blew. I'll give 'em some points for even attempting such a thing, though. :)

[buzz]

Originally posted by Galadorn
IAnyway, I think we can all agree that, while the D&D movie made a breakthrough for Fantasy in the movie industry...

:blinks:

Say what? :confused:

[buzz]

Ha! I have one that no one's mentioned yet (I think).

Robin of Sherwood (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0086791)

Known as "Robin Hood" to us Yanks who watched it on Showtime in the mid-80's. A really spiffy adaptation of the Robin Hood legend that ran through two different Robins (one played by Jason Connery), and had Robert Addie (who played Mordred in Excalibur) playing an excellent Sir Guy of Gisburne. The added bits about the "seven swords of Wayland" (iirc) and the druid mentor of Robin's were very inspiring to the young gamer I was back then.

And let's not forget Wizards & Warriors (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0085113) , with Jeff Conaway (of Taxi and Grease fame) and Julia Duffy (Newhart and Designing Women).

I mean, a D&D spoof sitcom on national TV! Good times...

[Darren Watts]

Watership Down. One of the greatest hero-quests ever told, gorgeous old-fashioned animation, and one of the greatest villains ever. "For generations to come, mothers would tell their young to behave, or the General would get them. Such was Woundwort's monument; and in truth, it might not have displeased him." dw

[McCoid]

With regards to the BBC adaptation of Gormenghast, yes they did do a mini series of it.
Also another film to throw into the melting pot so to speak are
Prince Valiant

There`s also the aninated films of a couple of Terry Pratchett books to consider,
Soul Music
Wyrd Sisters.

[Old Man]

Originally posted by Darren Watts
Watership Down. One of the greatest hero-quests ever told,...

Oh God no. My parents took me to see this when I was way too young. Look at all the cute little bunnies! Look at them killing each other and being buried alive! Look at the fields of blood and the obviously undead Black Rabbit!

When I was grown a friend of mine made me watch it again on laserdisc, to show me that it wasn't nearly as disturbing as I thought it was. But it is.

[Le Schtroumpf]

TMNT 3

[Dr Rotwang!]

Originally posted by buzz
I'll take issue with you on that one. Despite the presence of Excalibur alumni NIgel Terry and Cherie Lunghi, [Covington Cross] pretty much blew. Really? I don't remember. How so? Dude, this's 10 years ago and I barely watched it.

I...think. I was getting an early start on Totally Hating the Nineties and therefore ignoring stuff back then.

[Steve Long]

I remember Covington Cross -- I'm sad to say. Whoever said that it blew is right on the money. Bad, bad, bad.

[buzz]

Originally posted by Dr Rotwang!
Really? I don't remember. How so? Dude, this's 10 years ago and I barely watched it.

See Steve's response. :)

"Covington Cross" was basically a primetime soap set in a poorly-realized medieval setting. It could be forgiven if its failed attempts at any sort of realistic depiction of medieval culture were balanced by good acting and good stories. Unfortunately, it was deviod of those as well.

Basically, take a really bad Harlequin romance writer's perception of the middle ages and add cast members better suited to 90210, and you've got "Covington Cross." Adding Terry and Lunghi was an obvious (and pathetic) attempt at adding some sort of legitimacy.

[AnotherSkip]

Originally posted by Old Man
Oh God no. My parents took me to see this when I was way too young. Look at all the cute little bunnies! Look at them killing each other and being buried alive! Look at the fields of blood and the obviously undead Black Rabbit!

When I was grown a friend of mine made me watch it again on laserdisc, to show me that it wasn't nearly as disturbing as I thought it was. But it is.

Ahhhh,
Explains why you feel the way you do about this presidency.....

[AnotherSkip]

Originally posted by buzz
Ha! I have one that no one's mentioned yet (I think).

Robin of Sherwood (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0086791)

Known as "Robin Hood" to us Yanks who watched it on Showtime in the mid-80's. A really spiffy adaptation of the Robin Hood legend that ran through two different Robins (one played by Jason Connery), and had Robert Addie (who played Mordred in Excalibur) playing an excellent Sir Guy of Gisburne. The added bits about the "seven swords of Wayland" (iirc) and the druid mentor of Robin's were very inspiring to the young gamer I was back then.

And let's not forget Wizards & Warriors (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0085113) , with Jeff Conaway (of Taxi and Grease fame) and Julia Duffy (Newhart and Designing Women).

I mean, a D&D spoof sitcom on national TV! Good times...

Actually I thought the "Druid Mentor" was the ancient god himslef walking the world and guiding his servant.
and did not Wizards and Warriors have Tom Hanks as the mentally unstable person in the group?

[buzz]

Hate to get all negative on ya, but...


Originally posted by AnotherSkip
Actually I thought the "Druid Mentor" was the ancient god himslef walking the world and guiding his servant.

I'm not sure. I remember we got to see the "druid" with his horned cowl off, and he was just some guy, so I'm not sure if he was supposed to be a god or not.


Originally posted by AnotherSkip
and did not Wizards and Warriors have Tom Hanks as the mentally unstable person in the group?

No, you're thinking of Mazes & Monsters (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0084314), a made-for-TV movie based on Rona Jaffee's hysterically stupid anti-D&D novel. This was a TV sitcom from the early '80s (http://www.wizardsandwarriors.org/).

[AnotherSkip]

Ahhh my bad, after all if it wasn't for bad press D&D ever had the game would not be a success that it was......



Go Go christain idiots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Worldmaker]

Originally posted by Gandalf5
If we're going to bring up Deathstalker and Hawk the Slayer, how can any one forget that super cheesy Conan rip-off, Ator the Fighting Eagle starring Miles O'Keefe (who also played Tarzan with Bo Derek as Jane), both fine examples of wasted celluloid.


Is that the one where he invents aerodynamics and light-metal alloys, explosives, and contact fuses, then builds a hang-glider with which to drop bombs on the evil wizard's castle?

I seem to remember a barbarian wearing ray-bans and a set of tire tracks in that movie, too...

[Sterling]

Just came out and this is a REALLY good movie with some strong fantasy elements if not quite medievel in time frame.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

[Dr Rotwang!]

Well, there's Gosford Park, wherein the director of the film has this fantasy that you care what's happ-

Oh, wait. The theme was good fantasy movies.

[James Gillen]

Originally posted by Worldmaker
Is that the one where he invents aerodynamics and light-metal alloys, explosives, and contact fuses, then builds a hang-glider with which to drop bombs on the evil wizard's castle?

"Groovy."

JG

[Worldmaker]

Originally posted by James Gillen
"Groovy."

Yeah, I thought so... the uneducated illiterate barbarian is secretly a metalsmith from the future... <G>

[Le Schtroumpf]

Hey man. Those S-Mart management training seminars rule.

[Worldmaker]

Originally posted by Le Schtroumpf
Hey man. Those S-Mart management training seminars rule.

No, not Army of Darkness.... Ator the Fighting Eagle.

[Le Schtroumpf]

Those S-Mart Managers go where they are needed. Righting wrongs, fighting injustice, anouncing blue light specials...

[James Gillen]

Originally posted by Worldmaker
No, not Army of Darkness.... Ator the Fighting Eagle.

From what you're describing, Army of Darkness was more historically plausible.

JG

[Dr Rotwang!]

How 'bout somma those Harryhausen-fueled sword-and-sandal Sinbad movies? I'm not gonna start with the good/bad, but danged if Clash of the Titans doesn't make the blood pump for fightin' three-headed dogs.

And if it was good enough for Sir Laurence Olivier...

EDIT: Yes, I know Sir Laurence didn't fight the dog.

[Le Schtroumpf]

Normally he's an excellent actor, but Olivier was a god in that film.

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

[AnotherSkip]

Hey Clash of the Titans has many things going for it including a stellar cast, decent (for hollywood)following of the storylines etc....

however give up on movies,
the books are all better.

[Old Man]

Originally posted by AnotherSkip
however give up on movies,
the books are all better.

I agree, but there's always an exception... Jurassic Park was one, IMO. At least the movie had some sympathetic characters, but halfway through the book I was rooting for the lizards.

[dbsousa]

Atarnajuat: The Fast Runner...

It has:
Truly Creepy Magic
Iconic Characters
Evil Villains
Treachery
Clever Heroes
Sympathetic Healers

Plus its the only movie entirely in Inuit...

[Worldmaker]

Originally posted by Old Man
I agree, but there's always an exception... Jurassic Park was one, IMO. At least the movie had some sympathetic characters, but halfway through the book I was rooting for the lizards.

Yeah, but most of the exceptions are novelizations of movies.

[Dr Rotwang!]

S'like telling an architect to give up on building houses because dogs are better.

[buzz]

Originally posted by Worldmaker
Yeah, but most of the exceptions are novelizations of movies.

FYI, "Jurassic Park" was a novel first, then it was a movie.

I enjoyed the novel immensely, but I agree with pretty much all the changes they made for the film adaptation. Crichton is a great idea man, but he's not the best writer.

[slaughterj]

Originally posted by NuSoardGraphite
HAWK THE SLAYER!!!

Oh, wait. You said good fantasy movies.

Oh well then that excludes Hawk the Slayer.

Personaly, its one of my favorites, but even I will admit its far from "good". I just happen to like really cheasy b-flicks.

It's so good I have it on DVD! :D

[buzz]

Originally posted by slaughterj
It's so good I have it on DVD! :D

Woah, woah, woah...

Hawk is on *DVD*?

That has to violate some law, somewhere.

[slaughterj]

Originally posted by buzz
Woah, woah, woah...

Hawk is on *DVD*?

That has to violate some law, somewhere.

Heh, I was concerned a few years ago, because I wanted it on DVD, but thought it wouldn't make it for obvious reasons, but it has been available for 6 months or so ;)

[James Gillen]

Originally posted by buzz
Woah, woah, woah...
Hawk is on *DVD*?
That has to violate some law, somewhere.

It was probably by demand of all the Knights of the Dinner Table fans. ;)

JG

[Le Schtroumpf]

Eventually everything is on DVD. There are what? 10, 12 different releases of Army of Darkness on DVD?

Good film. Good enough for to own. Good enough to own 12 copies?

Ehhhh. No.

[Trencher]

When Lord of the ring became a "super-smash-hit" I was hoping for a lot of American fantasy movies. Americans has a slight tendency to make a lot of movies about a theme and then move to the next. A while back there was a lot of horror movies remakes and right now we have a lot of superheroes, so I'm still hoping for a long run with high budget fantasy movies.

[Le Schtroumpf]

Personally I'd love to see Tigana.

[Dr.Unpossible]

Hawk the Slayer How can you not love this movie!

http://www.badmovies.org/movies/hawkslayer/index.html

It's every DnD game I ever played in Elementary school.

[tkdguy]

Originally posted by Dr.Unpossible
Hawk the Slayer How can you not love this movie!

http://www.badmovies.org/movies/hawkslayer/index.html

It's every DnD game I ever played in Elementary school.

Do you know how long it took me to find VHS versions of Hawk the Slayer and Ralph Bakshi's interpretation of Lord of the Rings? I practically called every video store to find these. One guy said he had them and asked for $40 for each of them. When I got there, he didn't have Bakshi's LOTR, but he was willing to sell Hawk for $80, double the price we agreed on. I left without the tape. In the end, I rented the Bakshi flick and copied it. My friend rented a laserdisc copy of Hawk the Slayer and made me a copy on VHS.

Okay, it wasn't an epic quest. But it was a lot of effort.

[Le Schtroumpf]

Interesting.
Bait and swindle instead of bait and switch.
Yay capitalism!

[Trencher]

Originally posted by dbsousa
Atarnajuat: The Fast Runner...



And beautiful scenery... :D
The movie is very good but I saw it in the cinema and i doubt it would transfer to the small screen very well. Still worth a look.

[Ulryk]

Pirates of the Caribbean

age of reason, pirates, cannons, and higher tech than typical medieval fantasy. With the undead and the curse though it actually makes for a good low fantasy swashbuckling setting.

And it's a really fun movie if you can get past Depp's eye shadow.



Dungeons and Dragons......

...

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! ok, I couldn't keep a straight face. This movie shows you how to have all the right elements and still do it completely wrong. Come on, with everything else wrong with it I think they could have left out the intimidating captain of the wizard's guard wearing blue metallic lipstick...

I wonder how many times his torture victims die from laughter as opposed to the torture?

Ulryk

[Michael Hopcroft]

I have had a lot of fun with B-grade fantasy movies over the years.

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but Roger Corman's "The Raven", withVincent price and Boris Karloff, has a lot of funny stuff in it and also has a great climactic wizard's duel -- for the effects he had at his disposal in 1963 with no budget, Corman did a materful job.

Someone mentioned "Sword of the Valiant". I wish I could see that again -- I really enjoyed it when I first saw it on TV (the only time I've ever seen it).

Slayers: the Motion Picutre is a Japanese animation with two powerful sorceresses wreaking havoc on a resort island. Clearly inspired by someone's AD&D campaign, the characters are a hoot. The TV series is even better, and the OVAs (original Video Animation) are hilarious. "Wait a minute -- your mirror-oppoosites are shy, demure pacifists! That means the orignals must be -- oh bleep!"

Record of Lodoss Wars is a classic D&D campaign brought to life -- literally. Pirotess the Dark Elf is a great character.

And Shakespeare is a great source for fantasy campaigns. Franco Zeferelli's Hamlet with Mel Gibson is extremely inspirational, as is just about any version of "that Scottish play".

[pinecone]

I remember a lou firigno version of sinbad where lou was actually not terrible...Hawk rules, I always recomend the various "spagetti fantasys", just for the breasts if for nothing else :)

[Catseye]

Someones already mentioned Ladyhawke, right?

More then just fantasy, to me thats the essence of a fairy-tale movie.

Actually though the only magic in it is the curse thats ets it all in motion...

[Diamond Spear]

That NOBODY in 9 PAGES has mentioned "The Neverending Story"!!!!!

[Catseye]

... or its neverending sequels ;)

(Seriously NES was kind of fun, but the sequels got pretty old by NES3.)

[Michael Hopcroft]

The first couple of Inu-Yasha feature films are coming out on DVD. I want to see them, as the TV series is one of the most popular fantasy animations that American TV has ever shown 9and itt;'s even more popular in its natvie Japan).

When a half-demon is one of the GOOD guys, you know you're in trouble. Add a lecherous monk, a girl from the 21st century, a demon-hunter with a whopping great boomerang, and a little kid who happens to be a shape-shifting fox --- but while there are comic elements as you would expect from Rumiko takahashi, the series in general is deadly serious with very high stakes for the characters and some really great villains.

[psm]

Not to be an idiot but what is the definition of "fantasy"? The only reason I'm asking is because some of the movies suggested I would never consider part of that genre.

And I still can't believe nobody mentioned Gymkata:) Okay, it's not that hard to believe.

Other movies:
The Sword in the Stone
Blood of Heroes
Sword and the Sorcerer (Lee Horsley's finest movie)

[Nyrath]

I've always been amused at "The Beastmaster". I wanted to do a Heros write-up on the way the evil priests made monsters: take a strong man, strap on gloves with lots of spikes, drop a green-glowing cursed leech into his ear, strap on the helmet then run.

[Mutant for Hire]

I liked a couple of Terry Gilliam movies that aren't mentioned, though technically one of them isn't really much of a fantasy as magical realism:

The Fisher King
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

The Fisher King really isn't fantasy, but somehow the idea of a quest for the Holy Grail in New York somehow appeals to me.

[proditor]

Dunno if this got mentioned, but I remember a movie of Gawain and the Green Knight from my youth (Probably at least 20+ years) that was pretty good....

Urgh...so I forgot the name, it was actually Sword of the Valiant, which I have seen pop up here.

Anyway, to echo some previous posts, yes Hawk the Slayer was every Monty Haul game I was in from age 11 to say 25. ;)

[ThothAmon]

A quick blast of stuff that may not have been mentioned yet:

Excalibur - the finest Arthurian flick of all

The Shogun Assassin series (AKA Lone Wolf and Cub / Baby Cart) - stunning Japanese live action with sweet visuals and a seriously badass hero

Xu (or Zu) Warriors - Chinese medieval fantasy of the best kind

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter - a crossover medieval Hammer Horror / fantasy flick that does some intriguing stuff with 'different' vampires

The Water Margin - long running TV series set in medieval China featuring 9 dozen ancient heroes accidentally released by the evil Kow Chou - tons of character ideas, knockabout action and lots of sage wisdom

Chinese Ghost Story - just watch it - trust me :)

[NuSoardGraphite]

Dunno if this got mentioned, but I remember a movie of Gawain and the Green Knight from my youth (Probably at least 20+ years) that was pretty good....

Urgh...so I forgot the name, it was actually Sword of the Valiant, which I have seen pop up here.


Yep. Sword of the Valiant! Sean Connery as The Green Knight. Good stuff if you don't mind the cheesiness of its "B" flavor.



Anyway, to echo some previous posts, yes Hawk the Slayer was every Monty Haul game I was in from age 11 to say 25. ;)

Good ole Hawk the Slayer...

[OddHat]

Stephen Chow's Chinese Odessey 1&2. Just watch it. You have never seen Fantasy Super-Heroes done so well.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112778/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114996/

[Markdoc]

Stephen Chow's Chinese Odessey 1&2. Just watch it. You have never seen Fantasy Super-Heroes done so well.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112778/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114996/

or, indeed, more bizarrely. These are among two of the strangest chinese movies I've seen, and that's saying something.

Two slightly (but only slightly) more coherent fantasy superhero movies frm HK are Seven Strings Demon and Green Snake.

cheers, Mark

[OddHat]

or, indeed, more bizarrely. These are among two of the strangest chinese movies I've seen, and that's saying something.

Two slightly (but only slightly) more coherent fantasy superhero movies frm HK are Seven Strings Demon and Green Snake.

cheers, Mark

I concede their strangeness, I just don't have a problem with it. :)

It helps to watch them back-to-back; time-travel and reincarnation are hard enough to do well even without shape-changers, ghosts, gods, demons, and armies of animal men. ;)

Seven Strings Demon and Green Snake are also good. Royal Tramp 1 & 2 are very good Chinese period comedies with super-hero level Wuxia Kung Fu and some magic, but aren't really fantasy films as such. Encounters of the Spooky Kind is fair, with an interesting wizard's battle.

Never liked Zu, despite all the good press it gets. Kung Fu Cult Master with Jet Li is actually really good material for an over the top Wuxia Super-Hero Fantasy game, complete with magic-swords, Green Bat Style Vampire Kung-Fu, and energy blast throwing Kung-Fu masters. Unfortunately the second film in the series never got made, which left most of the plot lines unresolved.

Some fun modern Wuxias as well, but that may get away from the fantasy movie category a bit.

[Markdoc]

Never liked Zu, despite all the good press it gets. Kung Fu Cult Master with Jet Li is actually really good material for an over the top Wuxia Super-Hero Fantasy game, complete with magic-swords, Green Bat Style Vampire Kung-Fu, and energy blast throwing Kung-Fu masters. Unfortunately the second film in the series never got made, which left most of the plot lines unresolved.

I agree the ending of Zu is lame, but it just had so much good stuff in it that I like it anyway: what's not to like about the Temple of Scary Things in Pots, or the Masters of Evil? I did a homage to them in my Sengoku-era campaign, including the monk with the staff of lightning.

Kung Fu Cult Master is great: I showed it to some friends who had never seen a wuxia film before and they had rollicking time (once they got over their initial "Hey! That guy can fly!" reaction).

cheers, Mark

[NuSoardGraphite]

A (short) list of decent to good Wuxia fantasy:

Kung Fu Cult Master (described above)

Legend of Heavenly Maiden: Dragon Chronicles (whew!)
--A Shaolin monk gets caught up in a war between gods and immortals. Good stuff.

The Swordsman, Swordsman II, The East is Red
--Great movies from Ching Siu Tung, the fight choreographer of Hero. Most especially Swordsman II which has all kinds of super-powered fantasy goodness found within.

Deadful Melody
--A family is butchered to find a magical Lute and the secret of the "8 Dragon Notes"...a spellsong that when played can destroy anything. The brother and Sister survive, but each are unaware that the other survived. The Brother is trained as a bounty-hunter (by one of his father's killers nonetheless!) and the sister (who escaped with the magic Lute and the secret to the 8 notes) embarks on a quest for vengance. Great fantasy elements in this film. The sister uses the magic lute like a crossbow, pulling back the strings and releasing them to fire energy bolts! Good stuff!!!

Butterfly and Sword
--Another good flick from fight master Ching. Some cool moves in this one.

The Storm Riders
--If you haven't seen this, GO RENT IT NOW! Warning: Find the original chinese version as the english dub has been horribly butchered and is missing about 20 minutes of footage.

The Legend of Zu
--Sequel to the cult classic Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain mentioned above. A perfect example of Gods and Immortals battling. Some great CG imagery in this film. Simply beautiful.

[OddHat]

For those looking for these films in the original Chinese versions with English subtitles, I've had great luck with Layoyo (http://www.layoyo.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/DVDshelf/main_index.d2w/report?style=1&LANGUAGE=1&curr=USD). They ship out of Hong Kong, and even with shipping costs the prices tend to be lower than purchassing from any of the US or UK suppliers I've found, so long as the order includes 3 or more DVDs or VCDs. The site is available in English. You may need a region free DVD player for some of the newer DVDs, but that's worth investing in anyway.

[Markdoc]

Just to avoid confusion - Dreadful Melody is the same film as Seven String Demon: just a different title.

To the list, I'd also add

Bride with the White Hair: a betrayed female martial artist comes back from the dead to avenge her clan's destruction.

A Chinese Ghost Story: (can really only recommend #1, but it absolutely kicks butt!) in which a timid tax colector and a Taoist priest try to save a soul from the clutches of the evil tree demon.


These (like the others) are high fantasy, wizards and flying warrior movies, not more "classic" wire-fu movies like Wing Chun.

cheers, Mark

[Frenchman]

By far the funniest fantasy-style film I've ever seen is a French film called Les Visiteurs. Hollywood did a remake of it in english called Just Visiting, but even though they got the same actors, they managed to make it complete crap.
Also, slightly off topic, there is a movie called Shaolin Soccer, which, while not being fantasy per se (certainly is fantastical), will give you a lot of great ideas for monk-type characters in any setting.

[OddHat]

By far the funniest fantasy-style film I've ever seen is a French film called Les Visiteurs. Hollywood did a remake of it in english called Just Visiting, but even though they got the same actors, they managed to make it complete crap.
Also, slightly off topic, there is a movie called Shaolin Soccer, which, while not being fantasy per se (certainly is fantastical), will give you a lot of great ideas for monk-type characters in any setting.

Both are very good films. Shaolin Soccer is another Stephen Chow film.

The man likes his wuxia and CGI. ;)