Nightshade Posted June 23, 2003 Report Share Posted June 23, 2003 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melchior777 Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 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). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadmaster Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 How could you people forget Monty Python and the Holy Grail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Robin and Marian! 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 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). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 Re: Re: Re: Re dragons/wyverns 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Knotts Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 Fantasy Anime 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 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. JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melchior777 Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 "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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melchior777 Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 "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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 Arion! Talk about "old skool" You know, Melchior, I'd like a copy of that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightshade Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 Definition of Dragons 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 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) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalf5 Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 another cheesy b-movie 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalf5 Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShinDangaioh Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Schtroumpf Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 Hook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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