Jump to content

What's your favorite fantasy (sword & Sorcery) film?


James Steven Beverly

Recommended Posts

I saw Stardust the other night and gotta say I kinda liked it. It was a lot of fun. I also saw about half of the Golden Compass which looked interesting as well. It got me to thinking. I've been wanting to write a sword and sorcery, fantasy adventure for a while now possibly for the next picture and was interested in what was some of your favorites are. As for myself, I've mentioned before, I LOVE Legend, both versions, but really, the Ultimate Edition is the one to see. I also love Big Trouble in Little China, brilliant under rated movie. My Mullen' post re-ignited my interest in the the Cagney version of A Midsumernight's Dream which I HAD seen in high school (projected on film none the less) but had not truly appreciated at the time (I was paying more attention to the acting than that BRILLIANT cinematography). I also Loved The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. There is of course Jason and the Argonauts (the Harryhausen version). Conan the Barbarian, what can I say, I like Schwarzenegger........Except when he's doing comedy. I WANT to see Labyrinth but haven't had the chance yet. I know some of these aren't strictly S & S but they are all fantasy. What's your's? B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Excalibur" is my favorite. "Conan the Barbarian", "Legend", "Lord of the Rings" trilogy... "Dragonslayer". Fairbanks' silent era "Thief of Bagdad".

 

In addition to those, I have a soft spot in my heart for (not necessarily fencing) films like "Labyrinth," Never Ending Story" and "Dark Crystal." Which clearly shows I was raised in the 80's. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even though the sorcery is limited to a small amount, Monty Python and the Holy Grail ranks at the top of my list as does the Princess Bride. Excalibur was classic. The David Bowie soundtrack was a great touch to Labyrinth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

The Princess Bride, Ladyhawke, and the LOTR movies would top my list.

 

Ladyhawke is a really good one. I think it would have become quite the classic if not for the very dated 80s soundtrack by Alan Parsons (who I love as a producer, not so much as the artist).

 

Ladyhawke also has the bonus of being shot by Vittorio Storaro, though I'm not so crazy about his almost constant use of vivid grads in the film. They became very distracting when he used them on moving shots, placed the grad section over trees, and allowed characters to move through the colored area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m definitely a Sword and Sorcery fan. It is really a doomed genre however. I think it has the lowest good film to bad film ratio of any genre. Mostly the films are junk but every once in awhile there is a gem. I definitely agree with the films mentioned already. I would add to it “Beowulf” everyone hated it I loved it, and “Army of Darkness”. Even the worst of the films like “The Magic Sword” have really cool moments.

 

You may want check out some of the films by the Russian director Ptushco, Sadko and Ilya Muromets are some trippy sword and sorcery films. They are from the 60’s and really dated and feel very foreign but there is something sort of oddly magical about them.

 

Also check out Fritz Lang’s Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924) an amazing fight with an animatronic dragon is very cool. It is really neat to watch this film and Fairbanks “The Thief of Baghdad” together. They were both cutting edge effects films of 1924. Its odd how in 1924 every wanted to be Iraqi.

 

I’m sure there are some great Chinese and Japanese Sword and Sorcery films but I’ve yet to find them. “Bride with White Hair” and “Chinese Ghost Story” is as close as I have found. “Princess Mononoke” is a pretty good animated adventure as is the 2003 remake of Makai Tensho.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
I’m definitely a Sword and Sorcery fan. It is really a doomed genre however. I think it has the lowest good film to bad film ratio of any genre. Mostly the films are junk but every once in awhile there is a gem.

Hey Bob,

 

I don't know - there are a lot of films that could qualify as fantasy that are more often categorized as sci-fi, horror, or animation. All the Star Wars films are more fantasy than sci-fi, in my opinion. "The Wizard of Oz" is fantasy. "Aladdin" is fantasy. Hell, "A Trip to the Moon" is fantasy.

 

As a fantasy novel junkie, I have to say that while I enjoyed movies like "Willow", "Legend", "The Princess Bride", "The Never Ending Story", "Conan", "Red Sonya", "Ladyhawke", "Jason & the Argonauts", "The Holy Grail", etc. the first film where I felt the filmmakers actually captured the scope, the tone, the texture, and the sense of deep alternate history of the high fantasy genre was in the opening prologue of "The Fellowship of the Ring." That was truly magical, and gave a glimpse of what could the genre could be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Tim Partridge

Korda's Thief of Bagdad for me.

 

Ladyhawke is a really good one. I think it would have become quite the classic if not for the very dated 80s soundtrack by Alan Parsons (who I love as a producer, not so much as the artist).

 

Ladyhawke also has the bonus of being shot by Vittorio Storaro, though I'm not so crazy about his almost constant use of vivid grads in the film. They became very distracting when he used them on moving shots, placed the grad section over trees, and allowed characters to move through the colored area.

 

 

It all looks very Xena Warrior princess, these days, (in my opinion). Sorry, Storaro.

 

That Parsons 70s prog rock soundtrack was very dated sounding for the 80s, in my opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
Korda's Thief of Bagdad for me.

 

 

 

 

It all looks very Xena Warrior princess, these days, (in my opinion). Sorry, Storaro.

 

That Parsons 70s prog rock soundtrack was very dated sounding for the 80s, in my opinion.

 

I've said it before but i really think that movie would have become a classic had the soundtrack been in a more classic style. The whole grad situation was pretty awful on that movie, but the final scene in the cathedral may be nice enough looking to make up for it. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Tim Partridge
I've said it before but i really think that movie would have become a classic had the soundtrack been in a more classic style. The whole grad situation was pretty awful on that movie, but the final scene in the cathedral may be nice enough looking to make up for it. ;)

 

Imagine what Jerry could have done with that score...

 

That said, I do really like the orchestral portions of the Ladyhawke score that were overseen by Andrew Powell. It's only when those 1970s prog guitars and sequencers hit in that it all ends up sounding like the soundtrack to a dated daytime soap.

 

I haven't seen Ladyhawke in years, but last I saw it on TV was about ten years ago when Xena was big. The low end MTV visuals really do play to that kind of tacky fantasy feel, and the title sequence is straight out of Baywatch. Still, for tacky and anachronistic, nothing beats Matthew Broderick in a European set period movie.

 

I did quite like the idea of Leo McKern, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer being in the same movie though. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m definitely a Sword and Sorcery fan. It is really a doomed genre however. I think it has the lowest good film to bad film ratio of any genre. Mostly the films are junk but every once in awhile there is a gem. I definitely agree with the films mentioned already. I would add to it “Beowulf” everyone hated it I loved it, and “Army of Darkness”. Even the worst of the films like “The Magic Sword” have really cool moments.

'Beowulf & grendel' is quite watchable. gerard butler is beowulf, not as loud and obnoxious as his leonides & stellen skarsgaard as a perpetually drunk hrothgar. filmed in iceland instead of denmark.

& no cgi.

 

 

You may want check out some of the films by the Russian director Ptushco, Sadko and Ilya Muromets are some trippy sword and sorcery films. They are from the 60’s and really dated and feel very foreign but there is something sort of oddly magical about them.

 

Actually they're from the 50s. 'Ilya Muromets' was one of the first two SovScope movies, shot in Dyaliscope, very pre-LOMO. The fire breathing three headed dragon is impressive, same with the wind demon. I still can't figure out how some of the shots of the phoenix bird in 'Sadko' were done, other than the actress was quite the contortionist to fit in the bird body.

 

 

Also check out Fritz Lang’s Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924) an amazing fight with an animatronic dragon is very cool. It is really neat to watch this film and Fairbanks “The Thief of Baghdad” together. They were both cutting edge effects films of 1924. Its odd how in 1924 every wanted to be Iraqi.

 

I doubt there was any electronics in the dragon Fafnir. All levers and cables.

The Kingdom of Iraq didn't exist until 1932. In the 20s it was the British Mandate of Mesopotamia.

 

The Steve Reeves 'The thief of baghdad' isn't really that bad. The optical effects were by Tom Howard. The Korda 'Thief of baghdad' is the best of the bunch.

 

Also steve reeves two Hercules movies were entertaining. The dragon/dinosaur guarding the golden fleece in the first is good. & not an optical! A foreground miniature.

 

 

I’m sure there are some great Chinese and Japanese Sword and Sorcery films but I’ve yet to find them. “Bride with White Hair” and “Chinese Ghost Story” is as close as I have found. “Princess Mononoke” is a pretty good animated adventure as is the 2003 remake of Makai Tensho.

 

While 'Kwaidan' has more sorcery than sword, it should count.

I haven't seen Inagaki's 'the three treasures/ the birth of japan'. But it's three hours of Tohoscope with Toshiro Mifune and lots of gods with effects by the godzilla team.

More Mifune and TohoScope in 'samurai pirate/ the lost world of sinbad'.

not great, but at least as good as 'the magic sword'.

 

Ichikawa and tezuka's 'Phoenix' is a blend of animation and live action.

Amazing mixture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've said it before but i really think that movie would have become a classic had the soundtrack been in a more classic style. The whole grad situation was pretty awful on that movie, but the final scene in the cathedral may be nice enough looking to make up for it. ;)

 

And the costumes were awful. They looked like a university theatre dept. Too stylized and uniform.

worse than 'king of kings'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

I agree with Bob. There's just something about the genre that makes it hard to pull off. For me, The Thirteenth Warrior maintained a sense of credibility that few others have achieved. At the same time, TTW didn't reach for that sense of fantasy and magic that so many others have groped for and fell short of.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
And the costumes were awful. They looked like a university theatre dept. Too stylized and uniform.

worse than 'king of kings'.

 

I can accept the costumes as a sort of idealized stylization. We are, after all, accepting the existence of magic in the movie so why not a little more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
I agree with Bob. There's just something about the genre that makes it hard to pull off.

Well, there's obviously a higher level of suspension of disbelief that has to be achieved and maintained... I think most fantasy genre failures stem from the filmmakers' lack of commitment to the integrity of the cinematic world they are creating, probably because they are afraid of looking foolish. But all narrative films, not just fantasy films, have to first establish the rules that their characters live by and then stick to them. The fantasy genre just requires more explanation of those rules.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m sure there are some great Chinese and Japanese Sword and Sorcery films but I’ve yet to find them. “Bride with White Hair” and “Chinese Ghost Story” is as close as I have found. “Princess Mononoke” is a pretty good animated adventure as is the 2003 remake of Makai Tensho.

 

My favorite Asian S&S film has still got to be Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. That whole sword fight in the inn where she kicks EVERYONE'S ass ending up in a dance pose is just classic. I love that movie. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
Well, there's obviously a higher level of suspension of disbelief that has to be achieved and maintained... I think most fantasy genre failures stem from the filmmakers' lack of commitment to the integrity of the cinematic world they are creating, probably because they are afraid of looking foolish. But all narrative films, not just fantasy films, have to first establish the rules that their characters live by and then stick to them. The fantasy genre just requires more explanation of those rules.

 

Yes. I recall Dune befuddling the viewers with too much foreign information. Does anyone recall the explanatory pamphlets that were issued at the theatrical release of that movie? As you have brought up, Satsuki, the creators in a S&S feature have to wrestle with a credible world following it's own rules of being and a world so peculiar that no one can access it within the time limits of it's presentation. Interesting challenge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
I recall Dune befuddling the viewers with too much foreign information. Does anyone recall the explanatory pamphlets that were issued at the theatrical release of that movie?

Seriously? That's awesome! I can't see a studio doing something like that today, that would require too much imagination in the marketing department... You'd think though since "Dune" was such a popular novel that a lot of audience members would already be at least somewhat familiar with the world.

 

If you think about how "LOTR" and "Harry Potter" got around that though, it's pretty amazing how successful those films were with the general public who had not read Tolkien or J.K. Rowling. I guess it all comes down to the filmmaker's storytelling skill and visual virtuosity, by which I mean that you can hold an audience's attention for quite a while by giving them alternate suck at the teats of exposition and eye candy to string them along until the narrative ball really gets rolling. The good thing is that the source material had strong narratives in the first place, so once the ball got rolling the films became very engaging.

 

... the creators in a S&S feature have to wrestle with a credible world following it's own rules of being and a world so peculiar that no one can access it within the time limits of it's presentation.

I guess this explains why the average fantasy novel is around 700-800 pages long! And many of them are part of a series...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
If you think about how "LOTR" and "Harry Potter" got around that though, it's pretty amazing how successful those films were with the general public who had not read Tolkien or J.K. Rowling.

 

 

Those books and movies are pretty amazing in that they don't, and don't need to, explain the mechanics of all that magic and stuff that's going on. It happens and that's it.

 

Dune, unfortunately, relies on quite a bit of techie-geek stuff that is enjoyable to read about in the book but would be very boring in a movie and would be confusing if left out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...