OsGom
Mind-Taker
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So I acknowledge LOTR as the holy trinity of swords/sorcery fantasy movies but before PJ came along it was pretty weak pickens. I think back to Beastmaster and Sword & the Sorcerer badness. But there are some bright spots. So outside of LOTR, best and Worst Fantasy "EPICS".
1. Dragonslayer (1981)- Still some of the best dragon effects outside of CGI ever, even if the hero was a little weak. Ralph Richardson's Ulrich ranks right up there with Gandalf for wizard greatness and I appreciated the subtlety of the well written story. However, Peter McNicol was pretty weak and the female lead was a bit of a nag. But the sequences where Vermithrax was on film were amazing.
2. Excalibur (also 1981) Best adaptation of the Arthurian legend to date. Sex, epic battles and ultimate betrayals, Patrick Stewart & Liam Niesen can be seen in this gem. Hotass Helen Mirren shines as Morgana and Nicol Willimason plays an excellent Merlin.
3. Legend (1985) You may laugh but in its day this movie had all the elements for an amazing fairy tale. Tom Cruise pulls his weight and Mia Sara was very good as Lily. But the real star is Tim Curry and all the effects for Darkness. I also thought the little kid who played Gump was terrific. Directed by the obscure Ridley Scott it still suffered from some shoddy editing throughout.
4. Highlander (1986) This used to be #2 when I was a kid but once a began appreciating things like editing, pace and acting it dropped. Lambert and Hart were pretty wooden but leave it to Sean Connery and underrated talent Clancy Brown to carry the film on their shoulders. The cinematography really shined. The action pieces were terrific and don’t forget that soundtrack featuring Queen.
5. Ladyhawk (1985) Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer & the ever scrumptious Michelle Pfieffer all lift a lackluster plot to epicess with strong performances in this touching adventure. It could have used a little more sorcery and a little less sword but still a fantasy staple.
6. The Dark Crystal (1982) Frank Oz out did himself with this fantasy tale. What it lacked in overall action it made up for in story, design and heart. When you consider that the entire film is achieved with puppets it really makes the film a wondrous ride.
Honorable Mentions: Labyrinth, Conan, Star Wars, Princess Bride (I love this film but I couldn’t rank it in my top 5 fantasies), the underrated Krull and Flesh & Blood (Rutger Hauer FTW!)
The Ugly:
1. Deathstalker – This one was just bad, bad, bad. Plenty of scantily clad women but story, production value, editing, effects and action were all in the sewer.
2. Hawk the Slayer – Another painfully awful adventure is some woods. Suck barely covers this dreck. Pay special attention to the soundtrack which miserably fails to combine elements of orchestra, western music and disco. I recommend watching this one for the simple joy of watching Jack Palance continually raise the crazy bar of his evil wizard baddie.
3. Dungeons & Dragons – The worst part of this film was how disappointing it was. You hope that creators of one of the most popular fantasy games ever would recognize what is needed to tell a great fantasy tale. Sure it has all the right ingredients, dragons, wizards, magic, damsels and some ambitious ideas but budget, direction and story were weak and the characters were just lame. What possessed producers to cast Marlon Wayans in this mess is beyond me.
1. Dragonslayer (1981)- Still some of the best dragon effects outside of CGI ever, even if the hero was a little weak. Ralph Richardson's Ulrich ranks right up there with Gandalf for wizard greatness and I appreciated the subtlety of the well written story. However, Peter McNicol was pretty weak and the female lead was a bit of a nag. But the sequences where Vermithrax was on film were amazing.
2. Excalibur (also 1981) Best adaptation of the Arthurian legend to date. Sex, epic battles and ultimate betrayals, Patrick Stewart & Liam Niesen can be seen in this gem. Hotass Helen Mirren shines as Morgana and Nicol Willimason plays an excellent Merlin.
3. Legend (1985) You may laugh but in its day this movie had all the elements for an amazing fairy tale. Tom Cruise pulls his weight and Mia Sara was very good as Lily. But the real star is Tim Curry and all the effects for Darkness. I also thought the little kid who played Gump was terrific. Directed by the obscure Ridley Scott it still suffered from some shoddy editing throughout.
4. Highlander (1986) This used to be #2 when I was a kid but once a began appreciating things like editing, pace and acting it dropped. Lambert and Hart were pretty wooden but leave it to Sean Connery and underrated talent Clancy Brown to carry the film on their shoulders. The cinematography really shined. The action pieces were terrific and don’t forget that soundtrack featuring Queen.
5. Ladyhawk (1985) Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer & the ever scrumptious Michelle Pfieffer all lift a lackluster plot to epicess with strong performances in this touching adventure. It could have used a little more sorcery and a little less sword but still a fantasy staple.
6. The Dark Crystal (1982) Frank Oz out did himself with this fantasy tale. What it lacked in overall action it made up for in story, design and heart. When you consider that the entire film is achieved with puppets it really makes the film a wondrous ride.
Honorable Mentions: Labyrinth, Conan, Star Wars, Princess Bride (I love this film but I couldn’t rank it in my top 5 fantasies), the underrated Krull and Flesh & Blood (Rutger Hauer FTW!)
The Ugly:
1. Deathstalker – This one was just bad, bad, bad. Plenty of scantily clad women but story, production value, editing, effects and action were all in the sewer.
2. Hawk the Slayer – Another painfully awful adventure is some woods. Suck barely covers this dreck. Pay special attention to the soundtrack which miserably fails to combine elements of orchestra, western music and disco. I recommend watching this one for the simple joy of watching Jack Palance continually raise the crazy bar of his evil wizard baddie.
3. Dungeons & Dragons – The worst part of this film was how disappointing it was. You hope that creators of one of the most popular fantasy games ever would recognize what is needed to tell a great fantasy tale. Sure it has all the right ingredients, dragons, wizards, magic, damsels and some ambitious ideas but budget, direction and story were weak and the characters were just lame. What possessed producers to cast Marlon Wayans in this mess is beyond me.
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