80s Fantasy - Page 2

I believe it was supposed to. One of the things that makes Wizards work is that it doesn't take itself very seriously. There are actually a lot of intentionally funny moments, like the aforementioned "They killed Fritz" sequence.

Looks like it was shot day-for-glaucoma.

I'd blame that on the quality of the youtube vid. The actual movie isn't nearly as obscure.

Yeah, most of the time all I could hear was screaming and that hilarious sound effect when the arrow appears.

DEATHSTALKER... What a glorious POS that could never live up to its poster. Lots of tits though.

Another great poster or 2:





Awesome VHS cover for THE OUTLAW OF GOR. Apparently an adaptation?
"What's a 20th-century man doing in the past? Battling for his life!"

I've to admit that I had a big crush on Joanne Whalley in Willow when I was a kid.

Ditto with Mia Sara in Legend.

Yes, i like Ladyhawke; its got Rutger Hauer and an evil Bishop, whats not to love?

I died when I noticed the aberration (aka awesomeness) that plagued the titular sorceress in that Carradine epic.

I'm sort of reluctant to re watch Wizards after a dissapoting re watch of Star Chaser the Legend of Orin (which I originally saw back to back) I fear it won't be as good as I remember.

Although not bloody or violent Labyrinth is an 80's fantasy staple.

You and every other hot-blooded male child of the '80s.

Holy Shit someone else remembers Star Chaser the Legend of Orin!

I saw this when I was 11 in the ABC in Liverpool - front row in 3D - I thought it was shit even then. No one else seems to remember it...

Also - to add to this thread, you may have heard of a little film from 1980 called The Empire Strikes Back, well it had a short film attached to it by Roger Christian called Black Angel - a medieval fantasy. Here's a link to a recent article about it - the images of the film in the article are the only images of the film anywhere. He's in two minds whether or not to release it.

I actually remember more about seeing this film in the theater than ESB which followed directly after. Something about snow... then I fell asleep.

I remember 'Starchaser: the Legend of Orin' as well. I missed it in the movie theater but I caught it on cable the next year. It's very, very weak.

I watched 'Wizards' a couple of years ago. It was still good, but it wasn't great. It was quite a bit slower than I remembered with lots of dead space in between the good bits. The moments that work still work really, really well.

Mattioli, At 12, and then as a...Teen, in the 80's, Mia Sara was...Attractive, but not anywhere near the class of...Sandahl Bergman in Conan The Barbarian, or Tanya Roberts from...The Beastmaster. I liked Mia Sara alot more in...Ferris Bueller, and Timecop, than in that, less than, Fantastic, Fantasy Film...Legend.

Cool info there.
Don't forget Lana Clarkson! NSFW and RIP

Yes. My major college crush bore a eerie resemblance to her. Sure didn't hurt.

That Conquest trailer was mind-blowing. Here's fresh links to the UK one and the US one.

Day for glaucoma, indeed.

Nate and Hayes might qualify it a pirate movie, but it got some magic to it. Unlike most of the others it is good. The good ones are Conan the Barbarian, Dragon Slayer, Ladyhawke, The Princess Bride, The Dark Crystal, and Excalibur. Ones that are not really that good, but can be fun to watch are Beastmaster, Sword and the Sorceror, Clash of the Titans, Hawk the Slayer, Legend, and Willow maybe.

Haven't seen CONQUEST.

It's awful. Probably fun in a cheesy way with a group.

On the animation front:
Everyone remembers He-Man/She-Ra, the D&D cartoon, the Smurfs, and the Thundercats, but howbout...

Blackstar (tiny "Trobbits" ha), Galtar, and Thundarr? Someone had to take up the legacy of the Mighty Mightor and The Herculoids!

Darkmite8, I did mention...Thundarr The Barbarian, earlier in this thread. To me...Thundarr is...Awesome! Alex Toth created the 3 main characters, Thundarr, Ariel, and OOkla, while his protoge...Jack "King" Kirby created all the villains, and creatures, ships, tech etc. Thundarr originally was to be a...Conan cartoon, til someone recognized that Conan wouldn't be a fit for a saturday morning cartoon and Thudarr was born. Of course, Ruby and Spears also worked on...The Herculoids, which is another great fantasy cartoon.

I have to recommend Yor, Hunter from the Future. Good dumb fun. Basically, you got your prehistoric caveman flick mixed with a little Star Wars influence. There is some hilariously bad stuff in this movie. I love when Yor kills a pteradactyl and uses the corpse as a crude hanglider to mix it up with some vicious neanderthals.

I didn't like Yor even as a kid.

Fixed.

And a shame.

Before HARRY POTTER, there was WIZARDS OF THE LOST KINGDOM (1 & 2):



Is that a Star Wars reject or the Bumble from Rudolph?

If we're talking television, what about Wizards and Warriors?

Jeff Conaway vs. Duncan Regehr!

Richard Dickson, Don't forget...Julia Duffy as a princess too. Good show, but unfortunately very short lived.

Does Highlander count as fantasy? I would say that it certainly includes elements that make up a fantasy film.

Behold the awesomeness that is:







Crazy poster for Ferrigno's HERCULES. I don't remember the Star Wars tone though in the movie though.

And prevent cave-rape!
But can you kill a pteradactyl and uses the corpse as a crude hanglider to mix it up with some vicious neanderthals to prevent cave-RAPE??? I didn't think so.

Return to Oz is delightfully dark for a kids film.

This looks right up my alley:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087436/



Just added to my Netflix queue!!!


These hidden gems:





ARCHER AND THE SORCERESS trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Z3ECC3RVM

Morricone! He turns up in the funniest places. Score review, per favore!

That's Fugitive from the Empire! It aired on NBC, I think as a possible pilot. Loved that cheesy bow that just turned everything red and killed people.

Hundra is the worst shit ever.

We'll see...

Just saw this over the weekend. Charming for a trashy schlockfest. This is normally the kind of thing you'd see on late-night basic cable with all the sexy parts edited out and snarky comments added in. Given the quality of nudity, this isn't a trade-off I would make. Suffice it to say, Penthouse Pet Monique Gabrielle (a stage name if there ever was one) spends most of her screentime in various stages of undress, so viewing completely justified.

Seems a bit silly to rip on the acting or production quality in a film like this so I won't. (But if it means anything, the characters in this poster are more convincing than the actual leads.) Also, obvious Leone references all over this thing.

Yeah, Monique Gabrielle is probably the most memorable thing. The Deathstalker flicks are trashy, but "enjoyable".

I thought Yor was awesome when I was a kid. As an adult I do like that Tor theme song tried to sound like Queen's Flash's Theme.

I know that second one's probably a typo, but it reminded me... how did Joe Kubert's TOR not get adapted in the 80s???

 

 

I just watched the trailer for Ironmaster, and though the actual films in the genre rarely if ever matched the awesomeness of their one sheets, the one sheet for Ironmaster is an almost entirely different beast from the actual film.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzc7zjQXgNk 

 

Also, someone made a cheap music video using clips from Throne of Fire (1983). As relatively underwhelming as it is, I could totally see myself making an 80's style S&S film with a Lita Ford soundtrack.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBGaqfObbPU 

 

You guys inspired me...

 

http://www.chud.com/47479/fantasy-before-the-rings/

 

and i gave a shout out to this thread.

I just watched Hawk the Slayer for the first time in about thirty years and guess what, it's still pretty damn entertaining. Oh, it's cheesy as hell and the music is just awful, but Jack Palance being all eeeevil and the English forest locations help it a lot. And the "special" effects are a hoot. I'm glad I finally broke down and bought the DVD.

I think very few of the 80s fantasy flicks are really good. Conan The Barbarian and The Princess Bride are pretty much the only two I can really call great without significant flaws (okay, I really like Excalibur too. a truly amazing cast, and hey, like the Camelot tv series, the main problem seems casting a weakling as Arthur). That said, I have a soft spot for a lot of the others too:

 

Willow is a disappointing ripoff of Mozes, LotR and Star Wars, but with great roles by Val Kilmer, Joanna Whalley (the chemistry between them is great) and Jean Marsh is nice and hammy as Bavmorda. Also, some nice old school effects (the two headed dragon, some of the matte paintings, stop motion effects during the final wizard battle), nice scenery and a great soundtrack by Horner (though it's basically the same he used for Aliens/Star Trek II and Krull).

 

Krull, as mentioned by others, has a great weapon, some nice designs and another great soundtrack. Lysette Anthony was worthy of the rescue efforts!

 

Red Sonja was shit, with terrible acting, but a great Morricone soundtrack and some very nice matte paintings.

 

The Dark Crystal I loved when I was a kid, just as I did Labyrinth and The Neverending Story. it's easy to see the relative weakness of all three now, but I still like watching them on occasion, especially The Dark Crystal and Neverending Story. I wish someone would remake the Neverending Story and actually use the full book. it's a pretty great children's book.

 

Ronya the Robber's Daughter. a low budget swedish film adaptation of the classic children's book by Astrid Lindgren. gorgeous nature shots, great casting. I have no idea whether this available with english subs.

 

I'm gonna say that Flesh+Blood is also fantasy. I don't think there's any particular country or place mentioned that sets it in a real world, and it sure as hell fits in the sword and sandals genre, if not the sword and sorcery genre. Hauer is great, and everybody seems to be an utter bastard/bitch. the movie is a real who's who of the mid 80s dutch acting world as well, and has a great Basil Pouledouris score too.

 

Ladyhawke is also decent, again a great role by Hauer, even though everything about the style of the movie screams 80s.

 

Dragonslayer isn't a great movie, but has one of the best movie dragons ever, and I remember loving the whole christianity vs magic angle back then.

 

Jabberwocky. very weird movie (hey, it's Terry Gilliam, so that goes without saying), but I love it. hmm, Time Bandits (with its excellent model work on the whole fortress of evil bit) should go on the list as well. but that one would be in the actual great fantasy movies department.

 

 

I loved it as a kid but tried watching it again a few months ago and couldn't hack it. It hurt me.

 

I won't hear a bad word against Nigel Terry in Excalibur. He flawlessly plays Arthur from naive teenager to burdened old man without missing a beat. Like Boorman, I'm kind of shocked that Terry didn't go on to bigger and better things. - in response to Sethos

ah, I suppose I should have put that better: it's not so much the actor as the characterization I have a problem with. He becomes pretty good later on, but I hate Arthur in the first half of the flick.

 

I rate the...80's Sword and Sorcery films thusly...

1) Conan The Barbarian

2) The Beastmaster

3) Excalibur

4) Clash Of The Titans

5) Dragonslayer

6) Deathstalker

7) Barbarian Queen

as much as everyone is laying the hate on it, im kinda excited of the thought of a new Conan film. Im yet to see something to really put me off, its so hard to judge anything by a few pics and a poor teaser. i say bring it on, lets embrace it like an old friend, and maybe they will reward us with more films like this, not throw stones at it before we even see it.

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pray-For-Dawn/114082155312091