What was the last movie you've seen?

[Michi]

Is The Neverending Story legit? I'd love to see some more high quality 80's fantasy.

I just re-watched that about a month ago. It's still wonderfully solid.

Consider also, if you haven't already: Witches, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal and, if you can tolerate the accompanying music, The Last Unicorn.

Those are some of the ones I continue to re-visit, anyway.

[noiseredux]

Prometheus is like a huge budget art film that just happens to be in the Alien universe.

I liked Predators a lot as well though.

[Michi]

I enjoyed Prometheus. I could pick out it's flaws, but at the same time I didn't feel the flaws were game-breaking enough that I couldn't turn my brain off to them and enjoy the movie for what it was.

But then again, I got a kick out of the first AvP movie, so be sure to take my opinion on the matter with a grain of salt



Oh, and on the plane ride over to Colorado the airline offered Batman Vs Superman as one of their movie options. So I watched it. And I gotta say, it wasn't nearly as bad as I went in expecting it to be. I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it 'good,' per se, as there were quite a few things I would have changed (some scenes were too long, some probably should have been cut altogether, Jesse Eisenberg makes for a good crazy person, but I don't feel he makes for a very good Lex Luthor, etc...), but I don't think it deserved some of the abysmal reviews it got.

I don't know. There's a lot I would have changed, but I'd still give it a solid 'okay.'

[samsonlonghair]

Is The Neverending Story legit? I'd love to see some more high quality 80's fantasy.

I just re-watched that about a month ago. It's still wonderfully solid.

Consider also, if you haven't already: Witches, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal and, if you can tolerate the accompanying music, The Last Unicorn.

All good choices. Since we have been talking about Ridley Scott recently, I would like to mention that he made a high fantasy in the 80s called Legend. Tim Curry played the villain. There's lots of high production values - especially in terms of makeup and lighting in this film.

George Lucas also tried his hand at the sword and sorcery genre. Willow is a hobbit-inspired film starring Warwick Davis who played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi, the titular Leprechaun in all the Leprechaun movies, and various characters in the Harry Potter films. Willow is a misanthropic character who has to save a baby from an evil queen, but he really doesn't like babies at all. Warwick is the heart of this film.

Excalibur has fantastic production values, elaborate fight scenes, and a huge cast. This film takes itself very seriously. There's no monsters here, but there's lots of medieval human drama and romance. The elaborate armor is noteworthy unto itself.

On the sillier side of things, there's Beastmaster which was clearly trying to ape Conan the Barbarian. This one is B-grade fun. It's full of actors who you've seen in other movies, but can't think of their names. It's a good time if you go in with the right expectations, you know what I mean? It's no masterpiece, but It's so much fun that I've rewatched it time and again.

[Xeogred]

Thanks guys, bookmarked all this stuff to check out.

[Exhuminator]

Thanks guys, bookmarked all this stuff to check out.

A few more for you:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087078/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089893/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093507/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082288/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085811/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082186/

And if by some chance in a frozen hell you haven't seen this yet:

Make it your utmost priority.

[Stark]

Seriously xeo, if you've not seen Princess Bride, stop whatever you're doing and watch it.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Thanks guys, bookmarked all this stuff to check out.

I must let you know, however, that - with the exception of Clash of the Titans, The Princess Bride, and The Last Unicorn - all of the movies listed here are pretty bad. (Labyrinth and Willow have their moments, I suppose, but they really haven't aged that well.) If you are expecting something on the same level as Conan the Barbarian, you are going to be sorely disappointed.

Conan the Barbarian is one of my very favorite films, and I really enjoy the swords-and-sorcery genre. Most of the films in it, however, just aren't very good.

[Ack]

Oh dear, you're going down the rabbit hole of Conan wannabes. There are actually quite a few sword and sorcery as well as fantasy movies which were more on the underground side of things, intending to rip off the success of both Conan the Barbarian as well as the likes of Star Wars, particularly from Italy...which isn't so weird actually because that country had an established history of B-, C-, and Z-grade sword and sandal movies from the late 1950s through to the mid-60s when spaghetti westerns and then poliziotteschi movies helped replace them. In fact Arnold was first suggested to go into movies by an established bodybuilder and actor of sword and sandal movies, Reg Park.

I'm gonna say this up front, many of the movies I'm about to point out are awful. They're more fun to watch for the ridiculous spectacle they are than to actually watch as legitimate cinema. They're low budget, they're poorly scripted, they're poorly shot, and they're poorly acted. I get a kick out of them, and hopefully some of you guys will too:

Hawk the Slayer - I love to make fun of this movie
The Sword and the Sorcerer
Fire and Ice - Rotoscoped
Quest of the Delta Knights - Note, this is from the MST3K episode
Barbarians
Ator, The Fighting Eagle - The first of four Ator movies
Wizards of the Lost Kingdom - Followed by a sequel that reuses footage. Classy.

And if cavemen is more of your thing...

Quest for Fire
Yor: The Hunter from the Future
Ironmaster
Caveman - Starring Ringo Starr

Oh, and since nobody seems to have mentioned this yet...

The Hobbit (1977)
Lord of the Rings (1978)
The Return of the King (1980)

[isiolia]

Ladyhawke also, if you're wanting cheesy 80s fantasy.