What is YOUR Favorite Fantasy Movie? -And WHY...?

[Gallahan]

Yes, Dragonheart should have been on the list. My "beef" with Dragonheart is Dennis Quaid's inability to use an English accent; because of this, he resorts to what I can only label as "pirate speak." Poor marks for that. Other than that, the story was great. Connery was great. The music was tremendous.

Hawaiians take their anime seriously... When I lived there, they presented Princess Mononoke at the theater. First time I'd seen serious anime at the theater. Great, non-Hollywood, storyline. Good music too.

[Killer Cyborg]

Yes, Dragonheart should have been on the list. My "beef" with Dragonheart is Dennis Quaid's inability to use an English accent; because of this, he resorts to what I can only label as "pirate speak." Poor marks for that. Other than that, the story was great. Connery was great. The music was tremendous.

The movie suffered because they couldn't make up their minds whether they were making an action movie, a comedy, or a drama.
Some films are able to blend all of these elements together well, but Dragonheart is not one of them.

[Gallahan]

It begs the question, Killer Cyborg, what movies do you think DO blend such elements? Obviously, I would answer Lord of the Rings, but that goes without saying, and that's why it wasn't included in the voting. Other than that, I'd answer Willow, perhaps. Conan the Barbarian even mixes those qualities well. Conan the Destroyer crashes and burns, and you can tell they were really trying, really struggling.

[Killer Cyborg]

It begs the question, Killer Cyborg, what movies do you think DO blend such elements? Obviously, I would answer Lord of the Rings, but that goes without saying, and that's why it wasn't included in the voting. Other than that, I'd answer Willow, perhaps. Conan the Barbarian even mixes those qualities well. Conan the Destroyer crashes and burns, and you can tell they were really trying, really struggling.

Willow, although it isn't a great movie.
Also, Krull (which IS a great movie).
And yes, I would even say that Conan does as well.

[Guest]

Action, Comedy, Drama.

Princess Bride?

Sure, it's more Comedy...but it blends the other two in a nice package I think.

The Last Unicorn?

I personally loved the Dragon in Dragonheart, very cool looking, and Seans voice was great for it.

[JTwig]

I had to go with Willow, only because of the Chris Claremont sequel novels. I know that that shouldn't count, but they have added so much more depth to the world that the characters occupy. Plus it makes it easier to watch knowing that most of the main characters are going to die before the first chapter is even over.

[Gallahan]

Okay, it's been a while since anyone voted or replied, so it looks like...

WILLOW

...is the big winner here. Woo hoo!

Fireworks, symphonic emphasis and hats off to the wee folk. In good spirit, Conan, eat your heart out! <insert mad laughter here>

[Warpig]

CONAN THE BARBARIAN is my all time favorite movie and there's no topping it.
Classic storyline and plot of coming of age/manifest destiny and revenge, just like in other timeless classics like HAMLET by Shakespeare to the STARWARS trilogy by Lucas.
Arnold Schwarzennager was made for the role of Conan and the role of Conan was made for Arnie, it's a flawless match, no one could do that better.
Some of the most violent/best fight scenes I've seen, and it was done in the early 80's
whoever played Valeria was and still looks hot in that movie, again this was back in the early 80's too.
Overall good storytelling, character development, and climax.

btw the Conan The Barbarian Soundtrack is way better than the Willow soundtrack Hands DOWN!
Conan the Barbarian is a Man's movie! Willow is for the kids to watch on a sunday afternoon tv special!

[Gallahan]

Them's fightin' werds WARPIG!

Oink oink oink!



Prepare to meet thy fate: *Ham*let.

Madmartigan himself could defeat Conan as long as they were in a croweded tavern, sure it might involve cross-dressing, love dust and a spatula needed to flip the bacon.

Oink oink oink!

Cheers!

[Killer Cyborg]

Other than Mad Mardigan, Willow really didn't have much going for it.
I was puzzled at its popularity when it came out, and I'm still puzzled.

[Gallahan]

I think I know a couple of reasons, at least, why Willow was so popular and is still popular.

First, an analogy: If Willow and Conan were paintings, Conan would be a Boris Vallejo or Brom, and Willow would be a Larry Elmore or Keith Parkinson.

Second, to springboard from that idea, Willow followed more in the style of Lord of the Rings, with well done magical elements on a grand scale, and army engagemens on a pretty large scale. It really evoked the Lord of the Rings feel and condensed it into a single movie; it was, in some respects, evocative of the feel of the original Star Wars trilogy. Elements of Star Wars were peppered in, sure with different, fantasy slants. Queen Bavmorda is akin to Palpatine, and her general in the bone mask is all but Darth Vader.

Third, Willow had... Heart. It was easy to like and love the main characters, even the once vile, evil Sorsha, who fianlly finds the path of the good side.

This is not taking anything away from Conan at all because it was and still is popular for many different reasons. In fact, Willow and Conan are two of my all time favorite fantasy movies, but their soundtracks/scores will always be in the top ten scores ever to meet an orchestra.

[Killer Cyborg]

I think I know a couple of reasons, at least, why Willow was so popular and is still popular.

First, an analogy: If Willow and Conan were paintings, Conan would be a Boris Vallejo or Brom, and Willow would be a Larry Elmore or Keith Parkinson.

Well, I know who Boris is....

Second, to springboard from that idea, Willow followed more in the style of Lord of the Rings, with well done magical elements on a grand scale, and army engagemens on a pretty large scale. It really evoked the Lord of the Rings feel and condensed it into a single movie; it was, in some respects, evocative of the feel of the original Star Wars trilogy. Elements of Star Wars were peppered in, sure with different, fantasy slants. Queen Bavmorda is akin to Palpatine, and her general in the bone mask is all but Darth Vader.

I didn't get that from the movie at all.
I thought it was disappointingly short and simple.

Third, Willow had... Heart. It was easy to like and love the main characters, even the once vile, evil Sorsha, who fianlly finds the path of the good side.

Eh.
I liked Sorsha and Mad Mardigan.
I couldn't give a rat's butt about Willow himself.

[highpriestrsw2]

Dark Crystal isn't my favorite fantasy movie of all time but it is my favorite out of the listed movies. I love puppets! Especially Jim Henson's puppets!
My favorite fantasy movie is really two movies and they score a tie! I love Hawk the Slayer and I love Dragonslayer! These are both really good B-movies that have the feel that I like to give my games.

[Gallahan]

I've gotta agree there: the puppet/muppet work that Jim Henson did is amazing. The story was pretty good too. Hey, if you like GREAT fantasy music, The Dark Crystal has some of the best music out there. There's a special edition of it floating around on Amazon/Ebay.

Does anyone else out there notice the similarity between the female gelfling character and the female lead in Dragonslayer? Don't they look alike, as if the muppet/puppet was modeled after that great looking brunette wonder? Yeah, okay: she was a man for the first part of Dragonslayer, but didn't all of us "true" guys just KNOW that "he" was a "she?"

Okay, this is getting weird now. Signing off. Sheeeez.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Never heard of Wizards of the Lost Kingdom. This film on Vhs or DVD and is it a live action film or animated?

I'm fairly certain it's on VHS, but I don't know if it's on DVD. It's live action, and admittedly a _bad_ movie, but hey, I liked it when I was 9 so it made my list.

[Dr. Doom III]

I think I know a couple of reasons, at least, why Willow was so popular and is still popular.

First, an analogy: If Willow and Conan were paintings, Conan would be a Boris Vallejo or Brom, and Willow would be a Larry Elmore or Keith Parkinson.

Well, I know who Boris is.....

Turn in your geek card now.

[Killer Cyborg]

I think I know a couple of reasons, at least, why Willow was so popular and is still popular.

First, an analogy: If Willow and Conan were paintings, Conan would be a Boris Vallejo or Brom, and Willow would be a Larry Elmore or Keith Parkinson.

Well, I know who Boris is.....

Turn in your geek card now.

[Gallahan]

Okay for Raistlin's sake!! ---DOH!!!!!!

I'll turn in the GEEK CARD!!!

But... you need to do the same because you would not have been able to call me out unless you KNEW for yourself what I spoke of.

So turn in yours too.

[dragon_blaze_99]

nome of the above the Princess bride hands down

[Gallahan]

Well, again. Looks like most of the votes are in, and the gentleman named Willow, standing in the corner is the champ. There's nothing quite like a disappearing pig trick, eh?

[Warpig]

this pig aint goin no where!

Conan carries a far more realistic touch in that Conan gets killed and beaten/maimed but he still fights on with incedible determination/strength which makes it all the more enjoyable, Madmartigan is a Charismatic Pretty Boy with some skill with a sword not a real fighter like Conan who grows up in the "school of hard knocks" as a slave and prized pit-fighter and main protagonists die as easily as the antagonists so it again brings back the realistic mortality of the characters.

[Killer Cyborg]

I just watched Krull again on DVD.

Damn, that's a good movie!

[Gallahan]

Okay, I wasn't going to post on this thread again, but KRULL is a great movie, I agree.

Yeah, certain parts are predictable and cheeseball, but man oh man does the MUSIC carry it. James Horner (Star Treks 2 & 3; Braveheart; Titanic; etc.). The music is spectacular. Get the score if you can find it. Great for rpgs.

Also, did you know that the main character, main male lead dude is the same guy who is a betrayer/traitor in STAR TREK Deep Space Nine? Yep; same guy. Really neat how he changed from the handsome hero to the middle aged security officer turned traitor over a span of 20 years. But hey, FATHER TIME does that to us all... in time.

[Gallahan]

"THEY" really, really, really need to make a KING CONAN movie before Arnie is too old to play the part. I know, he's the friggin' governor, but heck, take a month off and make a movie. It will help his next campaign and keep fantasy fans happy.

We need to start an email campaign and keep bothering him until he agrees to make another movie. Even T4 would be nice, but I'd rather see Predator 3 or King Conan.

[Gallahan]

Okay, after much deliberation and many votes...

<drum roll>

WILLOW WINS!!!!

Unless of course several of you band together and dethrone the little bugger. But, I can't say that I'm not happy. Other than Lord of the Rings, Willow and Conan the Barb round out my favorite fantasy movies. Okay, okay... toss in Princess Bride and LadyHawke. Maybe Legend.

[Gallahan]

Yeah, you got it right. Short of Lord of the Rings, which was left out of this intentionaly, you nailed most of the "big hits."

[The Beast]

The D & D,s movie would have been better if they follow the Tv show.

Six people from are World going ther and geting Magic weapons.

The D&D movie would have done better if it was a TV show for a couple of seasons before it was a movie. Or they just continued the cartoon.

[Gallahan]

I heartily agree about the D&D movie. That's why I'm also looking forward to the Star Wars SHOW in production...

[Killer Cyborg]

What, no other Krull fans!?

I love Krull, like I love Ed Wood movies and Fanta.
It's a guilty pleasure, but I try not to use them as influences on my games.

Hey, Krull is a great movie. There should be no guilt involved.
None of the actors were exactly Oscar material, but the plot, the characters, the setting, and some of the dialogue were top-notch.
Really, the special effects weren't bad either.

The special effects were actually pretty lousy. Trust me, my husband makes me watch this movie frequently as it is (bizarrely) one of his favorites.

Also, the acting wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either, Liam Neesom notwithstanding.

[Gallahan]

I'm a fan of Krull. I loved the "freshness" of the movie. Sci-fi meets fantasy. I mean, a "fantasy" story with laser bolts? Star Wars! But, more importantly than the mere movie was the eternal beauty and magical quality of the score, the soundtrack, by James Horner. It was his first big break-out. He then went on to score Star Trek 2 The Wrath of Khan... and well, the rest is history. The score to Krull isn't tough to get, it's just expensive. But it's well worth it.

[Richter]

Sci-Fi just released a Dungeons & Dragons sequel to the horridly insulting to the game and all fantasy works movie that came out in 2000. The Sci-Fi one is a "loose" sequel, and its actually quite good for a Sci-Fi originals picture.

[Adam of the Old Kingdom]

I would have liked The Princess Bride to have been on that list. so I went with Excalibur.

Shrek could have gotten a mention.

[Adam of the Old Kingdom]

holy hippo spit:

Am I violating some sort of Message Board Law by mentioning the movie Highlander? Not the colon ripping sequel, the replacement sequel, nor the cheesy television series, but the most excellent original?

The shots of Scotland rock, the soundtrack kicks gluteus maximus and it has one of the best lines of geekdom everywhere:

"Nuns, no sense of humor"

I thought it was "Hello Pretty!"

or

"He died for their sins"
"That will be his undoing"

or

"Hi, I'm Candy"
"Of course you are"

or

"oh connor, you're all muck and muscle"
"aye, just the way you like it"

and lastly

"are you a ****** Nash?"
(I will not finish that one)


anyway, not real sure Highlander fits as a fantasy, though I supose it's not really science is it.
I'd pit it in my top 10....

[pblackcrow]

Last Unicorn - Any movie with Tim Carry as a devil is cool, the story line was good, and the goblins and faries were both funny, oh and Tom Cruise is in it too

Don't you mean Legend? The Last Unicorn is a cartoon.

I should know, my Godson and Nephew likes them both.

Flight of Dragons is a personal fav.

[Nekira Sudacne]

I never heard of ANY of those movies

[Killer Cyborg]

I never heard of ANY of those movies

Get thee to a video store!

[Warpig]

I never heard of ANY of those movies

...that's because your not from Earth

[Sentinel]

Among my favorites are Jason and The Argonauts, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Stormriders (Oriental Martial Arts fantasy), and Hearts and Armour, a film which is both interesting and terrible all at the same time.

[Library Ogre]

Okay, after much deliberation and many votes...

<drum roll>

WILLOW WINS!!!!

Unless of course several of you band together and dethrone the little bugger. But, I can't say that I'm not happy. Other than Lord of the Rings, Willow and Conan the Barb round out my favorite fantasy movies. Okay, okay... toss in Princess Bride and LadyHawke. Maybe Legend.

I'd point out that Willow is winning in a large part because many of the other great movies of fantasy (like Legend, or Princess Bride, or Dragonslayer) were not on the list.

[Danger]

What, no other Krull fans!?

I loved Krull.

[Danger]

Princess Bride. Best. Movie. Ever.

[count zero]

I remember several films with barbarian in the title that had ample bosomed women in who kept getting naked and big thick wrestlers playing the heroes but i cant remember what they were called ( may have been more than one film .) and what about the beastmaster series or the deathstalker films

You're probably thinking of the creatively titled The Barbarians. Starring (you guessed it) the Barbarian brothers (aka Peter and David Paul).

And considering this is a topic devoted to the best fantasy film(s), you're not likely to find much of a discussion on the merits of such awesomely horrible movies as the Deathstalker series. Instead, try this thread: Worst Fantasy Movie EVAR!.

pax
Ø

[Gallahan]

Wait a minute... Didn't James Earl Jones play the lead role in Willow!??!?



Okay, okay. That was a baaaaaaaaaad joke. But speaking of baaaad jokes, was that person really serious when they said they hadn't heard of any of these movies!!

Then again, most of the great fantasy movies came out in the 80s/90s, so if someone were freshly 15, ALL of those movies just about would be before their time. Wow.

[Gallahan]

C'mon WILLOW FANS!!!! Rally against that dread, bare-chested barbarian and vote for WILLOW! Don't let that little guy with the big heart be dethroned by the muscle bound California governor with an Austrian accent!!!!

Take control and put WILLOW in its rightful place!!!!!