The Lord of the brunettes: my ten favorite heroic-fantasy movies
Submitted by cramoukji on Thu, 02/24/2005 - 12:40
Tags:
- Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Just as the novels defined the whole subgenre for the world of litterature, the movies redefined it in the world of film)
- The Dark Crystal (One of the most-lasting movies of all-time, this incredible display of genius will forever bear witness to the legacy of Jim Henson and company)
- Excalibur (Yes, its pace is erratic but it remains the best attempt at making a movie out of the various Holy Grail traditional texts)
- Krull (An underrated gem which borrows a lot from Tolkien but boasts a very convincing cast and direction)
- Conan the Barbarian (No-one quite ever wrote Heroic-Fantasy like Robert E. Howard and Arnie probably was born to be Conan)
- The Princess Bride (The whole premise of this being a story told by a granddad to his grandson is useless as the story could have stood on its own with its tongue-in-cheek and code-twisting humor)
- Ladyhawke (Rough, tough, unkind movie is a bit dated because of its scarce use of optical effects but the casting remains spotless) It once was lukeprog's absolutely favorite movie!!!
- Red Sonja (This is heroic-fantasy exploitation at its most blatant but it still works)
- Willow (This is a big hug story from two masters of the family movie that could have used more evilness and violence)
- Legend (Torn between a young dodgy Tom Cruise, a cute but bland Mia Sara and a probably coked-up Tim Curry, this movie has trouble rising above average but it's got its moments)
Author Comments:
Let's make it clear: heroic-fantasy is basically the litterary genre created by JRR Tolkien where technology and society is usually never developed further than what it was in our civilization's middle ages but where magic and witchcraft is a very real and potent thing... All suggestions are welcome, of course.
Ladyhawke was once my absolute favorite movie!