7 Early Sword and Sorcery Movies

[cdbd3rd]

To get a feel for this time, here is a picture of the opening of that shop:



By 1984 I was off to read my degree, armed with an education boosted by a role-playing game that allowed me to make use of almost everything I could learn at school.

Opened 1978... ^
And to think 5 short years later, I'd visit that shop before later traipsing down the road to see BOC and Aldo Nova at the Hammersmith Odeon.



On topic:
MM took one I was gonna throw in the pot, Ladyhawke.
S&tS taken in OP. (Loved the sword at the time. Even statted one up for my group to fight against.)

Hmmm.

Came a bit later, but Dragonheart was kinduv good, mainly cuz of Connery's voice work.


Blurring genre lines a bit, but also liked the old Planet of the Apes chain - mainly because I liked the Gamma World aspect of it.

[Ganolyn]

Fire and Ice was a pretty good Sword and Sorcery movie.

Every Conan story wrapped in one with Frank Frazetta drawing it? What's not to like?

[Missing_Minds]

BAH, IM A NUB!!!!!!!!

You guys had it posted all this time. Man i hate myself, but now after reading the posts about it, i remember the storyline now and the sword things was off, but his face is unmistaken! RIchard Lynch! that boys faced is all jacked up! Garr - The Sword and the Sorcerer, DUH!

sorry for the misleading a possible unknown

*snicker* With all the nostalgia floating around it was bound to happen.

[Serakan]

"Legend" 1985 was an amazing fantasy film.

Conan the Barbarian is hillarious however.

"Conan, what is best in life?"

Conan: "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!"

"Yes, this is good."

Classic

[DFraser]

The best (campiest) movie from the 80s IMO is DEATHSTAKER staring Barbi Benton's breasts. Also the movie that showed weapon finesse is not that great.

[Mr_Ed7]

Until Peter Jackson's LotR series CONAN was King.
It is a GREAT movie, and well made...with little cheese.

Other films mentioned I would like to second would be, Legend and Flesh + Blood.
Great ones!

[Yajerman01]

*snicker* With all the nostalgia floating around it was bound to happen.

You have to check out the Lou Ferrigno Hercules though. I swear by it, you will be hooked not by the awesomness of the film itself, youll be hooked and baffled at the special effects and what possibly could they do next!

[MrWizard]

what about the dude with the sword that had three blades...talon?

[NadgersFishtoaster]

I can see your point. I never read any of the Conan books. But, LOL, I think we can agree to disagree, I saw Flash Gordon when it first came out and I don't know if I would call it entertaining. Unfortunately that time period left us very few choices and at least on my part, very hungry for any fantasy films that came along. Lets face it, Hollywood seldom gets it right. If I really love a book, I hope and pray they never try and make it into a movie.

I wouldn't recommend the Conan books to adults nowdays, except to would-be writers to allow them to study the vivid prose of Robert E. Howard, but for me they were classics.

Seeing a favourite series of books being turned into a film is never a rewarding experience but sometimes people can get it right. Conan was only slightly off the mark and only because I was pretty sure it could have better.

The thing with movies is that they connect with people in different ways because people come to them with different perspectives. There is no absolute view, only the self-knowledge that comes with understanding why we enjoyed a film.

[elootekim]

No mention yet of Tom Hanks Greatest Movie Ever!!!??

Mazes and Monsters

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084314/

I have yet to see a movie in which Tom Hanks does a better acting job!

[NadgersFishtoaster]

Opened 1978... ^
And to think 5 short years later, I'd visit that shop before later traipsing down the road to see BOC and Aldo Nova at the Hammersmith Odeon.

Aye, I was providing that picture to frame the time period my list of movies, which started this thread, came from. That picture hopefully provided a good dose of UK role-playing and gaming history ...

Not everyone remembers those days of anoraks and flares!

[NadgersFishtoaster]

If anyone wants some old school stop-motion fun I recommend both The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (with Dr. Who's Tom Baker as the villain) and Jason and the Argonauts (with a battle scene against skeletons that inspired many a D&D session)

Both were horribly bad, but good campy fun. Both could do with an update and release in CGI. They couldn't be any worse than what we usually get nowadays anyway.

Ah, you're talking about the works of the great Ray Harryhausen, whose technique was often referred to as Dynamation. Watching it progress to the stage were it could almost seem to interact with live actors was amazing.

Extra points for reference a Tom Baker film role too, of course.

[The-Last-Wolf]

Hi All,

This thread made me so nostalgic I had no choice but to go grab Princess Bride and watch it (Been many years).

I see many DVD purchases in my future LOL

Regards
Wolf

PS Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die

[LordMond63]

I know this one is only partially OT (it has swords though not sorcery):

Robin Hood, 1939 with Errol Flynn. Bought the special edition/director's cut/way to pry more cash out of your wallet edition and was definitely not disappointed. The digitally enhanced color print is amazing and the score is really punched up as well. Toss in a blooper reel and what more could a fan want?

My wife and I got into quite the argument over this. She thought that Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner was just the greatest thing ever. I then showed her the 1939 version. Her final verdict is that the '39 version is better but that Constner is hotter. I guess I can live with that.....even if if think Robin Hood: Men in Tights is better than Costner's version.....don't tell her though, please?

Excalibur: saw that one on opening weekend and had to sit on the front row far right side so I only saw about, oh, 1/8th of the screen. Still loved it.

Anyone mention Labyrinth yet? I think it deserves a place on the list. David Bowie wasn't half bad in his role.

[The-Last-Wolf]

hi Again,

I apologise for getting excited, but this thread has made me all ooooh, ooh, ohh. on films

So a few others for consideration (more sword than sorcery) that are IMHO awesome films

13th Warrior - Like or hate Antonio Banderas, this film rocks on so many levels. An awesome retelling of the Grendal part of the Beowulf saga, which is possibly one of the earliest Sword and Sorcery stories :-)

Almost anything by Akira Kurosawa - 7 Samurai, Yojimbo (Remade as A Fist full of dollars), Ran, Hidden Fortress (George Lucas nicked the plot for Star Wars BTW), Kagemusha, Rashoman, Sanjuro and Throne of Blood

Mongol (The rise to power of Ghengis Khan) - An awesome movie that I recomend to anyone with an interest in history and pre gunpowder combat.

From a TV series POV, I would strongly recomend the HBO series Rome. It unfortunatly only ran for 2 seasons, but had some of the best and most gut wrenchingly real fight scenes I have seen on film (The Pullo vs Gladiator scene has to be the best action sequence I have ever seen).

Regards
Wolf

[NadgersFishtoaster]

I know this one is only partially OT (it has swords though not sorcery):

Robin Hood, 1939 with Errol Flynn. Bought the special edition/director's cut/way to pry more cash out of your wallet edition and was definitely not disappointed. The digitally enhanced color print is amazing and the score is really punched up as well. Toss in a blooper reel and what more could a fan want?

My wife and I got into quite the argument over this. She thought that Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner was just the greatest thing ever. I then showed her the 1939 version. Her final verdict is that the '39 version is better but that Constner is hotter. I guess I can live with that.....even if if think Robin Hood: Men in Tights is better than Costner's version.....don't tell her though, please?

Then I recommend you watch together "Robin and Marion" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075147/ a story based on the downside of Robin Hood's adventuring career. You'll recognise someone from Excalibur too.

[Angel_Barchild]

Anyone mention Labyrinth yet? I think it deserves a place on the list. David Bowie wasn't half bad in his role.

Lol I was going to give this one a mention. I love tihs movie. For some reason Labyrinth makes me squee like a 12 year old fangirl. Maybe it was Dabid Bowie's pants...

[Cyprine]

Dark Crystal = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083791/
Never ending story = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088323/

a lot more recent, but my love for Neil Gaiman makes me point to
Stardust = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486655/