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Post by geneweigel on May 18, 2016 12:14:25 GMT -5
My daughter asked me why Harry Potter is so popular but so lame? I had never rewatched them and gave them all subpar "good enough to eat popcorn by once" ratings. So what are the must see fantasies?
We've watched the former two of these:
CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982) EXCALIBUR (1981) JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963) 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958)
I can't even bring my self to do Tolkien with the kids. They seemed cheesed out on THE HOBBIT (2012-2014) so how can I lure them over to Bakshi or even Rankin Bass if they think Jackson Ring (2001-2003) is going to blow?
Is there something that pops?
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Post by Scott on May 18, 2016 13:11:18 GMT -5
The Beastmaster? TNT might as well have been called The Beastmaster Network they played that movie so often in the 80s.
Really? I liked the first 4 Harry Potter movies, especially the 3rd and 4th. The original Star Wars trilogy is more fantasy than sci fi. The Dark Crystal? I remember it fondly. Dragonslayer. The original Clash of the Titans.
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foster1941
Warlock
Duke of California, Earl of Los Angeles, Knight Bachelor
Posts: 476
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Post by foster1941 on May 18, 2016 13:39:52 GMT -5
Labyrinth and Return to Oz are both targeted towards young girls which caused me to dismiss them out of hand when they were new (mid-80s), but I've come around to like both of them as an adult. The Rankin-Bass movie of The Last Unicorn is another favorite of mine from the 80s. I like The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (from 1971sh) better than 7th Voyage. Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1959?). The 1924(?) version of The Thief of Baghdad starring Douglas Fairbanks with sets by William Cameron Menzies is a lot of fun if you're not put off by the fact that it's black & white and silent - I like it better than the technicolor version from the 40s starring Sabu, though that one's okay too.
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Post by geneweigel on May 18, 2016 14:14:45 GMT -5
The girl from LABYRINTH was someone that I knew from a Red Cross swimming program in the late 70s. Everytime that I see her I totally bug out. I was a big Bowie and Python fan so LABYRINTH pissed me off in the theater. I started bugging on Jennifer and it wasn't until THE ROCKETEER (1991) that I recognized her as the girl from the pool. Surreal.
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Post by geneweigel on May 18, 2016 15:16:19 GMT -5
DARK CRYSTAL (1982) is definitely one of my favorites. I always tell the the kids that I'm going to drink their dog's life force. What was the deal with the happy ending do they get their lives restored? I have the comic magazine of that somewhere around. I wasn't a big fan of BEASTMASTER (1982). There seemed to be a slew of low budget films that tried to cash in on the fantasy and that for some reason, the TBS obsession that you mention, is more than likely the cause. I think that I saw THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER (1982) more often because for the most part of the 80's I rarely watched cable. I opened my first cable account in 1989 and closed it soon afterwards (1994?). My fave low budget is SORCERESS (1982) of course. That movie is the best fucking movie ever: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi2YA-9NIy4
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Post by Scott on May 18, 2016 15:24:49 GMT -5
Beastmaster was so bad, but for some reason I couldn't resist watching it every time it showed up while I was channel surfing.
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Post by geneweigel on May 18, 2016 16:56:19 GMT -5
I never flick TV channels. Some peopel I know have this weird habit of needing background movies to play while they're not paying attention. I kind of get like that with Godzilla movies. I've seen them so many times and visually they're kind of boring in the chatty scenes so its like put it on and forget it. Then when Godzilla shows up come out of it and pay attention.
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Post by geneweigel on May 19, 2016 11:05:44 GMT -5
Heh, I almost watched the whole thing and got snapped out of it by the doorbell.
That movie SORCERESS I saw, in a double feature with HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW (1983), when I was 14 with two close friends and an old schoolmate who had a "tres bag" in the middle of a local dry spell due to some kind of police actions. This is years before "crack" and "coke" wasn't even street level. Just "speed" and "weed". So one of my friends ditched the two of us before the next movie started so they could "have it all". The two of us didn't have to leave for home right away, now that they were gone, and so we got on the the subway to Manhattan. Or so we thought, that was the day that I got beaten up by a cop who ripped the cover off my Basic D&D Book. He caught me "jumping the train" and decided to beat the shit out of me in a janitor's closet because he was "fed up".
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Post by Scott on May 19, 2016 11:16:05 GMT -5
Ahh, New York, New York...
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Post by geneweigel on May 19, 2016 13:35:27 GMT -5
The weird thing is my graffiti technique is back in style and I've got too many reasons not to get arrested. Dammit! DM, BEORN and MGTDZ will ride the subway cars no more. Yes,yes, I know, that was me. Seriously what a waste of energy that was. Not a single remnant anywhere. Buildings demolished, subway cars scrubbed, even the elevated train legs have all been replaced. One I did of Laketown and Smaug within the letters of BEORN was in an abandoned warehouse which is now the site of a public school.
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Post by Scott on May 19, 2016 14:06:28 GMT -5
I've been friends with some of Pittsburgh's most infamous graffiti artists, but never got involved myself.
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Post by Scott on May 19, 2016 14:08:24 GMT -5
I remember being in New York and making trips to check out the local graffiti in the late 80s early 90s.
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Post by geneweigel on May 20, 2016 6:26:45 GMT -5
You know the sad part was that I knew how to vandalize a wall but not how to take a picture without having to go to "get it developed".
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Post by geneweigel on May 23, 2016 9:14:13 GMT -5
Alright, this is derailed. Here is some that I grabbed off a list fantasy:
FANTASIA (1940) the whole thing is very moody
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946) French one I recall watching this at the heiht of 80's campaigning
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975) probably the most relatable fantasy by many
TIME BANDITS (1981) this was pretty much a pile of fantasy although I might as well count BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1989) as well.
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Post by geneweigel on May 24, 2016 7:40:05 GMT -5
Alright, I see a lot of maybe good/bad fantasy. There is a newer movie that I haven't seen called TALE OF TALES (2015) it looks like its about the Italian folklore collection "Pentamerone": www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9ETi804w-EIts on PPV now so I might watch this week with the kids.
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Post by geneweigel on May 24, 2016 8:02:26 GMT -5
I have always loved Hercules movies with the cutoff being HERCULES IN NEW YORK (1970). I have seen Ferrigno's HERCULES (1983), HERCULES THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS tv show (ACTION PACK 1994; 1995-1999), and Disney's HERCULES (1997) and it withered on the vine after that. I can't even bring myself to watch the last two Hercules outings: HERCULES 2014 (with the Rock) and LEGEND OF HERCULES (2014). They both look like shit and I've given "The Rock" way too many chances. That guy needs to be forced to watch his own shitty movies. That JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (2008) which was an okay 3D movie when converted into a Rock vehicle in JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (2012) is cringe worthy continuity. Here's my idea for part 3 It opens with Brendan Fraser burying The Rock alive then taking a crap on his grave.
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Post by geneweigel on May 26, 2016 7:40:39 GMT -5
Here is the wikipedia list of sword and sorcery films:
Is this the most surreal list ever? What the hell are half of these movies?
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Post by geneweigel on May 26, 2016 7:43:38 GMT -5
Here is their list of high fantasy films and TV series:
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Post by geneweigel on May 26, 2016 7:45:57 GMT -5
They left out ARMY OF DARKNESS (1992). Probably one of the top ten fantasy films for many a D&D player.
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Post by geneweigel on May 26, 2016 7:47:31 GMT -5
I remember seeing "ATOR I" but I wasn't aware it went on for three more films. They must be really good...
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