Come with us listeners, back to the mist-shrouded 1980s, when hair was big and the Walkman was king, and sword and sorcery films were abundant. Why were there so many sword and sorcery films in that decade? Perhaps it was the lucky convergence of a number of things: the rise in popularity of Dungeons and Dragons, the prevalence of fantasy art such as the Hildebrandt Brothers, Boris Vallejo, and of course, Frazetta, the Marvel Conan comics, and other factors. While there were a number of terrible movies produced in the genre during this period, there were also some excellent or at least entertaining ones. Your crew will be discussing six of their favorites.
Excalibur (1981) is a John Boorman film, and it looks absolutely beautiful. A retelling of the Arthurian legend, it has a dreamlike feeling, in an England that is moving from a magical realm to one ruled by Christianity. Highlights include Nichol Williamson as a very otherworldly Merlin, and a fantastic soundtrack that features classical music including Wagner. It is well worth seeing if you haven't!
Highlander (1986) is something that started as a good idea, but suffered in the execution. Immortals scattered across the globe must battle until there is only one left -"There can be only one." When an immortal kills another immortal they gain the energies of that person and all the people they have killed. It had nice production design and an interesting cast that included Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, and Clancy Brown, but the story is lacking in parts. Still, it has its high points.
Krull (1983) is an odd mix of science fiction and fantasy, with a Prince on a quest to save a Princess from an invading alien known as The Beast. He gathers a rag tag band of thugs, sorcerers and even a cyclops to help him on his rescue mission. He also acquires a magical weapon called the Glaive, which is essentially a large throwing star that always returns to his hand. Clearly influenced by Star Wars as well as fantasy films, Krull is definitely cheesy, but fun.
Dragonslayer (1981) has what is still one of the best-looking dragons in all of cinema history, Vermithrax Pejorative. The film follows a young sorcerer's apprentice who tries to rid a village of a terrible dragon. This was a Disney production and featured work by ILM and Phil Tippett. The dragon was animated with Tippett's Go Motions process, and full-size pieces were also used (and a World War II flamethrower was used for the dragon's breath!). This is a cool and unique film well worth seeing.
Conan the Barbarian (1982) is probably the premiere sword and sorcery film of the 80s. Nothing quite says sword and sorcery like Conan. Directed by John Milius and with a story from Oliver Stone, this film has a very hard, almost nihilistic edge. Conan sees his parents and village slaughtered in front of him as a child, is chained to the "wheel of pain" from adolescence into young adulthood, forced to become a gladiator, and freed to find his own way, in which he seeks revenge. It's hard to imagine anyone other than Arnold Schwarzenegger playing the Cimmerian. He was perfect for the role. The film also has terrific production values. It just looks like a fully realized world. The battles are exciting and most of the time it actually is Arnold in those scenes -they couldn't find a stunt man to double for him! If you haven't seen it, or it's been a while, check this out.
Conan the Destroyer (1984) was the follow up to the first film and unlike the first film, this one was PG. It's obvious they wanted to reach a younger audience, but Conan loses some grit because of this. The production design also suffers some in this film. Still, there's much to enjoy, as this is a more straight-forward adventure where Conan builds a band of adventurers to obtain a magical item for a queen who offers to bring back his lost love, Valeria. Go into this one with reduced expectations and you'll probably get a kick out of it.
We know there are many other sword and sorcery films from the 80s and we have certainly left out one of your favorites. Feel free to let us know what movie you would include on your list of favorites.
For our Sensor Sweep, we have a completely unrelated item that Engineer Bob is excited about: the Godzilla pinball machine! Stern Pinball has partnered with Toho International to produce a line of Godzilla pinball machines. Godzilla and his kaiju allies fight off invading monsters like Ghidorah, Gigan, and Megalon. Players can also interact with the machine using a QR code reader. There will be three versions -pro, premium, and limited edition - and they will range from $6,899 to $10,499. So if you got the dough -check out this link: https://sternpinball.com/game/godzilla/
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"O Fortuna." The music in that iconic scene in Excalibur is the 'O Fortuna' movement in Orff's Carmina Burana...
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, enjoyed the conversation about '80s sword & sorcery flicks, although I'm surprised nobody thought to make the obvious pick: 1982's The Sword and the Sorcerer (although it's not very good, to be honest).
If I were drawing up a similar list, Excalibur would also be my no. 1 pick, but I see my opinions diverge from the three of you on a lot of these: firstly, I was never a big fan of either of the Schwarzenegger Conans - I never had a problem with the Arnold being cast in the lead role, but I thought the tone of both, esp. the first one, were just way too somber (and Grace Jones out-Conaned Arnie in the second one); and secondly, I don't think Krull is very good, either.
Highlander, though, I absolutely love - but the just the first film. Everything that came afterward is hot garbage...
By the way, I could really relate to the story about having an older brother take you to see movies you probably shouldn't have. That was how I saw Stripes and Gorky Park in the theater.
Again, fun show.
-Edo Bosnar
Thanks Edo. This one was obviously near and dear to me. I almost included Masters of the Universe -it's such a stinker, but it has its charms, especially Frank Langella as Skeletor. Most of the films in this genre are pretty bad to be honest but there's such a strong appeal, certainly becuase many of us grew up reading fantasy books, comics, and playing D&D. I am grateful that we finally got a good film version of LotR, and a series like Game of Throens, to prove that fantasy can be done well. I'd love to see a high quality version of a Wizard of Earthsea, or Conan, or Elric of Menibone...there are so many books that could be adapted now.
ReplyDeleteYeah, since Le Guin is my favorite author, and I've always loved her Earthsea books, I'd like to see a worthy screen adaptation - there was an Earthsea film or mini-series or something like that made in the early '00s that wasn't very good at all. I saw part of it on TV a while back and remember thinking that it was kind of bland and boring. And apparently, Le Guin herself was extremely critical of the whole thing.
DeleteAs for Conan - yeah, I'm still waiting for a proper movie or TV version. I wish they would just adapt one or more of Howard's original stories instead of trying to do some kind of big sprawling epic from scratch. Whoever goes about doing that already has the comic book adaptations by Roy Thomas et al. from the four-color book and Savage Sword to use as storyboards.
-Edo Bosnar