Best Fantasy Movies

[Flame of Anor]

I'd like to see more epically awesome fantasy movies, if there are any out there. I'll say right now that the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Conan the Barbarian are solidly at the top of my list. Please come up with more in this sort of feel--thanks!

[KerfuffleMach2]

Dark Crystal
The Pagemaster

[Serpentine]

Willow - A prophesy has foretold of a child that will destroy the evil Queen Bavmorda. When the child is found, she is smuggled away. By chance, she finds herself in the care of a small farmer, who wants nothing more than to take care of his farm and his family. Instead, he's forced into an adventure...
The Princess Bride - The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, his sweet Westley, and dastardly villains.
The Neverending Story - A kid finds a book that is as much reality as fantasy.
Legend - I found it pretty eh, but it seems to be a bit of a cult classic. Tom Cruise, a unicorn, and Tim Curry over-compensating for something.

How far are you up to stretching "fantasy"? For example, would Edward Scissorhands count for you?

[Flame of Anor]

Loved Princess Bride, liked Neverending Story. I've heard of (but not seen) Willow and Legend (that one has Tom Cruise and a unicorn, right?), and not heard of Dark Crystal or Pagemaster.

@Serp: As for Edward Scissorhands, I'm really looking more for swords-and-sorcery type stuff at the moment. Not that it isn't a wonderful movie! :smallsmile:

Also, could I have one-sentence summaries of the concept of these movies? (I'm anticipating a large response...)

[Serpentine]

Edited the above post. Dark Crystal is about a small creature, the last of his kind, who is forced to confront the fractured, sadistic overlords of the world. The last time I watched it the puppetry got to me, but it is a great story and I'm thinking I should give it another shot.

[Dr.Epic]

Lord of the Rings

[Zevox]

The Lord of the Rings, The Princess Bride, Shrek 1 & 2...

...come to think of it, that's just about the sum total of the fantasy movies I've seen outside of kids movies I haven't watched in over a decade. Odd, considering how much I like fantasy in general. Only others come to mind are Shrek 3 & 4, which were mediocre, and The Last Airbender, and the less said about that the better.


and not heard of Dark Crystal or Pagemaster.
Haven't heard of the Dark Crystal either, but Pagemaster is... well, I guess it qualifies as fantasy, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's a kids movie designed to encourage reading, with the main protagonist being transported into a contrived animated world of books and accompanied by three anthropomorphic books with generic personalities based on their genre - Adventure, Fantasy, and Horror. Lots of bland humor and uninteresting nonsensical events. Just watch the Nostalgia Critic review of it instead.

Zevox

[Dr.Epic]

Pagemaster is... well, I guess it qualifies as fantasy, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's a kids movie designed to encourage reading, with the main protagonist being transported into a contrived animated world of books and accompanied by three anthropomorphic books with generic personalities based on their genre - Adventure, Fantasy, and Horror. Lots of bland humor and uninteresting nonsensical events. Just watch the Nostalgia Critic review of it instead.

I loved Pagemaster growing. It's worth watching at least once.

[Zevox]

I loved Pagemaster growing. It's worth watching at least once.
I kind of liked it as a kid as well - but as a kid you're usually much more easily amused by otherwise dull or even bad jokes than you are as an adult.

Zevox

[Flame of Anor]

Oh, and I also liked reading the Inkheart trilogy--is the movie of that any good? I don't usually think of Brendan Fraser as being a very serious actor, but I just really want it to be well-done...

[Dr.Epic]

I kind of liked it as a kid as well - but as a kid you're usually much more easily amused by otherwise dull or even bad jokes than you are as an adult.

Zevox

You can't ever forget your childhood favorites!

[Zevox]

You can't ever forget your childhood favorites!
True, but those are things like Aladdin and The Lion King. Pagemaster falls more under the category of "hey, now that someone brought it up, I kind of remember that."

Zevox

[KerfuffleMach2]

Edited the above post. Dark Crystal is about a small creature, the last of his kind, who is forced to confront the fractured, sadistic overlords of the world. The last time I watched it the puppetry got to me, but it is a great story and I'm thinking I should give it another shot.

Yeah, it's a Jim Henson movie. Done entirely with Muppets. And it is awesome.

In fact, they are starting to make the sequel.

Also, the costume deigns from the movie were used as reference for a recent Final Fantasy game. I wanna say Tactics A2, but I'm not sure.

[Mr. Scaly]

Sequel...to...Dark...Crystal...? ...A part of my childhood refuses to acknowledge this.

[Avilan the Grey]

I have always found most fantasy movies too corny to being able to really enjoy them (except of course the whole "very scantly-clad women" thing :smallwink:).

The Lord Of the Rings trilogy of course (Extended version(!)).
Willow (It is quite well done for using special effects from the 80ies).
Conan (both movies. Yes they are cheesy, but what do you expect?)

[Serpentine]

Yeah, it's hard to find a really good fantasy movie, much less "high" fantasy.

[factotum]

I always liked Krull, myself, although your mileage may vary.

[Avilan the Grey]

I always liked Krull, myself, although your mileage may vary.

I watched it back then, because I love fantasy, but I found the over-acting and the special effects failures to be so bad I couldn't really enjoy it. Which, as i said above, is the case of almost all fantasy movies, ever.

[Satyr]

The best fantasy movie by a very long stretch is Pan's Labyrinth.

Another one I really like (even though it's more of a science fiction movie) is Hard to Be A God.

[Liffguard]

I wouldn't say it's the best but Stardust is very good. Based on the novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman. An awkward young boy in Victorian England crosses a wall into a fairytale land to retrieve a fallen star.

[Southern Cross]

Has nobody else heard of Jim Henson's other fantasy movie,Labyrinth? Starring Jennifer Connelly as the heroine and David Bowie as the ruthless Goblin King who has stolen her little brother away as part of a plot to get the heroine.
And what about the Wizard of Oz and Return to Oz?
And the first two Thieves of Bagdad (especially the 1940 version which features Sabu The Elephant Boy as the lovable rogue and the legendary Conrad Veight as the evil sorceror- who may be the only wizard in movie history to actually use a system of Vancian casting).
Even Roger Corman got into the act- his version of the Raven was a comedic wizardly romp featuring Vincent Price as the heroic Dr Craven, Boris Karloff as the evil Dr. Scarabus, plus Peter Lorre portrayed the drunkard Doctor Bedloe.

[Serpentine]

Oh dur, of course Labyrinth. And I thought of Wizard of Oz but then I got lazy.
That one about Sinbad, though, and Gulliver's Travels, too.

[Eldan]

I remember that when I was a kid, there where heaps and heaps of eastern European fairy tale movies on TV every weekend. Pretty much the entire brothers Grimm program up and down, and fairly well made. Does that count?

Otherwise, everything I can think of has been mentioned.

[SilentDragoon]

After looking through my video collection, only other suggestion I have is the Narnia movies. Both are solidly good to great movies.

Would you count some of the action adventure movies with fantasy elements like Van Helsing or just straight up fantasy movies? Van Helsing itself wasn't all that good, but that style of movie may have a few more options. Hmmm... maybe a Mummy movie or two?

[Eldan]

Adventure/action movies with fantastic elements are much more common than pure fantasy ones. In that case, the Hellboy movies, especially number 2, could also be added.

[magellan]

Adventure/action movies with fantastic elements are much more common than pure fantasy ones. In that case, the Hellboy movies, especially number 2, could also be added.

Does A chinese Ghost story I-III count?

[Comet]

Pan's Labyrinth, the best yet. It's fantasy done right and it actually feels fantastical and suitably weird. Great visuals and great story, what's not to like.

Something not yet mentioned... Does Solomon Kane count? It's set in our world, but there are demons and sorcerers and all that good stuff.
Just watched that movie a few weeks ago. It's faithful to the spirit of the original stories, has good casting and everything that happens on the screen is very dramatic and visually pleasing. I thought it was great to see a modern movie that adhered to the old pulp sword & sorcery methods of storytelling so faithfully.

[factotum]

I remember that when I was a kid, there where heaps and heaps of eastern European fairy tale movies on TV every weekend.


That's bringing back memories of "The Singing, Ringing Tree"--I quite liked that one, but I *was* only about six at the time! I doubt it's aged as gracefully as I have. :smallsmile:

[Eldan]

Probably not. But compared to the few disney movies of Grimms' tales, I thought they were much better when I was kid.

[Brother Oni]

Does A chinese Ghost story I-III count?

The problem with most wuxia and other HK action films is that they're very firmly rooted in Chinese or at least Middle Kingdom style culture, compared to the other films listed which have fictional cultures and countries with no real life counterpart, aside from 'somewhere vaguely west European'.

A better choice in my opinion would be the Donnie Yen film Painted Skin, which features a deserter military commander returning back to his former home city which is currently plagued by a demon which eats human hearts.

Take away the martial arts and the Chinese styling and you have a plot and setting that could be transposed anywhere.

[grolim]

Ladyhawke

The only fantasy thing about it is the curse, but still a well done movie.

[Yora]

I'd also count Princess Mononoke. No magic, but lots of monsters.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

I know most folks totally hate it, but Lady In the Water I believe is a great fantasy movie.


I like fantasy movies where the fantasy is very subtle, maybe almost unnoticed, but always there at the edge and changing things. Not too many out there though. Always gotta be over the top flashy wizard style.

[Mr. Scaly]

I really liked Harryhausen's rendition of Clash of the Titans and the Voyages of Sinbad movie.

And I'm surprised nobody mentioned it, but the Wizard of Earthsea movie. Not like the book at all but its certainly not bad at all.

And is anyone else excited about Legend of the Guardians coming? :smallsmile:

[The Big Dice]

Harryhausen's 1963 Jason and the Argonauts. Even now, the stop motion skeleton warriors (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yYeZMx1Y7U) sequence and Talos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q17dl_aUNf4) the bronze statue are genuine masterpeices of pre-CG visual effects wizardry.

Sure, it might look a little odd, and the acting is a bit staged and theatrical by modern standards. But this really is the benchmark for fantasy movies.

[Flame of Anor]

After looking through my video collection, only other suggestion I have is the Narnia movies. Both are solidly good to great movies.

Would you count some of the action adventure movies with fantasy elements like Van Helsing or just straight up fantasy movies? Van Helsing itself wasn't all that good, but that style of movie may have a few more options. Hmmm... maybe a Mummy movie or two?

I forgot to mention the Narnia movies, but, yes, they count, and are probably some of the closest to what I was looking for. If only I hadn't already seen them... :smallwink:


I'd also count Princess Mononoke. No magic, but lots of monsters.

Ugh, I didn't like that one. Not only is the dismemberment gratuitous to the point of laughability (you shot his arm off? with a BOW? I don't care if there's a demon in your hand!), but the anti-technology message is off-putting. I certainly don't mind movies without technological advancement (like LotR and ConanTB) but I don't like it when they diss technology.


Harryhausen's 1963 Jason and the Argonauts. Even now, the stop motion skeleton warriors (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yYeZMx1Y7U) sequence and Talos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q17dl_aUNf4) the bronze statue are genuine masterpeices of pre-CG visual effects wizardry.

Oh, right! I forgot about that movie, but it's certainly another great one. (Even if Talos was a little cheesy...)

But I'm getting several good suggestions. Though, as I feared, there really aren't many good high-fantasy movies, and even fewer good sword-and-sorcery movies, related genres should be fun as well. :smallsmile:

[Drolyt]

Most everything I can think of has been mentioned. There isn't a huge amount of good fantasy out there. That said, if you don't mind Anime check out some Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli films. They are brilliant movies, as good as the Disney classics and aimed at adults as well as children. Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle are probably the most fantasyish, but they are all "fantastical" in a sense, bringing you into their world and opening your imagination the way the old Disney classics did. It helps that the English dub is done by Disney, directed by John Lasseter of Pixar, with top name celebrities, so you don't have to choose between subs and awful dubs.



Ugh, I didn't like that one. Not only is the dismemberment gratuitous to the point of laughability (you shot his arm off? with a BOW? I don't care if there's a demon in your hand!), but the anti-technology message is off-putting. I certainly don't mind movies without technological advancement (like LotR and ConanTB) but I don't like it when they diss technology.

Uh, you do realize The Lord of the Rings was a giant middle finger against industrialization and destroying the wilderness? I mean I don't see where you are coming from, Princess Mononoke had a message against destroying nature but it wasn't anti-tech, whereas Tolkien actually believed Industrialization was destroying Britain.

[Brewdude]

Fantasy? It doesn't exist.

Lotr
Conan
Red Sonya
Princess Bride
Stardust
Ladyhawke
Willow
Seventh Voyage of Sinbad
Jason and the Argonauts
Krull
Labrynth
Pan's Labrynth
Beastmaster

Just nothing out there. Every other Genre has tons more examples.

[factotum]

But I'm getting several good suggestions. Though, as I feared, there really aren't many good high-fantasy movies, and even fewer good sword-and-sorcery movies, related genres should be fun as well. :smallsmile:

You don't have to limit yourself to the GOOD ones--try Hawk the Slayer sometime and revel in the ultimate 80s cheesiness!

On a more serious note, if you're not averse to animation, try "The Wizards"--it's a pretty good sword and sorcery flick, albeit with the occasional gun and the villain using Nazi propaganda movies to frighten everyone else into submission... :smallsmile:

[Brewdude]

On a more serious note, if you're not averse to animation, try "The Wizards"-- :smallsmile:

"They killed Fritz! Dirty, Rotten, Stinking, Fairies!"

[Avilan the Grey]

Harryhausen's 1963 Jason and the Argonauts. Even now, the stop motion skeleton warriors (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yYeZMx1Y7U) sequence and Talos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q17dl_aUNf4) the bronze statue are genuine masterpeices of pre-CG visual effects wizardry.

Sure, it might look a little odd, and the acting is a bit staged and theatrical by modern standards. But this really is the benchmark for fantasy movies.

You are definitely right; this one really deserves a mentioning together with Clash of the Titans. In my mind I have never seen them as Fantasy, but rather Adventure movies, probably because they are based on IRL mythology.

On the other hand, my mind is a weird place.

[Avilan the Grey]

You don't have to limit yourself to the GOOD ones--try Hawk the Slayer sometime and revel in the ultimate 80s cheesiness!

Or Beastmaster.

[Platinum_Mongoose]

Ok, I know it's a TV show, but I'm going to say Northern Exposure.

Yes, it's fantasy. Don't let anyone tell you different.

[Hawriel]

Great list Brewdude.

The Dragon Slayer.

Classic movie about a young boy who kills a dragon.

Excaliber.

Come on how am I the first person to mention it.

[factotum]

Excalibur isn't really your traditional swords and sorcery fantasy. I'm not even sure WHAT genre it fits in--magic realism? Dark fantasy?

[Dr.Epic]

In fact, they are starting to make the sequel.

They already did. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RudzOqb-fRc)

[qcbtnsrm]

Or Beastmaster.

Or the The Sword and the Sorcerer (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084749/), which had the second coolest weapon in fantasy movie history. The best of course being the Heartbow from The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082027/). Gotta love cheesy 80s Fantasy.

[thestarvingpoet]

The Golden Compass was enjoyable, and I think fits the bill if you haven't seen it.

[Dr.Epic]

Has anyone mentioned Labyrinth: both the one owned by Pan and the other one owned by David Bowie.

[Hawriel]

Excalibur isn't really your traditional swords and sorcery fantasy. I'm not even sure WHAT genre it fits in--magic realism? Dark fantasy?

A movie called EXCALIBER based on King Arthur is not traditional fantasy? Dude put down the crap pipe. Arthurian legend is one of the ancestors of modern fantasy.

[factotum]

And so is Greek mythology, but that doesn't mean we call it fantasy, now does it?

[Drolyt]

And so is Greek mythology, but that doesn't mean we call it fantasy, now does it?

Kind of depends. A movie with gods and monsters from Greek Mythology is at least leaning on fantasy, although it would be weird for such a movie to be an outright sword and sorcery. How are we defining fantasy here?

[Serpentine]

...yes we do, especially when it's woven into a narrative for modern consumers :smallconfused: What on Earth would you call Clash of the Titans, if not Action/Fantasy? :confused:

[factotum]

So you agree that Excalibur is fantasy as well, presumably? I seem to be outnumbered, in that case, so I shall withdraw my objection.

[Serpentine]

Haven't seen it, so can't comment. If it has a watery tart throwing a sword at him, then probably.

edit: If this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082348/plotsummary) is it, then it looks pretty fantasy to me.

[Flame of Anor]

Uh, you do realize The Lord of the Rings was a giant middle finger against industrialization and destroying the wilderness? I mean I don't see where you are coming from, Princess Mononoke had a message against destroying nature but it wasn't anti-tech, whereas Tolkien actually believed Industrialization was destroying Britain.

Yes, I do know that, I just found it much more obtrusive in Princess Mononoke. In Lord of the Rings, they weren't over-emphasizing the "live in harmony with nature" stuff. Besides, the good guys had some pretty darn impressive building technology, and Gondor was using trebuchets--much more advanced than Mordor's onagers.

And before anyone tells me that that wasn't in the book, I remind you of the title of the thread.

[Drolyt]

Yes, I do know that, I just found it much more obtrusive in Princess Mononoke. In Lord of the Rings, they weren't over-emphasizing the "live in harmony with nature" stuff. Besides, the good guys had some pretty darn impressive building technology, and Gondor was using trebuchets--much more advanced than Mordor's onagers.

And before anyone tells me that that wasn't in the book, I remind you of the title of the thread.

Fair enough, the anti-tech thing was stronger in the LotR books, which aren't what we are discussing. What I don't get though is while the "live in harmony with nature" thing is pretty strong in most of Miyazaki's works, I don't see how you can possibly get anti-tech out of that, it seems like grasping at straws to me. Especially considering the one thing Miyazaki is even more obsessed with than nature: flying (see for example Porco Rosso, although that's not really fantasy (it does star a pig though)). Also Howl's Moving Castle mixes tech and magic and doesn't really have a nature theme, so I still say check that out for a good fantasy.

[Athaniar]

Or the The Sword and the Sorcerer (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084749/), which had the second coolest weapon in fantasy movie history. The best of course being the Heartbow from The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082027/). Gotta love cheesy 80s Fantasy.
Bah, nothing is cooler than a sword that shoots swords and also contains a smaller sword. The only way it could be cooler is if it was also lightsaber, made things spontaneously explode, and summoned scantily-clad warrior women.

By the way, is the sequel any good? I think it's been released, anyway...

[Quick_Lime]

The Lord of the Rings. Seriously, There is nothing else.

[SilentDragoon]

Bah, nothing is cooler than a sword that shoots swords and also contains a smaller sword. The only way it could be cooler is if it was also lightsaber, made things spontaneously explode, and summoned scantily-clad warrior women.

What about a gun that shoots guns that shoot deep fried beer cans? (http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/2010/07/05/07052010/) That aside, I'm kinda disappointed but i haven't been able to find much that wasn't already listed here. I could've sworn there was more really solid fantasy movies out there. I think I'll see if I can track down a bit more of Brewdude's list to watch.

[pita]

The films of Terry Gilliam. At least the one I saw, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which was quite excellent. Heath Ledger's last role, where he acts almost identically in some parts to how he acted in TDK, just with a Brit accent. Colin Farell does a great job as his character in the dream world, and Johnny Depp does a not-completely-horrifying one, and Jude Law has about five seconds in his, so he doesn't count. But the rest of the cast is also great, with Christopher Plummer as the ancient Doctor Parnassus, and Tom Waits as the devil, and Verne Troyer as what appears to be a miniature version of Ben Kingsley but is actually a surprisingly good performance from the guy whose most famous role consists of him squealing and biting people while Mike Myers refers to him as a baby he wants to eat.

[Yulian]

No Excalibur yet?

That should definitely count, what with all the magic.

Anál nathrach,
orth’ bháis’s bethad,
do chél dénmha

- Yulian

[Serpentine]

If you look just a few posts back, you'll see a brief kerfuffle over whether it counts as fantasy.

[Asta Kask]

How come no one has mentioned Eragon and Dungeons & Dragons yet? Right, because they sucked...

Conan the Barbarian. The soundtrack alone makes it worth watching...

[Popertop]

Lots of fantasy movies are utter ****, to be honest, because the people involved don't have any imagination. Regardless I don't like the story of Arthur, it's all just so not-epic to me, makes me angry and I'm sure a fair number of people feel the same way.

But there are some gems, and a few magnificent pieces of art.

Pan's Labyrinth is amazing
I like most stuff by Miyazaki, but I still haven't managed to watch most of it
I am a huge fan of martial arts movies, and I consider a lot of them fantasy,
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon being the most famous one here in the states,
there are really a lot of ones that I am sad aren't produced in America, and you have to do a little hunting to get your hands on them.
Fantasy in the sense that you describe it, as in Swords and Sorcery, is severely lacking.
Really, there's so much material for it it's a shame there aren't more movies.

[Drolyt]

How come no one has mentioned Eragon and Dungeons & Dragons yet? Right, because they sucked...

Conan the Barbarian. The soundtrack alone makes it worth watching...

I thought the D&D movies were decent, although my expectations are lower for this genre.

[Athaniar]

I thought the D&D movies were decent, although my expectations are lower for this genre.
There is only one Dungeons & Dragons movie. Perhaps you made the mistake of counting that movie with Jeremy Irons as the villain as a D&D movie?

[Eldan]

No, there are clearly two D&D movies. The Gamers and Dorkness Rising.

[Thorcrest]

No, there are clearly two D&D movies. The Gamers and Dorkness Rising.

Both of which are awesome.

[Klose_the_Sith]

There is only one Dungeons & Dragons movie. Perhaps you made the mistake of counting that movie with Jeremy Irons as the villain as a D&D movie?

I love that movie :smallbiggrin:

[The Big Dice]

Lots of fantasy movies are utter ****, to be honest, because the people involved don't have any imagination. Regardless I don't like the story of Arthur, it's all just so not-epic to me, makes me angry and I'm sure a fair number of people feel the same way.

There are so many ways I could debate this point that it's making my head spin.

Arthurian myth is the third leg of the tripod. Everything you think you know about fantasy hassome of it's roots there. Along with Greek myth and Tolkien.

The simple fact that versions of it have been around since the Dark Ages that we know of, and hints of it go back to pre Roman times, plus the rewrites of the middle ages and the inclusion of French legends makes Arthurian legend as epic as anything out there.

Which all means that Excalibur counts as a fantasy movie.

[Drolyt]

Hmm, I'm not sure about your tripod theory, but Arthurian myth has definitely had a huge impact on modern fantasy. You've left out so many sources in your tripod though, I mean D&D alone borrows from so many sources it is ridiculous. The single largest influence on modern fantasy is probably Tolkien, but except for the crappiest of ripoffs you can't discount the hundreds (maybe thousands) of lesser sources.

[DomaDoma]

Pan's Labyrinth. Hands-down.

Yes, Satyr, it is a fantasy movie, whatever blatant continuity errors you choose to believe in.

[Klose_the_Sith]

Arthurian myth is the third leg of the tripod. Everything you think you know about fantasy hassome of it's roots there. Along with Greek myth and Tolkien.


It's spelt "Norse mythology and Beowulf" :smallwink:

[The Big Dice]

It's spelt "Norse mythology and Beowulf" :smallwink:

Not so much the Norse myth, but certainly the Norse sagas. But elves and dwarfs as modern fantasy depicts them come whole cloth from Tolkien.

[Athaniar]

Having finished watching it not more than a few minutes ago, I definitely recommend Wolfhound: The Rise of the Warrior, a Russian fantasy movie from '06. It was surprisingly good (and it has a cute bat).

[Weirdlet]

Not a movie, but definitely fitting otherwise- Jim Henson's The Storyteller.

[Drolyt]

It's spelt "Norse mythology and Beowulf" :smallwink:

Tolkien drew his inspiration from a number of sources, prominently the mythology of Scandinavia and the British Isles, but he made it his own, and most modern fantasy only knows such mythology through the lens of Tolkien. At any rate I still hold to the idea that any given work of fiction that is worth talking about will draw inspiration from numerous sources while adding something of the creator's own mind/soul.

[pita]

Both of which are awesome.

But, I'd like to add, hell to watch with a girl. Especially a hot one. Even if she did use to play D&D. Just... she liked it, but I felt really really awkward.
You have to really like D&D to enjoy The Gamers.

[Satyr]

Pan's Labyrinth. Hands-down.

Yes, Satyr, it is a fantasy movie, whatever blatant continuity errors you choose to believe in.



The best fantasy movie by a very long stretch is Pan's Labyrinth.

:smallconfused:

Even though one could indeed argue that the movie could also be about a girl who flees into a fantastic world to run away from a really a quite terrible reality up to the point where she loses the ability to differentiate between her escapist fantasies and what is real, especially because the whole plot takes place in the form of a flashback. In this case, Orphelia becomes an unreliable narrator.
One of the beautiful things about Pan's Labyrinth is this ambiguity and the fact that the movie doesn't spell out for you what is the "right" end, but let you decide which interpretation you prefer, and I appreciate this.

And yes, even when seen from a perspective that sees the whole plot only as the figments of a kid's fantasy, it is still the best fantasy movie around. It's beautiful, it's enthralling and it is ambiguous.
You can debate for hours about this movie, and this alone creates a certain quality because unlike many other movies, especially in this genre, it is not overtly simple and this depth and intelligence is really a step beyond.

[pita]

Del Toro said that the movie is not a girl's imagination. If it were, how could wotserface (the rebel, wow I haven't seen the movie in a while) see the chalk door? How did Ofelia escape? The movie has plot holes if you assume it's a girl's imagination, and it doesn't if you assume it's real.

[Eldan]

But, I'd like to add, hell to watch with a girl. Especially a hot one. Even if she did use to play D&D. Just... she liked it, but I felt really really awkward.
You have to really like D&D to enjoy The Gamers.

I don't know. My brother never played and he still liked those movies.

[Satyr]

Did she see the chalk door? I only remember that she saw the chalk lines on the wall, which happens to appear when you draw a door on a wall.

And one point about the unreliable narrator thing is, that, the narrator is indeed unreliable. And there are few scenes - for example with the Mandrake which does not make sense when you take them literally - nobody but Orphelia sees it withering or screaming.

And authors (or directors) shouldn't really comment on their works and interpret them for the audience. Joyce didn't offer an interpretation for Ulysses, Kubrick didn't offer one for 2001, and so on. According to Umberto "Why the hell doesn't he have a Nobel Prize yet" Eco, the best thing an author can do after finishing a book is shutting up and dying. What's the point in creating an ambiguous and interpretative work if interpret for the audience anyway? That's sucking the fun out of it.

[Klose_the_Sith]

Not so much the Norse myth, but certainly the Norse sagas. But elves and dwarfs as modern fantasy depicts them come whole cloth from Tolkien.

Except that the sagas were a key part of the Norse mythos and elves and dwarves stem from the Norse mythology. As do the trolls, giants and many other aspects of Tolkiens worlds.

Modern fantasy comes from Tolkien, but Tolkien comes from Norse mythology. It's just the way it is.


Tolkien drew his inspiration from a number of sources, prominently the mythology of Scandinavia and the British Isles, but he made it his own, and most modern fantasy only knows such mythology through the lens of Tolkien. At any rate I still hold to the idea that any given work of fiction that is worth talking about will draw inspiration from numerous sources while adding something of the creator's own mind/soul.

Made it his own in the sense of changing around a few things and keeping all the major details? Cool, just so long as we're clear.

It's true that Tolkien put his own spin on the mythologies he absorbed and mashed together, he spun a story within a richly detailed society which reflected deeply upon him and who he has.

The Lord of the Rings is a pretty damn fine work of fiction, but Tolkien didn't really invent any part of it.

[Satyr]

Modern fantasy comes from Tolkien, but Tolkien comes from Norse mythology. It's just the way it is.

Except the parts which are not influenced by it, like Howards, Poul Anderson, Michael Moorcock...

Yes, Tolkien is probably the most influential writer in the genre, but not the only influential one, and certainly not every fantasy writer were influenced by him.

[Serpentine]

The Lord of the Rings is a pretty damn fine work of fiction, but Tolkien didn't really invent any part of it....an entire language? :smallconfused:

[Eldan]

Weren't the elven languages based on Gaelic? Not sure here, but I think I've read that somewhere.

[Klose_the_Sith]

...an entire language? :smallconfused:

Wasn't that in the Silmarillion? :smallconfused:

I know Elvish was in LOTR, but I'm sure it wasn't the whole language.

EDIT: Apparently Elvish was heavily influenced by Finnish and Welsh. Well I'll be.

[bloodlover]

Best fantasy movies?

Pan's Labyrinth
*insert movie by Tim Burton*
LOTR (even if the movies sucked compared to the books)
Dorkness Rising (some amateur D&D parody. I liked it very much)
Wizards (weird movie from 1977 but still good enough)
The Wizard of Oz

[The Big Dice]

Except that the sagas were a key part of the Norse mythos and elves and dwarves stem from the Norse mythology. As do the trolls, giants and many other aspects of Tolkiens worlds.

Modern fantasy comes from Tolkien, but Tolkien comes from Norse mythology. It's just the way it is.
Scandinavian elves are very different from Tolkien elves. So are Scandinavian dwarfs, though Tolkien did steal names from them.



Made it his own in the sense of changing around a few things and keeping all the major details? Cool, just so long as we're clear.
There was a bit more to it than that. The guy invented not one but two entire languages, and wrote LotR so that those languages had a place to exist that made sense to his sensibilities.


It's true that Tolkien put his own spin on the mythologies he absorbed and mashed together, he spun a story within a richly detailed society which reflected deeply upon him and who he has.

The Lord of the Rings is a pretty damn fine work of fiction, but Tolkien didn't really invent any part of it.
Apart from the languages, as has been said. And the cultures too. After all, it's not like Elves or Dwarfs are really based on anything, other than in the loosest sense of the word. And the Ents too. They only came about because Tolkien was bitterly dissapointed by the end of Macbeth.

But they're still an original creation.

[Klose_the_Sith]

Scandinavian elves are very different from Tolkien elves. So are Scandinavian dwarfs, though Tolkien did steal names from them.

No, some Scandinavian Elves are very different from Tolkien elves. Some aren't. As with all good myths, there are inconsistencies across the board.

The Dwarves really aren't that different at all ...


There was a bit more to it than that. The guy invented not one but two entire languages, and wrote LotR so that those languages had a place to exist that made sense to his sensibilities.

Which is admittedly impressive, but unless all Fantasy stories are written in those languages it doesn't seem very much like the template his books were made out to be ...


Apart from the languages, as has been said. And the cultures too. After all, it's not like Elves or Dwarfs are really based on anything, other than in the loosest sense of the word. And the Ents too. They only came about because Tolkien was bitterly dissapointed by the end of Macbeth.

But they're still an original creation.

Except that there were precedents for the Elves and Dwarfs in some Norse myths, just as there was a lack of precedent for them in other myths. Of those I'd consider the Ents an original creation, but that's still not enough.

[Drolyt]

Except that the sagas were a key part of the Norse mythos and elves and dwarves stem from the Norse mythology. As do the trolls, giants and many other aspects of Tolkiens worlds.

Modern fantasy comes from Tolkien, but Tolkien comes from Norse mythology. It's just the way it is.



Made it his own in the sense of changing around a few things and keeping all the major details? Cool, just so long as we're clear.

It's true that Tolkien put his own spin on the mythologies he absorbed and mashed together, he spun a story within a richly detailed society which reflected deeply upon him and who he has.

The Lord of the Rings is a pretty damn fine work of fiction, but Tolkien didn't really invent any part of it.

Dude, modern elves and dwarves are nothing like Norse Elves and Dwarves. Tolkien elves are kinda like Norse elves, though less angelic and more human, but most modern elves are filtered like so: Norse Legends -> Tolkien -> D&D -> work in question. Tolkien dwarves are nothing like Norse dwarves (they borrow from different aspects of Norse Mythology, but the things the Norsemen called dwarves were what we would call dark elves, and again nothing like D&D Drow). Modern dwarves for some reason are stolen whole cloth from Tolkien (the other things people at least try to be creative with...). Hobbits were more or less purely Tolkien's invention. Ents had some basis in folklore (but not Norse Mythology), but were largely original. The inclusion of fully fleshed out languages as a major background feature was purely Tolkien, he was a professor of ancient languages after all (and a highly decorated one). Orcs were kind of original, although really he just took a pretty common idea (ugly monster man) and gave it an original name. The Balrog was also Tolkien's invention, although again obviously he didn't pop it out of nowhere, it was a pretty standard demon. The Nazgul were also pretty clearly original.

Even if all this were not the case, all fiction came from somewhere else, at least until you reach the very first story, which probably sucked and even then had a basis in nature and the life of the storyteller. Tolkien was influenced by several mythologies, but that doesn't change the fact that the people writing fiction today have almost all read Tolkien but are almost entirely unfamiliar with his inspiration. And even besides that, although Tolkien was very interested in the mythologies of Northern Europe they were not his only inspiration. He didn't just take Norse Mythology and move things around, he took ideas from dozens of mythologies, books, stories, and his own experiences and inspiration to create something new.