What're you favorite fantasy movies?

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Thu May 08, 2003 7:42 am

Me, I'd have to say:

- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

- Willow (didn't have that bad of a video game for it either)

- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

- Merlin

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Thu May 08, 2003 7:50 am

The Dark Crystal

Ladyhawke

The Princess Bride

Shrek

EDIT-
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Thu May 08, 2003 8:45 am

Originally posted by HLD
Princess Bride

Best. Fantasy. Movie. Ever.

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Thu May 08, 2003 8:48 am

Re: Re: What're you favorite fantasy movies?

Originally posted by Mr Sleep
Best. Fantasy. Movie. Ever.

I'd have to agree there, though Dungeons & Dragons comes in a close second

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » Thu May 08, 2003 8:57 am

Willow: Loved that one as a kid,
must have seen it 15times, whas one of my first fantasymovies

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu May 08, 2003 9:05 am

La Belle et la Bete, Jean Cocteau's 1946 version of Beauty and the Beast. It's incomparable, both for his remarkably poetic script (not surprising, I suppose, since Cocteau was first and foremost, a poet) and his visual fantasy, accomplished at the time without the aid of any of the computerized tricks we take for granted in modern films. Yet for all the flash of toy-like light sabres in Star Wars, the fantasy sequences I remember are from La Belle et la Bete: the harsh argument between the hero and heroine in his castle, followed by the eyes of the eternally smiling, sculpted cherubs on the fireplace that move with the protagonists; the way Beauty seems to float across the floor of the castle when she first arrives; the traces of smoke following the Beast's paws, after he has killed; the arm-like wall sconces, holding candlebra, that move slightly to provide better light for the occupants, etc.

Apparently, the film almost never got made. It was filmed during the latter part of WWII, a time of great privation in France. According to one report:

Cocteau approached an independent producer, Andre Paulve...Having initially agreed to finance the project, Paulve got cold feet and withdrew his assistance. Having first been sold on the project by the extraordinary mask Marais would wear, he subsequently felt that no-one would want to watch an actor disguised as a beast (how wrong he proved to be). However, persuaded by Marais, he agreed at least to watch some pre-production rushes. Marais suggested to Cocteau that he choose the most moving scene of the script and film it; Cocteau chose to shoot Beauty's arrival into the Beast's castle and, more particularly, the now-famous scene where she appears to glide along the corridor lined with white evanescent curtains billowing out. The trick was to pull Beauty, played by Josette Day, along on a trolley, thus giving the illusion that she was floating into her unconscious. This illusion was also greatly assisted by the fact that Josette Day was a former dancer and that her arm and body movements functioned to foster this idea of floating or gliding. According to Marais, Paulve brought his wife to the screening and she was moved to tears by what she saw. Paulve was so moved as to agree again to finance the film.

There are some great screens at this site, on several pages, but I can't seem to get 'em to link properly in here. Ah, well.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Thu May 08, 2003 9:24 am

Princess Bride

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Labrynth

If we are talking series then the zelda ones!

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Thu May 08, 2003 10:40 am

Originally posted by HighLordDave
<snip>
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Yeah - it rules all

Now - go away or I shall taunt you a second time.

garazdawi · Post by **garazdawi** » Thu May 08, 2003 2:03 pm

Originally posted by HighLordDave
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Yes yes.... best movie ever made

I just love it

as for the serious fantasy I would have to say TTT and D&D were very good.......and ofcourse Shrek is just outstanding...though I find the lack of magic abit to it's dissadvantage.....

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Thu May 08, 2003 2:26 pm

In my opinion Dungeons & Dragons was horrible. The "acting" was bad, the "plot" was bad and the premise was not what I considered up to snuff for a D&D movie. The special effects were pretty good, but nothing we hadn't seen before (ie-in Dragonheart).

RandomThug · Post by **RandomThug** » Thu May 08, 2003 3:34 pm

HLD your mean, just enjoy a crappy campy movie made with no more intention than to flatter a few fans.

btw X2 rocked your dogs tail and you know it.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Thu May 08, 2003 4:07 pm

@RandomThug:
If you're going to show me beholders in the trailer (as Dungeons & Dragons did), then don't just have beholders standing around doing the bidding of a human. Beholders are evil and ultimately cool, but having them in the movie and not using their death ray is like having Jill Kelly in a movie without the money shot.

Aside from the low budget, poor non-CGI effects and bad actors (and good actors doing bad jobs), the thing that disappointed me was how easily some of the things could have been corrected. I'll admit that I can't flip past Dungeons & Dragons when it's on one of my 5 million HBO/Starz channels, but that doesn't mean it was a quality product.

RandomThug · Post by **RandomThug** » Thu May 08, 2003 4:24 pm

Whatever happened to enjoying bad taste?

Scayde · Post by **Scayde** » Thu May 08, 2003 4:35 pm

Time Bandits

Never Ending Story

LoTR

The first Star Wars movies

Lady Hawk

Princess Bride

Monty Python's "In Search of the Holy Grail"

I am sure I am forgetting a few

Zelgadis · Post by **Zelgadis** » Thu May 08, 2003 8:32 pm

Vampire Hunter D:Bloodlust and a whole lot of other animes

ObsidianReturns · Post by **ObsidianReturns** » Thu May 08, 2003 9:13 pm

I think the Blade series deserves some mention for bringing the vampire genre back into the lime light.

Out of curiousty, has anyone seen the animated movie "Plague Dogs" More tragedy than fantasy but still pretty cool.

Trust fable to demonstrate once again his omnipotence on the arts....

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu May 08, 2003 10:51 pm

Originally posted by ObsidianReturns
Trust fable to demonstrate once again his omnipotence on the arts....

Am I the only one who watches films that are more than ten years old?

...And if any of you respond with an age joke, I'll scream. I will, too.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Thu May 08, 2003 11:13 pm

Originally posted by fable
Am I the only one who watches films that are more than ten years old?

...And if any of you respond with an age joke, I'll scream. I will, too.

I'm sure you aren't, I'll bet there are plenty of people around here who are die hard fans of the old Star Wars and Star Trek movies...

Seriously, I watch old movies quite often

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Thu May 08, 2003 11:17 pm

Originally posted by Scayde
Time Bandits

My pick as well.

"Oh Waverly, dear Waverly, you are so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence."

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Thu May 08, 2003 11:30 pm

Originally posted by HighLordDave
In my opinion Dungeons & Dragons was horrible. The "acting" was bad, the "plot" was bad and the premise was not what I considered up to snuff for a D&D movie. The special effects were pretty good, but nothing we hadn't seen before (ie-in Dragonheart).

Oh gawd...I knew someone was gonna take me seriously