Like many writers of my generation, my first exposure to the fantasy genre was through films. I’ve previously told the story of how my father took me to see Conan the Barbarian when I was underage, and how this brought about an epiphany in my life. Ever since that first encounter, fantasy movies have helped to shape my imagination. When reflecting on the major milestones of my life, I often remember them in relation to the films that captured my attention during those years.
I recently asked our community members to compile a list of their favorite fantasy films. And as usual, our members provided inspired and sometimes provocative responses. This prompted me to consider which fantasy films have had the greatest impact on my writing, and why they are so meaningful.
So without further ado, here is my personal list.
The Princess Bride
I’ve always preferred to be totally immersed in a fantasy world. The narrative device used in this film, which periodically cuts to a contemporary grandfather reading a story to young Fred Savage, still jars me. Nonetheless, the fantasy sequences (which are the core of the film) are endlessly enchanting. The amazing fencing scene partially inspired me to take up the sport, and the music by Mark Knoffler (of Dire Straights fame) sets the tone perfectly. Perhaps the most influential aspect of this film on my own writing is the transformation undergone by the film’s hero. Ever since viewing this at the age of ten, I’ve been compelled to tell stories of transformation.
I recall seeing an interview in which the film’s director, Ridley Scott, expressed dissatisfaction with how it turned out. I can understand why he felt this way. The story itself is very simplistic and unoriginal. The characters are little more than fantasy archetypes. Yet despite these shortcomings, this film succeeds wildly on the level of sheer atmosphere. Never has a film created such a lush fantasy landscape, deeply enriched by Tangerine Dream’s hypnotic score. And Tim Curry is simply perfect as the embodiment of evil. Ridley Scott eventually released a director’s cut with a different score and an ambiguous ending. But trust me when I say that the theatrical version is infinitely better.
Excalibur
I was so young when I first saw this film that I couldn’t understand it. But that didn’t matter, as I was thoroughly entranced by the giant men on the screen who wore glistening, metal clothes. This film went on to inspire me to build a suit of plate armor when I was thirteen, which consumed a summer break. This was also my introduction to the Arthurian legend, as well as the music of Richard Wagner. Like Legend, Excalibur benefits from lush cinematography and a strong musical score. But it also features a young – and surprisingly yummy – Helen Mirren in a memorably wicked performance. This is still the definitive telling of the story of King Arthur.
Highlander
Although it hasn’t aged well, I still love this movie. It has Queen music. It has Sean Connery. And most importantly, it has the Highlands of Scotland in their lustrous splendor. All of the flashbacks to medieval Scotland are amazing. The long stretches in 1980’s New York are nostalgically cheesy. Yet this movie has a kind of magic which transcends its many flaws. It’s unfortunate that a string of mediocre sequels went on to tarnish what could have been a promising franchise.
If there is one word to describe this film, it would be epic. Director John Milius took Robert E. Howard’s pulp tales of adventure, and weaved them into a philosophical treatise on the value of suffering. No, I’m not kidding. There are two key elements which have propelled this film to greatness. First, it has one of the greatest scores in all of cinema history. Composer Basil Poledouris was a genius, and it was his score which awakened my interest in classical music. Second, it stars James Earl Jones as a hippie cult leader modeled loosely on Jim Jones. His performance alone makes this film a classic.
The 13th Warrior
When this movie opened in theaters it garnered poor reviews. My interest was piqued, however, when I read that it was based on Beowulf. Upon seeing it, something stirred inside of me. One of my buddies expressed it best when said that watching this film made him feel uber manly. Indeed. This is a movie that celebrates the art of being a badass. There is a lot of beer and swordplay, and no romance or any of that drivel. And the awesome Jerry Goldsmith score makes it all feel respectable.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
This has always been my favorite film in the Harry Potter franchise. While the story is needlessly convoluted, this film benefits from a strong medieval sense. Hogwarts feels like a real castle, with ghostly knights riding through the halls. And best of all, John Williams has tweaked his classic score to make it sound like an authentic medieval piece. I only wish that later installments would have kept this variation of the Harry Potter theme, as it complements the material so beautifully.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
What more needs to be said? Peter Jackson took a book which was deemed “unfilmable,” and transformed it into a cinematic masterpiece. While some unnecessary changes were made to the story, Jackson nonetheless succeeds in making Middle Earth into a real, living place. At times it feels more like a travel documentary than a fantasy movie, which isn’t a bad thing. This is Tolkien’s world as I always imagined it, more or less. I never grow tired of watching these films.
The Sword and the Sorcerer
Ever view this one? Probably not. It is a cheesy Conan rip-off with B movie sensibilities. Yet it is glorious in its audacity. The film’s unlikely hero is portrayed by Lee Horsely, who approaches the role with tongue in cheek bravado. It also stars Richard Moll (Bull from Night Court) as an ancient wizard who is in serious need of a face lift. What makes this fantasy movie stand out, though, is just how over-the-top it becomes. There is a sword with three blades. There is a banquet with a crucified prisoner looming over the tables. And there is gratuitous, yet surprisingly tasteful sexuality. Somehow this all comes together and creates an inspired fantasy romp. Many low budget fantasy films were produced after the success of Conan, but The Sword and the Sorcerer is the best.
The Last of the Mohicans
So what is an historical epic doing on a list of fantasy films? Although it is set in colonial America, this is a fantasy story in it’s purest form. Like Legend and Excalibur, the magic of the forest is at the heart of this tale. It’s hero, Hawkeye, is a creature of the forest and the embodiment of its power. He can do things that no mortal being is capable of, yet when drawn into the web of civilization he becomes a victim of its corruption. Director Michael Mann portrays the forest as a gothic labyrinth filled with enchantment and wonder. In doing so, he captures the spirit of the original novel and the movement known as Romanticism, from whence it came. The epic score by Trevor Jones (Excalibur) only serves to highlight the majesty of this forgotten world.
So that’s my list, and now it’s your turn. Which films would you count as the best fantasy movies?
1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) The people of Wakanda fight to protect their home from intervening world powers as they mourn the death of King T'Challa.
Some examples: How to Train Your Dragon, Toy Story, The Witches, Jumanji, Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Lego Movie, The Princess Bride, Monsters Inc.
Romantic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy fiction, describing a fantasy story using many of the elements and conventions of the chivalric romance genre.
Mendlesohn posits four categories of fantasy—portal-quest, immersive, intrusion, and liminal—that arise out of the relationship of the protagonist to the fantasy world.
Fantasy gives an outlet for the creative part of the brain without straying too far from real life. CG: Some adults are more imaginative and creative than others. Our world is becoming increasingly demystified and some people crave finding new mysteries to explore.
A fantasy is an idea with no basis in reality and is basically your imagination unrestricted by reality. Reality is the state of things as they exist. It's what you see, hear, and experience.
fantasy, also spelled phantasy, imaginative fiction dependent for effect on strangeness of setting (such as other worlds or times) and of characters (such as supernatural or unnatural beings).
On the film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, films that every surveyed critic considered bad have a 0% rating. As of 2022, 43 films have received this rating.
The very first game to film adaption was the OVA, Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, which first launched in 1994. Since then there have been nine total adaptations.
You look at fantasy novels and certainly the plot is important but we fall in love with the characters. They tend to be more fleshed out and the books are huge so the story has a lot of time to spend on dialogue.
The history of modern fantasy literature begins with George MacDonald, the Scottish author of such novels as The Princess and the Goblin and Phantastes the latter of which is widely considered to be the first fantasy novel ever written for adults.
J. R. R. Tolkien, born 130 years ago, gained global fame with "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings." Life events inspired his stories from the fictional Middle-earth.
Magical Fantasy: This type of fantasy includes elements such as characters with magical powers or objects within the story that possess such abilities. The movie Click starring Adam Sandler is an example of magical fantasy.
Harry Potter is considered low fantasy, sort of. It's set in the real world, but a wizarding world also exists, which is high fantasy. This is similar to works like Alice in Wonderland, His Dark Materials, The Chronicles of Narnia and so on, where both reality and a false-reality exist.
And research indicates that fantasy fiction and fantasy play can benefit kids. Engaging with fantasy can stimulate creativity and boost vocabulary. It may help children develop better self-regulation skills. It might even enhance their working memory performance.
In psychology, fantasy is a broad range of mental experiences, mediated by the faculty of imagination in the human brain, and marked by an expression of certain desires through vivid mental imagery. Fantasies are associated with scenarios that are absolutely impossible.
Research has found that fantasy literature can increase a person's mental resilience. While some people may retreat too much into a fantasy realm, others use the lessons they learned there as a way to enhance their real lives. That's an important lesson for those struggling with addiction.
Love is a pure, selfless emotion we feel for one another. Fantasy bonds are defense mechanisms that give us the illusion of a real relationship – all the while protecting us from actually letting that person in. With fantasy bonds, partners mistake daily routines for signs that all is as it should be.
: the power or process of creating especially unrealistic or improbable mental images in response to psychological need. an object of fantasy. also : a mental image or a series of mental images (such as a daydream) so created. sexual fantasies.
Set in either the primary world, or a world very much like our own. While high fantasy revolves around how characters interact in their alternate and magical world, low fantasy focuses on how supernatural characters interact with the normal world around them.
On Boxing Day 1906 The Story of the Kelly Gang opened at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne. It was the first multi-reel, feature-length film ever produced in the world. The film caused controversy by presenting the Kelly gang sympathetically.
Aamir Khan's Dangal is currently the highest-grossing Indian movie of all time. It made most of it's box office gross overseas, especially in China. Dangal has grossed over Rs. 2000 crore worldwide.
Guinness World Records says the longest film ever made is "The Cure for Insomnia" released in 1987. The 85-hour experimental film was directed by John Henry Timmis IV.
The first commercially produced film in natural color was A Visit to the Seaside (1908). The eight-minute British short film used the Kinemacolor process to capture a series of shots of the Brighton Southern England seafront.
Titanic became the first movie to gross over $1 billion worldwide on March 1, 1998, in 74 days of release. The list below is restricted to the 10 who reached the milestone the fastest.
If a film gets a rating of 60 or more it gets a 'fresh' red tomato on the site. Less than 60 and it gets a rotten tomato. The best films are picked out for a 'certified fresh' rating, which usually means the film has at least 80 critical reviews and a rating of 75 or more.
While 'Ghajini' was the first film to earn ₹100 crore, '3 Idiots' was the first ₹200 crore film. Aamir, who turned 52 on Tuesday, also featured in 'PK', which became the first film to earn ₹300 crore.
Introduction: My name is Clemencia Bogisich Ret, I am a super, outstanding, graceful, friendly, vast, comfortable, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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