Choose and Discuss your favorite "Sword" and "Sorcery" movies.

I love these movies. I grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons when I was a young teenager in the 80s and have always liked Sword and Sorcery type books and movies. I thought it would be interesting to have everyone choose their favorites and discuss why they like them and which ones are better or worse than the other.

My favorites in Order.

KRULL- Still one the most underrated Sword and Sorcery movies ever.

WILLOW- Great chemistry between actors. Lovable characters. A good story. Great SPFX for the time. One of Ron Howards best. GL and ILM don't get enough credit for it.

LOTR and Two Towers- The best trilogy going today. Not better than the OT but definitely better than anything today.
Highlander- One of the best Sword fight scenes in cinema history at the end. "There can only be one!" Great transitions from modern day to backstory.

Other notables for me are LADYHAWKE, DRAGONSLAYER(with a young Ian McDiarmid), Dragonheart, Excalibur, and The Sword and the Stone(Disney)

 

I can't believe I forgot Harry Potter. Even though there's not much swordplay in it I think it fits the genre.

 

I still like the old school Ray Harryhausen trilogy "Jason and the Argonauts", 7th and Golden Voyages of Sinbad." Those are the movies that made me want to get into filmmaking and SFX.

I really like S&S a lot, but always felt that Hollywood never quite knew how to get a handle on the genre like it did with SF. Plus tech is easy. Fantasy tends to deal with the organic, and the technology to really pull it off hasn't been around that long. Some of my favorites are:
Ladyhawke -- This is a really fine film that IMH still holds up. It looked good, and the comic relief by Matthew is never allowed to get too out of control.

Dragonslayer -- The movie that really let us see what go-motion could look like. I was ambivalent toward it at first, but over the years I have to say that it was a damn good attempt to try and bring serious and dark subject matter to a genre that had mostly been played for laughs.

Princess Bride -- Yeah I actually put this in the sword and socery camp. One of the best choreographed sword-fights in film history "You see, I am not left handed."

Actually S & S I used to believe was pretty bleak when it came to really good stuff. (This was before LOTR), until I realized that a lot of the Hong Kong stuff that I was into was actually S & S !! When you consider that, then it really opens up. To name a few:

Bride With White Hair

Chinese Ghost Story I II and III

The Swordsman Trilogy (The films where I finally figured out that these ppl were actually using magic and flying)

Deadly Melody (Very cool snd trk, and one of the first films to introduce me to the genre.)

One could even include "Crouching Tiger", but except for excellent production values, I really didn't find anything in it that I hadn't seen before in other movies of that genre. Of course to a lot of ppl who had never seen much HK cinema, it was pretty fresh and new.

 

I have only seen KRULL once, and that was when I was a kid, but at the time, I was CAPTIVATED by it! It was awesome!

As a kid in the 80's I also LOVED:

Jason and the Argonaughts
Clash of the Titans

Those movies ROCKED!

 

The Dark Crystal is also *AWESOME*!

 

I'm gonna have to do with The Princess Bride. I mean, it obviously has swords, and if Miracle Max bringing back a man who's mostly dead isn't sorcery, I don't know what is.

 

AH! willow! such a great movie I haven't watched that one in quite sometime. I grew up with that movie, its such a classic. Also my other favorites would have to be first and foremost LOTR. It's in my so called movie triforce (Star wars Matrix Lord of the Rings) so naturally its my favorite. Then, another good one that I recently saw is Princess Mononoke, it is an Anime movie but I think that it would also fit in this genre.

Forcebewitya!

 

Disney's "the Sword in the Stone"! Turning into a virus was pure genius man.

 

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the genre. Mostly, because I was a kid when the "sword & sorcery" genre had its peak. There was a whole slew of these movies in the early 80's. The more well-known ones have already been mentioned, except for Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer. Hell, as a kid, I even watched Red Sonja on tv a bunch.

I want to give a shout out to some of the lesser-known B-movies of the genre like 1982's The Sword and the Sorcerer. I've got it on DVD, and it still kicks ass as a fun movie. Remember Talon's triple-bladed sword that could shoot its blades? Classic! Far and away, Albert Pyun's best movie. And the rousing musical score by David Whittaker is really good. Prince Talon's last words in the film: "Come now, let's be off. There's a battle in the offering! We've got kingdoms to save and women to love!" Great stuff! At the very end, it says, "Watch for Talon's next adventure, Tales of the Ancient Empire, coming soon." But, alas, it was never made.

Also, there's the Deathstalker saga, which are a series of low-budget films so bad, they're great.

 

Don't apologize for a film being great because it's anime. The Japananese don't look at animation as we in the West do. They tell many complex and varied stories in the medium.

I was really remiss not to mention "Princess Mononoke", which is one of the most intelligent, multi-layered films in the genre to come out in some time. Also the characters are quite mature (something that can't be said for most of the live action films out there). The decision at the end for the two to remain in their respective worlds was really the only choice either could make without a whole lot of compromise on the others part. Just excellent, excellent storytelling from beginning to end.

 

There's some great picks there. I can't believe I forgot Conan and Princess Bride. I love those movies.

 

I loved The Sword & the Sorcerer when I was a kid. It was probably gorier than all the other films at that time. How is the DVD? I think I would be afraid to watch it again for fear of it being a bad film but it might be interesting to see something I really liked back then.

Also no one has mentioned The Beastmaster or Sinbad & the Eye of the Tiger.

 

I have to admit that the newer "The Three Musketeers" and "The Mask of Zorro" movies have been quasi-favorites of mine for years. There's just something about a cheesy plot and sword fighting scenes that does it in for me.

The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy tops my list, though. Isn't that going to be the new list-topper, eh?



tf

 

I hope your not referring to that "Disney" musketeer flick, that was the worst adaptation of that book ever. The book actually dovetails as a historical novel quite well, but the Disney version completely ignores history. Cheesy plot? Never. Classic, definately.

Conan the Barbarian (the original movie) is actually a very good S & S movie. I just wish they had called it something else. It took an amalgam of R.E. Howards books and characters, including some of the Marvel comics stuff and threw them all together. Howard readers were incensed, but like I said the actual movie is good, and Arnold was perfectly cast. The music to that movie is also very, very good. It does belong on the list of good S & S films.

 

Also no one has mentioned The Beastmaster or Sinbad & the Eye of the Tiger.


I love the Eye of the Tiger! My favorite parts are when Rocky and Adrian are running on the beach and he says "I'm afwaid aright, I'm afwaid!" And when Mr.T says "I pitty the foo!" Everyone thinks that line's from the A-team, but the only place he ever said it was in Rocky.

 

I dunno if I would put either SW or LOTR or some of those other choices, Mononoke in that probably is I haven't seen it. category, though technically they have SWORDS and SORCERY. It depends on how you define 'swords and sorcery' I guess, for me the term sounds like the medicore to absolute dregs of the fantasy genre, stuff that gets the moves somewhat right, or wrong, put in a male hero give him a setting with castles and forests, a magical sword, a dragon, a wizard and a princess and some funny magical creatures and SHAZZAM! Like instant fantasy mix or something. Beastmaster or those Conan the Barbarian movies, would be my pick.

 

My favorite here


1. Braveheart.
2. Lord of the rings 1 and 2.
3. Star wars and the lightsaber sounds.
4. The Mask of Zorro.
5. The Man in the Iron Mask.

 

Sword Movies?

Highlander. In concept, great idea. The film, and it's subsequent sequels weren't so good.

However, I liked the series!

Sorcery: Fellowship, Two Towers, and come this winter, Return of the King.

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

 

I can't believe I forgot to mention The Beastmaster. That's a classic! Chances are, it's on TBS right now. I'm among the very few people in this world who saw Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time in the theater. Of course, it doesn't hold a candle to the original.

Django211, I think you'll still enjoy The Sword and the Sorcerer today if you liked it when you were a kid. Granted, it's a B-movie all the way, but a solid one. The musical score and make-up FX are still very impressive. It's good fun. Not many extras on the DVD, but it is presented in widescreen and does come with a few theatrical trailers and a tv spot.

20x6, It sounds like you're talking about Rocky III. Sinbad & the Eye of the Tiger is one title. Although, there was a movie I enjoyed from the 80's called Eye of the Tiger, with Gary Busey.

A couple of other "sword & sorcery" type movies worth mentioning are Legend and Hawk the Slayer.

 

Oh, that was Rocky III , oops, my bad.

Does Monty Python and the Holy Grail count? They all had swords, then there was Tim the Sorceror . . .

 

How could I forget Hawk the Slayer!? Jack Palance's finest work to date. I remember it being bad back then, but I still liked it. Time Bandits was a good film from those days but it seems out of place with a lot of these B-movies.

 

Without a doubt, Conan the Barbarian. Although I have to admit I love all the B movies in this genre. Like Barbarian Queen, Sorceress, She, Deathstalker and of course, the immortal BEASTMASTER! It just doesn't get any better than that.

 

Does Monty Python and the Holy Grail count?

[[Of course. It wouldn't be right if it didn't!

"You arms chopped off."

"Merely a flesh wound."

That slays me everytime I watch it. ]]

 

My picks:

1. The Two Towers
2. Willow
3. Fellowship of the Ring
4. The Princess Bride
5. Highlander