Time to Watch some 80s Fantasy Flicks

I recently ran across a post on Tor’s blog entitled “A Ranking of 1980s Fantasy that would Please Crom Himself!” I read through it because I love fantasy, but then I realized how disturbingly few of these movies I have actually seen. In fact, the only ones I had seen were #1 “The Neverending Story” and #2 “The Princess Bride.” These movies are amazing, and I figured I’d watch the others. So, here we go!

I’ll be writing a brief snippet/overview of each flick, then going through “The Good” and “The Bad” aspects of the movie. After that, there will be a grade from A+ through F. I’m hoping to pick up some awesome viewing along the way. And hey, if I don’t, I suspect a bunch of 80s movies will be hilariously weird enough to at least be entertaining.

I will update this post with links to the reviews as I watch the movies. I expect this will take me a long time to get through, but I have already watched one of those I haven’t seen yet, so buckle your seatbelts because we’re going to embark on an epic adventure of hair and magic as we go through some 80s Fantasy flicks together.

Reviews

The Dark Crystal Review– Fantasy Muppets LOTR. How does it fare?

Labyrinth Review– David Bowie as a fantasy movie star? Where do I sign up? Or maybe I need to sign out?

Willow Review– How does Lucasfilm’s try at an epic fantasy work out? Check out the review to find out.

Ladyhawke Review– I immediately bought this one. Why? Read on to find out!

The Black Cauldron– Many people’s childhood favorite. I’d never seen it before. Does it hold up to a viewing from a 28-year-old?

Clash of the Titans– How does this retelling of Greek mythology play out? Wait, is that Maggie Smith? What!?

Highlander– We all know “there can only be one,” but is this one worth watching?

Legend– Ridley Scott and Tom Cruise? Could anything possibly go wrong? [Yes.]

Excalibur– You better dust off your copies of King Arthur lore before watching this one. Seriously.

The Last Unicorn– An annoyingly catchy theme song basically tells you the plot of this one. But can a truly vile enemy make the movie great?

Conan the Barbarian– Arnold as fantasy warrior. What could be better?

Dragonslayer– Dragons must be slain. Does this movie do this fantasy trope justice?

The Neverending Story– I loved this movie as a kid. How does it hold up after so many years?

Conan the Destroyer– Will the second iteration of Conan be worthy of the first?

The Beastmaster– Do you enjoy a heaping helping of animal abuse with your film? No? Don’t watch this one.

List of Movies

Here’s the list provided by Tor. If you have any comments on any of the movies (PLEASE BE SPOILER FREE), feel free to drop your thoughts/recommendations.

Cave Dwellers
Krull
Highlander
Masters of the Universe
The Black Cauldron
The Beastmaster
Excalibur
Clash of the Titans
Legend
Willow
Labyrinth
The Last Unicorn
Conan the Barbarian
Dragonslayer
Ladyhawke
The Dark Crystal
The Princess Bride
The Neverending Story