My eight favorite fantasy movies

At the outset we should recognize that the word “fantasy” encompasses a wide range of sub-genres that can’t fairly be compared to one another. For example, one of the definitions I considered for “fantasy” – before I abandoned the quest for a definition and just went with my general sense of the genre’s boundaries – was “characters would be at home at the Renaissance Festival.” That works reasonably well for six of the movies in this set, but it would have unfairly excluded the one with an ancient Greek theme (not too many togas at RenFest) and probably the Sinbad picture as well.

Problems notwithstanding, however, the following eight movies should scratch the fantasy itch if and when it afflicts you.

 

The Princess Bride – The list begins and ends with comedies, which is apt because the genre can sometimes take itself a little too seriously and needs reminding that fantasies are supposed to be fun. And this one is. Sure, it’s goofy in places. But overall it’s a solid mix of clever jokes and swashbuckling action.

Jason and the Argonauts – Greek mythology and Ray Harryhausen. What more do you want? Sure, it isn’t exactly straight out of Bulfinch. But compared to most other Greek myth movies – particularly the various Iliads and Odysseys – it’s a real masterpiece. Even if you skip the whole rest of the movie, the skeleton army at the end would alone place the picture on this list.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad – And as long as we’re paying tribute to Harryhausen, we might as well throw in one of his Sinbad movies as well. They’re all approximately equal in quality. Indeed, I almost put Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger on the list instead of this one. But like the Jason skeletons, the Kali statue battle is a not-to-be-missed genre moment.

Conan the Barbarian – I hate myself for loving this movie, but I do love it. John Milius and Arnold Schwarzenegger are the Robert E. Howard dream team, bringing Conan to the screen as effectively as possible. Of course it helped that the studio gave Milius enough of a budget to actually do a good job with it. A lot of fantasy movies are doomed from the outset by the lack of funds for the quality scripts and art direction that are so essential to creating a believable fantasy world. Look no further than this movie’s sequel if you need a good – make that bad – example.

Legend – As the title suggests, this is a “generic” genre piece. It has all the classic elements: a brave hero, a damsel in distress, an evil villain, a witch, goblins, fairies and of course unicorns. Oddly enough, it actually comes together fairly well. As noted in the review, you have two different versions of this movie to pick from, either of which should occupy a spot on the list.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Just as the books are the ultimate achievement in fantasy literature, in many ways the movies are the acme of fantasy film-making. Though the third one won all the awards, I actually prefer the first episode. It features more character development, and plot twists tend to win the day over epic battle sequences. Still, any one of the three could have made the list.

Excalibur – Did I just call Tolkien the ultimate in fantasy storytelling? That distinction might also belong to Arthurian legend in all its many guises. Long before anyone ever heard of a Hobbit, King Arthur and his Round Table were the folks who would come instantly to mind whenever “knight in shining armor” came up in conversation. And here it gets a thorough Boorman-ing. As a movie it isn’t particularly good. But as a fantasy cheese-fest, it’s hard to beat.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail – And as long as we’re beating on poor King Arthur, we might as well finish up by turning Monty Python loose on him. You probably need at least some appreciation for both Medieval English legends and the Python comedy style, but if you like them both then you’ll find them well matched here.