Sword and Sorcery Movies from the 80's

[dhermann1]

I can see it now . . . Conan struggles to balance the Barbarian state budget.

 

[Lucyinthesky]

Not from the 1980s, but it sure looked like it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130414/

Then there is "The Neverending Story"

One of my favorites was The Labyrinth

 

[Touchofevil]

Even as a relatively young’n, I found most sword and sorcery movies to be poorly done. As a big fan of Robert E. Howard stories and Conan, I looked forward to the Conan the Barbarian movie. I enjoyed it but not so much the sequel.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Excalibur for me, it's a kind of masterpiece of style and storytelling plus it features an extraordinary use of Wagner's music.

 

[Edward]

One of my favorites was The Labyrinth

I saw them in the cinema when I was twelve. A big deal in those days, going to the cinema: the nearest cinema to us, a small, one-screen local, had closed down a couple of years at this point, and the nearest option was Belfast. Back in the 80s, my parents didn't like taking us into Belfast much (I am of the generation born into The Troubles and who came of age as it all began to wind down), so when we did get to the cinema - typically three times a year, usually at Christmas and once either end of the Summer holidays - it was a big deal. I remember this very clearly, as we went to see Labyrinth on the first screening on a Sunday afternoon, in the Curzon on the Ormeau Road. Only time I think I was ever in that cinema. I know a lot of folks came to it because of Bowie; neither of my parents were fans so I was only vaguely aware of him as an artist at that point. I still enjoy that film. It must have been one of the early films to really benefit from repeated video watching, as I have friends significantly younger than me who weren't born when it came out but who grew up loving it. (Some of them later became Bowie fans because of it.)

Even as a relatively young’n, I found most sword and sorcery movies to be poorly done. As a big fan of Robert E. Howard stories and Conan, I looked forward to the Conan the Barbarian movie. I enjoyed it but not so much the sequel.

Did you ever catch the 2011 version of Conan the Barbarian? I had an afternoon to kill in Glasgow after a meeting and before meeting friends, and I went to see it expecting it to be entertainingly crap. In fact, it was rather good and I enjoyed it 'straight'. Put me in mind of how a lot of other stories, last made as campy movies in the 80s, have been remade in the last decade or so as very sincere projects.

Excalibur for me, it's a kind of masterpiece of style and storytelling plus it features an extraordinary use of Wagner's music.

What I enjoy about Arthur - much like Robin Hood - is that it's one of those mythologies that gets retold every generation, always in a way which tells you as much about the times in which the story is told as it does about the story itself.

 

[Touchofevil]

Did you ever catch the 2011 version of Conan the Barbarian? I had an afternoon to kill in Glasgow after a meeting and before meeting friends, and I went to see it expecting it to be entertainingly crap. In fact, it was rather good and I enjoyed it 'straight'. Put me in mind of how a lot of other stories, last made as campy movies in the 80s, have been remade in the last decade or so as very sincere projects.

I had seen bits and pieces of that Conan before I finally saw the whole film. I didn’t expect much from the bits and pieces I had seen, but like you, was surprised. The same can be said for Howard’s Solomon Kane flick.

 

[Worf]

My Dad got me started on pulp heroes in the late 60's early 70's. Back then they began reprinting all the "Doc Savage", "Shadow" short stories and novels. Lancer Publications did the same thing with the Conan stories but with the added sauce of cover art by Frank Frazetta. That was all she wrote, I was well and truly hooked. Marvel then began making a monthly comic which finally added pictures to R.E. Howard's classic tales of "High Adventure". I couldn't get enough. Flash forward to the 1980's and my wish was granted. "Conan the Barbarian" was a masterpiece. NONE of the other pulp heroes have ever been served so faithfully or so well. I own it on DVD and love the thing.

"Conan! What is best in life?"

"To crush your enemies.. See them driven before you... And hear the lamentation of their women!"

Worf

 

[Stand By]

Hawk The Slayer.
What a film. It shouldn't really work and should have been consigned to the B-movie dustbin of history - but IMO, it has such heart; a relatively small cast of great characters and all well acted, a simple plot and enjoyable story, good prop effects (silly string and ping-pong balls included in the fun!), fine location work and what a wonderful and thrilling soundtrack! I have it on CD! And as I say, it all comes back to having heart.
It amazes me how I can still watch it over and over and I don't tire of it and I enjoy it as much today at 52 as I did when I first saw it in the Gaumont cinema in Sheffield as a 13 year old in 1980. And I can't say that of many films!