Steeped in the Dungeons & Dragons foundations of R.A. Salvatore′s new novel, the adventure becomes so much a journey of a thousand skirmishes inside the stories of Waterdeep and the Forgotten Realms that the biggest surprise is no D&D branding graces the cover. Although it’s accessible for anyone without reference toTimeless (last year’s first book in the series), Boundless is the next chapter in Salvatore’s trilogy of novels following his well-known hero of the genre Drizzt Do’Urden. Boundless has everything you’d expect from the character and his world, from demogorgons to psionics, armored dwarves to unicorns–and humans. It’s now available for pre-order here at Amazon and arriving in bookstores September 10.
Boundless′s breakneck pace is why fans of Salvatore will find themselves jumping in and holding on tight for the entire novel. The only time it comes up for air is in a series of diary-like entries by Drizzt that begin the novel’s four sections. As it turns out, the leads of the story aren’t really Drizzt himself but his father, the resurrected weapon master Zaknafein, and the wise mercenary Jarlaxle, both swashbuckling schemers with skills and political connections–characters that make you want to skip over the subplots to see what they do next. Despite a few subordinate heroes, like Arathis Hune, the giant Wulfgar, the psionicist Kimmuriel, and the dwarf Thibbledorf Pwent, shifting the stakes from the shadows are the story’s female characters, with the priestess Dab-nay and the elf Dahlia as key players.
All the good fantasy tropes are here, a very Tolkien journey that may have readers plugging actors from Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies into key roles, with the kind of twisty but grounded machinations you’d find in The Godfather, Part II and Amadeus, and dramatic evil queen-types as in The Huntsman. Readers will find as much of the more comical-aside conversations of The Princess Bride school here as dead-serious high fantasy despite plenty of darkness. The novel provides a favorable dice role for its heroes more often than not, but despite seemingly endless triumphs and last-second getaways by a half a dozen heroes, Salvatore leaves room for some real jeopardy for its characters, including serious carnage before book’s end.
When you see someone get a project just right sometimes you know it immediately.
Norman Lear and Rob Reiner’s 1987 fantasy fairy tale The Princess Bride is a classic movie in every sense. Unforgettable scenes, quotable dialogue, and a superb story by William Goldman provided the recipe for a film that is not just a fun film to watch now and again but a film girls and boys and women and men alike will outright tell you they love. If there is a more incredible single scene in all of fantasy films than Mandy Patinkin’s Inigo Montoya in his final confrontation with Christopher Guest’s Count Rugen, then I have no idea what it is. “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
Intrepid borg.com writers Jason McClain, Art Schmidt, and Elizabeth C. Bunce each listed The Princess Bride on their top fantasy films of all time and if you want to read some good fan commentary on the film’s resonance 25 years after its premiere check out their past discussions of the film here.
Celebrating the film’s 25th anniversary, Universe Publishing, known among other things for producing high quality coffee table books, has released a beautiful and exciting look at the making of the film and memorabilia compilation for fans. The Princess Bride: A Celebration is the first companion book to the film ever created. Which in itself is astounding–a movie so popular and yet no one thought to release something like this before. The result is what any fan of any film would love to have–it’s the kind of book that has not even been done in this way for films like Star Wars or Star Trek, although many great varieties of books have looked behind the scenes at those franchises. What stands out for The Princess Bride: A Celebration is its volume of quality reprinted Polaroid images taken during production for costume, make-up, hairstyle, scene and design continuity. It is a collector’s dream to lay his/her hands on continuity Polaroids from a film production and this book gives the reader the feel that Rob Reiner let you browse a trunk in his attic that hasn’t been opened since 1987.
If you missed Season One of Showtime’s TV series Homeland, now is a good time to catch up, as Season 2 begins September 30, 2012. I didn’t watch Homeland until the season wrapped, but once I started, it was really hard to walk away. It’s nothing like anything I normally like–it’s a real-life drama, which usually I find boring and not “escapist” enough for me. But tight writing and good actors made this one stand out. Like Django Unchained this year, Homeland was last year’s biggest promoted new thing at Comic-Con–its banners were almost billboard sized and could be found everywhere you looked. Why promote something that is not “genre” at Comic-Con then? I think it goes back to the actors.
The lead is Damian Lewis, star of the short-lived but brilliant two-year series Life, where he co-starred with Sarah Shahi, who went on to star in USA Network’s successful series Fairly Legal. Lewis is British, but you wouldn’t know it from his roles in Life or Homeland. In Life he was a cop wrongly convicted of a crime and jailed for it, to later get off and come back to the force after winning a giant settlement against the state. In Homeland, he is an American soldier held captive in war in the Middle East. In captivity he converted to Islam, and when he returns to the States he is a hero, but was he “turned” to become a double agent? We find out answers to several questions in Season One.
His co-star is the award-winning actress Claire Danes (Stardust, Terminator 3, Princess Mononoke, Shopgirl), who is brilliant as a CIA agent who is tracking a message from an informant that she believes points to Lewis’s character as a spy. She is a mess. She has a mental disorder that she takes medicine for and this contributes to what may be paranoia or an incredible insight into the reality of what is happening. She uses illegal and uncommon methods to make her case, which land her out of the system and left to sign up for electric shock therapy to try to repair herself.
Then you get to the two key supporting actors. None other than Inigo Montoya from Princess Bride, Mandy Patinkin (Alien Nation, Castle in the Sky) plays Danes’s character’s boss, who looks after her but only so far, has his own life problems by being overly devoted to his job, and commits a strange and unthinkable act toward the end of Season One. Firefly’s own Morena Baccarin (V, Stargate SG-1, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Justice League) plays Lewis’s character’s wife, who waited for her MIA husband to return before becoming romantically involved with his best friend, leading to much of the conflict at home for Lewis’s character.
So the actors alone–familiar in several ways to genre fans–are enough to give Homeland a try. Once you do, you will probably get hooked, too. And if you don’t believe me, trust Jonathan Frakes, who recently commented that he and his wife get excited about each episode of the series.
Here is a brief trailer for Season Two of Homeland, released by Showtime (the original version was pulled by Showtime from YouTube for some reason):
When we decided to do a list of the Top Ten Fantasy Movies for each of the borg.com authors, the definition of “fantasy” became very simple – it had to have magic in it. I thought, no problem. That’s easy – and I was right. I had more than enough movies to make the list work without including super-hero movies or science fiction. (Though, there is one movie that could be seen as a super-hero movie. Technically.) Then, I came to a realization.
Of all of the movies that I found, there are an overwhelming number of romantic comedies. When I think fantasy, I think Game of Thrones, the Dragonriders of Pern, Xanth, Tasslehoff Burrfoot and many other series. It surprised me that love, true love, also has a fantasy aspect to it. Maybe it’s because finding your true love has turned out to be one of those ultimate myths like unicorns or white wizards. Maybe it’s because in order to find true love, you need a little supernatural push. Maybe I’m just being overly analytical and love itself is a kind of magic. (At this point, I’m sure you could be singing “Magic” by The Cars, “Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News or any number of pop love songs and convince yourself that love is magic because the bards say so.) No matter what the reason, there are more love stories than adventures in my list. If I read the other author’s lists and see more adventures, well, then I will assume that I’m a hopeless romantic. If they have romances as well, I’ll breathe a sigh of relief and think that my brain is not love sick, just good at finding magic in the everyday where relationships, not dragons, need to be shot out of the sky with large weapons. Wait…oh, never mind, on to the list.
10. Hawk the Slayer
This one is pure nostalgia. I could have put other, better movies that this one on my list like Big Fish, Stardust, Spirited Away, The Prestige, Stranger than Fiction, Ella Enchanted, Last Action Hero, The Fall, Kung Fu Hustle,* Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure or Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium on this list**, but I still remember staying up late and watching this movie a few different times with friends while I was in grade school. I look at the trailer (part of a site which may make a sequel!) and nostalgia makes me want to watch it again, but my mind tells me that I’d rather keep it unsullied in the memories of 10-year-old me. My favorite moment occurred outside the movie because my friend Russell and I would “play” Hawk the Slayer and fight over who got to be the elf.
*This is the movie that I think blurs the line between “fantasy” and “super-hero” but because it isn’t technically in my top ten list, I’m ok with it.
**Consider that the rough draft of my 11-21 movies, though not necessarily in that order. Bill and Ted is the nostalgic one in that list. Mr. Magorium could just be oxygen infused airline viewing and Natalie Portman that made it wonderful.
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
See #10, except this listing is for junior high/high school nostalgia and I still watch it occasionally, especially for the opening credits. Llamas will never cease to be funny for me. My favorite moment in the movie is always the anticipation of the first “wik” in the credits. If you’re looking for a fantasy moment, the whole scene with Tim is pretty darn great.
8. Midnight in Paris
My favorite movie of 2011, as I’ve posted before, and I think it belongs on this list. I still remember smiling and filled with such happiness when I walked out of that theater. My favorite moment happened when Owen Wilson waited for the car to pick him up a second time. He had found magic and he got lucky. The fear of that being a one-time shot made that moment exquisite in anticipation.
7. L.A. Story
Before I moved to L.A., I really liked this movie a lot. (I seem to place it, Last Action Hero, Hudson Hawk and Quick Change into the same place in my mind, probably due to release dates and also because I seemed to like them much more than anyone else.) The presence of this movie on my list made me look at the rest of the movies and that’s how I came up with my introduction. My favorite moment is the scene where the showers can change to slow motion.
6. Shallow Hal
Yes, the message hits you over the head like a +5 mace of creaming. Still, from both sides of a romance, don’t you want the person you date, you marry, to be able to see all the things that make you who you are, that make you beautiful? It’s a great concept, taking the parts of us in our heads and hearts and making it visible to everyone as abs or perky breasts or a full head of great hair or legs that go all the way to the ground. My favorite moment is the first time Hal (Jack Black) goes dancing in a club with his new sight and is just so happy.
5. Big
Yes, this has a lot of funny parts and there is a sweet kind of romance to this one, but I always have considered it to be one of the saddest movies I have ever seen. Not because of arc of the Elizabeth Perkins character, but because of Josh Banks not being able to live purely as a child again once he has become big. There’s no way to make his innocence magically return. He’ll forever be an adult. My favorite moment, “I get to be on top.”
4. Groundhog Day
Andie MacDowell is gorgeous and I think I could see how a man would spend eternity trying to woo her on her looks alone. Bill Murray is not as pretty and definitely not that cool in his role as weatherman Phil Connors. By the end of the movie though, Murray is definitely the one that is so obviously a catch as he seems to have so much more depth. However, this could just be my Murray Man Crush*** speaking. My favorite moment, out of many, is “Don’t drive angry.”
***I think it is a definite diagnosis for men from 20-50 that have seen Caddyshack, Meatballs, Ghostbusters, Lost in Translation, etc.
3. Scrooged
This cements the fact that I have a Bill Murray crush. If Frank Cross made my favorite character list, then his movie should be a part of my favorite fantasy movies, right? My favorite moment is my guaranteed Niagara Falls, “You forgot God bless us everyone.” But, a close second is, “Did you try staples?”
2. Fellowship of the Ring
Here is the truest of true fantasy adventures. A call to arms and heroes emerge to pursue the quests that need their help. (Just writing that last sentence makes me want to read some Joseph Campbell. The awkward construction was part of my plan to make the reader think of Joseph Campbell. Failing that, I’m just going to ram the name Joseph Campbell down your eye sockets.) I think this may be the best adaptation of a book that I have ever seen. Great visuals, great casting, great writing. My favorite moments in the movie involve the Nazgul. I love the dream glimpses of their human forms. I love the chase of Frodo and Arwen. Such awesome imagery actually might have beaten the visions I had in my mind from the books.
1. The Princess Bride
One of my favorite movies of all time, as soon as C.J. mentioned the list, I knew this would be at the top of it, the tough part being how the rest of it would look. I have two favorite moments amidst a movie filled with quotable moments and great scenes. “I do not think it means what you think it means,” and the moment Peter Falk turns back toward Fred Savage and says, “As you wish.” Ok, that settles it. I am a hopeless romantic.
If there’s one thing these lists demonstrate, it’s that great fantasy stories are enduring. All four of us have named several films that reach deep into the literary and oral tradition of myths, legends, traditional bedtime stories, and classics of fantasy literature. It’s not surprising that what makes a great fantasy movie is the same stuff that makes a great story, period: amazing worlds, epic quests, doomed romance, and soaring imagination. More than half the movies on my list are direct retellings of well-known tales, and all of them are adapted in one way or another from earlier source material–be that a novel from the 1990s or a play by William Shakespeare, or anything in between.
It’s neither accidental nor surprising that my personal favorites list went this way, but there are plenty of contenders that just narrowly missed the cut and are worthy of mention, at least in passing. I’ve been thoroughly impressed by recent films Stardust (adapted from the Neil Gaiman novel) and Prince Caspian (from CS Lewis’s beloved Chronicles of Narnia), but I haven’t seen either film often enough to declare it a favorite… yet. Likewise, two classics from my childhood deserve a nod, and would have made the cut if this were a Favorite 15: the glorious Jim Henson/Brian Froud collaboration The Dark Crystal; and Willow, which is just as good as any other high fantasy film made in the last century. Lastly, because I feel someone should mention it, yet it somehow gets overlooked whenever we start talking about great fantasy films, is one of the few mermaid movies ever made (surprisingly enough), 1984’s fantastic classic Splash. It gets overshadowed by Hanks’s Big from a few years later, but it really is a wonderful movie that deserves to be better remembered for its contribution to the genre.
But. You’re looking for the ones that did make the cut, so here is my winnowed-down list of my ten alltime favorite fantasy films:
1. The Princess Bride
Art has suggested that we define great fantasy by the age at which we’re introduced to our favorites, and I tend to agree. This Rob Reiner masterpiece came out when I was thirteen, which is the ideal time to experience this wickedly smart, hilarious, and romantic fantasy romp. But viewers can enjoy it at any age! There are no roles in film history to rival Carey Elwes as Westley/The Dread Pirate Roberts or Mandy Patinkin’s iconic Inigo Montoya, but Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon, Billy Crystal, Andre the Giant, Wallace Shawn, Peter Falk, and all the others turn in perfect performances, too. T he memorable scenes and imminently-quotable catchphrases ensure this film’s status as a fantasy legend.
2. Ever After
When you’re a fairy tale fan, the golden goose (so to speak) is, of course, Cinderella. No other tale so captures our love of the genre and our hope for true love to lift us from the drudgery of our daily lives. Everyone knows this story, and making it fresh and new and wonderful is hard! But Ever After was up to the challenge, and more. Set in the intensely naturalistic setting of early Renaissance France, this adaptation builds on the basic rags-to-riches framework to deliver a complex and deeply satisfying tale of smart lovers who complement one another, yet are set apart by a nearly unconquerable divide. Also, it doesn’t hurt that Dougray Scott makes for a Prince Charming any woman would swoon over.
3. A Knight’s Tale
Carrying on with the argument that retellings fit in the fantasy genre, magic or not, I’m sneaking one of my very favorite movies–period–onto this list. Turned off by the truly dreadful previews, I nearly missed this one–and I’m so glad I didn’t. From the ensemble cast (Heath Ledger! Rufus Sewell! Paul Bettany! That guy from Firefly!) to the wacky rock soundtrack, Chaucer has never been so much fun (and he was no wet blanket to begin with).
4. Mary Poppins
No film explores the power of childhood make-believe adventures better than this Disney classic. Who didn’t want their toys to put themselves away? Or spend an afternoon popping in and out of chalk drawings, riding magical carousel horses and winning the derby? Or laugh themselves into flight? A spoonful of sugar and the confident wink of a magical nanny makes it all possible.
5. Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade
Tales of King Arthur and the Holy Grail have been centerpieces of Western fantasy as long as we’ve been telling stories. The third, and arguably the best, installment of the Indiana Jones franchise brings that classic quest to the screen better than any film, ever. (I’m talking to YOU, da Vinci Code. You too, Excalibur. *shudders*) (The second-best film adaptation of the King Arthur legend is, of course, the 1960s classic Camelot with Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave.)
6. Portrait of Jennie
For pure romance and starcrossed lovers, you can’t ask for more than William Dieterle’s sweet Depression-era tale of a starving artist and the doomed model who shapes his career, and his life. It has all the makings of a gothic mystery–but the tender performances of Joseph Cotton and Jennifer Jones make this instead a sweeping story of the power of love to reach beyond time and death. Fans of Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve’s Somewhere in Time should look this one up. (And fans of Portrait of Jennie should look up the marvelous children’s novel Tom’s Midnight Garden by Phillippa Pearce.)
7. Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban
The best installment of one of the most beloved fantasy series of our age. Need I say more?
8. Beauty and the Beast
No one was surprised when this Disney adaptation of Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve’s classic French fairy tale became the first-ever animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (and thus changed the awards structure forever). The lavish production, with its marvelous soundtrack, brought this tale as old as time to life with all the wonder and beauty we expect in our fairy tale films.
9. Arabian Nights
I have expressed my love for these stories on borg.com before, and this made-for-TV miniseries starring Mili Avatal absolutely swept me away. The production is gorgeous and epic, with a bold and brilliant cast that includes fine performances by Jason Scott Lee, John Leguizamo, Rufus Sewell (!), and Andy Serkis. It offers up all our Arabian Nights favorites: Ali Baba, Aladdin, and, of course, Scheherazade and her deeply disturbed husband, played with heartbreaking madness by Dougray Scott (who, really, we could stand to see A LOT more of. Just sayin’.).
10. Much Ado About Nothing
This is last on my list not because it’s my least favorite of the ten; far from it–it’s actually my alltime favorite movie! But of the ten, it’s the one that feels the least like fantasy to me, although it has neither more nor less magic than The Princess Bride, Ever After, or A Knight’s Tale. Directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh at the height of his early career, this utterly perfect adaptation of Shakespeare’s lusty romantic comedy is set against the breathtakingly beautiful Tuscan countryside and features fantastic performances by Emma Thompson, Brian Blessed, Kate Beckinsale, Robert Sean Leonard, Michael Keaton, and Denzel Washington. I want to step inside this movie and live there, every time I watch Much Ado–and if that’s not the very definition of fantasy, than I don’t know what is.
I have a few Honorable Mentions that I am going to list first, rather than sticking them at the end like after-thoughts. Since I didn’t include them in my actual Top Ten list, the least I can do is put them first so they aren’t entirely skipped over. These made my initial rough list but, for one reason or another, just didn’t make the final cut: Heavy Metal, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Dragonslayer, Shrek, Time Bandits & The Wizard of Oz. (Note: Starting at number one, since #10 is the ‘top’ of my list)
#1 – The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
A favorite of my youth, and one of the Ray Harryhausen classics. Dynamation doesn’t hold a candle to the powers of today’s CGI engines, but in its day it ruled the cineplex, at least as far as fantasy went. Sinbad’s voyage across the seas to find the Fountain of Destiny was fun and exhilarating and awesome in its day.
Of course, this is more a sentimental favorite than a real ‘All-time Top Ten’ winner, but it works for me. And of course, there was Caroline Munro…
#2 – Willow
“The power to control the world is in which finger?” the High Aldwin asks the young apprentice hopefuls, holding out his hand.
“I was going to say my own,” Willow later admits, after first choosing poorly.
“That is the correct answer!” Billy Barty’s High Aldwin exclaims. “You lack faith in yourself.”
Willow is one of those movies that just makes me smile. It’s funny and different and has quirky characters, but the fantasy element is strong and Val Kilmer (Top Gun, Heat, Wonderland), Warwick Davis (Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, the Harry Potter movies) and Joanne Whalley (Scandal, The Man Who Knew Too Little) are all great. Especially Kilmer. Davis’ Willow gives the movie its heart and soul; Kilmer’s Madmartigan gives it the proper excitement and humor.
What I like about Willow most is that it avoided all of the Conan rip-offs of the day. No muscle-bound hero, no comedic side-kicks, no supreme magical spell/artifact/being/weapon (unless you count Princess Elora herself). It was an honest tale in the tradition of J.R.R. Tolkien, about simple people trying to thwart evil.
#3 – The Frighteners
One of my favorite movies, The Frighteners is a little bit horror movie, little bit comedy, little bit fantasy, little bit love story, and a whole lot of cool rolled into one hundred-and-ten-minute roller coaster ride. Michael J. Fox (The Back to the Future movies, Family Ties, Spin City) is funny and believable as Frank Bannister, a self-proclaimed ‘psychic investigator’ who claims to be able to rid the living of the mischievous spirits of the dead, when in fact he’s a psychic con man who sends in the spirits to drum up business in the first place. Until he runs into the Grim Reaper, taking a deadly toll on the small coastal town Frank inhabits, at which point he begins to use his powers for good in an inhuman man-hunt.
Bannister’s ghost side-kicks are hilarious, the sight gags are funny, and the scary parts have the right amount of creep in them. The whole movie is fast-paced and fun, and while some bits of the storyline are fuzzy, it’s a blast right up until the end credits roll to the tune of ‘Don’t fear the reaper’.
#4 – Conan the Barbarian (1982)
This pick needs little explanation. I’m a life-long Conan fan; the Howard stories and novels, the Marvel comics, the movies, the ongoing novels by various authors, the Age of Conan MMO (though that was short-lived), and of course numerous toys and other stuff. And Conan the Barbarian is one of the pinnacles of barbarian culture there is. The original, that is, though the recent remake was a fairly decent movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hero, James Earl Jones’ villain, Mako’s gritty narration, and Sandahl Bergman’s fiery Valeria come together in what might have otherwise been a terrible movie. Many still think it is, but I beg to differ. Conan came forth in the era in-between Claymation and CGI, after Clash of the Titans but before Jurassic Park, but the effects were good enough.
#5 – Shrek 2
Disney was the king of all things animated for seventy years, and lately Pixar has ruled that roost. But Dreamworks Animation absolutely nailed the animated fantasy adventure with the Shrek series, and the best one by far is the second installment. This is one of the few sequels that surpassed the first. The clever twist on fairytale standards begun in Shrek goes crazy in the sequel, with Prince Charming, the Fairy Godmother, the frog turned prince (and then king), and the fairytale land Far, Far Away all getting a well-deserved skewering as Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and the whole troop make a joyous wreck of everyone else’s plans and schemes.
The tongue-in-cheek references are just the icing on the cake; Shrek 2 is a movie I can watch again and again and never get tired of seeing Pinocchio getting jiggy wit’ it chanting “I’m a real boy! I’m a real boy! I’m a…” *poof* “Awwwww…”
Color me tickled pink.
#6 – The Princess Bride
What can be said about The Princess Bride that hasn’t already been said? Nothing, nothing at all. Why do people love this movie so much? You mean, you don’t? Inconceivable! Ok, lemme ‘splain. No, there is no time. Lemme sum up:
It’s not a kissing book, but there is some of that in there. And the hero is not left-handed, but he is the dread Pirate Roberts. Sort of. But give him a break, he’s been mostly dead all day. And the other hero’s name is Inigo Montoya; someone killed his father, and they better prepare to die. You still don’t know what the story is about? Inconceivable! It’s about true love, of course. And perfect breasts. And having fun storming the castle.
Wow. That makes me want to watch the movie again. What’s that? You still don’t know how that movie is on my Top Ten list?
Inconceivable!
I know, I keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
#7 – Monty Python and the Holy Grail
I won’t bombard you with movie quotes from this one, the most quotable of all movies ever made, whether by the Python troop or not. Holy Grail is, quite simply, the Holy Grail of all comedies.
What is your favorite movie? The Holy Grail! No, wait, The Lord of the… AHHHH!!!!!!!
#8 – Sleepy Hollow
Tim Burton is a great director (Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland (2009)), and his ongoing collaboration with Johnny Depp (Donnie Brasco, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies) has given us some great fantasies over the years (did Edward Scissorhands really come out more than twenty years ago? Sheesh, I’m old…) To me, almost all of Burton’s work is great in its geeky, off-kilter, out-of-the-box way, but none shines like his take on Ichabod Crane. The plot elements from Washington Irving’s original story, the screenplay by Kevin Yagher and Andrew Kevin Walker, the atmosphere Burton creates, the innocent beauty portrayed by Christina Ricci, and the superb fish-out-of-water academic played by Depp, is a perfect storm of fantasy creativity.
The Headless Horseman is especially well-conceived, with Ray Park (The Phantom Menace, X-Men) performing the combat acrobatics and Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter, The Dead Zone, True Romance) giving ‘the Hessian’ ghoulish life when his head is in place. The curse, the old tree, the vengeful witch, the sleepy town, the foggy woods, they all come together in the perfect blend of fantasy, horror and, thanks to Depp, humor amidst the gore.
#9 – Excalibur
John Boorman’s masterpiece tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is my kind of fantasy movie. It’s dark, gritty and foreboding. It pulls no punches and doesn’t candy-coat. Arthur is the boy hero but he’s also fatally flawed, Merlin is the all-knowing but equally-flawed magician, and of course the relationship between Guinevere and Lancelot is passionate, compelling and tragic. Combat is harsh and cruel and down-in-the-mud filthy, and not many of my friends came away from that movie wanting to swing a sword for a living. Boorman’s hallmark was always his ability to set a mood, dark and deep, that grabs ahold of you and doesn’t let go. And Excalibur is all of that, and Boorman’s finest work.
“Good and evil,” Merlin says wisely. “There never is one without the other.” Indeed.
#10 – Raiders of the Lost Ark
Whose blood doesn’t start pumping faster at the rousing opening notes of the theme to Indiana Jones? Ok, I know what you’re thinking. You’re probably thinking “Wait a minute! This isn’t a fantasy film, at least not in the truest sense of the word.” But hang on, it does contain magic. At the very least it contained religious paranormalism, which is pretty darned close even if you don’t think of it as real ‘magic.’ But let’s not get into a debate about that, shall we? Inevitably, no minds would get changed and it would only spoil the mood.
Raiders was and still is one of the greatest classic adventure movies of all time (fantasy adventure movies, that is!). And besides, I could not allow myself to have a Top Ten Fantasy list without a Spielberg movie on it.
#11 – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Duh.
I assume that you wouldn’t be reading this article unless you were interested in fantasy movies yourself, so there should be no need to explain this at all. In fact, it almost goes without saying. As in I almost didn’t even list it, since almost any Fantasy Top Ten Movie list would in reality go up to an understood Eleven, and Eleven would be The Lord of the Rings.
But if you are aren’t a fantasy fan, reading this for some other reason (I have no idea what that might be), let me educate you as to why The Lord of the Rings is the most awesome fantasy ever. It’s the chicks. All those elven chicks running around in leather halter tops with bare midriffs, and the scenes where they make out with the heroes (that rules!). And all of the dragons, the ones rampaging across the skies and waylaying all those armies of trolls and skeletons, yeah, that’s what it was. And the big, strong hero guys in cool-looking armor on horseback with the huge magic swords cutting all of the bad guys’ heads off, those guys rule. Oh, and the awesome sorcerer combat scenes where the wizards are hurling fireballs and lightning bolts and vorpal bunny swarms at each other. These movies totally rock!
Of course, all those common tropes of hum-drum fantasy movies are not in LOTR, and that’s what makes it so awesome. Years ago, a friend of mine summed it up perfectly. “In most fantasy, the heroes are questing for all-powerful magic that’s central to their success and will make them famous. In The Lord of the Rings, the heroes are striving to destroy the great magic so they can return to their normal lives.” Fantastic.
Turn out the lights, this discussion is over.
(OK, not really, tomorrow… come back for ten more of our favorite fantasy movies).
is a classic movie in every sense. Unforgettable scenes, quotable dialogue, and a superb story by William Goldman provided the recipe for a film that is not just a fun film to watch now and again but a film girls and boys and women and men alike will outright tell you they love. If there is a more incredible single scene in all of fantasy films than Mandy Patinkin’s Inigo Montoya in his final confrontation with Christopher Guest’s Count Rugen, then I have no idea what it is. “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
is the first companion book to the film ever created. Which in itself is astounding–a movie so popular and yet no one thought to release something like this before. The result is what any fan of any film would love to have–it’s the kind of book that has not even been done in this way for films like Star Wars or Star Trek, although many great varieties of books have looked behind the scenes at those franchises. What stands out for 
