This was sparked by the Conan/LoTR film debate. Considering the popularity of fantasy genre fiction and the huge success of LoTR and GoT there have been surprisingly few attempts at quality or even knock-off fantasy films.

After the success of Conan the Barbarian in the 80s there was a slew of super cheap and cheesy S&S films: Gor, Deathstalker, Beastmaster, Yor: Hunter from the Future, Conquest. These are all very bad, few enjoyable even to fans of bad movies. Sorceress is the only one that works as camp. Conan the Destroyer is terrible. Wizards of the Lost Kingdom 1 and 2 recently showed up in the latest season of MST3K.

A few I recall being better but can hardly remember in detail anymore are Ladyhawke, Krull and of course Willow, one of the few high budget fantasy films of the era.

Surely there had to be some good films made then and now? I see some cheap fantasy films on Netflix but have never taken the plunge.

The old poster/clamshell art for these turds are way better than the movies (except for Gor, lol).

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Dragonslayer, Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Neverending Story, I liked the recent Narnia adaptations, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (all the Harryhausen ones!) Clash of the Titans (The original), Excalibur.

Ah yeah Dragonslayer and Excalibur. Love the Dark Crystal apparently Netflix is doing something with it. Haven't seen The Neverending Story since I was a kid.

Notably those are all not S&S films. More high fantasy.

Not a fan of Lewis' fantasy novels but I should give them a look.

I realized I left the Harry Potter films off but I haven't seen any of them as I find the premise deathly dull.

Some of those Sinbad movies and Jason and The Argonauts aren't bad. I regard Excalibur as more of an arthouse fantasy epic though.

Personal favourites...

Archer: Fugitive of an Empire - 1981: This was a made for TV pilot that failed and it feels like "D&D the series" Some great makeup effects with the serpent men and I loved that magic bow. Had alot of potential but meandered a bit. And a thief character whos A: not obnoxious and B: fairly competent.

Sword and the Sorcerer - 1982: Another favourite. Loved that sword! So cool! Another one that feels like its D&D inspired. Fun movie that doesnt take itself too seriously.

And some older fantasy movies like the various Harryhausen Sinbad movies.

Honourable mention goes to
Hawk the Slayer - 1980: which has a strong D&D feel to it and isnt as bad as some make it out to be. Its just... odd... really odd.

Krull - 1983: Its more a mashup of fantasy and SF. But its got a very D&D feel to it too and had some great production put into it. And the Glaive was a neat weapon. (Its really a big Shuriken!)

Legend - 1985: Another movie with a D&D feel to it. Focusing mostly on the non-humans. Looks great too.

D&D: Wrath of the Dragon God - 2005: An actual D&D movie! Its not bad overall. It just plods along at points and some of the side characters act a little odd. But did a better job than the other two D&D movies.

And on the animated side. Of course Record of Lodoss War - 1990: This is BX D&D the anime series as its based on the actual BX D&D player logs that were gathered and novelized in Japan. Its a bit compressed compared to the books and focuses on one main arc. Great art and production and some good music too. Also the english dub isnt too bad really.

To the OP: How do you define a sword and sorcery film and how much overlap with other fantasy genres would you consider acceptable (I will base my answers on that).

There was a set of fantasy movies that are awesome sauce from my child hood they include.

Legend
Labyrinth
Princes bride
The dark crystal
The last unicorn
Never ending story
Willow (personal favorite movie)

They need to be for kids and they need to either be animated or preferably has muppets to go in this list.

Quote from: Voros;983176This was sparked by the Conan/LoTR film debate. Considering the popularity of fantasy genre fiction and the huge success of LoTR and GoT there have been surprisingly few attempts at quality or even knock-off fantasy films.

After the success of Conan the Barbarian in the 80s there was a slew of super cheap and cheesy S&S films: Gor, Deathstalker, Beastmaster, Yor: Hunter from the Future, Conquest. These are all very bad, few enjoyable even to fans of bad movies. Sorceress is the only one that works as camp. Conan the Destroyer is terrible. Wizards of the Lost Kingdom 1 and 2 recently showed up in the latest season of MST3K.

A few I recall being better but can hardly remember in detail anymore are Ladyhawke, Krull and of course Willow, one of the few high budget fantasy films of the era.

I think Conan is an exceptional benchmark because it was a rare combination of the right composer, the right director, writer, actor and producer, as well as the right moment. It is just a good movie and good movies are rare, let alone good movies from a very narrow genre. So most of the films on my list below, in my mind, don't quite rise to that level.

Note: see my previous post, but not sure how you are defining S&S so using my own judgement combined with the wiki list of S&S films (which has some I wouldn't put on the list myself just because they feel out of genre):


Deathstalker Series (BAD): These movies are objectively terrible in every conveyable way. The only reasons to watch them are: because they are bad, because they have lots of excessive nudity and violence, and because they technically are S&S films. I think everyone should see them at least once, just to see how far the final results are from the promise of the covers---which admittedly in the mid-80s looked pretty awesome. Also one of them has a pretty awesome villain, simply because he is so ridiculous.

Dragonslayer (GOOD): I think some people might disqualify this from S&S but I feel like it fits the genre enough. This is a good movie with good effects for the time and an interesting story.

Beastmaster (PRETTY GOOD): I think a lot of people don't like this movie now, but I remember enjoying it back in the day. I can barely recall the plot to be honest but I know we watched it about five times in a week at one point.

Ladyhawk (GOOD): I liked this movie a lot. I think the love story is interesting and it has a good cast. The soundtrack is very dated, it might appeal to some more than others.

Willow (VERY GOOD): I am not sure this one qualifies as a S&S film, but I loved this to death when it came out in the theatre and went back to watch it a bunch of times. It still holds up for me when I watch it again. Part of my love for it is probably nostalgia, but this is just a fun movie that also happens to be family friendly.

Conan the Destroyer (PRETTY GOOD): This is no where near as awesome as the original, but it is still pretty cool. I remember watching it when it came out and liking it a lot. Has a number of cool things you can game too which is always a plus. This also feels like peak 80s conan with Grace Jones and Wilt Chamberlain.

Red Sonja (COMPLICATED): This is pretty much universally panned these days. I even heard Arnold used it to torture his children when they were bad by making them watch it. But when it came out, as a kid I loved it. Also it had the lady in Rocky IV in it. I haven't watched it in ages. No idea how it would hold up now.

YOR (PRETTY GOOD): Again I know a lot of people didn't like this movie but this was one of the first movies my dad ever rented from a video store and I remember it making an enormous impression. My sister threw up from the violence. I remember liking it. But I doubt it was great film making.

Krull (GOOD): This is one that I think benefited from being replayed on HBO a lot or something. But I really like Krull.

Fire and Ice (VERY GOOD): I really enjoyed this as a kid. It is a lot like the Lord of the Rings animated film, and made by the same guy with that same rotoscoping technique. But I think this looks a bit better than the LotR movie.

I don't have time to do any more individual entries but looking at that list, I see Highlander on there. I don't consider that an S&S film, but it is a good movie. Also going off the list again, I don't see a single good movie from the 90s. I feel like there were some good ones released in the 90s and I am  just not remembering. Would be interested if anyone can name a few.

Also stuff like Clash of the Titans and Sibad are all pretty awesome (not sure where people file those in terms of genre).  

Excaliber is an incredibly movie. I think it wouldn't fit as S&S. But still great fantasy movie from the 80s. I have to admit, after the D&D movie in 2000, I pretty much stopped watching new releases of fantasy films (with the exception of the most recent Conan, which I enjoyed). I watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy, enjoyed it when it came out, but couldn't ever muster the energy to rewatch them.

Quote from: Voros;983176The old poster/clamshell art for these turds are way better than the movies (except for Gor, lol).

With GOR I always had trouble taking it seriously after that funky car accident and then the really weird accidental killing when he is cowering with the sword.

What about some of the old Italian Hercules movies, would they count? Muscle guys fighting, sometimes with monsters or magic (the Mario Bava one is probably the wildest).
It seems like some wuxia movies would qualify as well... and the newer Monkey King movies have been pretty great fantasy movies.

I enjoyed the two Arnold the Barbarian movies as action-adventure entertainments, plus my view wasn't colored by having read any Conan stories yet at the time, but I wouldn't argue that either of them are great movies except in comparison to others in the genre. I don't really like fantasy movies outside of Harryhausen all that much. Give me Sinbad, Jason, and Perseus over Conan or Gandalf any day of the week.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;983311To the OP: How do you define a sword and sorcery film and how much overlap with other fantasy genres would you consider acceptable (I will base my answers on that).

I would say they are derived from the Conan the Barbarian model. Of course S&S literature is Leiber, Burroughs, Howard and Brackett but few (any?) films have them as an influence.

But I'm interested in any good fantasy films, including European or Asian films.

Quote from: Simlasa;983414What about some of the old Italian Hercules movies, would they count? Muscle guys fighting, sometimes with monsters or magic (the Mario Bava one is probably the wildest).
It seems like some wuxia movies would qualify as well... and the newer Monkey King movies have been pretty great fantasy movies.

Bava's Hercules in the Centre of the World is awesome. I treasure my Fantomas DVD of it.

The Sword & Sandal Hercules/Maciste films definitely count as fantasy. The Loves of Hercules with the amazing Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay (who to me will always be immortalized as The Crimson Executioner from Bloody Pit of Horror) is deliciously campy with an absolutely hilarious battle with a rather wonderful Hydra that must be seen to be believed. It was also recently show in a lovely print on the rebooted MST3K!

Quote from: Voros;983572But I'm interested in any good fantasy films, including European or Asian films.

If we are including asian, I would add the following (including the more over the top wuxia as well):

A Chinese Ghost Story (1-3)
A Chinese Odyssey 1-2
Deadful Melody
Green Snake
Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons
Legend of Zu
Painted Skin
Painted Skin: Resurrection
Painted Skin (1993)
Sorcerer and the White Snake
Web of Death
Zu Warriors from Magic Mountain

I watched Mythica: A Quest for Heroes (the first in a 4-5 film series) with Kevin Sorbo. It was really fun--like a movie-length D&D adventure, but in a good way. :-)