"Clash of the Titans" and other fantasy films I missed

Confession time: When I watched Clash of the Titans on Blu-ray, that was the first time I'd seen the movie all the way through. I've seen the Medusa scene umpteen times, but for whatever strange reason I'd never sat down and watched the whole thing. It's even weirder since I'm a big mythology fan, and I consider Jason and Argonauts (also with effects by the esteemed Ray Harryhausen) a classic. I think it's because my parents weren't big action-fantasy fans (they haven't seen Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, and have only seen the first Star Wars film), so though our family saw a lot of movies, it was more likely to be Gorky Park or Ran. As a result, I've been trying to fill a pretty major void in the '70s and '80s fantasy genre. I've seen Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings (I did watch the Rankin-Bass versions of The Hobbit and The Return of the King when they were on TV), The Princess Bride, Willow, Time Bandits, Excalibur, The Dark Crystal, Krull, and some others. But I still haven't seen Legend, Ladyhawke, Labyrinth, The NeverEnding Story, Dragonslayer, Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, and many others I'm forgetting (you could toss in stuff like The Goonies and Gremlins too).  Which of these films would it be worth catching up with, keeping in mind that I won't have the benefit of nostalgia to help me overlook any inevitable datedness? Post your opinion, and if there's a consensus I'll watch that film and report back here. --David

Comments

[scott baxter on July 22, 2010 at 08:10 PM]

I would say that Wizards (1977) was one of the best. But since it came out the same summer as Star Wars, it never got as big an audience as it might have.

Maybe you should also find a way to play the arcade games of the era -- they're probably available in PC versions or on the web. Dragon's Layer, in particular, comes to mind. That might help you get a bit more context in order to appreciate Heavy Metal.

I would also say Westworld. Yul Brynner's performance makes the movie.

Tron was a major event at the time, but seems silly and dated now.

I would really say that you would really do well to watch Fritz Lang's Metropolis, even if it's fifty years earlier than your target date. When I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, my father and brother and I, in addition to seeing first run movies, also had a chance to see a monster movie festival with classics from decades before like Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula... No need to limit yourself to looking back no earlier than 1976 in movies.

[David Horiuchi on July 22, 2010 at 10:50 PM]

Scott, thanks a ton for commenting. I actually have seen Metropolis and a bunch of older films (and Heavy Metal, which was... weird). The reason I'm thinking about this particular era is because I grew up around the same time as you, but I seem to have missed a lot of first-run films that my peers remember fondly. *Everyone* seems to know Clash of the Titans and that goofy owl! It's part of their history but not mine so I'm trying to catch up. And coincidentally, I recently DLd Dragon's Lair for my ipod. :) That was a little after my peak arcade-gaming period.

David

[Jeff on July 23, 2010 at 07:29 AM]

I haven't seen all of those movies either. Let's face it, parents are not going to take their 12 year old to see a flick about a scantily dressed red-haired woman. However...if you grew up during the '80s, as I did, you really have no excuse for missing Gremlins and The Goonies. VCRs came out in the '80s, so you could have at least caught it on video. :) May I recommend a trip to the Walmart DVD bargain bin...

[Liz Cass on July 23, 2010 at 09:41 AM]

I'm not really big on fantasy anymore. When I was a kid I like fantasy movie though. I remember seeing one in the 80's called Swords and Sorcerers that I really liked.

[Heather on July 23, 2010 at 05:40 PM]

Ladyhawke and Labyrinth are definitely worth watching. The Neverending Story was very disappointing to me but that was an incredible book and a little hard to capture in a movie. The rest of the movie you listed are worth watching just to get some of the cultural references used in other tv shows and movies.

[怀淰＠＾过厾 on August 11, 2010 at 12:01 AM]

Scott, thanks a ton for commenting. I actually have seen Metropolis and a bunch of older films (and Heavy Metal, which was... weird). The reason I'm thinking about this particular era is because I grew up around the same time as you, but I seem to have missed a lot of first-run films that my peers remember fondly. *Everyone* seems to know Clash of the Titans and that goofy owl! It's part of their history but not mine so I'm trying to catch up. And coincidentally, I recently DLd Dragon's Lair for my ipod. :) That was a little after my peak arcade-gaming period.

[xiao on November 11, 2010 at 05:36 PM]

It's part of their history but not mine so I'm trying to catch up