What're you favorite fantasy movies?

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat May 10, 2003 8:55 pm

Originally posted by HighLordDave
Are we lumping the science fiction genre in with fantasy?

Well, if we are, I want to put in a bid for Metropolis, the 1928 spectacular by Fritz Lang.

Maybe I should change my postcript to "Travel back in time with Fable."

Nightmare · Post by **Nightmare** » Sat May 10, 2003 9:30 pm

Originally posted by fable
And nobody has yet to mention Spaceballs. How strange.

I have sinned.

Add Spaceballs to my list.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat May 10, 2003 10:12 pm

Originally posted by Nightmare
I have sinned.

Add Spaceballs to my list.

Four words: Mel Brooks as Yogurt.

Okay, one more:

MOICHANDISING!

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Sat May 10, 2003 11:20 pm

Am I the only one who wants to see Fable scream?

Originally posted by fable
Am I the only one who watches films that are more than ten years old?

Oh, Fable. Most of the movies mentioned are more than ten years old. As for movies more than fifty years old - they're not so accessible, so it's no wonder less people have seen them.

*resisting age joke temptation*

Originally posted by garazdawi
YeI would have to say TTT and D&D were very good

How can you even mention those two films in the same sentence. D&D is a bad, bad, bad film. I think if you know anything about D&D, it's even worse. Now go and stand in the corner and think about what you've done.

Most of my favourite fantasy movies have already been mentioned... but I'd like to add The Neverending Story, with the proviso that I haven't seen it since I was about ten, so it might not stand up to the nostalgia test... but hey, I liked it then!

Princess Bride and Holy Grail rule though.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat May 10, 2003 11:35 pm

Oh, Fable. Most of the movies mentioned are more than ten years old. As for movies more than fifty years old - they're not so accessible, so it's no wonder less people have seen them.

The new Star Trek films? LoTR? Harry Potter? Matrix? These aren't more than ten years old. Others--sure. But in any case, I was exaggerating to make a point.

As for the old films, what you say is not quite true: they *are* very available. You could in fact buy 'em for rather less than you spend buying a first run, new movie, at least in most cases. But since people don't know about 'em, and they're not being publicized with action figures

, nobody thinks twice about seeing, say, Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast. You want it? You can buy it here. Sure, it's not the same as seeing it on a big screen, but given the rapidly shrinking size of big screens these days, and the increasingly large size of home theater screens, you'll probably get more of the experience if you watch it on your own set.

Morlock · Post by **Morlock** » Sat May 10, 2003 11:41 pm

@Fable: from Jean Cocteau to Mel Brooks?

I thought Metropolis was mentioned on the first page. Definatly makes my list. (BTW it's 27', not 28')

And no matter how many times I've seen it, I still crack up everytime Rick Moranis walks through that door and opens that helmet. As they say- in comedy, timing is everything, and Mel Brooks is truely one of the best guys out there at timing his jokes.

I know it's not fantasy, but since we're talking about Brooks, I just saw The Producers again last week. That is one of the funniest movies ever.
I find it amazing how even now, 35 years after it came out, the 'Springtime for Hitler' is still pushing it, and could easily be taken offensively- until you remember that the movie was directed by Mel brooks, a jew, starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder- both jews and about Max Bialystock (Mostel) and Leo Bloom (Wilder)- both obviously jewish. So by making everyone jewish, Brooks not only cashed in on the stereotype, but also ensured that no one would mistake him for doing anything out of anything but satire.
Wilder is fantastic. He is so hillarious- "I'm hysterical! I'm hysterical! Now I'm wet! I'm hysterical and wet! Now I'm in pain! and I'm wet! And I'm still hysterical!" or "You're gonna jump on me! I know you're gonna jump on me!"
The song is IMO the funniest dance routine ever. The Nazi singing "Springtime for Hitler and Germany. Winter for Poland and France" or "Don't be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Nazi party!"
And just seeing the audience's horrified faces as you see the dance group doing the heil or forming a swastika and pictures of Hitler coming out.
It is hillarious, but only if taken in the way that it was delivered, otherwise it can be mistaken for sick, dark humor.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat May 10, 2003 11:51 pm

I thought Metropolis was mentioned on the first page. Definatly makes my list. (BTW it's 27', not 28')

The 1927 original was withdrawn by the studio, and hacked to pieces. Only surviving prints are from 1928, or later, and include various extra bits that have turned up from time to time.

And just seeing the audience's horrified faces as you see the dance group doing the heil or forming a swastika and pictures of Hitler coming out.

For me, the funniest moment in the whole delightfully absurd sequence is when that one enthusiastic idiot in the audience starts applauding wildly, and the rest of the people rush to pummel him into silence with murder on the faces.

Getting back to the fantasy genre in motion pictures, has anybody mentioned The Wizard of Oz (1939)? If not, I will. Great fantasy film, well directed, good script that never condescends, excellent music and lyrics, performances to die for. The odd thing is, it wasn't a hit until it first showed up on tv for annual viewings, back in the early 1950s.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Sun May 11, 2003 12:43 am

Originally posted by Morlock
<snip> I know it's not fantasy, but since we're talking about Brooks, I just saw The Producers again last week. That is one of the funniest movies ever.
I find it amazing how even now, 35 years after it came out, the 'Springtime for Hitler' is still pushing it, and could easily be taken offensively- <snip>

Hehe - Springtime for Hitler is very very funny imo

That guy they get to play Hitler is just so .....

KidD01 · Post by **KidD01** » Sun May 11, 2003 1:41 am

More on Spaceballs

The Ring Saber fight scene :

Moranis : I see yours is bigger than mine

During the fight accidentally hit cameraman

Moranis in his squeky voice : Sorry

Morlock · Post by **Morlock** » Sun May 11, 2003 4:45 am

Re: More on Spaceballs

Originally posted by KidD01
The Ring Saber fight scene :

Moranis : I see yours is bigger than mine

During the fight accidentally hit cameraman

Moranis in his squeky voice : Sorry

Two misquotations in the same sentence? tsk, tsk, tsk how the great have fallen!

"I see your schwartz is as big as mine!"

and it's "He did it"

If thou misquotes His holyness again, thine face will be slapped most severly with a fish!

KidD01 · Post by **KidD01** » Sun May 11, 2003 5:18 am

LOL haven't rerun it for a while

But I still remember "the Virgin Alarm" & Mega Maid

<EDIT> Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) having too much heat of desert : Room Service,..........Room service !

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Sun May 11, 2003 5:41 am

This is probably a "you had to be there story" but when I was in college, there was a TV station in Jacksonville where all they did was show local weather radar and have the National Weather Service's automated voice "read" the local forecast. Everytime I would flip to this channel, I would yell for one of my roommates to get me a cup of coffee because "I always have coffee when I watch radar."

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Sun May 11, 2003 7:09 am

Oh yes, that movie!

Originally posted by fable
And nobody has yet to mention Spaceballs. How strange.

Oh yes, Spaceballs!! That is THE FUNNIEST MOVIE I have seen so far.

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

Dark Helmet: I said fire a warning shot across her nose, not UP IT!

Gunner: *cross-eyed* I'm trying my best sir!

DH: Who hired him?

Major: *also cross-eyed* I did, sir! He's my cousin!

DH: Who's he?

Col. Sanders: He's an a**hole sir, Major A**hole.

DH: Who on this ship is an A**hole?

*the whole crew stands up*

DH: I knew it, I'm on a ship surrounded by A**holes!! *lowers mask, deepens voice* Keep firing, A**holes!

Rob-hin · Post by **Rob-hin** » Sun May 11, 2003 9:10 am

I LOVE Spaceballs!
It's the one reason I love the song:

Hello my baby, hello my darling
Hello my ragtime gal!

Throw me a kiss by wire
honey my heart's on fire!

But if you refuse me
honey you lose me

And you'll be left alone
hey baby telephone!

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Mon May 12, 2003 7:44 am

From Monty Python and The Holy Grail (to the best of my memory, will need improvisation)

King Arthur: So, what happens next?

Bedivere: Well, when night falls, Lancelot, Galahad and I sneak out of the giant rabbit, and take all of the Frenchmen by suprise, therefor not only suprising them but taking over the castle as well.

King Arthur: Wait! Who's supposed to be in there?

Bedivere: Um, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, and I.

Arthur: Dooooh!

Bedivere: Well, if we had a giant wooden badger...

Arthur: Shut up!

*Trojan Rabbit is catapulted back at them*

Arthur: Run away!!!

*a squire who was already injured has it land on him*

Sure, it's not exactly word by word, but that's what I remember. Still, you gotta love those moments.

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Tue May 13, 2003 7:00 pm

OH! Here's a great post-apocalyptic(sp?) fantasy movie: Reign of Fire! I've never seen better CGI renderings of dragons EVER BEFORE! When I saw that in theaters last year, I was impressed.
Decent story & plotting, good animation, and good jobs with dialogue. Overall, an 8/10

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon May 19, 2003 8:55 am

Just discovered that the restored DVD version of Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast (which I mentioned on the first page of this thread) was released a couple of months ago. Purchased it--about $20 new, but through Amazon, I got an unopened copy for half price--and it really was much improved. They included a short but interesting feature about how it was cleaned up: interpolated footage from a pristine print found in a German cinema replacing some sequences with poor contrast that have shown up in recent years; careful filtering of the surrounding noise out of the main soundtrack; removal of a lot of the "grit" that flies by in the film, etc.

They also had a short interview filmed eight years with the scenic designer on Beauty and the Beast, then in his seventies, who talked about how they achieved one of the extraordinary effects--the candlebras in the grand hall of the Beast's palace, that each light individually as Beauty's father walks through the place for the first time after discovering it. This all being before done long the age of computerization, and knowing they couldn't do timestop footage and make it look real, the entire sequence had to be repeatedly rehearsed and filmed *in reverse,* because it's much easier to snuff out each candlebra suddenly, all at once, than get them to suddenly spring to life! Apparently they couldn't get it quite right, until suddenly Cocteau said, "I'm jinxed, so I'm leaving now. You will film it without me." And they did just that in the sequence, using the assistant director, Rene Clement (who has become a celebrated director in his right, since then) and this scenic designer as the main voices on the set. Fortunately, it worked. It's amazing the ingenuity they used to get the effects they wished.

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Tue May 20, 2003 5:26 am

Originally posted by Galuf the Dwarf
OH! Here's a great post-apocalyptic(sp?) fantasy movie: Reign of Fire!

*having flashbacks to when Veh said the DnD movie was excellent*

I've never seen better CGI renderings of dragons EVER BEFORE!

Ok, I'll give you that one. The CGI dragons were cool.

Decent story

plotting

good jobs with dialogue

Well, you've definitely convinced me that you're weird now.

"Is it a dragon?"
"No, worse - Americans!"

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Tue May 20, 2003 8:36 am

Originally posted by Georgi
*having flashbacks to when Veh said the DnD movie was excellent*

Ok, I'll give you that one. The CGI dragons were cool.

Well, you've definitely convinced me that you're weird now.

"Is it a dragon?"
"No, worse - Americans!"

Well, that got us chuckling anyway, when the people in that said that. Sure, I'm an American, and I could be percieved as a hothead, but hey, that line was just well placed!

Maeglor · Post by **Maeglor** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 4:25 pm

'wizards' by Ralph Bakshi - i grew up on that flick