Favorite Fantasy Movies

[Blackthorne]

I really, really enjoyed Oz.  It was a Sam Raimi film, through and through.  I know what Broomie means by Mis-cast.  But I still enjoyed it quite a bit.  I'd see it again, in 3D, because the visuals were that impressive.  The movie starts out in Sepia, 4:3 Academy Ration, and the opening credits were so mesmerizing - I'd go again just to see them in 3D.


Bt

[Broomie]

Yeah I saw it in 3D IMAX and it was a great experience. And I hate 3D movies normally. The transition from Kansas to Oz was terrific and loved the visuals. I didn't mind James Franco or Mila Kunis, thought they were good but just think they were odd choices. I liked Zach Braff as Finley though, and I tried to spot Bruce Campbell seeing his name in the opening credits but I must have missed him. According to IMDB he was the winkie gate keeper so I'll keep my eyes peeled next time.

[Blackthorne]

Dude.  How could you miss Bruce Campbell.  He WAS a Winkie Guard.  He was THE winkie guard.  The one Tony Cox (Sourpuss) kept hitting in the head when they were at the gates.


Bt

[Broomie]

I must have forgot to look out for him and got too immersed into the magical land of Oz.

[Myrddin Starfari]

now that sounds like a good movie.

not so sure about it myself due to the 3D aparently the non 3D version gives people headaches (ok one person I know of) I don't want a headache when I see it cause thats the version I'd see.  Stereoscopic 3d doesn't work on me.

[Ilyich]

Zardoz, anyone?  Seriously though, 70-80s sci-fi films are the best, and I speak as someone who doesn't have any childhood memories of that stuff. I have childhood memories of Total Recall, though. Well, nightmares, mostly.

Among my favourites, apart from the obvious masterpieces like Alien, Blade Runner and Brazil(and everything else by Terry Gilliam as well), are:
Logan's Run, with it's adorably kinky 70s costumes and set-pieces and charming conceptual naivete;
A Boy And His Dog, featuring young Don Johnson and a telepathic dog in a post-apocalyptic world;
Mad Max and Mad Max 2 (or The Road Warrior) - classic post-apocalyptic action;
Soylent Green, Omega Man and Planet of the Apes - all featuring the delightfully horrendous overacting by Charlton Heston and tons of silliness, but some moments of pure sci-fi bliss;
Time After Time - featuring a time-hopping HG Wells, trying to catch Irenicus Jack the Ripper;
The Man Who Fell To Earth, featuring even more David Bowie's junk than Labyrinth ;

Also - pretty much everything by Carpenter(Escape from New-York, Big Trouble In Little China and more) and Cronenberg (especially Videodrome) and... there's just too many to remember them all, and there's plenty of great sci-fi from the 90s too. Lucky us! 

Fantasy genre seems to be slightly less fortunate in the great movies department, but Princess Bride, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal and Legend are all quite wonderful. And there's a bucketload of amazing Hayao Miyazaki films, of course, with Nausicaa Of the Valley Of the Wind being my personal favourite.

[Corrigan]

We used to insist in university, first time round, that anyone who wanted to be part of our gang had to first produce from somewhere a hard copy of "the man who fell to earth" as proof of their worth :p  We were so cool.

Also, just saw Nausicaa for the first time a few months back, pretty cool film.  We were looking over it for reference for my animation

[Goatmeal]

Now that Ilyich has broken the pre-80s barrier, here are a couple more...

John Carpenter's "Dark Star" (1974), co-starring the original "Smart Bomb", Thermostellar Bomb #20.  Definitely a great melding of trippy early '70s comedy and sci-fi.

"The Black Hole" (1979), Disney's attempt at jumping on the "Star Wars" bandwagon, still holds a fond place in my heart -- even though they could have picked a better story than remaking "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" in space.

And I'm sure I'll take a lot of heat for this, but Michael Crichton's "Westworld" (1973) is the superior example of 'theme-park-run-amok' over his "Jurassic Park" (1993), and "The Terminator" (1984) owes a debt of gratitude to Yul Brenner's 'Gunslinger' character...

[Blackthorne]

Ah, so many good choices in here!  Y'all are listing some of my favorite flicks.  Funny someone mentioned Soylent Green - I watched that and The Omega Man again recently - what a great couple of 70's Sci Fi flicks.  Chuck Heston is delightfully over the top.

I also saw Krull again - man, what a crazy film.  Apparently, it was supposed to be a Dungeons and Dragons movie... definitely an amazing cast on that one.   I always wanted that weird blader-ang thing he had.  Can't think of the name right now.  Lemme google.  1 sec.


...Aha!  The Glaive!  Cool.




Bt

[Corrigan]

And I'm sure I'll take a lot of heat for this, but Michael Crichton's "Westworld" (1973) is the superior example of 'theme-park-run-amok' over his "Jurassic Park" (1993), and "The Terminator" (1984) owes a debt of gratitude to Yul Brenner's 'Gunslinger' character...

It is also the first feature film to use CG! (the view you see through the gunslinger's eyes).  I was totally captivated by that film as a kid, but then I was much the same with Jurassic Park, if I'm honest.  I'd agree with your Terminator comment also, very obvious similarities for sure.