Fantasy

[Susan]

No, by fantasy I don't mean films with boobies.

"lord of the rings" clearly hooked a bunch of new and old fans of the fantasy genre...one which is sadly neglected. what are some of your favorite fantasy films?

I've always liked "dragonslayer" as far as a more modern (well at the time it was modern..heh) fantasy. You won't find any happy prancing hobbits or other dwarfs of the like, either. still wish it was on dvd. There's a wide variety of fantasies from krull to conan to sinbad movies.

The only thing I don't get is how broad IMDB seems to list them. The top 50 fantasy films include monsters, donnie darko, groundhog day and it's a wonderful life - none of which I consider fantasy.

[Cullen]

Susan writes:

"The only thing I don't get is how broad IMDB seems to list them. The top 50 fantasy films include monsters, donnie darko, groundhog day and it's a wonderful life - none of which I consider fantasy."

Witht the exception of Monsters , which I know nothing about, all of the movies you have listed are Fantasy, in my opinion.  Each of them deal with fantasic elements, and have no "rational" explination to them, which is, as a rule, what makes Fantasy Fantasy.

(This is a real loose definition - by rights a lot of Star Trek falls in here - but it works as a rule of thumb.)

Now, as we're talking movies and not what I think makes Fantasy, I think it would be remiss not to mention Dark Crystal , Henson's great epic, and Wizards ,  Ralph Bakshi's best cartoon.  I can watch both of these films over and over again.
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[Susan]

I think that's being too broad. If "Groundhog Day" is a Fantasy then Saving Private Ryan is a horror. I think it by all rights is a comedy. Wizard of Oz on the other hand could probably be either a fantasy or musical (but given it's age falls under classic). And star trek is sci-fi not fantasy, I guess I don't catagorize movies that loosely. In fact I think for each genre there are subgenres where one could more clearly define a movie.

Dark Crystal is an interesting mention, it's one of those movies that I've found over the years people either love or abhor. I guess I haven't seen it in so long I'm not sure myself. ;-)  I always loved Henson and his desire to reach a more adult audience, but his movies (ie: Labyrinth) to me always felt like a stephen king novel. The premise is good and it starts off good enough but somewhere, something goes horribly awry and the story just doesn't keep interest. I think if he had kept out some of the dancing happy musical numbers with the puppets it might have been more interesting - but I think at times he was afraid to be too dark trying to equally appeal to a young audience. Too much yin, not enough yang

[Cullen]

I think that's being too broad. If "Groundhog Day" is a Fantasy then Saving Private Ryan is a horror. I think it by all rights is a comedy. Wizard of Oz on the other hand could probably be either a fantasy or musical (but given it's age falls under classic). And star trek is sci-fi not fantasy, I guess I don't catagorize movies that loosely. In fact I think for each genre there are subgenres where one could more clearly define a movie.

It is broad, but, from what I've read, the definition I gave is close to standard.  Diffrent strokes for diffrent folks, of course.  There are those who would lump all Science Fiction in Fantasy, say, though there is a diffrence.

I'm not sure genre is an either/or type thing.  Like Wizard of Oz .  I think it can be consided a fantasy, a musical, and a classic.

(side note: Star Trek was a bad example on my part; I should have said Star Wars .)

Dark Crystal is a movie I really never get tired of.  I think, all little problems a side, its one of the best Fantasy movie ever made.
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Post Edited (03-29-03 14:35)

[peter johnson]

I used to have a bunch.  Now, my brain is so saturated with "Spirited Away" that they've all gone bye-bye for now.
Most of my faves cross genre lines, anyway.
Sure, I liked Dark Crystal too.  While it's not strictly Fantasy, I'd say Slaughterhouse Five too, as it ain't really science fiction either, eg:  Very little science in that one, but a damn good movie all the same.
peter johnson

[Andrew Crow]

I think the thing that made more people start liking the fantasy genre after Lord Of The Rings came out was that Lord Of The Rings is a pretty good movie, whereas most fantasy movies aren't.