Swords & Sorcery Films of the 1980's: PART I

Yes, folks, that’s Helen Mirren. I was 13 when I fist saw her play Morgana and have been in love with gothy pagan chicks ever since. In one scene with Merlin she actually f*cking hisses at him. Classic.

Excalibur was so well made. That movie still holds up til this day.

If yo haven't seen it, one of the best of the genre was Ladyhawke from 1985 starring Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Broderick. Absolutely loved that film in my late teens and still holds up well today

Conan what is best in life “To crush your enemies! To see them driven before you and to hear the lamentation of their women!” 💪🏼

Excalibur is still one of my favorite movies of all time.

Thulsa Doom from Conan the Barbarian is most certainly an evil wizard.

Excaliber is simply the best representation of armoured combat.

Conan, Dragonslayer, and Excalibur are my favorite films in this genre.

I have a deep need to say that Conan wasn't originally a comic book character. Robert E. Howard's short stories were featured in Weird Tales magazine which was a pulp magazine for sci-fi nerds in the 20s & 30s, and was just a collection of short stories with a few illustrations. The first Conan panel-to-panel comic as we know them now was published in Mexico in 1952, 20 years after his first story was published in Weird Tales. It was an adaptation of "Queen of the Black Coast," and was featured in a pocket-sized anthology magazine. The first Marvel run of Conan comics didn't come until 1970, almost 50 years after that first short story. Then of course Dark horse was putting them out from 2003-2018, and in that time we got the so-so Jason Mamao flick heavily based on that run, and it's....a movie.

I LOVED “Excalibur”! Best dialogue of any “King Arthur” film, ever. “How did you become King?” “The Lady of the Lake gave me Excalibur”. “Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Extreme executive authority derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!”

You've listed Conan as not having an evil wizard.

I watched Beastmaster and Krull 10,000 times. Dragonslayer was fun.

Conan, Beastmaster, Ladyhawk, Legend, Clash of the Titans... what a decade of escampism.

Excalibur is amazing both visually and story wise!!

Excalibur is my favorite of the Arthurian films but second is definitely the 1998 mini series "Merlin" with Sam Neill playing the part of the legendary Wizard. If you haven't seen it yet check it out! It's so good , vastly underrated and overlooked

I remember when Excalibur and Conan came out. Both of these movies were incredible then, and still today. I have watched both in the last year or so, and they have aged very well. Not campy or dated at all, just as amazing and engaging as they were then. Speaks a lot to the writing, cinematography, and directors on the films.

These were great times to be a teenager.

The beastmaster is still in my all-time favorite movies

Hawk The Slayer is a fun film. If you’re a fan of D&D it’s basically a D&D game session put to film.

I was so impressed by Excalibur I got the dvd. Seen it a thousand times but never get bored with it. Great cast, great story, great movie settings.