But, to make it semi-official, has anyone here ever seen the old made for TV movie, The Archer: Fugitive of the Empire? It was a D&D-type movie that looked to be a pilot or the first installment of a mini-series and it aired back in the early 80's. As an 11-year old kid just getting into D&D it was a truly fabulous movie and I was so looking forward to the promised other movies that were to follow. For years afterworld I couldn't create an outdoor adventure without having a river of acid in it! It was a huge inspiration for me for years. I have since had the opportunity to get a copy of this movie and I watched it again. I wish I hadn't seen it. It was better as a memory. Still, it now has camp value and I foresee another acid river popping up in my current campaign. :-)
Very interesting, I have never heard of it before. The cover mentions sorcery. How much magic was in this movie?
Really not that much (that I remember, but it has been a couple of years since I last watched my tape), though the main character did have a bow that was magically connected to him and it shot these strange lightning bolt type "arrows." If you can find a copy of it I suggest you watch it. Just bear in mind it was made in 1981, was low budget, and don't get your hopes up on the quality of the story.
EDIT: A lot of 80s movies where really stupid and awesome. I still have fond memories of Arnold wrestling with a giant mechanic fish. Too bad I wasn't alive in the 80s, it seemed like such a great time period. Although I imagine I'd be rather peeved if I spent $9 to see Red Sonia expecting an actual movie.
Third in! (I'll edit in something intelligent later)
EDIT: A lot of 80s movies where really stupid and awesome. I still have fond memories of Arnold wrestling with a giant mechanic fish. Too bad I wasn't alive in the 80s, it seemed like such a great time period. Although I imagine I'd be rather peeved if I spent $9 to see Red Sonia expecting an actual movie.
You only would have spent about $5* back then! :D
* The average ticket price in 2008 is roughly $6.88 and back in 1985 it was roughly $3.55.
* The average ticket price in 2008 is roughly $6.88 and back in 1985 it was roughly $3.55.
The average price for a movie is $6.88? I typically pay between $8.00 and $10.00!
The average price for a movie is $6.88? I typically pay between $8.00 and $10.00!
Try going to matinées or pretending you have a valid student ID...
If we are talking old school fantasy movies... Then I have to bring up Krull!
That movie combined with the Conan movies got me into D&D when I was but a wee little kid. God bless cheesy 80's fantasy!
If we are talking old school fantasy movies... Then I have to bring up Krull!
God that movie sucked.
Has anyone else who plays WoW found the Krull easter egg in the game?
Of course, I loved all those, bad or good; my favorite is Hawk: the Slayer.
It had a magic sword, the Mindsword that had to be attuned to the wielder, then it could instantly return to the wielder's hand. The movie also had an Elf archer that could fire arrows almost as fast as an Ingram MAC-10, a Giant and a Dwarf.
Bel
If we are talking old school fantasy movies... Then I have to bring up Krull!
My brother and I loved that movie as kids. My favorite thing was the Fire Mares. I thought that was just all kinds of cool.
However, for me it was mostly about The Dark Crystal. (My mother says it scared me the first time I watched it, but I don't remember that.) I have always been a fan of Henson's weirdness.
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You only would have spent about $5* back then! :D
When I went to see Return of the Jedi back in 83 the ticket cost a whopping $2.85. Don't even ask what it cost to see The Empire Strikes Back....
When I went to see Return of the Jedi back in 83 the ticket cost a whopping $2.85. Don't even ask what it cost to see The Empire Strikes Back....
THOSE were the days, huh? :D
A lot of 80s movies where really stupid and awesome.
Yes and yes! I don't understand sometimes why people today think movies are just stupid. Of COURSE we knew then the movies were stupid, but they were awesome at the same time.
I've always said if you put what some folks today really hate back in the 80's, we would have thought it was awesome. Take the D&D movie, for example. Or even the Star Wars prequels.
I don't understand sometimes why people today think movies are just stupid. Of COURSE we knew then the movies were stupid, but they were awesome at the same time.
The scariest movie I can recall ever seeing was a little film done by a guy named Steve Spielman or Spielberger, or something like that. It was a really low-budget creature film, remincent of the shocker films he watched as a kid in the late fifties and early sixties.
He used all of the old filmmaking techniques to tell a really compelling story of a man charged with combatting a shark simply responding to it's own instincts. It was perfect. You didn't get to see the horrible monster until the third reel. And when you finally did, the shots were choreographed so that the speed of the monster and the perspective of the shot made it nearly impossible to tell that it was just a model on a mechanical armature.
The story of one man, one shark and the battle of wills between the two was nothing more than a story of man struggling against nature itself. The sheer horror in the story was that it was not that much of stretch of the imagination. The possibility that the story could be true, that the events could happen caused nightmares in people for months after it's release.
The technology has advanced in cinema. It's advanced to the point that they could remake the film with scenes in which the camera swims along with the shark. But would that cause such widespread panic? The inability to show the creature made the storytelling take center-stage. Watching Jaws, you weren't afraid of the shark, you were afraid of the ocean that spawned that devil of the deep.
So yeah, the movies were pretty bad before, but today's movies don't compare. They focus too much on the visual effects and too little on the story. The characters suffer in favor of the flash and bang. The vapid and tasteless movies of today don't leave you wondering at the end. You don't walk out of the theatre thinking about what you just saw. Keep your eye candy, I'd rather have settings with life, characters with personality and a story with substance.
That movie combined with the Conan movies got me into D&D when I was but a wee little kid. God bless cheesy 80's fantasy!
Conan was quite old in the 80s. I thought the first film was sure to breathe life into Mr Howard's alter ego, but sadly the second film turned him into a caricature.
For the recod, I think it was that first Conan movie that inspired me in many of my entertainments since then. That feral fellow that bounds up onto the rock, breathing heavily and glaring down at young Conan has made his way into dozens, if not hundreds of characters in my games over the years. I think Conan the Barbarian was the ultimate D&D movie, although others have tried to make better since then, to varying degrees of success.
Dragonslayer (1981) still totally rocks. No dragon will have a name cooler than Vermithrax Pejorative.
Well, since you guys have brought up mostly bad movies, how about a good one?
Dragonslayer (1981) still totally rocks. No dragon will have a name cooler than Vermithrax Pejorative.
Anyone here seen a movie with rutger hauer and jennifer jason leigh called Flesh and Blood? That was one twisted movie.
Rutger hauer is awesome. The original hitcher is so much better.
Anyone here seen a movie with rutger hauer and jennifer jason leigh called Flesh and Blood? That was one twisted movie.
The title is actually Flesh + Blood. Paul Verhoeven directed if I recall correctly. A really good film, based around the period of expansion by the Papal States. A fairly heavy heretical theme runs throughout, so it might not be everyone's cup of tea.