Ten Deep 12.31.08: Greatest Fantasy Films #10-#1!

Posted by Lucas Huddleston on 12.31.2008

Finally, 411's Lucas Huddleston reaches the end of his Top 50 Fantasy films, and casts the proverbial Ring into the Crack of Doom...or is that crowns Aragorn as the returned King...or goes to the Grey Havens...whatever it is, it's the end for sure.

Hello, and welcome to Ten Deep: Week 15! And here it is…my birthday! I'm twenty-seven today, and I'm working at a job that I despise while another year passes that my dream is yet to be attained…well, actually, it kind of has been. Of course, my dream is to be a writer, and getting this job writing something for 411mania has provided me not only a forum in which to write, but a forum in which to get feedback, and I'm exceedingly thankful for that. Originally, I had planned to include a portion of some of my fiction that I've written (but has just been sitting without sending it off to anyone) in this final Fantasy column (since it is a Fantasy book) if only to get some feedback on that…but, I figured that this may not be the correct forum in which do that, or that there may not be enough space to include it. Or maybe I just pussed out. At any rate, for my birthday I received two DVD's, two T-Shirts, and a novel written by Willie Nelson (WHAT?!?), and it was all good stuff for a good day. I even played hooky from work! Also, I'd like to mention a few things before we get into the big finale for the Fantasy stuff today…

First, I'll admit that I'm a little sad that The Chronicles of Narnia series has been canceled before they made it my own personal favorite book, being Book Four: The Silver Chair. But, at the same time, I knew that it was coming, as I didn't think they'd make all seven films…

Well, the Chiefs officially had a bad year. Last Sunday's game was putrid, as the Chiefs didn't even look interested in playing. In all consideration, however, a late score here, a defensive stand there, and KC could've had a much better record. They should have won both San Diego games, the Tampa Bay game, and that first game against the Raiders. The good news is, though, that I officially finished in 3rd place in my Fantasy Football league. I could have had 2nd, but I blew that chance in a loss last week. Oh well. That makes two back-to-back years in last place, then two back-to-back years in 3rd. Next year, I'll take first…I can feel it.

THE TOP FIFTY: #10-#1!

First off, I'm going to address a couple films that have been brought up by a few readers since the first week, two films that were indeed on the list in the initial draft of the list, but were subsequently dropped. Both films actually instigated the rule that I set forth when I laid them out a few weeks back, the rule that I was only including films that I owned – and those films in question were The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and Beastmaster. Both were held off because, while I have indeed seen them (in the case of Sinbad, I used to own it, though that tape has long since been lost), it's been so long since I've watched either that I barely remember too much about them. For example, in Beastmaster, I can remember the initial destruction of the main character's village, the tiger, the two ferrets…and that's about it. So take no slight against those two films' exclusion, I just didn't feel comfortable talking about films that I could barely remember, especially on these Fantasy lists, since I've tried to make them all appear somewhat personal to me.


10. Jason and the Argonauts (1963)



As I stated when I wrote my thoughts on Clash of the Titans, I was raised on Harryhausen's films, with Jason and the Argonauts being the very first of his films that I ever seen. I can thank my father for that, as it was one of his very favorite films when he was growing up, and still ranks as being one of his all-time favorite films. As such, from the very first release that the film saw on VHS, my dad wasted little time in buying it. Since then I've bought the film on DVD, and whenever I spy the film playing on AMC or any other movie channel, I can't help but click over to that channel to check out the movie.

Of course, as is the case with any film with Ray Harryhausen's name attached to it, the main, and only, draw here is the stop-motion effects. And while I did say that I thought that the Medusa that Harryhausen crafted in Clash of the Titans was his greatest work of a single character (due to the amount of detail in it), his overall work in Jason and the Argonauts stands as being his best. I have to think that during this film moreso than any of his others, Harryhausen was working non-stop on his famed creature effects, as it seems that at every turn there's some kind of monster that needs to be overcome…and quite a few of them are fantastic creative feats in and of themselves. For one, the bronze colossus Talos, that Hercules and another inadvertently awaken from his slumber, a giant that towers over the world itself; for another, the hideous Hydra that Jason and his men must overcome in order to retrieve the fleece, with its many heads going every which way. But, the real crown jewel of the animation in the film comes by way of the battle between Jason and two of his men against seven skeletal warriors sprouted from the teeth of the Hydra. The skeletons are, of course, completely done through stop-motion animation, and the battle itself lasts upwards of four minutes or so…which doesn't seem that long, yet it took Harryhausen nearly five months to craft the skeletons and their movements. They actually move fairly fluidly, and while there is a bit of a noticeable ‘rift' between the skeletons and the live-action performers, it doesn't bother me at all; it's stop-motion animation, such things should be expected, but that doesn't detract in the least from the fabulous achievement that Harryhausen produced here. Jason and the Argonauts stands as being the finest hour for one of the true masterful legends of film history.

9. Dragonslayer (1981)



As having pretty much grown up on Dragonslayer and having watched it over and over on the dubbed copy that we owned of the film for much of my childhood, I honestly have always viewed this film as being the standard-bearer for the High Fantasy contingent in the realms of filmdom during my childhood, moreso than even Willow or Legend (though, to be fair, I was watching this movie before the likes of those two movies were even conceived). Of course, the tale of my ties to Dragonslayer is one of love for the film, then separation, then reunion. As I said, my parents had a version of the film taped off on VHS, which was the format of the film that I discovered during those early days of my fledgling fascination with all things Fantasy. However, many of those cheap, recordable VHS tapes from the early days of the technology were as flimsy as a thin piece of bread, a fact which led to disaster. In those days, we kept the tapes that found regular use in our VCR in a multi-shelved cabinet near the television, a cabinet that was also peppered to the brim with other VHS tapes and various books. One day, somehow, someway, the cabinet toppled over, causing all of its contents to crash to the floor…and underneath the wreckage, there laid the tape that once was Dragonslayer, crushed to oblivion under the weight of all the other tapes and books, as well as the heavy wood of one of the cabinet's shelves. This was actually a fairly disheartening event in the days of my youth (and so thank goodness that films like Willow and Legend were indeed made so well to hold me over through the years), and, since the video seemed nowhere to be found back then (or at least as far as I can remember), for years all that I had left of the movie was what rested firmly in my mind…which, of course, was many of the scenes that concerned the dragon. I was able to catch about two-thirds of the movie one, and only one, time on PrimeStar/DirecTV when we finally updated to satellite. In fact, it wasn't until a couple of years ago, when I finally came across the film proper, stuffed deep inside the five-dollar DVD bin at Wal-Mart. Feeling that lady luck was indeed on my side on that day, I immediately bought the DVD of Dragonslayer (though it was a barebones edition, which may very well be the ONLY edition for the thing), and finally, after well over a decade of being robbed of the movie by my parents cabinet, I set about to relive the movie that I had once loved so very much.

With a film titled Dragonslayer, the main draw is (of course) the dragon…and with all due respect to the animated dragons in many animated films or the CGI-rendered dragons in films like Dragonheart or Reign of Fire, Vermithrax, the dragon in Dragonslayer, still stands as being (in my opinion) the absolute best ever done and committed to film. Sure, there are times when the dragon looks a little out of place, but by-and-large, most often the dragon appears as though it could be a real-life creature. The way in which Vermithrax was created was using a process called go-motion, a variant of stop-motion animation; using this process, the camera would shoot a still image of the dragon (whether it was of the massive, mechanized forty-foot hydraulic lift in the visage of the dragon, or one of the smaller puppets), then give a sense of movement and such through computer technology while the camera is shooting. This would create a ‘motion blur', which would cause the dragon to move much more smoothly than it would if it had been animated through stop-motion animation. What's left is one of the most satisfying and realistic looking dragons in film history, bar none. The plot of the film is interesting, and the acting is really good through out, but still, you come for the dragon, and you stay for the dragon. As a fan of dragons, I can honestly say that this stands as the greatest dragon movie ever created, an achievement made all the more astounding considering the era in which it was made (pre-CGI).

8. Conan the Barbarian (1982)



As I've said before about the character of Conan (as well as about several other things that have shown up on this list), I'm not really all that sure of the first time and place that I was introduced to the character; I've always just known of the character's existence, who also stands as being one of my very favorite Fantasy characters of all-time. I honestly doubt I first encountered Conan through Robert E. Howard's original short stories, as I didn't read any of them until I was nearly into my twenties, when my dad bequeathed to me his old Ace collection (you know, the ones with the awesome Frank Frazzetta paintings for the cover artwork). It couldn't have been through the early-90's animated television series, as the presence of Conan is what attracted me to the series in the first place. It could've been through the comic books, or it could've been through the film Conan the Destroyer, the sequel to this film that, as a kid, I honestly preferred over this film. Indeed, if I'm being truthful here, I wasn't really all that in love with this film. As it pertains to the sequels, in those days I was more attracted to the high energy and cartoonish adventure of Destroyer, much more so than I was to the darker, more brooding approach of Conan the Barbarian…and so it should go without saying that I watched the sequel more than I did this movie when I was younger. It wasn't until I was in my teenage years that I received both films on VHS for one Christmas (a considerable update, since before that we owned both films, taped off, on one tape…and both were taped off with a considerable amount of poor quality intact), that I essentially ‘rediscovered' Conan the Barbarian, and I went about re-watching the film with very little memory of the film from my childhood.

First and foremost, in regards to the film's relation to the stories written and mapped out by Robert E. Howard, the film is loosely based on the source material. In the film, Conan is forced into slavery at a young age, after an attack by Thulsa Doom on his home village; in the writings, this never happened, and Conan actually plays a fairly instrumental part in his people's assault on the Aquilonian military outpost called Venarium. Thulsa Doom himself, as well as the shaping-changing snake-people from which he is descended, also don't play any part in the Conan stories; in fact, he's taken from the stories of Howard's other ‘barbarian' character, Kull. The character of Valeria in the film isn't all that similar to her literary counterpart…her film version is more akin to Belit from the writings. There are other discrepancies, but, honestly, that doesn't bother me in the least, as much of the spirit and tone of the Conan stories are carried over greatly in the film. In this day and age, it's hard to imagine anybody but Arnold as Conan, and if any one actor has nearly become synonymous with the character that he's played, Schwarzenegger as Conan (or the Terminator) tops that list, in my opinion (a small thing that's always bothered me about the sequel, which I do indeed like, is that Conan appears to be almost TOO ripped and cut, whereas in this film he seems to be a more ‘natural' muscular). James Earl Jones as the villain Thulsa Doom may look like he's out of place in a way, but his incredible speaking voice lends the character its greatest aspect, with his speech on the Riddle of Steel while Conan is bloodied and captured being one of the standout scenes for me. Many of the other roles in the film were given to relatively inexperienced talent, whether they were football players, other bodybuilders, dancers, or surfers…and, almost amazingly, it works really well. Despite the failure that would seem to be obvious on the part of the untested supporting actors, there really is no bad acting in the film. In the end, what set this apart from the many imitators that it spawned in the wake of its release, Conan the Barbarian was a far more layered film, both thematically and through characterization, than it had any right to be. A perfect example of a film that had a strong chance to be next to nothing, and yet was crafted as an unknowing classic.

7. The Dark Crystal (1982)



I'm not sure of the year, or what exactly my age was, but I can vaguely remember being at my grandparents' house, sitting directly in front of the television on the floor in their living room, watching The Dark Crystal. In truth, there's very little I can remember about the whole affair (which leads me to think that I had to have been pretty young at the time), but two things would stick with me for years – one being the scene where the Gelflings are riding the Landstriders, and the other being, of course, the Garthim, the foot-soldiers of the villainous Skeksis. It's somewhat of an odd thing, to be honest with you; I've noted it before, but allow me to say it again that Jim Henson is one of my own personal heroes and the man and his work remains to be highly vaunted in my own respects towards him. As such, regardless of whether or not I remember my first crossing with some of his work, things like Sesame Street (and the Sesame Street film, Follow That Bird, for that matter), the Muppets, Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth…I've felt a strong presence of familiarity with all of them as far back as I can remember. The Dark Crystal, however, is the exception. Obviously, I'm quite sure that I'd seen the film at a very early age…though most of my knowledge of the film throughout my childhood was via a thin children's book titled The Tale of the Dark Crystal. For the life of me, I really can't put my finger on exactly why I (apparently) wasn't nearly as enamored with The Dark Crystal, seeing as how I only watched it once in all my years as a child…and, to be honest with you, I never felt all that concerned to see it later on in my childhood. My best guess would be that the images within the picture scared the hell out of me as a kid, which, I feel, would probably be a spot on guess. And yet, as the years passed, the two images of the Landstriders and the Garthim would linger in the back of my mind, never to be forgotten, and building up a rather thick cloud of mystery about the film for me; as such, when the film was given a fairly stout wide re-release on VHS in the mid-to-late ‘90's, I couldn't help but ask for the film for Christmas, and when I finally had it playing in my VCR on Christmas Eve night those many years ago…well, it was about like when I started buying and watching the old Masters of the Universe on DVD recently – an experience that was permeated with the odd air of déjà vu, which those of you who have had the privilege of having such an occurrence happen while watching a film know, it can be quite a strange-feeling experience.

When this film was released, it was touted as being the first live-action film to NOT feature any human performers – it was strictly puppet-work that was filmed. While that's not entirely true (some shots of Jen moving are obviously either a small man or a young kid in costume), easily more than ninety-nine percent of the film is indeed strictly reserved for the puppets. In fact, I'd consider most of the puppet-work and animatronics that are made of use in the film to be nothing less than simply groundbreaking. While some of the puppets, such as the Gelflings or the Podlings, are relatively small and thus seemingly straight-forward in their operation, others, such as the massive Garthim or Landstriders, are incredible to watch come to life in the environs of the film (particularly the Garthim…I love those guys). Of course, that's not mentioning many of the facial movements and expressions that nearly all of the on-screen characters exude; it all comes across as so natural and life-like that it's incredibly easy to be drawn into the film, accepting the participants of the film to be ‘real'. And if that's the case, then its little wonder why the film (presumably) scared the hell out of me as a kid, particularly in regards to the villainous Skeksis in the film, with their grotesque and twisted bird-like appearances (or that creepy whimper that the Chamberlain constantly does). The film was a fairly big success at the box-office, which, for once, is fitting, as this film definitely stands as being Jim Henson's masterpiece, in my humble opinion. God bless Jim Henson.

6. Sleeping Beauty (1959)



Sleeping Beauty is a film that, up until a couple of months ago when the Platinum Edition DVD was released, I've never owned at any point in my life. The movie was first released on VHS in 1986, and while it is true that my parents never bought it for me, my cousin (who was also my neighbor) owned the thing. As such, despite the fact that the film wasn't readily accessible at my fingertips like other films, I still was able to watch the hell out of it. I can remember watching in awe of the film at my grandparents' house, or borrowing the movie from my cousin numerous times throughout my life. And since the film is my top ranking Disney film to appear on my Fantasy list, it should go without saying that Sleeping Beauty is also my all-time favorite Disney animated film, period. Years later, I was actually quite a bit shocked to learn that the creation of this film very nearly put Walt Disney and his company out of business, as since the film was of a legendary sort to me, I couldn't possibly fathom how such a masterpiece would almost potentially bury the vaunted Disney Company. Of course, it's fairly easy to see why exactly.

In my opinion, the art and animation in this film far surpasses that in any other traditional, hand-drawn animated film to be released before or since, the greatest to be had, in other words. While the film does indeed retain quite a bit of that ‘Disney-esque' look to the animation, at the same time it doesn't. Disney had shot quite a bit of footage of live-action performers in full costume performing the film…in fact, he had the movie filmed scene-for-scene, shot-for-shot in such a manner, in order to give the animators a live-action reference for the character models and their movements. As such, what we have from that is perhaps the most fluid and life-like movements for the film's human characters than any other Disney film since. And if the animations that appear in the foregrounds of the movie are gorgeous, then the backgrounds in the film are simply immaculate. Truly, my eye was always drawn to the scenery that lay behind the characters more often than the characters themselves, whether it was the soft beauty of the forest behind Aurora and Philip as they danced, or the harsh, craggy edges of the dungeons of Maleficent's castle. Speaking of Maleficent, while she may not be the most visually horrid of the Disney pantheon of villains (I think that that particular honor goes to the Horned King, remember), Maleficent still stands as being my favorite among the villains; while she is unmistakably evil not only by her actions but her appearance, she's also quite regal and elegantly drawn. Oh, and she swears at one point, too (technically, if you consider the word ‘Hell' to be a swear-word). And, of course, she turns into one of the greatest looking dragons in the history of animation for her confrontation with Prince Philip, the hero who, unlike other Princes in Disney films, earns his manhood by taking on an entire army of goblins during his escape from Maleficent's castle, before he whips the blade of his sword into Maleficent's dark heart, where she may very well be one of the few (if not only, though I'm not too sure) of Disney characters to basically die on-screen. For an animated film that's as epic in scope as Sleeping Beauty, as well as being far more mature in its approach to its subject matter than nearly all other animated films of its day, it's a shame that Sleeping Beauty wasn't given the same nod that Beauty and the Beast was – namely, a nomination for Best Picture. Perhaps one day the Academy will step up and bequeath such an honor to an animated film, but even if that day does indeed come, this film shall always be the one that should've been the first, in my opinion.

5. The Princess Bride (1987)



One day, again when I was young, my mother went to go visit an old friend of hers, and she took me along with her. I was familiar with the woman that we went to go see, as well as her daughter, who were at one time our neighbors, with the girl being my closest friend in my pre-school days. It was a cold and rainy day, which limited the play area for us kids to within the trailer, and the two of us were running around and hollering non-stop while my mother and her friend were visiting. Of course, that didn't last too long before we got on the two grown-ups' nerves, at which point my mom's friend took us into the living room and sat us down on the couch, putting a movie in the VCR while she did so – The Princess Bride. At that particular time, I can honestly say that I knew absolutely nothing about the movie, as I hadn't even heard of the film before that moment that she put it in. Little did I know that as I sat their on the couch watching a grandfather read a book to sick little Fred Savage that I'd be taking the first steps in a veritable love affair with this movie that would continue even unto this day. I can even recall that, in a rare move for my mother at the time, she stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home and bought the movie for me on that very same day that I'd first watched the film. Since that time, I've owned the film in several different formats, including two different DVD editions, watching the movie at the very least once a year.

Of course, there's little that I can say about this film that nobody already knows. In all my ventures into films, and with the many different people that I've talked about film with, I've never met one person who didn't like The Princess Bride…and that's not an exaggeration (though I'm sure that they must exist somewhere). For example, I had a friend in college who was in a class whose teacher assigned their students to watch The Princess Bride and to write an essay on the film. I, of course, owned the film and offered to let him borrow it in order to watch it; he, however, took one look at the cover, with the silhouettes of Westley and Buttercup embracing with a castle in the background, and said that it wasn't his thing. Amazingly, he'd have rather taken an F than watch The Princess Bride, and, as such, I recognized how much of a foolish move that was on his part and forced him to watch it. Afterwards, he went out and bought the film on DVD. Now THAT'S an infectious film. I think that in large part why the film is so universally accepted is because of the spirit of the film, as well as its heart and cleverness. Its spirit holds a little something for everybody: it has good humor, it has action and swordplay, it has romance, it has high drama, and it has Andre the Giant in a role that only he could play. While I don't think that such a thing as a perfect film exists, The Princess Bride comes about as close to that as any has in the long history of film, in my opinion. A timeless classic, to be sure.

4. The Wizard of Oz (1939)



Is there a person alive that hasn't seen The Wizard of Oz at some point in their life? If there was ever an inescapable film, one that you just couldn't avoid watching for your entire life, it would be this one. Probably like a vast majority of people was, I was first introduced to The Wizard of Oz when I was a small child, mainly through frequent airings of the film over the television. There was a time, in fact, where it seemed that the film was playing SOMEWHERE on TV at least once every month, even on the basic networks that I was limited to watching as a child. In fact, some would say that those very television airings are the very reason why The Wizard of Oz has become such a mainstay in the minds of so many people, as the film wasn't really all that much of a commercial success when it was released back in '39, mainly due to the film's massive budget (though it was a critical success). It wouldn't be until the late-‘50's, when the film would begin its aforementioned frequent television airings, that The Wizard of Oz would become the rampant success that the film is now envisioned to be. In fact, if you were to ask people to name five classic movies, I wonder how many of them would have this movie come to their minds first…probably a majority of them. Also, it's interesting to note that The Wizard of Oz was one of the first films released on VHS back in the early ‘80's, and it was also one of the first films to be released on DVD in the late ‘90's, as, to me, that just goes to show just how widely loved the film is.

As such, nearly everything about this film has become iconic in our culture. Judy Garland as Dorothy is iconic. The songs are iconic, and well-known to just about everybody. The Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda the Good Witch, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Munchkins…there's not a person alive who hasn't heard of these characters, and I'd be willing to bet that ninety-percent of them has never read the books by L. Frank Baum. In fact, since the film is so old and has had the privilege of better and more knowledgeable men than I grace the film with their musings that there's really nothing I can say about the film that hasn't been said before…and as such, I really don't know what to say. I will say, however, that while it may not be the very first Fantasy film in history (hell, it wasn't even the first film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz…in fact, I recently watched the 1925 silent version, which had some incredible stuntwork in that), 1939's The Wizard of Oz was the first Fantasy film to really nail what Fantasy could be in the still somewhat fledgling medium of film. The moment that Dorothy stepped out of that old, black-and-white house that was in the old, black-and-white real world, and into the bright colors of the landscapes of Oz epitomizes what Fantasy should be…opening you thoughts and mind to new and incredible perceptions, no matter how outlandish they may very well be.

[On a side note (and in a bit of a follow-up to a remark I made a few months ago about how I've never understood the supposed ‘scary' bits of The Wizard of Oz), I've finally found somebody who's actually scared of this movie. I was at a friend's house, and his young sister was there. He was channel surfing, and lo and behold, he landed on The Wizard of Oz, on purpose, of course. And it was on purpose, because he sister is indeed terrified of the film, and he was tormenting her by having it on. I asked her what was scary about it, to which she said, "Just look at it!" So I turned and looked at the television…and it was a shot of the doorman at the Emerald City, crying as Dorothy was weeping about no being able to enter into the city. The camera was so close up on the guy's face and at such an angle that his head appeared to be distorted or misshapen, with tears literally flowing down his blubbering face and twisted moustache, and…it all looked just a little bit grotesque. After all these years, I finally ‘got it' as to why the film can scare some people…but I still think it's a silly thing.]

3. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)



As of 2006, I became a full-fledged fan of Guillermo del Toro, and he's got this film to thank for it. Before the release of Pan's Labyrinth, I had indeed heard of del Toro, mainly through 2002's Blade 2 and 2004's Hellboy. While I did indeed like those films to varying degrees and took note (particularly in Hellboy) of del Toro's great eye for visuals, I really wasn't all that enamored with the man and his work by the time that advertisements for 2006's Pan's Labyrinth began popping up on my television set. A friend of mine, who really isn't that big of a Fantasy fan, was drawn to the movie (I can't recall what it was that prompted him to go see the film, whether it was del Toro or what), and after he had viewed the film in the cinema, he came out raving about it, attempting to press me to go to the theater to watch the film. For whatever reason, I resisted in going to see the film in the short period of time that the film was being shown in my area, and I even declined an invitation on my friend's part to accompany him to the theater, as he went to watch the movie again (of course, I might've actually went if he didn't live three hours away…). However, even after the film had been taken out of theaters, my friend, knowing full well how much of a Fantasy enthusiast that I am, continued to talk the film up and decrying the fact that I, as a Fantasy fan, had neglected to go to the theater and watch the film on the big screen. This line of action continued well on up to the point when the film was finally released on DVD, at which point I gave into my friend's persistent badgering, and bought the film on DVD the day it was released. And he was right, you know…I should've seen this film in theaters.

First off, I should note that, much like Big Fish affected me, I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed at the climax of the film, of which the film itself, like it's ending, is fairly dark. The final ‘fate' of the main little girl, Ofelia, came as quite a bit of a shock, and while it lent the villain of the movie an irrevocable sense of vileness, it was also something that I personally didn't see coming. As such, I couldn't help but get a little emotional at the sight of it…which I won't bring up in any amount of detail for those who haven't seen it. Of course, the real question that popped into my head while watching the movie was whether or not the Fantasy world that Ofelia visits is ‘real', or whether or not it's merely an imaginary world in which she mentally escapes from her own hellish reality. Del Toro has stated that the Fantasy world was indeed real, which, if that's the case, makes the ending a little bit easier to swallow. Speaking of said Fantasy world in the film, it is by-and-large the very reason that gives me absolutely no qualms with del Toro handling the upcoming Hobbit live-action films, as many of the sets and creatures that are contained within the Fantasy world are incredibly imaginative and glorious. Ultimately, this film stands as being one of the most beautiful pictures that I've ever seen, and not merely for the visuals of the film. From the characters to the perfect intertwining of a war film and a Fantasy film, to the moral and heart of the story, I've been left completely entranced by the film, each and every time I've watched it.

2. The Star Wars series



Obviously, of course, there was quite a bit of debate within myself as to whether or not qualify the Star Wars films as being Fantasy or Science-Fiction. Naturally (obviously), if I was to consider the venerable franchise as being Fantasy, there was no doubt in my mind that it would be ranked fairly high; however, if I felt that the franchise was more Sci-Fi than Fantasy, I had already decided that I would hold the series off the list completely in that case. In the end, I stuck to the precedent of what is Fantasy (the inclusion of the magical/mystical/supernatural), and came to the conclusion that, regardless of its Sci-Fi setting and technologies, the Star Wars films are predominantly Fantasy, as the Force and all of its aspects are quite clearly mystical/magical, and the plots of the films themselves would be just as at home in the guise of a series set in a more traditional, quasi-medieval Fantasy setting. As such, I have absolutely no qualms in putting Star Wars on my list. As well, I consider all six films to tell one large, cohesive story (which would be the story of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader), and I had stated a few weeks ago that in order to avoid weighing films in certain series' that can be looked upon as telling one large story against one another, I would give one spot to the franchise as a whole. And to be honest, it was for those two reasons (whether or not it's a sci-fi series, and giving the spot to both trilogies) that I was a bit nervous about placing Star Wars on here, as I imagine that it wouldn't sit all that well with some…but, at the same time, I feel that I'm more than justified in putting Star Wars on here, for the reasons that I lined out above.

In my opinion, only the epic back-histories that J.R.R. Tolkien created for Middle-Earth is more epic in scope and scale than the universe that George Lucas created for his film series. With a sprawling cast of colorful and memorable characters that encompass a plethora of unique peoples and imagination, the Star Wars mythologies is indeed one of the few brands that can even begin to rival that most hallowed work of Epic Fantasies. And if the fairly expansive happenings in the film universe isn't enough for you, you can delve even further into the expanded mythologies of the Star Wars universe, by cracking open one of the myriad of official Star Wars novels and comics, or television series and video games, most of, if not all, supplement the films. I couldn't even begin to tell you where I first crossed paths with Lucas' epic, though it was possibly through toys or the theatrical release of Return of the Jedi. At any rate, whenever it was that I did indeed come into my initial forays into the Star Wars universe, it ensured that I would be diehard fan of the thing for the rest of my days. Of course, we all know that the first film, A New Hope (though I do indeed remember the days when that particular film was simply called Star Wars by itself), is a fairly pivotal film in history, as when that film was released it changed the way special effects were viewed forever while at the same time making most of the special effects before it look like amateur hour. However, the enjoyment of the Star Wars films can't be measured in the technological achievements that the films are notable for, nor can it really be measured by means that we measure most other films (whether by acting, plot, etc.). To me, Star Wars is, and has been, great through every iteration of the franchise for one reason – they're all fun to watch and experience. No matter how much a majority of people want to rag on the Prequels, what are the chances that most of them still went to go see Episodes Two and Three in the theater, as well? In my opinion, those that did return for the next installment went because, even if they didn't like Episode One or Two, they still wanted to experience a Star Wars film in all of its glory…even if they didn't like it. That reason alone makes Star Wars, in all of its iterations, great.

1. The Lord of the Rings series



To be quite honest, LotR at Number One shouldn't come as much of a surprise to those who've been reading this from the first week, as I've more or less telegraphed the fact that this would top my list since the very first entrant on my list (being The Hobbit at #50), when I described my very own personal history with the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. While Tolkien isn't the father of Fantasy in general (and how could he be, as the works of authors such as Carroll, Barrie, Howard, and many more pre-date Tokien's work by decades), Tolkien is indeed the father of the High/Heroic Fantasy sub-genre as we know it today. In fact, I think that it would be safe for us to assume that had Tolkien not existed, then fifty-to-sixty percent of the books found on average in the Fantasy section at your local book store wouldn't exist…maybe even MORE than sixty percent wouldn't exist, as surely very few, if any, of the many, many additions to the Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten Realms, and Dragonlance brands wouldn't exist – which is quite a large portion of the High Fantasy side of things. Tolkien set the precedent and laid the groundwork, and it just so happens that the first in that vein, the inspiration to all others that have followed in the near century since LotR publication, still remains to be the best. When I was a kid, whether it was from listening to my father recite the story of The Hobbit to me or my ventures into the animated adaptations of Tokien's work (whether they be The Hobbit, Bakshi's LotR, or the other Rankin/Bass adaptation, The Return of the King), it was always the sense of adventure and the depictions of certain characters (Gandalf, Gollum, Smaug, etc.) that attracted me to Tokien; once I had built up enough gumption in me to actually sit down and read the The Hobbit and the three volumes of LotR (and later, when I was older, The Silmarillion), it was Tolkien's beautifully descriptive writing and the immense scope that his vision of the histories of Middle-Earth that reeled me in forever. As such, it should go without my saying that I believe Tokien's work and the vast mythologies that he dreamed up for his world to still be the standard-bearer for Fantasy in the literary world, and the greatest work ever produced in the genre. Nearly all other High Fantasy works walk in the footsteps of Tolkien and his creations, making it nigh impossible for those that followed in inspiration to avoid the long shadow cast by Tokien's Middle-Earth. As such, believe you me that when I stumbled across the news that LotR was being crafted into a trilogy of movies, I was sufficiently hyped for the release of the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring; later on, during the Super Bowl if I remember correctly, when I first spied the teaser trailer that showed the Ring while the words "One ring to rule them all…" were echoed on the screen, I was in such a state of excitement that I was as giddy as a school girl. I was in the theater for all three opening nights in 2001, 2002, and 2003, as well as seeing the films AGAIN before they were taken out of theaters – the first time I had actually done that (in fact, I watched Fellowship THREE times). I've since bought every iteration the films have seen on DVD, and have watched them all numerous times…in fact, the compilation of this list gave me the chance to watch them yet again. So to say that I'm a fan of the movies would probably be an incredible understatement.

Of course, the films do have their detractors, and I really can't blame them, to be honest, as I can understand the complaints they have for the movies (except for the exclusion of Tom Bombadil, for while it would be cool to see him on the big screen, he's not really necessary for the plot…and besides, the extended version offers up a nice homage to him through Treebeard). The films do indeed offer up deviations from the source material, either by way of characterizations (such as Arwen, who plays a much, much larger role in the films than she did in the novel) or through plot points and scenarios/situations (such as the Elves arriving to aid Rohan at the Battle of Helm's Deep). For me though, honestly, none of the deviations or additions to the original material ever even crossed my mind. Oh, I knew they were there, but the only thing that I was concerned with was this: for all the hype, for all the anticipation, for the subject matter and source material…the films couldn't have been that much better, but they could have been far, FAR worse. Anything and everything that I had hoped that the big-screen adaptations for my favorite books to be, the films were just that. The cast that was assembled for the films were exceptionally fantastic, with even those that I had originally not given much thought to coming through with excellent performances, of whom Sean Astin would top that list, as his performance as Samwise Gamgee was simply astounding, in my opinion. The look of the film was also amazing…so much so, in fact, that nearly all major motion picture releases of Fantasy films that have come out since have attempted to achieve a similar visual style. To me, everything about the film is great, and every time I watch it I'm completely drawn into it, never even giving half-a-thought to the length of the films. Perhaps the greatest thing that the films were able to accomplish is that, through their popularity and acclaim, they brought not only Tolkien and his work, but nearly all forms of Fantasy and their creators to the forefront of perception, to no longer be gawked upon as a joke or as merely being ‘kid-stuff', but with a measure of respect. As a lifelong fan of all things Fantasy, and having to deal with the things that I love being chalked up to ‘nerdy' or what-have-you, I really don't think that I could ask for anything more.

Well, that's the end of my big Fantasy list. All in all, I think it was a success, though I do wish that I could've elaborated a bit more on a few of the selections, and I rather enjoyed assembling it for you all, as it provided a bit of a trip down memory lane for me. Ultimately, I kind of wish that I had done MORE films than fifty, as then I could've added even more to the list, and perhaps feel like I didn't have to come up with so many rules as to limit the selections a bit. But oh well. At the very least, I hope that my love for the genre came across during the whole thing via my personal stories that were attached to most of them, and that maybe it provided a trip down memory lane for you all, as well. Hope you enjoyed it.