# Let me know about some lesser known fantasy movies! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2013, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207 "2013-02-03T11:05:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/41 "2013-02-05T16:26:04Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > I second this recommendation. All the Harryhausen films are worth watching if just for his wonderful animation sequences. Especially, “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958), “The Three Worlds of Gulliver” (1960), “Mysterious Island” (1961) and “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963). > > Minor nitpick, Harryhausen’s animation is not the same as claymation. His creations weren’t made of clay but were metal ball and socket armatures covered with a latex skin. His beautifully detailed models were shot a frame at a time, like the clay creatures seen in claymation films like “Chicken Run”, but his stop-motion process went by the name Dynamation. I believe the only one of his creatures that could be referred to as animatronic was a mechanical owl seen in Ray’s last film, “Clash of the Titans” (1981), although this creature was stop-motion animated in most of its scenes. > > If you liked “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” check out the lesser-known, “Jack the Giant Killer” (1962) which is a low budget remake of the Sinbad film. It even stars Kerwin Matthews, Sinbad in the “The 7th Voyage…”, as the hero. Avoid the re-cut musical version, though. Or not, depending on your masochistic tendencies. Some comments: 1.) Very little is the same as “Claymation”, which is actually a trademark term that Will Vinton productions came up with any used. Aardman animation (Wallace and Gromet, The Pirates, Band of Misfits, Chicken Run) don’t do Claymation – they animate plasticine. 1. Even in Will Vinton’s Claymation, they use armatures. It gives the figures stability and reproducibility. Sometiomes they dispense with it, but a lot of those human-shaped figures have metal armature cores. Will Vinton productions even made a short that showed this. 2. **Jack the Giant Killer** was deliberately made as a direct imitation of **The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad**. It not only has the same star (Kerwin Matthews), but the same Villan (Torin Thatcher\*) and the Screenwriter for Seventh Voyage was the director for Jack. The animator was Jim Danforth, who did the effects for _The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm_, _The Seven Faces of Doctor Lao_, and many other films, including _When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth_ (arguably his best film), a sequel to Harryhausen’s _One Million Years B.C._. Danforth, I think, got a creputation as the “cut-rate Harryhausen”. The fan magazine FXRH did a piece comparing Jack with Seventh Voyage, much to Danforth’s detriment. The guy deserves more respect. He reportedly did finally work _with_ Harryhausen on his last film, **Clash of the Titans** , although I don’t think he got any screen credit. I loved Jack the Giant Killer when I was a kid. I finally got a copy on VHS several years ago, and saw it as an adult. It hasn’t aged well. The effects look goofier than I remember (The Dragon at the end looks less fearsome, and more like a mischievaous puppy dog), especially the cel-animated effects sparkles, while Seventh Voyage still looks awesome to me. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/42 "2013-02-05T17:19:00Z")
[Valhalla Rising](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valhalla_Rising_(film)) , directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (who also directedDrive) about a one-eyed Norse warrior. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/43 "2013-02-05T18:24:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > \ **She** – the next effort by the team that made **King Kong** and **Son of Kong** , including the producer, scriptwriter, composed, production crew, and some of the effects people. The 1934 version is considered the definitive film version of H. Rider Haggard’s story of “She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed”. It’s pretty influential. Disney definitely took the costume for the Evil Stepmother Queen from _snow White_ from one of SHE’s costumes, and Ray Harryhausen modeled the Reception Hall of the Grand Lunar in _From the Earth to the Moon_ on the queen’s reception hall. It re-used the giant doors from King Kong, featured a pre-Sherlock Holmes Nigel Bruce in a major role, had Randloh Scott as the hero, and was the sole screen outing for Helen Gahagan in the lead roloe. She later went into politics. The art deco sets are impressive. Remade again in the 1960s with Ursula Andress, and then (kinsda) as a postapocalyptic straight-to-video version in the 80s. One that is missed was the 1932 German film [The Mistress of Atlantis](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210844/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1), starring Brigitte Helm of _Metropolis_ fame. Although not a true retelling of H. Ridder Haggard’s _She_, it is an adaptation of Pierre Benoit’s novel _L"Atlantide_ (or as I call it “_She_ with the serial numbers filed”), where Atlantis is located in the middle of the Sahara and is found by French Foreign Legionnaires. Another lesser known movie is the 1925 Italian silent movie _Maciste in Hell_ where the Italian strong man goes to the Christian Hell. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/44 "2013-02-05T18:47:30Z")
> [@detop](#): > > One that is missed was the 1932 German film [The Mistress of Atlantis](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210844/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1), starring Brigitte Helm of _Metropolis_ fame. Although not a true retelling of H. Ridder Haggard’s _She_, it is an adaptation of Pierre Benoit’s novel _L"Atlantide_ (or as I call it “_She_ with the serial numbers filed”), where Atlantis is located in the middle of the Sahara and is found by French Foreign Legionnaires. > > Another lesser known movie is the 1925 Italian silent movie _Maciste in Hell_ where the Italian strong man goes to the Christian Hell. There are a number of versions of this (including two filmed simultaneously with this one with most of the same cast, but in different languages). I haven’t seen any of them. Others have remarked on the similarities to _She_ (and one clsaims that Benoit’s book rips off another of Haggard’s novels, _The God of Gold_). Film version of _l’Atlantide_ apparently make a show of the Hall of Petrified Lovers, just as versions of She featured the Flame of Life and Ayesha’s dissolving her former lover with acid. To my credit, I have read Benoit’s book it’s all based on. Never saw any old Maciste films, although Og knows I saw enough of the 1960s ones. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/45 "2013-02-05T19:55:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > \ Never saw any old Maciste films, although Og knows I saw enough of the 1960s ones. Very different from the 60s peplum movies. You can find both the Mistress of Atlantis and the Maciste movie in this pack of 50 movies : [Nightmare Worlds](http://www.imdb.com/list/DXSmolq0N-0/?ref_=tt_rls_2) To add to the list of little known movies : [Stake Land](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1464580/?ref_=sr_1). A 2010 vampire movies, where vampires and fundies “ally” to bring Armageddon. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/46 "2013-02-05T20:10:51Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I think that making fun of other posters is a bad idea, and outside of the Pit it’s not allowed, I believe. Then report the offending post. I will second _Dragonslayer_. Some silly plot points, but overall well done. And the Dragon is quite good CGI, given the date it was made. _Ladyhawk_, too, was very enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/47 "2013-02-05T20:19:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > \ > I will second _Dragonslayer_. Some silly plot points, but overall well done. And the Dragon is quite good CGI, given the date it was made.\ The dragon was **not** CGI. If I recall correctly, it was stop-motion or animatronics. And (production) quality-wise, it should be good. It is a Disney movie after all. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/48 "2013-02-05T20:24:57Z")
> [@detop](#): > > The dragon was **not** CGI. If I recall correctly, it was stop-motion or animatronics. And (production) quality-wise, it should be good. It is a Disney movie after all. Vermithrax Pejorative (the name of the dragon in _Dragonslayer_) was stop-motion animated, but its movement was computer-blurred in another of those permutations of “Go Motion”. Harryhausen reportedly said, on seeing it, “Nice Moves.” Of course, for some scenes they built full-size claws, head, etc. And even a full-size babny dragon. But most of the scenes were processed stop-motion. And, though it was a Disney film, much of the effects work was handled by LucasFilm. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/49 "2013-02-05T23:42:08Z")
Just to clarify, though I’m sure Cal is aware of this, when he said computer blurred that also wasn’t CGI. They connected the armature to computer controlled servos so that there would be movement when the image was photographed, creating motion blur. It was a technique subsequently used for _Return of the Jedi_ AT-ST Scout Walkers sequences. I’m not sure if it was very successful as the finished films still have a jerkiness, and it sure sounds like a complicated procedure. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/50 "2013-02-06T00:44:53Z")
The most lesser known of my favorite films in this genre is **The Boy Who Could Fly** , a gentle love story with a light touch of fantasy. I am still in love with Lucy Deakins, and always will be. Anyone else know this movie? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/51 "2013-02-06T01:23:55Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > Anyone else know this movie? Jay Underwood freaked me out when he played a robot in some other thing (looks it up, it was [Not Quite Human](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Quite_Human_%28film%29)) with this dead-eyed look on his face, so that bothered me as I watched _The Boy Who Could Fly_ the first time. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/52 "2013-02-06T01:34:45Z")
I’m a big fan of the movie _Mirrormask_, written by Neil Gaiman and directed by his longtime cover artist / collaborator Dave McKean, produced by The Henson Company. It’s a variation on the classic Through the Looking Glass format, and bears a few similarities to Labrynth (it was rumored that it was first drafted a Labrynth sequal, but Gaiman has said that’s not exactly true). It’s creepy, trippy, and has a look and feel unlike anything before or since. It’s not perfect – the plot’s thin in a few points and some of the CGI is pretty rough around the edges – but it’s very, very worth checking out if you like movies like Labrynth, Dark Crystal, or The Neverending Story. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/53 "2013-02-06T01:51:41Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Just to clarify, though I’m sure Cal is aware of this, when he said computer blurred that also wasn’t CGI. They connected the armature to computer controlled servos so that there would be movement when the image was photographed, creating motion blur. > > It was a technique subsequently used for _Return of the Jedi_ AT-ST Scout Walkers sequences. I’m not sure if it was very successful as the finished films still have a jerkiness, and it sure sounds like a complicated procedure. Several comments: 1.) There were several iterations of that “go-motion”. In some cases it was controlled motion (they did this with the miniature “flying bicycles” in **E.T.** – betcha didn’t know some shots were of miniatures. The spokes were properly blurred without the “strobing\*” that gives a lot of stop motion its jerkiness. 2.) I don’t think they did this with the AT-ATs in **Empire Strikes Back** – the jerkiness that the “strobing” of stop motion gives to them adds a sense of verisimilitude to their mechanical motion. Ray Harryhausen wanted to do _The War of the Worlds_ in the 1950s, back before George al did. If he had, his stop-motion tripods would’ve looked _perfect_. 3.) You don’t need computer control to give that blurring effect. David Allen did it with his winged demons in **Equinox** by just pulling on wires connected to the wings, and it worked fine. 4.) I believe that the computer blurring in **dragonslayer** and in **mpire Strikes Back** (for non-AT-AT scenes, like the long shots of the running tantaun) really _were_ done by processing of the image, not by computer controlling of wires connected to the models, but it’s possibl that I’m wrong. That, however, has been my understanding of the situation. \*strobing is the jerky effect you get when you perform stop-motion animation of things moving rapidly. If you were recording an actual fast motion on film, it would blur. But when you photograph a still model, there’s no blur, and the image is unnaturally clear and sharp, something your mind is able to pick up on, even though the images are rushing by at 24 frames a second. It’s as if the motion had been stopped by a strobe light, like dancers at a disco, and you get the same sense of eerie dreaminess about the scene. as noted, you can blur this by moving the item during the shot, or by image processing afterwards. (If you look at old Disney cartoons from the 30s and 40s, they wrre blurring individual drawings to eliminate the effet). Some, like Harryhausen, didn’t try to do anything about it. The wings on his pterosaurs, harpies, homunculi, and other things strobe to beat the band, and he never really cared. I think he liked the look of it. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/54 "2013-02-06T02:32:52Z")
[Go-Motion rig](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-30szPjVugsQ/TYDAOsyXMDI/AAAAAAAAAVc/HgEiYY6q9w0/s1600/33651_452777252067_30866547067_5287598_4700007_n.jpg) used in _Dragonslayer_. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/55 "2013-02-06T16:11:38Z")
[**Hawk the Slayer**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080846/combined), low budget sword and sorcery made in the UK, with Jack Palance as the Bad Guy :). ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/56 "2013-02-06T22:09:03Z")
One of my favorites is _Six-String Samurai_, an alternative history post-apocalyptic quest movie with a katana-wielding Buddy Holly and music by the Red Elvises. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207/57 "2013-02-07T12:45:24Z")
> [@TPWombat](#): > > [**Hawk the Slayer**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080846/combined), low budget sword and sorcery made in the UK, with Jack Palance as the Bad Guy :). Oh my God! I had totally forgotten about that one! I saw that on TV as a kid! What a great cheesefest that was! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-me-know-about-some-lesser-known-fantasy-movies/649207.md?page=2)