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The cheap Italian S&S movies phenomena predates the Conan movies and goes back to the late 1950s when they churning out movies featuring bodybuilders taking the role of Hercules or Maciste (still don't know where Maciste comes from) and lots of slave girls.

Also, terrible, cheap fantasy movies are still being made, mostly by outfits like The Asylum or just enthusiastic amatuers and as frequently shown on SyFy or the Horror channels. I think I watched the entire Mythica series one day when the SyFy ran a Mythica marathon. I couldn't tell you what it was about. For what it's worth Rise of the Shadow Warror is one of the better new, cheap fantasy movies I've seen. It is what it is, but it made enough of an impression I bought the DVD for a friend of mine who is much more into the genre and he really enjoyed it.

What I've not seen mentioned yet is Kevin Sorbo's Kull the Conquerer. It's a little vanilla, more family friendly that most of the titles listed here, but it's also a more coherent and professionally made. I enjoyed it.
 
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Also known as Fugitive from the Empire

 
I thought The Scorpion King was watchable. Amusing and enjoyable even, YMMV.

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I've never seen any of the sequels*. Were they any good? Still worth checking out?

* There's more than I knew: Rise of a Warrior (2008), Battle for Redemption (2012), Quest for Power (2015) and Book of Souls (2018). The last three were direct-to-DVD releases.
 
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Sorry. Missed the II.

Edit:

I did find this Region 0 option. Don't know anything about that site, though.



Yeah, another pirate scan/VHS rip. I do have one of those, but they're basically DVD-Rs
 
I thought the animated Beowulf was pretty good


I really liked it except for Grendel's mother. The alteration to the monsters' origins was interesting.

Well also the fight with Grendel has a load of stupid lampshade stuff with Beowulf's nudity. Either have him naked or don't, but what they did just made the scene silly I felt.
 
Not quite sword and sorcery, but the film adaptation of The Name of the Rose was pretty good.


It's not Sword & Sorcery but while we're on this tangent this film was my introduction to the wonderful world of Umberto Eco and my mom happened to own the book. I was sad when he passed away
 
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As a kid I loved Beastmaster, but has anyone ever heard a rationale for why they didn't just go with a tiger instead of dying it black??
There are two commentary tracks on the 4K disk, I'll try and get the time to listen to them and see if they provide an answer.
 
The cheap Italian S&S movies phenomena predates the Conan movies and goes back to the late 1950s when they churning out movies featuring bodybuilders taking the role of Hercules or Maciste (still don't know where Maciste comes from) and lots of slave girls.

Also, terrible, cheap fantasy movies are still being made, mostly by outfits like The Asylum or just enthusiastic amatuers and as frequently shown on SyFy or the Horror channels. I think I watched the entire Mythica series one day when the SyFy ran a Mythica marathon. I couldn't tell you what it was about. For what it's worth Rise of the Shadow Warror is one of the better new, cheap fantasy movies I've seen. It is what it is, but it made enough of an impression I bought the DVD for a friend of mine who is much more into the genre and he really enjoyed it.

What I've not seen mentioned yet is Kevin Sorbo's Kull the Conquerer. It's a little vanilla, more family friendly that most of the titles listed here, but it's also a more coherent and professionally made. I enjoyed it.

The Peplum films of Italy, later called 'sword and sandal' films, I'd consider definitely related but different.

Maciste is the name of the Hercules-like hero of the silent film Cabiria who became a pop-mythic figure in Italian cinema. He was often renamed Hercules for the English-language market.

Interestingly his name was largely an invention of the great fascist writer and poet d'Annunzio!
 
Also, terrible, cheap fantasy movies are still being made, mostly by outfits like The Asylum or just enthusiastic amatuers and as frequently shown on SyFy or the Horror channels.
I was showing Bunny some of these S&S trailers like 5 minutes ago and she was asking if they make stuff like this any more. Are these films you're mentioning for adults? If so, links plz! The vast majority of modern low budget sci fi and fantasy films I've encountered are tame and yawn-inducing, as if they were accommodating the sensibilities of square prudes who would never watch this stuff anyway.
 
I was showing Bunny some of these S&S trailers like 5 minutes ago and she was asking if they make stuff like this any more. Are these films you're mentioning for adults? If so, links plz! The vast majority of modern low budget sci fi and fantasy films I've encountered are tame and yawn-inducing, as if they were accommodating the sensibilities of square prudes who would never watch this stuff anyway.

They are just as bad as the 80s S&S movies, but with less nudity.
 
I was showing Bunny some of these S&S trailers like 5 minutes ago and she was asking if they make stuff like this any more. Are these films you're mentioning for adults? If so, links plz! The vast majority of modern low budget sci fi and fantasy films I've encountered are tame and yawn-inducing, as if they were accommodating the sensibilities of square prudes who would never watch this stuff anyway.

Uwe Boll was kinda in this zone
 
Yeah, that's what I thought. Not interested.

TristramEvans TristramEvans Tell me more about this Uwe Boll please


Ohhh man, is he a character.

Um, rich Eastern European (?) guy who decided, possibly as part of a midlife crisis, that he wanted to make movies, so he bought up a bunch of B-grade videogame licenses and uh....he made movies. Sorta.

The weird thing was, for some reason (maybe just money), he was able to secure the services of some arguably very talented actors. In these just weird trainwrecks that are very much like a 14 year old boy's idea of what would be kewl (mostly violence and nudity) who has no skill or talent or self-awareness but ended up with Hollywood production values.

I recommend checking out Bloodrayne and Name of the King at least. The first is a medieval vampire action adventure with Ben Kingsley (!) playing the evil vampire lord. Name of the King is like Game of Thrones fanfic smooshed into one film with Jasonn Statham.

 
Postal is an interesting Boll film. He has stuck at it so long he's developed a cult following.

His films aren't very good but they're almost always shot through with energy and fail in interesting ways.

Been intending to check out this doc on him.

 
I recommend checking out Bloodrayne and Name of the King at least. The first is a medieval vampire action adventure with Ben Kingsley (!) playing the evil vampire lord. Name of the King is like Game of Thrones fanfic smooshed into one film with Jasonn Statham.
Well Name of the King has Jason Statham so we gotta see that at least. We loved Crank and Crank 2, they are a good mix of high-octane action, humor, and raunchiness. In fact they are some of Bunny's favorite movies (I think her crush on Jason Statham helps). Unfortunately the crappy, unimaginative trailers do not do the films justice so I wont link.
 
Well Name of the King has Jason Statham so we gotta see that at least. We loved Crank and Crank 2, they are a good mix of high-octane action, humor, and raunchiness. In fact they are some of Bunny's favorite movies (I think her crush on Jason Statham helps). Unfortunately the crappy, unimaginative trailers do not do the films justice so I wont link.

Other good Stratham films I'd recommend are The Bank Job, Parker and Wild Card.
 
Man, this thread is another trip down memory lane. I had forgotten all about Yor and Krull, and I saw those in the theatre when I was 13! 1983 was apparently a good year for those kinds of movies.

I’m ashamed to admit that I have thoroughly neglected my son’s education, as he hasn’t seen any of these (he’s 16). Then again, my wife would not approve of the vast majority of them, so I’d have to be sneaky about it.

But 16 is a good age for Sword and the Sorcerer and most of the others, so it’s definitely time.

I’m really glad to hear Sword and the Sorcerer still holds up. I was worried it would suck now that I’m (apparently) an adult with (in theory) adult tastes.
 
Well Name of the King has Jason Statham so we gotta see that at least. We loved Crank and Crank 2, they are a good mix of high-octane action, humor, and raunchiness. In fact they are some of Bunny's favorite movies (I think her crush on Jason Statham helps). Unfortunately the crappy, unimaginative trailers do not do the films justice so I wont link.

Yeah I saw Crank 1 & 2. They were fun films. My favourite of his is Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
 
Uwe Boll is actually German and his film career has been described to me as one gigantic tax scam using a tax incentives offered by the German government to domestic movie makers which apparently meant he's make money even if the film lost money. Apparently he stopped making movies once this tax loop hole was closed and is now in the restaurant business.

I don't know the details or if any of this is true but I am not sure I'd want to eat at his restaurant.
 
Uwe Boll is actually German and his film career has been described to me as one gigantic tax scam using a tax incentives offered by the German government to domestic movie makers which apparently meant he's make money even if the film lost money. Apparently he stopped making movies once this tax loop hole was closed and is now in the restaurant business.

I don't know the details or if any of this is true but I am not sure I'd want to eat at his restaurant.


I think it was a bit more than simply a tax scam...he comes across as more of a Tommy Wiseau-type to me, ieeven if embezzling drug money was a part of it, I see genuine enthusiasm.
 
I don't know the details or if any of this is true but I am not sure I'd want to eat at his restaurant.
I think it was a bit more than simply a tax scam...he comes across as more of a Tommy Wiseau-type to me, ieeven if embezzling drug money was a part of it, I see genuine enthusiasm.
Restaurants and bars are a tried and true vehicle for laundering money and other shenanigans.
 
Re: Uwe Boll, I have a deep, genuine, and non-ironic love for the film BloodRayne. It has a hot chick in tight leather pants dual-wielding blades to slaughter vampires, and Ben Kingsley playing the bad guy! Really, what else does a movie need??

BloodRayne: Third Reich is also pretty entertaining, but BloodRayne II is one of the most boring movies I've ever seen.

As for S&S, there's a ton of that stuff on Amazon Prime, at least in the US.
 
How can you all mention In the Name of the King, and leave out that Burt Reynolds was THE KING!?! :clown:

Plus Ray Liota, Claire Forlani, Matthew Lillard & John Rhys-Davies? I mean it's a whos who of people who used to be somebody!
 
How can you all mention In the Name of the King, and leave out that Burt Reynolds was THE KING!?! :clown:

Plus Ray Liota, Claire Forlani, Matthew Lillard & John Rhys-Davies? I mean it's a whos who of people who used to be somebody!

Hold on now! Don't be besmirching Claire Forlani!
 
How can you all mention In the Name of the King, and leave out that Burt Reynolds was THE KING!?! :clown:

Plus Ray Liota, Claire Forlani, Matthew Lillard & John Rhys-Davies? I mean it's a whos who of people who used to be somebody!
Dude! Ray Liota, Burt Reynolds, and Jason Statham all in the same film? I gotta see this. Tonight it was Bunny's turn to pick but rest assured this one is next in the que.
 
Dude! Ray Liota, Burt Reynolds, and Jason Statham all in the same film? I gotta see this. Tonight it was Bunny's turn to pick but rest assured this one is next in the que.

I don't suppose I can talk you out of it? The Dungeon Siege movie isn't just very, very dull, it also very long.
 
Hold on now! Don't be besmirching Claire Forlani!


It's not besmirching if it's the truth.....

Don't get me wrong; she's done some great work in tv (I liked her appearances in NCIS LA and Hawaii Five-0), but her film career was on the downward slide when she starred in that movie.
 
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