
Okay, so remember way back when I watched The Dark Crystal for the first time? No? Oh. Well I did. It was also during the phase where I inserted (this time quite literally) myself into movies via MSPaint. I was on a mission to watch all the 80’s fantasy movies I missed out on in my childhood. Anyway, I can finally say that I saw the following movies!
Netflix #48 – Labyrinth – Jennifer and ctina
While I love seeing Jim Henson creations in action, I wasn’t too impressed with anything else this movie had to offer. I thought the best moments of the movie were when the muppets were front and center doing muppety things. I loved the giants scaredy cat Ludo and courageous Didymus, who were by far my favorite parts. But the story was pretty meh and Jennifer Connelly kinda got on my nerves. David Bowie was fun, but the musical numbers were just kinda out of place. So it was fun, but mainly because anything with muppets is fun. Except Muppet Treasure Island.
Netflix #49 – Legend – JoeG
This one was definitely the most well made of the 80’s fantasy movies, and I suspect it had the largest budget. And did you know it was directed by Ridley Scott? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, the special effects, costumes, and set design were all extremely well done, but I thought the story was completely lacking. It was a pretty generic fantasy where the bad guy (who was awesome by the way) wanted to take over the world, and for some reason that always seems to include marrying a fair princess. Couldn’t he focus his energy on conquering the world first, then worry about getting jiggy with it? And Tom Cruise was a pretty bland hero, with little else beyond a pretty face, which isn’t as pretty these days when you know how crazy with a capital K he is. All in all, I enjoyed it, but more because of the design of it rather than the story itself.
So which is the best 80’s fantasy movie?
Now that I’ve seen The Neverending Story, Willow, The Dark Crystal, Legend, and Labyrinth. I can officially state that The Neverending Story is by far the best 80’s fantasy movie. I just think it has the best story and characters (Falcor! Atreyu! Artex!), and I love the theme of children’s imagination being all powerful. I even watched it again after watching Labyrinth and Legend just to make sure I wasn’t giving it more credit than it deserves, and no, I wasn’t. It is pure awesome.