The Missing Genre, is it a Fantasy?

Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan the Barbarian.

The Internet Movie Database lists 2341 different Fantasy Movies. Out of that number, very few actually qualify as what I call true Sword & Sorcery/Wizards & Warriors/Dungeons & Dragons type movies. The IMDB qualifies Star Wars as both a Fantasy Movie and a Science Fiction Movie. It also lists the Toy Story movie as a Fantasy Film. Obviously, any movie with elements of the fantastical qualifies for the IMDB.

And perhaps they are forced to do this because otherwise the list of Fantasy Movies would be very short. If you were to reduce that movie to truly good Fantasy movies the list becomes not only small, but actually miniscule. Finally, if you were to shrink the list again to only the Classic Fantasy Movies, you would be left with exactly zero movies.

I know, some would argue that Conan the Barbarian is a classic. In a sense they’re right. However, I feel Conan only stands out in comparison to the rather pathetic Hercules movies of the sixties. After all the Conan Movies are really only souped up versions of those old Steve Reeves movies. They bear much more resemblance to those old movies than they do to the classic Conan Novellas. Excalibur is another Fantasy movie often mentioned as a classic, and this one does get many things right, but the plot is just too long and Lancelot is horribly miscast. There have been others, but all of them fall down in some way or another.

The largest problem with most of the Fantasy Movies that have been made, is that they’ve been made by amateurs. Fans of the genre rather than true film makers. Take the recent, abortive attempt at bringing Dungeons & Dragons to the big screen. The director had a deep love and knowledge of the game, but it was painfully obvious that he didn’t know the first thing about making movies. This movie suffers from the common ailments of Fantasy Movies. Those of poor dialogue, bad acting, and a plot so full of holes you could drive a bus through them.

The Lord of the Rings

By no means however, are the problems with Fantasy Movies strictly the province of the Amateur Film Maker. When the Master himself, George Lucas, attempted his Fantasy Movie Willow, he too came up short. A childish plot, more poor dialogue, are only some of the problems this movie suffers from. Not even the big name cast, world class director, and great special effects could save this movie from disaster.

So, will there ever be a Classic Fantasy Movie? I have two hopes. The upcoming Harry Potter movie, which, based on the popular series of books, is sure to be successful, but will it be good? And when it comes down to it, Harry Potter isn’t Fantasy in the true sense of the definition I’ve used. It takes place in modern times and really is in a category of it’s own. Still, it may be the closest thing we can get to a true classic Fantasy. Unless.....

The announcement of the film version of The Lord of the Rings filled me with both anticipation and dread. Anticipation that at long last, this classic series would be put on film, but dread that whoever made the movie would screw it up completely. If, and this is a big if, they manage to do this movie justice, it will reign, probably for all time, as THE Classic Fantasy Movie. If they screw it up, it will just be another in a long line of Fantasy Foul Ups. I for one, will be keeping my fingers crossed.