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Hollywood loves to cash in on a trend. Whether riding the coat tails of a successful film or cultural phenomena, studio after studio will jump on the band wagon to give the hungry fans something to spend their money on. The popular tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons began to catch the attention of the public and actually fueled a rash of sword and sorcery films in the early 1980's.

In 1981, British director John Boorman brought the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table to the screen in the film, Excalibur. This was a more romantic version of the sword in the stone, with a bit more sex and bloodshed thrown in for good measure. Excalibur featured many well know European actors including Patrick Stewart, Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne and Helen Mirren. The sets and costumes gave the film a very epic look and the soundtrack captured the essence of romance and nobility. The popularity of the movie whetted the movie studios appetite when they saw that there were fans of this genre and they wanted more.

Battles amongst men were exciting, but battling against an evil monster was too exciting to pass up. Dragonslayer, also released in 1981, introduced a monster as the principal antagonist. The dragon, Vermithrax, terrorizes the kingdom until it is defeated by the sorcerers apprentice. Special effects at that time were prone to use stop motion animation by hand, but a new form of computer controlled stop motion elevated the look of the dragon and made it move very convincingly.

1982 was a big year for sword and sorcery fantasy films. The Beastmaster was a low budget offering that managed to achieve a cult following. Dar, the main character, has the ability to communicate with animals. He uses this ability to help defend a village from an evil priest who is dabbling in the dark arts and creating an army of slave warriors. Story was not as important as the action and The Beastmaster didn't fail to entertain those who were seeking more thrills for their movie money.

The Sword and the Sorcerer was another fantasy film to use the action, humor and violence theme. The Sword and the Sorcerer follows the adventure of Prince Talon whose family was slaughtered by the evil tyrant, Lord Cromwell, many years earlier. Cromwell had taken control of the kingdom by force and is now ruling with an iron fist. Talon wants revenge on Cromwell, but so doesn't the dangerous wizard Xusia, who was betrayed by Cromwell and left for dead. Ultimately these three characters will face one another and decide who will rule the land.

Probably the most anticipated fantasy movie of 1982 was the big budget epic, Conan the Barbarian with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The saga of Conan starts with the plundering of his village by the villainous Thulsa Doom. Captured and forced into slavery, trained as a gladiator, Conan becomes a great champion. He is eventually set free by his captors and becomes a thief to survive. His brash exploits soon bring him into a nearly fatal confrontation with Thulsa Doom. When his beloved Valeria is killed by Doom, Conan will not stop at nothing to seek vengeance.

While some of these films were not the best representation of the 80's fantasy genre, they were the first to capture the hearts of the Dungeon and Dragons' fans and are still regarded as classics today.

Learn more about this author, Chuck Hoodak.
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