The Big List of 1980s Barbarian & Fantasy Movies

Dim the lights, please...

This blog is about fantasy jungles and I’ve posted about many jungle movies from the 80s, but hardly any fantasy flicks from the same era.  I’ve decided to fix this problem with this one long post about fantasy movies from that legendary decade, and a few from the late 70s and early 90s.

It’s called the “Big” list instead of the “Master” list because there are so many obscure and foreign fantasy movies that I’ve never heard of and will likely never watch.  Some on this big list are also in the science fantasy or post-apocalypse genres, but with definite fantasy elements.  There’s probably some borderline and multi-genre movies that I’ve missed and some I’ve left off on purpose, such as the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies.

Warning…many of the movies listed hear are low-grade trash and so-bad-they-are-funny.  They may be stupid, but “we can laugh as we watch it and appreciate its existence as a cultural artifact.”

To make the list a little more useful, I’ve divided it into sub-categories to show the chronology and relationships between them.  The first couple categories dip back into the 70s.  Prior to these, worthwhile fantasy cinema was mostly limited to Harryhausen and a few others.  In that sense, these were a prelude to the tidal wave of fantasy movies that were to come in the 80s.  First up are Terry Gilliam’s dragon comedies…

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)
• Jabberwocky (1977)

The next category consists of animated features by Ralph Bakshi and Rankin/Bass…

• Wizards (1977)
• The Hobbit (1977)
• Lord of the Rings (1978)
• The Return of the King (1980)

The “Why did they choose such puny and dorky-looking actor to play the leading dude?” category.  Nonetheless, I like these…

• Excalibur (1981)
  
• Dragonslayer (1981)
• The Sword & the Sorcerer (1982)

The dragon slayer looks like Richard Simmons

The “It’s all about the ranged weapons” category…

• Hawk the Slayer (1981)
  
• The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire (aka The Archer and the Sorceress) (1981)

The “Gosh, they’re big.  Are they real?  I’m talking about the monsters, of course” category…

• Clash of the Titans (1981)
• Sorceress (1982)

Uncategorized…

• Heavy Metal (1981).  I hesitate to include this on the list.  It must be somebody’s fantasy.
  
• Quest for Fire (1981) is a pre-Conan the Barbarian caveman movie without the brawny barbarian conventions, so I’ve included it here instead of in the caveman/barbarian section below.  It has a sense of realism that almost removes it from the fantasy genre altogether.  But I saw it reviewed in an old fantasy gaming magazine one time, so it’s worth mentioning here.  I’m not including Clan of the Cave Bear (1986) on this list, though.  Sorry.

That brings us to the vanguard of barbarian cinema…

• Conan the Barbarian (1982)
• Conan the Destroyer (1984)

It's good to be king

( This list will now go off on a barbarian tangent for awhile, and return to “other fantasy” further down the post.)

The original Conan movie is the main reason why many of the following movies exist.  A direct descendant is She, starring Sandahl Bergman, co-star of the original Conan.  Very little, if anything, to do with the H. Rider Haggard book, but great stupid post-apocalypse fun and it kicks off a category of barbarian movies with women as the primary protagonists…

• She (1982 in the UK, 1985 in the US)
• Hundra (1983)
• Red Sonja (1985)
• The Sisterhood (1988)  (The closest Cirio Santiago came to a barbarian movie, previous mentioned here)

Those four are the halfway decent entries in the “barbarian women” category.  Hundra probably deserves to be placed in the next category, but the Ennio Morricone score and the bull-worshipping cult keeps it up here with the big girls.  The next four are the regrettable “barbarian women” movies, though they have their moments…

• Amazons (1986)
• Golden Temple Amazons (1986)
• Barbarian Queen (1985)
• Barbarian Queen 2 (1992)

The following movies straddle the line between the caveman and barbarian genres, but what’s the difference?  What is it about 1983?

• Yor, the Hunter from the Future(1983)
• Ironmaster (1983)
• Thor the Conqueror (1983)
• Conquest (1983)

Yor lands a critical on the Darth Vader-esque minion.

There are several series that are categories of their own and extended into the 90s…

• Deathstalker (1983)
• Deathstalker 2 (1987)
• Deathstalker 3 (1988)
• Deathstalker 4 (1991)

• Beastmaster (1982)
• Beastmaster 2 (1991)
• Beastmaster 3 (1996)

• Gor (1987)
• Outlaw of Gor (1989)

And one last series:  The Ator trilogy starring Miles O’Keefe.  These are some of the best Italian movies in the genre, and by “best Italian movies” I mean “laughably bad but strangely fun”…

• Ator, the Fighting Eagle (1982)
• The Blade Master (1984)
• Iron Warrior (1987)

Here’s the bottom of the barbarian barrel.  Three Italian jobs starring Sabrina Siani and Pietro Torrisi…

• The Invincible Barbarian (aka Gunan, King of the Barbarians) (1982)
• Barbarian Master (aka The Sword of the Barbarians, aka Sangraal, la spada di fuoco) (1982)
• Throne of Fire (aka Il trono di fuoco) (1983)

These three are pretty bad and only for completists, stalkers, and cultists.  Here’s why:  Perhaps the only reason to watch them is Sabrina Siani.  S. S. is the feisty small-chested swordskitty in a genre that typically features double-Ds.  She was also in a couple movies listed previously, Conquest and Ator, the Fighting Eagle, which I’d recommend over the three Siani/Torrisi flicks.

Watch Ator if you want to see the "best" fantasy movie in which you can see Siani's golden locks. Ator, the dude, is sporting an impressive mane too.

Watch Conquest if you're mostly interested in Siani's boobs and don't care to see her head, as it's covered in a Destro mask the entire time.

The “Barbarians come to a city near you” category…

• Highlander (1986)
• Masters of the Universe (1987)
• Time Barbarians (1990)

Some more barbarian movies that don’t fit into the above categories…

• Fire and Ice (1983)  Bakshi is back, and he’s brought Frazetta.  Nice jungle…previously mentioned here.
  
• Revenge of the Barbarians (aka When the Raven Flies) (1984) is more of a viking drama than a barbarian action flick, but it has “barbarians” in the title so here it is.  Other Viking/Norse movies to be aware of from this era are The Norseman (1978),  Pathfinder (1987) (not to be confused with Nispel’s Pathfinder from 2007) and Erik the Viking (1989).
• The Warrior & The Sorceress (1984)
• Altar (1985)  “The Turkish Conan”
• The Barbarians (1987)
• Quest for the Mighty Sword (aka Ator IV, aka The Hobgoblin) (1990) is the lost fourth installment of the Ator series, but it doesn’t count because Miles O’Keefe is nowhere to be found.

Now let’s return to fantasy movies outside the barbarian sub-genre…

The “Is it D&D?  Nope” category.  Many gamers dislike Mazes and Monsters but it’s far-out entertainment to me.  Check out the Mazes and Monsters Retro Clone RPG at the Blog of Holding.

• Mazes and Monsters (1982)
• The Dungeonmaster (aka Ragewar) (1984)

The “Castles and Aliens” category…

• Krull (1983)
• Star Knight (aka El caballero del dragón) (1985)  Klaus Kinski alert!

Krull has some excellent visuals, especially in the Black Fortress

The “Rutger Hauer with a sword and a castle and a blonde” category…

• Flesh+Blood (1985)
• Ladyhawke (1985)

The “Fairy Tales and Romance and such” category…

• Hearts and Armour (1983)
  
• Legend (1985)
• The Princess Bride (1987)

Every decade sees the release of at least a couple dreadful movies connected to the Arthurian legends.  Excalibur was previously listed and is pretty good.  Sword of the Valiant is ok, but some of those later ones are unwatchable…

• Sword of the Valiant (1984)
• Merlin and the Sword (1985)
• Merlin of the Crystal Cave (1991)

The “Terry Gilliam 80s fantasy” category.  Brazil may be too much in the sci-fi future genre to truly fit here, but it would be hard to leave it off a list of “Terry Gilliam 80s fantasy” movies…

• Time Bandits (1981)
• Brazil (1985)
• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

The “Little People” category isn’t very big…

• Willow (1988)

Hmmm, it could be argued that Willow is a "barbarian movie", but I don't think of it as one

Though most 80s fantasy movies are entirely juvenile in a sense, some were made specifically with an eye towards a younger audience.  There’s some animated features…

• Faeries (1981)  I had never heard of this before Jeff Rients recommended it be listed here.  Watch all 24 minutes of it on youtube.
  
• The Secret of NIMH (1982)
• The Last Unicorn (1982)
• The Flight of Dragons (1982 in UK, 1986 in US)
• The Black Cauldron (1985)

…and some “into the land of make believe” movies…

• The NeverEnding Story (1984)
• The NeverEnding Story 2  (1990)
• Mio in the Land of Faraway (1987)

…and a couple of made-for-TV Star Wars specials with a strong science fantasy feel to them…

• Caravan of Courage (1984)
• The Battle for Endor (1985)

…and some kids movies that took footage from non-kids movies…

• Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1985)
• Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II (1989)

…and a couple Jim Henson productions…

• The Dark Crystal (1982)
• Labyrinth (1986)

I like the look of this jungle in Dark Crystal

David Bowie is the ultimate Labyrinth Lord

There’s also a slew of 1980s Asian productions that have fantasy elements, but I don’t know much about them.  Maybe someone more knowledgeable about these can list some in the comments.  Some that I’ve seen are Zu Warriors of Magic Mountain (1983), Duel to the Death (1983), and Burning Paradise in Hell (1994).  Some anime also fits here, such as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Record of Lodoss War (1990), and Ninja Scroll (1993), but again that’s not an area that I have watched much of, so will leave it for others to examine more thoroughly.

Know of any 80s fantasy movies that I’ve missed?  Let me know in the comments.