Classic Fantasy Movies of the 80s

Listverse published a lovely list of 10 classic fantasy movie from the 80s.

It's good to see I'm not the only one who remembers Beastmaster, which was a very cute movie. I am also very happy with the mentioning of Labyrinth, a true childhood classic, full of fun, humor and creepy puppets.

Still, I was missing one true classic, called The Flight of Dragons - a lovely and wonderful animated movie, with dragons and magic galore.



The choice of the first place, The Princess Bride, is (of course) perfect. One of the best movies ever, one I remember by heart and can watch over and over again. A true classic.

Top 10 Duels and Fight Scenes in Movies

When you think of duels, the concept of a Western probably comes to mind. Duels in movies, however, are extremely varied. A good duel can be etched in your memory for a long time, and sometimes it's the pivotal scene in a movie.

Here are my top 10 duels and one-on-one fight scenes from the movies:

#10

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - Fight Scene between Yu Shu Lien and Jiao Long

Although it's a bit over done at some points, it's still a very elegant, tense and riveting duel. Plus, it features two women, which is a rare thing in movies.

#9

The Court Jester - The Pellet With The Poison Duel Scene

Danny Kaye is the king of comedy and nonsense. You wouldn't expect him to be in a list about duels and fight scenes, but watch this clip and you'll understand why this duel is worthy of the top 10.



#8

Monty Python And The Holy Grail - The Black Knight Fight Scene

Yet another funny duel, with a lot of dark humor and silliness - a true classic Monty Python.




#7

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Aragorn VS the Uruk Hai Leader

OK, so this scene is mostly about the death of Boromir, actually, but I HAD to give LOTR one spot in this list. Plus, it's a cool fight - and there aren't many one-on-one fights in LOTR, which is mostly about massive battles. Besides, Viggo is DA KING.




#6

The Matrix - Neo VS. Agent Smith

The first Matrix movie was a piece of pure genius. The final duel between Neo and agent Smith, is something you really wait for the entire movie - and it's well worth the wait. It's fast, intense, sophisticated and not without a touch of humor. And, of course, the good guy wins.




#5

Kung Fu Panda - The Duel for the Dumpling

This is a hilarious yet riveting duel between Po the Panda and Master Shifu - all for one last dumpling.




#4

Under Siege - Ryback VS. Stranix

This is probably the best Steven Seagal movie. Seagal is excellent in one-on-one fight scenes. He's sleek, cool and moves like a snake. This duel is very well done - brutal, quick and with knifes only. This clip shows every fight scene Seagal has in Under Siege.




#3

Stardust - The Zombie Duel

Septimus is already dead, but the witch makes him keep fighting. Can Tristan win against a corpse? This is a very original, very unique and wonderful duel, and the movie itself is great.




#2

The Princess Bride - Inigo VS. The Man in the Black Mask

This is one of the best sword fights EVER. Not only is it impressing, skillful and artistic - it's also funny and holds some of the best quotes in an already highly-quotable cult movie. "Unless the enemy has studied his Agrippa... which I have!".




#1

Troy - Achilles VS. Hector

No, it's not because it's a duel between two of the sexiest men alive. No, it's not because they are showing a lot of sweaty muscles. It's number one on my list because it's truly glorious, intense, skillful and accompanied by excellent music, that only intensifies the drama.

Top 10 Movie Speeches and Monologues

A few days ago I came across an interesting list, presenting the top 35 speeches in history. Of course, the list can be debated for ever and more, but it also reminded me of a different kind of speeches - those we see in the movies.

A good speech or a dramatic monologue can be the pivotal point of a movie, and if it's well done - can really raise goose bumps. There are quite a few lists out there that present top speeches in movies, so allow me to add mine to the mix.

Here are my Top 10 Movie Speeches and Monologues, in no particular order (I only numbered them so you can see there are ten speeches).


#10
Braveheart - The Freedom Speech: Although I don't care much for Mel Gibson these days, Braveheart was a good movie. The speech William Wallace gives in front of the Scots before going to battle is dramatic and moving.

Braveheart Freedom Speech - The funniest bloopers are right here

#9
A Few Good Men - You can't handle the truth: You can't ignore this monologue. It comes at a crucial point in the film and it is performed marvelously by the all-mighty Jack Nicholson. And of course, the quote "You can't handle the truth" has become widely popular.




#8
Good Will Hunting - The Bar Scene: Matt Damon let's a cocky student have it, and does it in a very cool way.




#7
Life of Brian - We are all individuals: This speech mocks a lot of things, and that's mainly why it's so hilarious and cool.




#6
Team America - The world explained in Dicks, Pussies and Assholes: I was just recently introduced to this speech, which is very funny, rude and to the point. "Sometimes pussies get so full of shit that they become assholes themselves". HA!




#5
Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Aragaron's speech at the black gate: I adore the LOTR books and movies. Viggo Mortensen was amazing as Aragorn and this speech makes him mighty and kingly to the max.




#4
Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - King Theoden's speech before the charge of the rohirrim: I told you I love LOTR, didn't I?




#3
The Princess Bride - To the pain: Only Westley can be so cool, ironic, rude and sleek in the face of death.




#2
Independence Day - The president's speech: When the future of mankind is on the line, everything is dramatic and thrilling.




#1
Tootsie - Emily Kimberly reveals it all: Dustin Hoffman is an amazing actor, and this role was one of the best he ever played. Here, in an "improvised" monologue, he shocks everybody into understanding who he really is.





Best Hosting Plan EVER: Unlimited Domains, Unlimited Disk Space, Unlimited Data Transfer. Check it out!

Princess Bride Lightsaber Battle

One of the best mash-ups I have ever seen:

The Surprise of Stardust

It's been a while since I have seen a really good movie. I go to the cinema almost every week, sometimes twice a week, but if you ask me "When was the last time you saw a really good movie", I'll have a hard time remembering.

I loved Borat and Hairspray, Transformers was pretty cool... And that's about it. Since Lord of the Rings, I can't recall a movie that really left an impression, or that made me want to see it again.

It's getting worse when talking about sci-fi and fantasy movies. The choices there are slim to begin with, and the performance is lame, most of the time. Eragon and Bridge to Terabithia are just two examples of shallow, unimpressive movies.

That's why I went to see Stardust with very few expectations. The very impressive cast (Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sienna Miller, Charlie Cox etc.) only made me even more suspicious. Such an amount of heavy hitters is usually a recipe for failure (Shh, don't say "Kingdom of Heaven", ok?).

Actually, I didn't hear a thing about this movie until I saw that there's a screening of it in one of our local theaters. Which was also weird - I see a lot of trailers online and in the cinema, and I didn't recall seeing anything about Stardust.

The bottom line is that it's always good to have low expectations. Stardust really caught me by surprise - and I enjoyed it immensely. It's a fun movie, that doesn't take itself very seriously and has a lovely storyline, full of action and humor. The actors are excellent. De Niro gives a hilarious performance (I won't spoil it for you - I'll just say he's not what he seems at first), Pfeiffer plays a wonderful evil witch and Charlie Cox gives the fresh and young touch. I am not much of a fan of Claire Danes, but she wasn't all bad, either.

The plot isn't all that sophisticated: "In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm". Your basic Quest-For-Love kind of thing. It's not about CGI and special effects, either, but mostly about the humor, the fun and the lightness of it all.

Mostly it reminded me of The Princess Bride, which became a real cult movie over the years. Stardust isn't an epic of the kind of LOTR, but it's a movie I would love to see again - if only for the wittiness and De Niro's performance.