Swords & Sorcery Films of the 1980's: PART II 

You forgot one great movie from 80's: Ladyhawke 1985

Legend Ladyhawke Heavy Metal Fire and Ice Labyrinth The Dark Crystal The Neverending Story Flash Gordon Sword of the Valiant Princess Bride Seems like an oversight. Needs part 3

Conan the Barbarian has one of the best soundtracks of all time. Compliments of Basil Poeldouris.

There's no way he could cover all of the fantasy genre films that were released in the 80's but i am surprised he didn't mention Legend with Tom Cruise and Tim Curry. Oh and Ladyhawke 😊

I am surprised that the best sword and sorcery movie of the 1980s was not included in your list. Ladyhawke was such a good movie that it stood head and shoulders above all the rest.

The Dark Crystal is my favorite 80's fantasy movie. It's one of those movies that you can watch over and over again and still discover new details.

Only the 80's can save us now. Thanks for video!

The James Horner score for "Krull" is one of my favorite scores of the '80's...simply entrancing!

Krull is one of my favourites. Dark and unique in its own way.

I remember going to the theater alone to see Krull. My mom dropped me off. I was 9 years old. Times have definitely changed.

The Deathstalker cover art was second to none.

Would've thought the excellent movie "LadyHawke" would been mentioned. While the sorcery was limited to a specific curse, it should be included. On the other hand we had the very well done & high production value "Flesh + Blood" w/Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh, but it was sword only, no sorcery.

I would like to have seen 1984's Sword of the Valiant starring Sean Connery and 1985's Ladyhawke with Rutger Hauer make this list.

No mention of the Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer & Michelle Pfeiffer classic Ladyhawk. When I was a kid, my favorite of the bunch was Beastmaster. Then, when I hit my teenage years, I decided Excalibur was an indisputable masterpiece (it is). I could practically recite the move by heart, much to just about everyone's irritation.

"The genre mostly remained dormant over the next two decades, with the exception of the highly celebrated..." ...Xena - Warrior Princess.

Lord of the Rings movies did not "avoid nude tropes from Sword-and-Sorcery", it was not an SnS movie but a classic Fantasy movie. SnS is usually based on a bronze/iron/Hellenistic/Roman-age technology level. For that reason, they dress in Celtic, Germanic (the barbarians), Greek, and Roman tradition, while proper Fantasy movies are set in a middle-age-like environment with a more prominent archery and sophisticated armor and dresses. While there is nothing wrong with the "nude trope", it doesn't come from the SnS trend, but it started the decades before with the Peplum trend (Sword-and-Sandal), made of movies with an almost identical style but strictly based on ancient Mythology, again, following the Classic era esthetic you can see in ancient statues. Schwarzenegger was chosen cause he was Mr.Olympia, Olympia name is a Greek reference... you see how it all adds up. In that sense, 300 would be more of a Sword-and-Sorcery movie than LotR, cause there is some magic in it.

cant wait for the new red sonja movie.. they say it will be in the spirit of the red sonja comics, which means there will be blood and a chain mail bikini

I loved Krull and Willow ❤

The 80's sword and sorcery were a blast. Missing was Lady Hawk, Yor and Dungeon master.

Anyone remember Yor? Starts as S&S and finishes on a Death Star like place.

How did "The Neverending Story" not make the cut?!

Legend. Ladyhawke. The Princess Bride. You missed a lot, but those are the three I'd like to see get the treatment. Especially Ladyhawke which is my favorite S&S movie from the 80s.

One of my faves when I was a kid was Time Bandits.

We were huge D&D fans back in the 80s, and all the movies you covered in this series influenced our gaming. We even made up the weapons from those films for our games - the automatic crossbow from Hawk the Slayer being my favourite, followed by the tri-blade from Sword and the Sorcerer. We worked out the damage ratings, skill points needed to wield them, etc. Those were the days…

Conan, He-Man, Dark Crystal, Krull, and Willow were nuts!

Kinda surprised that you didn't list The Black Cauldron. That has a lot of Swords & Sorcery elements, even if it was one of Disney's weaker animated movies. Also, I'm pretty sure Roger Corman wasn't involved with Fire & Ice. The '80s was such an awesome time for the fantasy genre in general. Some of the ones that weren't mentioned because they didn't have very many S&S elements, if any at all, were The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Return To Oz, The Neverending Story, The Princess Bride, Legend, Ladyhawke, Highlander, Time Bandits, The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen, The Last Unicorn, The Flight Of Dragons, The Secret Of NIMH, and if you want to get into obscure anime territory, there's the Unico movies, The Fantastic Adventures Of Unico and Unico In The Island Of Magic.

‘Dungeons & Dragons, Honor Among Thieves’ is actually the fourth ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ movie, mind you the preceding three were nothing to write home about.

Interest in sword & sorcery didn’t die after the 80s. It just moved to tv. The influence of shows like Highlander, Hercules, and Xena should not be diminished.

I was a very young teenager back in the 80s and will never forget the day I managed to rent Deathstalker from my local video store being an over 18 film made it even more exciting I ran home to watch it only for my Mum to say I will watch that with you, OMG the embarrassment of all the sexy scenes in front of my mum was the longest film I ever sat through 🤣🤣

Krull, Dragonslayer and The Sword and the Sorcerer will always be my top favorites.

I had a copy of Willow recorded off of TV that I watched so many times I still remember the commercial breaks.

Willow.... FOR THE WIN!!!

Excalibur and Conan get a lot of respect, which they absolutely deserve; Beastmaster and Krull are both underrated as films. Beastmaster is a really tight film, and Krull takes a lot of crazy chances.

One of my favorites would be "The Never Ending Story." Also missed mentioning "Flesh and Blood," starring Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh and directed by Paul Verhoeven.

No mention of The Princess Bride? INCONCEIVABLE!

I feel like it needs to be said that Excalibur didn’t introduce Helen Mirren. She had already established herself in films in the 70s.

I remember most, but a few I've never seen and will have to track down. It's hard to pick a favorite, but Conan will always have a special place with me. Huge men with giant balls hacking each other to bits with an epic soundtrack never gets old.

Ladyhawke was always a favourite of mine

These were awesome times to be a kid, I played Krull the arcade game at the mall.

I remember Red Sonja, watching as a kid in a stone manor hotel. Deer antler and swords hung on the walls, so coincidentally fitting. Total fantastical escapism.

Grew up watching so many of these. Loved them all, but honestly... Willow and Conan the Barbarian were always my top favorites.

There was Tom Cruise in Legend and Highlander movies and tv series .

I think you forgot a couple! Fire and Ice, for example, by Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta. And if you are counting Mazes and Monsters, why not count Heavy Metal as well? And then there is Hearts and Armour (1983) as well as Time Bandits... although no magic there... But there were definitely people turning into animals in Ladyhawke! And even Tom Cruise got into the action in Legend! Will there be a part III with all of these?

DeathStalker II is a must watch. Mainly for the blooper reel at the end.

The story goes that Arnold was in Red Sonia as a favorite to De Laurentiis. But he only filmed for a week and he didn't realize that he was a major character until he saw the movie. Then, on top of that, he had top billing. His fallout with De Laurentiis is the other reason there wasn't a third Conan movie.

Krull likely has the most OP weapon.

you totally missed 2 of the BEST. LadyHawke and Legend. also maybe Highlander fits the category?

you kinda missed Xena and Hercules in the 90s as part of the sword and sorcery phenomenon, maybe even Highlander a little bit

Sword and the Sorcerer and Excalibur are my two favorite Sword and Sorcery films. Started playing D&D back in 79 as a couple of friends on the wrestling team talk me into playing it.

Nice video - though I would call LOTR more of a landmark that helped revive the genre, rather than an exception - my favorite from this decade is Excalibur (also Company of Wolves for fantasy in general) - others I really liked include Last Unicorn, Dragonslayer, Conan 1, Sword and Sorcerer, Beastmaster, Princess Bride, Ladyhawke, Legend - other brilliant more offbeat entries include Peter Brook's Mahabharata, Syberberg's Parsifal, and the 1990 PBS marathon broadcast of Wagner's entire Ring Cycle at the Met

Ah yes Deathstalker! Thank you Roger Corman for giving MST3K fodder. How come you did not mention Legend (1985)? It fits your criteria.

Excalibur is still the pinnacle of the Arthurian based movies and it's unlikely to be surpassed by any modern movie adaptions. The only way it could be surpassed is if it's adapted as a TV series which I would love to see.

trip down memory lane - thank you

Ladyhawker (1985) was my favorite, super sword and sorcery movie from 1985

The S@S genre never really went away at all, it continued right on through the 90's with tv series Beastmaster, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Zena: Princess Warrior, Mortal Kombat: Conquest, Highlander, Highlander: The Raven. Hardly gone nor forgotten. Highlander alone had three movies in the 90's. There was also Kull: The Conqueror, Dragonheart, Merlin, Beastmaster 2 @ 3, Deathstalker 4, Barbarian Queen, Prince Valiant, Dragonworld, and the list goes on and on. Hardly a dead or dying genre, if anything it was more alive in the 90's than it was in the 80's. LotR was just the largest budget Sword and Sorcery ever made and pretty killed the genre for the next decade, quiet the opposite of revitalizing it.

Krull is underrated! The glaive is one of the coolest movie weapons ever.

was a few shows and movies here and there that keep it alive and should had been mention at the end, as they were fan favorits, maybe not critics, such as: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-1998) Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001), and Legend of the Seeker (2008-2010).

What about Sword of the Valiant? Princess Bride? I think we need a Part 3.

I was about to make a comment about the line being drawn here between 'Sword and Sorcery' and perhaps higher fantasy/fairytale like Legend, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, The Never Ending Story or The Princess Bride... But then I saw all the other comments. Ultimately, I think that the genre distinction is a matter of family resemblance, there's no easily defined set of criteria.

I saw every single one of those movies, hundreds of times

Hawk the Slayer... wow. How this movie was made is beyond any sense of reason.

Loved Krull , Legend and Conan

Shame you didn't focus more on Deathstalker II. I liked the campy humour and any film showing 2 Monique Gabrielles can't be bad.

Sword and the sorcerer Lee Horsley as Talon with his Sly Sword 🗡️

DUUUUDE I fucking looove the Red Sonja movie!!!! 🤩

*_Check out these Sword&Sorcery movies as well:_* *_Hundra_* *_Gunan_* *_Ator_* *_The Sword Of The Barbarians_* *_Sorceress_* *_Thor The Conqueror_* *_The Blade Master_* *_Gor_* *_Yor_* *_Ironmaster_* *_The Throne Of Fire_* *_Conquest_* *_She_* *_Iron Warrior_* *_The Devil's Sword_* *_The Barbarians_* *_Quest For The Mighty Sword._* *_Some of these have sequels as well._*

As a side note, Dolph Lundgren has his Master's in Chemical Engineering and was on his way to MIT on an academic scholarship when he got side tracked by Hollywood. Very smart man.

I remember in the 80s there was the running joke that HBO stands for, "hey, Beast Master's on"

"Wizards and Warriors" tv series, 1 season, loved it.

Ladyhawke, Legend, The Highlander. May Crom be with you!!

I have a memory from when I was a kid in the 80s of a man in a desert who comes across a giant mirror that reaches across a huge distance tricking travellers from thinking that it is just more desert ahead. Does this ring a bell to anyone?

This was great! I'm happy to say that, with the exception of Black Angel, I've seen every movie you featured in these two vids (some just work the last couple of years), and own several of them. I enjoyed every one of them, but the two that have really stuck with me are two of the most unlikely: Hawk the Slayer and Krull. I won't apologize for that. I love both movies dearly. Hawk was directly responsible for me getting into D&D (we're playing tomorrow, in fact). My wife is a chemist, and when we were planning our wedding she did some research to see if there was a way to safely replicate the "I give fire to water" wedding scene in Krull. Sadly, there was no way of doing it with real fire that wouldn't put one or both of us in the hospital. It was still a fun idea, though!

You left out Ladyhawke! Good GOD, man!

Some of these I just call fantasy. I tend to reserve S&S for the ones that evoke more of an ancient (rather than a medieval) vibe - the less armour worn the more S&S it is likely to be. :)

Masters of the Universe absolutely terrified me as a child.

Beastmaster is my favorite. It's imaginative!

Excalibur was not Helen Mirren's start. She was in 6 movies before that, the first was A Midsummer Nights Dream in 1968.

You can keep your 3-bladed sword and give me a 5-bladed glave.

I loved Krull. Watched it every time it was on

My Top 25 Favorite Sword and Sorcery Films (followed by 15 Honorable Mentions) are: #01. The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) #02. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) #03. Conan the Barbarian (1982) #04. Excalibur (1981) #05. Willow (1988) #06. Dragonslayer (1982) #07. Legend (1985 - Extended Director's Cut) #08. Jason and the Argonauts (1963) #09. Clash of the Titans (1981) #10. Red Sonja (1985) #11. Highlander (1986) #12. The Dark Crystal (1982) #13. Big Trouble in Little China (1986) #14. Heavy Metal (1981 - Animated Film) #15. Conan the Destroyer (1984) #16. She (1965) #17. Arabian Adventure (1979) #18. Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) #19. Labyrinth (1986) #20. Krull (1983) #21. Wizards (1977 - Animated Film) #22. Highlander 2 (1991 - Extended Director's Cut) #23. The Vengeance of She (1968) #24. Hercules in the Haunted World (1964) #25. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Bonus: 15 Honorable Mentions are: #26. The Hobbit (1977 - Animated TV Movie) #27. The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) #28. The Beastmaster (1982) #29. Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1985) #30. Hercules (1983) #31. Fire and Ice (1983 - Animated Film) #32. The Lord of the Rings (1978 - Animated Film) #33. Jabberwocky (1977) #34. Gawain and the Green Knight (1973 Version) #35. Jack, The Giant Killer (1962) #36. The Magic Sword (1962) #37. Hearts and Armour (1983) #38; Return of the King (1980 - Animated TV Movie) #39. Ladyhawke (1985) #40. Hercules Against the Moon Men (1965) Granted, many of the best are from the 1980's, but many of the worst came from the 1980's, too. These others I mentioned are worthy as well. I know this video focused on the 1980's, but check out these others if anyone reading this is not aware of them! PS: Regarding the debate over what IS a Sword and Sorcery film, and what is NOT a Sword and Sorcery film... My opinion?... Well, if the film has swords... and it also has sorcery ... Then it is a Sword and Sorcery film... Pretty simple, really!

Mysteriously missing, 1984 The Warrior and the Sorceress starring David Carradine

A mention of The 13th Warrior in line with references to more recent movies would be in order as well

Sword and Sorcery was not absent in the 90s. In the late 90s, we had Xena and Hercules, and they were not small tv shows.

Krull had a very popular arcade game. I remember someone mentioning to a player something which got the response, "There was a movie?"

Game of Thrones and Skyrim came out in the same year. I never realized that until just now. I guess the world was ready for it.

Heavy Metal was awesome!!! And caused a huge rift between Music in films and the ownership of the money gained from using them.....

Regarding the genre laying dormant until Lord of the Rings, I think the Hercules and Xena tv shows deserve a shout.

Thanks for making this series, this genre is near and dear to my heart and I loved hearing some extra trivia. Gonna have to go through that list of 37 you showed and make sure I’ve seen them all!

How could you leave out LadyHawke ?

I remember them all and the beastmaster was my favorite

I would love and exhaustive list of all those 70s and 80s movies good to bad

My favorite sword & sorcery movie is Conan the Barbarian. The soundtrack by Basil Poledouris is one of the greatest of all time.

Hawk the Slayer!! the elf's name was Crow ..and yeah, Excalibur was fantastic!

greetins, youtubers and youtubresses!

@1:44, hey, Fire &Ice was an excellent film. Highly recommend it!

Deathstalker 2 is my favorite of the series.

Conan movies were so popular in my country that Red Sonja came as Kalidor as a title

Great videos. Really enjoyed these. Pity you didn't mention stuff like Labyrinth, Ladyhawke, Princess Bride and the Highlander movies.

Krull deserved better! I also love Conan the Destroyer, that movie is the perfect representation of how I imagined fantasy RPGs before I began playing them.

You gotta give Ladyhawke some love!