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Very hard question. I would have said the Medusa scene from Clash of the Titans as she haunted me as a child yet also fascinated me, and I had the great honour to have met Ray Harryhausen and have him sign my copy of "An Animated Life". The man is a god to me and I look forward to Morningside Production's Force of the Trojans. The Widow of the Web scene from Krull is incredibly frightening and beautiful in equal measure. Steven Archer - who I had the greatest fortune to have met - pulled off an amazing feat of stop motion work.
There are many honourable mentions, such as the flying ping-pong balls of death from Hawk The Slayer or the terrifying savagery of the killer rabbit from a film I have long forgotten. Hey, now who can forget Jeremy Irons incredible "LET TERROR RRRRREEEEIGNNNN!" scene from D&D? Thats the REAL S***!
Being serious I shall put forward two scenes that are by a director who isn't known for his films that cater to the youngest members of the audience...Wolfgang Peterson's Neverending Story. The first scene is where Atreyu is struggling through the marsh of sorrow and the wolf Gmork is closing in for the kill, and Falcor flies down from the heavens to pluck Atreyu from certain death at the last possible second. It brings forth memories of moments in one's life when you are ready to just give in to the cruel reality of life and yet an event happens when you are unexpectedly given a lifeline, maybe not resolving your problems nor taking the pain away, but at least giving you the resolve to carry on. That is a scene that could have had better vfx, but the way its shot and executed is perfect and to change it would be a crime against cinema. Wolfgang went out of his comfort zone for the better and touched the hearts of many children of the 80s.
Same film, but Atreyu's final confrontation with Gmork as Fantasia is crumbling around them. Gmork's "reveal" is brilliance, and the duel is decided in the blink of an eye, being true to nature. The puppetry isn't Jim Henson standard, but still highly effective. Sometimes we have violent experiences in life, and its only when its over, do we take stock of who got hurt and how badly. Neverending Story has a very nasty streak in a film aimed at children, but somehow its true to life and it only takes us to the line without crossing it. There aren't many directors who can pull that off, especially when its the first time at the rodeo for them.
I'm sure the Hunchback will have something to say about that, but dammit Neverending Story deserves its praise.
SamusDrake wrote: Very hard question. I would have said the Medusa scene from Clash of the Titans as she haunted me as a child yet also fascinated me, and I had the great honour to have met Ray Harryhausen and have him sign my copy of "An Animated Life".
His stop motion work is legendary. Heck he along with the likes of Jim and his Puppets really broke ground on what could be done in fantasy and sci-fi without CGI and honestly a lot of that old stuff still stands the test of time better than a lot of CGI does. I also think there's a lot of creative charm in many of their creations that you sometimes don't see with CGI - then again sometimes CGI can be a bit like the Transformers films where there's so much going on its overwhelming to the senses (esp when its high action and moving around); or it suffers from some of the continual plagues of CGI such as appearing too "clean" and uniform a surface.
Any of the parts in The Dark Crystal that reinforce the connection between the Skexies and the Mystics. My personal favorite was when the mad scientist Skexie falls into the lava and one of the Mystics simply flares up and vanishes.
SamusDrake wrote: Very hard question. I would have said the Medusa scene from Clash of the Titans as she haunted me as a child yet also fascinated me, and I had the great honour to have met Ray Harryhausen and have him sign my copy of "An Animated Life".
His stop motion work is legendary. Heck he along with the likes of Jim and his Puppets really broke ground on what could be done in fantasy and sci-fi without CGI and honestly a lot of that old stuff still stands the test of time better than a lot of CGI does. I also think there's a lot of creative charm in many of their creations that you sometimes don't see with CGI - then again sometimes CGI can be a bit like the Transformers films where there's so much going on its overwhelming to the senses (esp when its high action and moving around); or it suffers from some of the continual plagues of CGI such as appearing too "clean" and uniform a surface.
Yup.
Stop motion just seems more convincing, especially when blended with more modern Cgi to smooth it all out.
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The problem with cgi is the issue of lighting and pushing the vfx artists way beyond their capacity.
You take Abyss, T2 and Jurassic Park and you have films that were meticulously planned and the slightest lighting detail taken into consideration. ILM worked very closely with Cameron and Spielberg to deliver the most incredible visual effects possible.
Today, its not about creative collaboration but winning contracts and "fixing it in post" with a horrendous workload just shipped out to overworked external vfx houses...who really do not give a crap that they are involved in working on something special as a beloved franchise.
Take the Transformer movies. The first one was a genuine effort by ILM to deliver photo realistic robots that transform into vehicles, and succeeds well enough. The sequels that followed look fake and even have repeated shots, because the pioneering spirit is lost( "we've already done this" ) and the work load has increased dramatically with each movie. However, along comes Bumblebee and passes with flying colours thanks to its "less is more" approach. This was the same approach used on Iron Man which was released shortly after TF'07, as the challenge was no longer transforming robots, but a man wearing a suit of powered armour that enables him to do incredible things. ILM was able to take what they had learned on Transformers and apply that knowledge to a new problem - an actor interacting with a machine suit. Yet with Revenge of the Fallen they took that knowledge and...just did more of the same.
"I mean, c'mon! How do ya guys expect to beat me? Urhg? Ummm....good answer. Good Answer!"
Jim Henson studio definitely made miracles happen. Although not oscar-winning material, TMNT(1990) saw the studio pushed way beyond its limits, and the film turned out far better than what it deserved to be. I like the new Turtle movies but damn, they were up to the challenge of fast moving characters that still had full facial movement. If it weren't for the rare shot of seeing the performer inside the mouth( which cgi could fix ) then it would have been flawless. That film has a lot of heart that is missing from today's films.
Anyway, I don't want to derail the thread too much...
Conan's prayer to Krom and the Battle on the Mound. The cinematography and musical score of that movie was insanely good. Honorable mention to Arnold line in the same movie about being shy and self conscious in front of a pedo-priest.
The Rohirrim charge on the Pelenor's field, mostly for the rallying speech. The arrival of the Mumakil was also pretty cool.
The Nazgul attack in the Inn with Aragorn narration.
All the scene in the Hobbit Town. It looks so vibrant, alive and peaceful.
The Prayer to Valhalla in the 13th Warrior.
Honorable mention to the duel between Dumbledor and Voldemort in the 5th Harry Potter movie as well as the introduction to Hogward in the very first movie.
Just Tony wrote: Any of the parts in The Dark Crystal that reinforce the connection between the Skexies and the Mystics. My personal favorite was when the mad scientist Skexie falls into the lava and one of the Mystics simply flares up and vanishes.
Must be excited for that TV series coming out.
I adore the dark crystal movie and its steampunk fantasy setting.
From whom are unforgiven we bring the mercy of war.
The fire from vermithrax was an added in effect, animated in They even animated the "in-camera" lens-flare into the shots.
From a technical standpoint, it was something they didn't "have" to do, but the animators thought it looked "more real" so they did it.
I tend to fall asleep through most fantasy films. Just aren't enough spaceships and pew-pew to keep me awake. Dragonslayer is the last one I recall staying awake through.
I'm OVER 50 (and so far over everyone's BS, too).
Old enough to know better, young enough to not give a ****.
That is not dead which can eternal lie ...
... and yet, with strange aeons, even death may die.
Just Tony wrote: Any of the parts in The Dark Crystal that reinforce the connection between the Skexies and the Mystics. My personal favorite was when the mad scientist Skexie falls into the lava and one of the Mystics simply flares up and vanishes.
Must be excited for that TV series coming out.
I adore the dark crystal movie and its steampunk fantasy setting.
Dark Crystal is Steampunk?!? Methinks you've mixed your punks up
Just Tony wrote: Any of the parts in The Dark Crystal that reinforce the connection between the Skexies and the Mystics. My personal favorite was when the mad scientist Skexie falls into the lava and one of the Mystics simply flares up and vanishes.
Must be excited for that TV series coming out.
I adore the dark crystal movie and its steampunk fantasy setting.
Dark Crystal is Steampunk?!? Methinks you've mixed your punks up
IDK, Aughra's machine looks kinda steam punk.
Of all the races of the universe the Squats have the longest memories and the shortest tempers. They are uncouth, unpredictably violent, and frequently drunk. Overall, I'm glad they're on our side!
Office of Naval Intelligence Research discovers 3 out of 4 sailors make up 75% of U.S. Navy.
"Madness is like gravity... All you need is a little push."
On that note, I'll also throw in a mention of the scene in the first Fantastic Beasts where we see the full interior of Newt's suitcase zoo for the first time. Yes, it is just a few minutes of 'look at our fancy CGI and how much money we have', but for me at least it brings back that sense of childlike wonder that the HP movies excelled at.
The later ones are probably better films, but the first ones really had those breathtaking moments that were just utterly transporting, like Buckbeak's flight or just seeing the castle for the first time.
Me, I enjoy the original series, and can't stand the Fantastic Beasts (there's just so much of Eddie 'overrated' Redmayne gurning at the camera I tolerate). But the visuals in both are astounding.
Some of the human CGI in the early ones is, well, obvious. Like during Qudditch Matches. But I fear that was more a limitation of the technology at the time, rather than inability of those doing the work.
And there's still room for Practical Effects as well, which is ace (the wobbly, boneless arm always cracks me up!)
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If you mention second edition 40k I will find you, and I will bore you to tears talking about how "things were better in my day, let me tell ya..." Might even do it if you mention 4th/5th/6th WHFB
I love scenes where it accidentally got real. The Princess Bride fencing scene is so much more amazing when you learn that Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin both learned to fence with both hands for the scene. Or that Madmartigan's armor was Val Kilmer's personal armor, from his SCA persona as Duke Valentine, just fancied up a little bit because it was more convincing than the initial prop armor. But for that reason, my favorite are all of the fight scenes from Lord of the Rings involving Gimli. Because John Rhys-Davies..... actually fought those poor stunt guys.
Klawz-Ramming is a subset of citrus fruit?
Gwar- "And everyone wants a bigger Spleen!"
Mercurial wrote:
I admire your aplomb and instate you as Baron of the Seas and Lord Marshall of Privateers.
Orkeosaurus wrote:Star Trek also said we'd have X-Wings by now. We all see how that prediction turned out.
Orkeosaurus, on homophobia, the nature of homosexuality, and the greatness of George Takei.
English doesn't borrow from other languages. It follows them down dark alleyways and mugs them for loose grammar.
-Willow- Pretty much all of it but especially Val Kilmer in his brand new pretty armor thinking he's scaring the trolls away but it's really the giant monster from the depths behind him and the Final Tower fight.
-Pretty much all of LoTR -End of the last fight scene in 13th Warrior
-Sword fight in Princess Bride. Just so well done.
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At Sword's Point.
Maureen O'Hara and Cornell Wilde, with Alan Hale Jr. playing the son of Porthos, who was played by Alan Hale Sr. in an earlier Three Musketeers movie.
One scene takes place in a tavern with O'Hara pretending to be the wench, and the others walking in on one of the Cardinal's men trying to hit on her.
A must see.
Of all the races of the universe the Squats have the longest memories and the shortest tempers. They are uncouth, unpredictably violent, and frequently drunk. Overall, I'm glad they're on our side!
Office of Naval Intelligence Research discovers 3 out of 4 sailors make up 75% of U.S. Navy.
"Madness is like gravity... All you need is a little push."
These are all great entries so far, just going to throw a couple other movies out there that I loved in the Fantasy Genre:
2007 Pathfinder
2001 Brotherhood of the Wolf
1983 Fire and Ice
1981 Heavy Metal
Bad Mad Doc!!
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