Foundation Of My Fantasy: The Sword & Sorcery Culture Of My Youth 1977-1985

1- THE HOBBIT (Rankin-Bass; 1977)
My lifelong love of fantasy culture begins with Rankin-Bass' 1977 animated version of THE  HOBBIT. My father was a fan of JRR Tolkien's books and I'm sure it delighted him to have a cartoon adaptation he could share with his 4 year old son. 

Some of my earliest memories are of watching that film. I remember parts being frightening for such a young child, but I still loved it.

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2- 'THE HOBBIT  OR THERE AND BACK AGAIN: AN ILLUSTRATED EDITION' (Harry N. Abrams; 1977) 220 pgs.

Around our house we had an illustrated hardcover THE HOBBIT book with a very cool wraparound plastic cover featuring an animated cel (which I promptly destroyed since I was a kid). I spent many hours staring at the fantastic illustrations while skimming the story.

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3- Ralph Bakshi's THE LORD OF THE RINGS (1978)

In 1978 Ralph Bakshi's animated version of THE LORD OF THE RINGS was released and it was a big deal for our family.

My mother, brother and I took the train from Brooklyn into Manhattan and met my father after work so we could all go see it. We then performed the family ritual of eating at our favorite restaurant in Chinatown.

I remember LOVING Bakshi's version of LOTR, a sentiment I still feel to this day. Again, there were parts of the film that were probably too scary for a 5 year old (the Nazgul stand out), but it was a defining film of my early elementary school years. Part of life is facing fear.


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4- LORD OF THE RINGS toys (Knickerbocker; 1979)

For Christmas that year my older brother and got some cool LORD OF THE RINGS toys

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5-  DUNGEONS & DRAGONS BASIC SET (1978)
In 1979 my family purchased the 1st boxed Basic edition of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (From my research I believe we had the 4th printing from 1978).

 

At that time we didn't play the game, but we did roll the dice and look at the books an awful lot! The artwork was mesmerizing! I came to learn every one of those illustrations like the back of my hand, as my mind imagined what it was like to be in those situations. Alas, at age 6 I was still too young to understand D&D- so many rules! But having that basic set sitting around the house piqued my interest for sure!

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6- RETURN OF THE KING cartoon (Rankin'-Bass; 1980)
For whatever reason there was never a sequel by Ralph Bakshi to his 1978 film LORD OF THE RINGS. Into the void stepped Rankin-Bass' 1980 animated film RETURN OF THE KING, covering the third book in JRR Tolkien's THE HOBBIT trilogy. It was broadcast as a special on television.

Wikipedia describes the fan reaction as 'lukewarm', and I believe that's very accurate. It's not a bad film, but it's a tremendous step down from the second film. It's also not as memorable as 1977's THE HOBBIT, though they share a similar animation style. I believe most fans were happy the film existed to close out the story, and that it performed that job. It's part of the canon.

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1981 garnered two more seminal fantasy films, both of which I saw in the theater

7- DRAGONSLAYER

First was DRAGONSLAYER, which I saw with my father. I thought it was excellent, and feel it is a vastly under-rated film. Some say it still has the finest portrayal of a dragon on film. A definite argument can be made that that's the case.

8- CLASH OF THE TITANS

CLASH OF THE TITANS is another film I saw together with my brother. I liked the film, though the special effects seemed a little dated in a post-STAR WARS world. It was my first exposure to the work of stop-motion pioneer Ray Harryhausen. I remember being frightened by Medusa, thinking the Kraken was a cool monster and that Pegasus looked very fake. The clockwork owl (Bubo) was interesting. Overall, a very enjoyable film for the time and my first on-screen exposure to Greek myths.

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9- MARVEL COMICS' CONAN THE BARBARIAN

Around the same time I saw the previous films I started collecting the CONAN THE BARBARIAN monthly comic book from Marvel. I had already been collecting comics for 2-3 years when I picked up my first issue of the Robert E. Howard fantasy title. I've been collecting this same comic ever since!

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10- CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982)

In 1982 the country and much of the world caught CONAN THE BARBARIAN fever when the feature film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was released in theaters. I was a little young (9) to see CONAN on the big screen at that time, but I remember the frenzy of interest.

I would see CONAN on Betamax (!) shortly after it was released on home video.
It quickly became a favorite film.

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11- ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

In the summer of 1982 my older brother finally read the rulebook and learned how to play DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (the basic set).

We also got our hands on the DUNGEON MASTER'S GUIDE, and later the PLAYER'S HANDBOOK, MONSTER MANUAL, DIETIES & DEMIGODS and FIEND FOLIO. We learned ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.and played steadily for the next 3-4 years!

 

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12- THE BEASTMASTER (1982)

Another film my brother and I saw in the theater back then was THE BEASTMASTER. It featured Marc Singer (later to star on the sci-fi show V),  Tanya Roberts (THAT 70s SHOW) and John Amos (GOOD TIMES). Roberts was considered smoking-hot at the time. The film was cheezy-good fun.

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13- EXCALIBUR (1981)

On video I caught EXCALIBUR, 1981's film about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It's another film I think is under-rated. It was a bit mature for me at the time but I loved the battle scenes. I've watched it many times since, and it's probably my favorite telling of the Arthurian tale.

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14-  MAZES & MONSTERS made-for-TV movie (1982)

With the popularity of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS came a reaction from uptight parents and religious folks that felt it promoted the occult. In this environment there was a made-for-TV movie called MAZES & MONSTERS, the first leading role of a 26 year old actor named Tom Hanks.

The film follows a bunch of college students that play a role-playing game called MAZES & MONSTERS. They also engage in live-action role playing in a series of abandoned caves and tunnels. One of their group suffers from a mental health condition and loses touch with reality, believing that the game is real. In the end he loses his mind.

Everyone I knew that saw the film thought it was hilarious. A moral panic about a game that had kids reading and using their imaginations seemed completely ridiculous. The film was based on a novel that was a fictionalization of an urban myth, an event that never happened. All one could do was laugh.

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1983 brought some good fantasy animation.

15- DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Saturday morning cartoon (CBS)

The DUNGEONS & DRAGONS cartoon debuted on CBS and ran for 26 episodes. Although it was aimed at an elementary school audience and there was no killing on the show it was still worth watching. The animation was good, and the characters, monsters and storylines were drawn from the game. D&D fever was at it's height.

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16- FIRE & ICE (1983)

If you're into adult-oriented fantasy animation Ralph Bakshi is the center of the universe. I was in 5th grade when his feature film FIRE & ICE was released and went to see it with a friend from school. I thought it was great. It didn't have the same impact on me that Bakshi's LORD OF THE RINGS did, but some of that is likely because I was in a less formative period of my life. Whatever the case I thought it had an interesting story and stunning visuals from beginning to end. I was entertained.

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FANTASY COMEDY

17- MONTY PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL (1975) 

HOLY GRAIL was shown regularly in re-runs on PBS throughout my youth, and was widely available on VHS. I watched it with my older brother, but probably saw it a little bit too young. I was bored and didn't get many of the jokes. (Years later I would watch the film again and get everything). Obviously, the Black Knight scene, the 'holy hand grenade', the knights who say ni and other silly scenes can be appreciated even by elementary school kids, but there's also a cerebral aspect to Monty Python's humor that is key.

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18- WIZARDS AND WARRIORS tv show 1983 

W&W was a short-lived (8 episode) CBS comedy show satirizing the sword and sorcery genre. It starred Jeff Conaway from TAXI and Walter Olkewicz, perhaps best known as the cable guy from SEINFELD. The jokes didn't always hit but I still really liked it, mainly because a sword and sorcery comedy on tv was so unique. Definitely could have done another season.

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19- CONAN THE DESTROYER (1984)

My older brother and I caught this one in the theater. It was more light-hearted than the first film, featuring some comedic elements. Wilt Chamberlain made a guest-appearance and there's an iconic performance by Grace Jones! Shame they never made a third Conan film with Schwarzenegger, the character was still fresh.

After CONAN THE DESTROYER my interest in fantasy films began waning, as I started to get into new things (anime, skateboarding, independent comics, music, etc).

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FANTASY CLASSICS ON TV
 
During my elementary school years there were several older fantasy films that were shown regularly in re-runs on television. I didn't take notice of most, but the films of special effects wizard RAY HARRYHAUSEN stood out. The best of the bunch were:

20- JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963)

The scene with the fighting skeletons is unforgettable. It marveled everyone. That scene alone could justify this film, but there's a lot more action and fantastic imagery on top of that. Tom Hanks said this is the film that made him want to be in movies. It's a classic.

21- THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1973) 

John Phillip Law from BARBARELLA starred as Sinbad, with a pre-DOCTOR WHO Tom Baker as the villain. The gorgeous Caroline Munro was Sinbad's love interest. But really the star of this film is the stop-motion special effects. When we played DUNGEONS & DRAGONS this film was like a visual reference. The 6-armed Kali idol, the centaur...and a griffin! An animated MONSTER MANUAL!


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22- SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER (1977) 

This Sinbad film starred Patrick Wayne, and while it was enjoyable I did think it was a step down from GOLDEN VOYAGE. The storyline wasn't as memorable nor the monsters as cool. Still worth seeing, though. A young Jane Seymour is stunning and 2nd DOCTOR WHO Patrick Troughton is in it.

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FANTASY VIDEO GAMES

Dialing it back a bit, the rise of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS came about at the same time as the birth and growth in popularity of home video game systems, specifically the ATARI 2600. Our family got our ATARI in 1979, the same year we got D&D.

With all the games made for the ATARI 2600 there actually weren't very many of  the sword and sorcery variety. I remember 3:

 

23- The most famous was 1979's ADVENTURE. The graphics were not very advanced, though the gameplay was fun. It featured minimalist (seriously!) swords, treasure, dragons and castles. Most people consider this the first home video game in the fantasy genre.

24- VENTURE was a 1981 arcade game by Coleco that was ported for the ATARI 2600. It was definitely a step up in terms of graphics and action, though it featured a similar 'quest' scenario as ADVENTURE. It has similarities to the famous game from the same period, BERZERK.

 

25- The final ATARI 2600 fantasy game I remember was WARLORDS, though the gameplay had nothing to do with the genre and was closer in action to BREAKOUT. The box, however, featured a cool knight illustration from artist Steve Hendricks. Honestly, other than the box this game had nothing to do with fantasy and I've always thought of it as a huge letdown.

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26- ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (Intellivision; 1982)

 
In my opinion the best fantasy video game of the early home system era was 1982's ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS for the INTELLVISION video game system. It, too, is a 'quest'-type video game in the tradition of ADVENTURE and VENTURE, though it features an alternate map board and scrolling 'dungeon' graphics that look pretty cool. You can also shoot arrows, and there is a slightly larger assortment of monsters.

When home computers began replacing home video game systems and the COMMODORE 64 came into vogue (beginning around 1983) there was a larger assortment of fantasy-based games, and they were more advanced in terms of graphics and gameplay. My three favorites were ARCHON, ULTIMA IV and CONAN.

27- ARCHON (Electronic Arts; 1983)

ARCHON was pretty unique. It was a chess style game but when characters would land on another player's piece the action would shift to a one-on-one fight screen to determine the victor. It was like a 2D version of the 3D chess game Luke Skywalker is playing in STAR WARS: EPISODE IV. 
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28- CONAN: HALL OF VOLTA (Datasoft; 1984) 

 In conjunction with the release of the film CONAN THE DESTROYER a very loosely Conan-themed video game was released for the Commodore 64. It didn't seem to have much to do with the film and wasn't particularly 'Conan' but the game play was good (a quest with board-based action similar to JUMPMAN) and capable of entertaining for many hours.

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29- ULTIMA IV: QUEST FOR THE AVATAR (1985; Origin Systems)

ULTIMA IV was the first video game I remember playing that felt like being in a D&D campaign. The player had a complicated quest to achieve greater understanding through locating various artifacts. There is exploration (both across lands and within a dungeon) and a wide variety of non-player characters. There is the passage of time and turn-based combat. Intelligence is required to play ULTIMA IV. There is even a complex 'Codex Of Ultimate Wisdom' featuring 8 virtues and 3 principles that's at the center of the game. I got really immersed in this game- it was the last one I would play on the COMMODORE 64, and marked the end of my time playing fantasy video games as I moved on to other interests.

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30- DRAGON'S LAIR (1983) 

As far as fantasy-based video games in the arcade the biggest buzz of the era was for 1983' DRAGON'S LAIR. DRAGON'S LAIR was one of the first cabinets to use laserdisc technology, so the graphics were animation-quality. They were drawn by famous cartoonist Don Bluth (THE SECRET OF NIMH, AN AMERICAN TAIL). The gameplay left much to be desired. Everything was based on making small, quick actions in reaction to 'Quick-Time Events'. The player has very little control over the main character's movements- the game executes more like a 'Choose-Your-Own-Adventure' novel. But the graphics were such a technological advance that most people didn't care. They were willing to shovel in quarters because the game looked so good.

DRAGON'S LAIR even birthed a 13 episode RUBY-SPEARS Saturday morning cartoon based on the exploits of the video game protagonist, the heroic knight Dirk the Daring.

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FANTASY BOARD GAMES

31- DUNGEON! (TSR; 1980)

TSR, the game company behind DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, released a board game around the same time as D&D. DUNGEON! had lush color graphics and a cool design. Best of all, because it was a board game and essentially an extremely-simplified version of D&D you could actually find people willing to play it that would never learn all the rules for D&D.

32- DARK TOWER (Milton-Bradley; 1981)

Another fantastic board-game was 1981's DARK TOWER by Milton-Bradley. The game was centered around a battery-powered electronic tower and featured well-crafted miniatures as playing pieces. The goal was to amass an army and defeat the tower. One to four people could play. Great game with top graphics, lights and sounds!

33- CROSSBOWS AND CATAPULTS (1983)

1983's CROSSBOWS AND CATAPULTS really didn't seem like much of a 'game'. Two players build up castles with plastic blocks and then proceed to shoot discs at each other using rubber-band powered crossbows and catapults. The goal is to destroy your opponent's structure. It's basically like playing 'forts' as a kid, but with factory-designed pieces and weaponry. Very good concept.

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FANTASY COMICS
 
As mentioned above, the standard-bearer for fantasy comics was Marvel's CONAN THE BARBARIAN and it's various offshoots (SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN,  KING CONAN, etc).

Two other good period titles were:

34- ELFQUEST 

Creative team Wendy and Richard Pini launched this self-published fantasy classic in 1978. It's about 'a community of elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on a primitive Earth-like planet with two moons' (Wikipedia). The series features distinctive artwork, tight, imaginative storylines and strong male and female characters. It is a very well-told, thoughtful story. 20 magazine-sized issues were published in the 'original quest', reprinted as 4 graphic novel volumes by Donning-Starblaze.. 

These issues were reprinted by Marvel Comics' EPIC imprint in comic size beginning in 1985. The EPIC run was spread over 32 issues. Multiple storylines have been released since, and the comic continues to be released to this day.

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35- CAMELOT 3000 (1982) 

This 12 issue DC 'maxi-series' was illustrated by the talented Brian Bolland and written by Mike W. Barr. It features a storyline about a reincarnated King Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table fighting off an alien invasion in 3000AD. Crazy as it sounds, it worked. CAMELOT 3000 was the first comic printed on Baxter paper, generating stunning, vibrant colors. It was also DC's first comic marketed directly to 'comic specialty shops', and not through the established newspaper and magazine distributors.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

1- 1982's THE DARK CRYSTAL has amazing, fantastic imagery. Unfortunately, I think it was too weird for it to achieve widespread popularity. It definitely had a darker tone but the characters were clearly puppets. Because it was directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz I think some people expected it to be THE MUPPETS, while it may have been 'too little kid' for the fantasy crowd. It occupies a space all it's own.
 
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2- 1983's KRULL always felt more like a sci-fi film with fantasy elements than a fantasy film with sci-fi elements.

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3- Many people still remember 1980's HAWK THE SLAYER very fondly. It featured veteran actor Jack Palance as the evil Voltan.
 
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4- 1983's HERCULES starring THE INCREDIBLE HULK himself, Lou Ferrigno, is a sometimes-tasty and humorous piece of imported Italian cheeze. There are electric visuals and lots of beefcake and cheesecake.

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5- Because of their strong female roles LADYHAWKE (1985), LEGEND (1985) and LABYRINTH (1986) were films that achieved some popularity with young women. This was a pretty rare thing for the fantasy genre during this period.

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POST-1985
 
As mentioned above, around 1985 my interest in sword and sorcery fantasy culture trailed off as I got into new things (anime, independent comic books, skateboarding, music, girls, etc.). I've still maintained an open-mindedness to the genre and have watched things that seemed crossover or interesting ever since.

 

I discovered THE BLACK ADDER tv series a few years after it came out, while I was in high school. It is hilarious, and still ranks in my top 5 British sitcoms. Season 1 (1982) and Season 2 (1986) are set in the eras of sword and sorcery.

 

1986's HIGHLANDER could not be ignored. Great action film, great swords, great villain, Sean Connery and music by QUEEN. Thorough.

 

1987's MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE starring Dolph Lundgren was definitely not the HE-MAN film fans of the franchise wanted. For one thing, it was released late- a few years after the height of HE-MAN's popularity. The film also had a comedic and campy aspect to it. Visually it's quite a good film! Watching it now, divorced from all the hype, it's actually a fun film. Unfortunately, much more was expected.

 

I was in high school when 1987's THE PRINCESS BRIDE was released. I went to see it with some schoolmates. It's a great film. Very funny and well-written.

 

I caught 1988's WILLOW on VHS. It was directed by Ron Howard, produced and with a story by George Lucas (who was already a megastar by that time). It also featured Val Kilmer at a high-point in his popularity. It got mixed reviews (again, the victim of ridiculous expectations) but has always remained popular with those into the genre.

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