Today's post begins with an image called Atomblast 2. I picked it because so much science fiction is concerned with atomic power: other than that it has little relevance--but I think the image is cool in any case. Ah well--on with the post!
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Several friends and I were having one of our periodic "fangeek" discussions: Robyn and I, had just seen STARDUST and we decided it was destined to be one of classics of Fantasy and Science Fiction films. (Y'all should see it if you get the chance: check your video stores and look for it on DVD.) ANYway, this sort of got us wondering how many other "overlooked classics" of F&SF film we could think of.
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"Overlooked classic" is defined as a good movie that didn't make a lot of money in theaters, didn't get press and the fan attention it deserves. My list is entirely subjective but I deliberately left off movies that were cult classics (DEATHRACE 2000), spectacularly bad (PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE), and of course movies that didn’t get their due when they were released but have since become classics (like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and FORBIDDEN PLANET). “Artsy movies (like A SCANNER DARKLY) and most foreign flicks got left off the list simply because I haven’t seen them.
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Here's my “Top Ten” list in no particular order…
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RETURN TO OZ: this movie got crucified because it wasn't a redux of the 1939 Wizard Of Oz musical (which was adapted from the stage play not the book). Instead the movie went back to the source material (mostly) combing the second and third "Oz" book by L. Frank Baum (though the movie has a bit of a darker and scarier turn than the books). It's the first movie starring “indie” film darling Fairuza Balk (when she was just ten years old). The FX are primitive by today's standards but the film is still excellent.
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TREASURE PLANET: this should have been huge! It was a Disney animated feature (which should have guaranteed a huge box office), had a "can't miss" story (an adaptation of Robert Louis Stephenson‘s Treasure Island--a rip-roaring adventure) and spectacular animation (effortlessly mixing hand-drawn and CG) and a first-rate voice cast. But it was a victim of a bad advertising campaign and a huge holiday movie season so it got lost at the Box Office (in spite of excellent reviews). Luckily, the movie has done well on DVD.
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TINE AFTER TIME: probably the best “time travel” movie ever made, it tells the story of H. G. Wells (played to nerdy perfection by Malcolm McDowell) who comes to present-day San Francisco in pursuit of Jack the Ripper. It’s a rip-roaring good mystery that holds up as well now as it did when it was shot in 1979. Somehow it even manages to avoid the clichés that affect so many, many time-travel stories! It deserves mention for that alone.
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THE LAST STARFIGHTER: a nice little story about an kid from Earth who is recruited by aliens to be their last hope in a desperate war: they found him through a video game of all things! Stories unfold on Earth and in deep space without being a bit confusing--no mean feat. It is notable for being one of the first movies to feature heavy use of CGI. It starred Robert Preston (in one of this last movie roles) and a bunch of people I’ve never heard of before or since.
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SOMEWHERE IN TIME: based on a novel by Richard Matheson, this perfectly-crafted love story starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour as lovers separated by almost a hundred years. Often overlooked because of the lushly romantic elements it is still so beautifully written, shot and acted that it earns a place on this list because of the time-travel theme.
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DREAMSCAPE: I'm a sucker for this one because it's about telepaths doing battle in dreams. It's the source of "catch phrase" and inside joke among our local group of friends. "Oh no! Not you too Fukuda!" (We say this whenever we're feeling piled on by the world.) Dennis Quaid, Max von Sydow and Christopher Plummer lend some star power and I loved Eddie Albert as the dream-troubled President of the United States. Loved the dream imagery here.
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HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE: a Japanese anime film based on the book by British author Diana Wynne Jones. The film doesn’t much relate to the book but the story it tells is a good one (that’s accessible to American audiences). It sneaked into theaters briefly in August of 2006 then vanished and I don’t think its available on DVD, despite being released by Disney.
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GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN: IMHO the best "Tarzan" movie ever made--by far. Dare I say it, it’s the most “realistic” version of the classic hero ever to appear on screen. French actor Christopher Lambert in his first (and probably best) American role was perfect as Tarzan and it was the truest to the Edgar Rice Burroughs books.
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This movie wouldn’t be complete without mentioning a couple of overlooked “cheesetastic” classics from the 80s. THE BEASTMASTER features super hunky Marc Singer (with bad 80s hair in full effect) wears a lioncloth for virtually the whole movie. Special effects are woefully limited (even by 80s standards) and the dye-job on the tiger is nothing short of laughable--still, you find yourself enjoying this movie because of Singer‘s performance: he brings a warmth and sincerity even to the stupidest moments (of which this movie has many).
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And we can’t close out this post without mentioning BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS--a movie that was so bad is was great! It was 90 minutes of cheesy fabulousness that you just couldn’t take your eyes off of! (And, believe me, no movie with leather-clad bodacious “B Movie” queen Sybil Danning is all bad). Second-tier stars (Richard Thomas, George Peppard, John Saxon, Robert Vaughn and Sam Jaffe gobbled up much of the budget for their salaries but they tear through the material with verve and gusto. The FX are minimal and low tech (even by that period’s standards) but it doesn’t matter. You just keep watching…
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So--any more that I may have missed?
-
I also feel I need to add a couple of “honorable mentions” that didn’t quite make the list. DEAD AGAIN is an excellent movie that I’m not sure quite fits into the category of fantasy or science fiction film. Then married Brits Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson are a married couple troubled by dreams of a long-ago murder that may or may not have taken place. The truth (which I won‘t reveal here) is brought to light with the help of psychiatrist Andy Garcia. The movie is a well-acted, perfectly directed, taut thrill and it’s a classic in its own right.
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And who can forget the nearly-classic FLASH GORDON--a rock and roll re-do of the classic movie serial? It was a movie with a split personality that couldn‘t decide if it was high adventure or high camp. A mixed cast of unknowns and major talents didn’t help as some went for deadly earnestness while others went for high camp with gusto. All the sets and costumes were lavish and excellently done as were many of the effects. Still, some of the FX were kept deliberately low-tech (to enhance the “campy“ aspects of the film). In the end it was a big budget mess that never quite jelled and audiences stayed away in droves. Thanks to the new Flash Gordon series on th eSciFi Channel the movie is getting some attention but I doubt it will fare well with the current generation of movie fans (science fiction or otherwise.)
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I can’t finish this report without mentioning CLASH OF THE TITANS. Critics loved this movie--especially the retro style of Ray Harryhousen’s stop-motion FX and the whole 50s and 60s vibe of the film. Audiences, though, had gotten used to movies like STAR WARS so they never embraced the film. It’s a pretty decent retelling of the “Perseus” myth (with a few other stories thrown in for good measure), A few big-name actors appear briefly (Laurence Oliver as Zeus, for example) but head actor Harry Hamlin has the looks (and acting ability) of a “Ken” doll and never quite seems to get it through the whole movie. Fans revere the old classics like Jason and the Argonauts but this one never connected.
-
So that’s my list of ten overlooked classics. Feel free to come up with your own list--and happy viewing!
-
"Overlooked classic" is defined as a good movie that didn't make a lot of money in theaters, didn't get press and the fan attention it deserves. My list is entirely subjective but I deliberately left off movies that were cult classics (DEATHRACE 2000), spectacularly bad (PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE), and of course movies that didn’t get their due when they were released but have since become classics (like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and FORBIDDEN PLANET). “Artsy movies (like A SCANNER DARKLY) and most foreign flicks got left off the list simply because I haven’t seen them.
-
Here's my “Top Ten” list in no particular order…
-
RETURN TO OZ: this movie got crucified because it wasn't a redux of the 1939 Wizard Of Oz musical (which was adapted from the stage play not the book). Instead the movie went back to the source material (mostly) combing the second and third "Oz" book by L. Frank Baum (though the movie has a bit of a darker and scarier turn than the books). It's the first movie starring “indie” film darling Fairuza Balk (when she was just ten years old). The FX are primitive by today's standards but the film is still excellent.
-
TREASURE PLANET: this should have been huge! It was a Disney animated feature (which should have guaranteed a huge box office), had a "can't miss" story (an adaptation of Robert Louis Stephenson‘s Treasure Island--a rip-roaring adventure) and spectacular animation (effortlessly mixing hand-drawn and CG) and a first-rate voice cast. But it was a victim of a bad advertising campaign and a huge holiday movie season so it got lost at the Box Office (in spite of excellent reviews). Luckily, the movie has done well on DVD.
-
TINE AFTER TIME: probably the best “time travel” movie ever made, it tells the story of H. G. Wells (played to nerdy perfection by Malcolm McDowell) who comes to present-day San Francisco in pursuit of Jack the Ripper. It’s a rip-roaring good mystery that holds up as well now as it did when it was shot in 1979. Somehow it even manages to avoid the clichés that affect so many, many time-travel stories! It deserves mention for that alone.
-
THE LAST STARFIGHTER: a nice little story about an kid from Earth who is recruited by aliens to be their last hope in a desperate war: they found him through a video game of all things! Stories unfold on Earth and in deep space without being a bit confusing--no mean feat. It is notable for being one of the first movies to feature heavy use of CGI. It starred Robert Preston (in one of this last movie roles) and a bunch of people I’ve never heard of before or since.
-
SOMEWHERE IN TIME: based on a novel by Richard Matheson, this perfectly-crafted love story starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour as lovers separated by almost a hundred years. Often overlooked because of the lushly romantic elements it is still so beautifully written, shot and acted that it earns a place on this list because of the time-travel theme.
-
DREAMSCAPE: I'm a sucker for this one because it's about telepaths doing battle in dreams. It's the source of "catch phrase" and inside joke among our local group of friends. "Oh no! Not you too Fukuda!" (We say this whenever we're feeling piled on by the world.) Dennis Quaid, Max von Sydow and Christopher Plummer lend some star power and I loved Eddie Albert as the dream-troubled President of the United States. Loved the dream imagery here.
-
HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE: a Japanese anime film based on the book by British author Diana Wynne Jones. The film doesn’t much relate to the book but the story it tells is a good one (that’s accessible to American audiences). It sneaked into theaters briefly in August of 2006 then vanished and I don’t think its available on DVD, despite being released by Disney.
-
GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN: IMHO the best "Tarzan" movie ever made--by far. Dare I say it, it’s the most “realistic” version of the classic hero ever to appear on screen. French actor Christopher Lambert in his first (and probably best) American role was perfect as Tarzan and it was the truest to the Edgar Rice Burroughs books.
-
This movie wouldn’t be complete without mentioning a couple of overlooked “cheesetastic” classics from the 80s. THE BEASTMASTER features super hunky Marc Singer (with bad 80s hair in full effect) wears a lioncloth for virtually the whole movie. Special effects are woefully limited (even by 80s standards) and the dye-job on the tiger is nothing short of laughable--still, you find yourself enjoying this movie because of Singer‘s performance: he brings a warmth and sincerity even to the stupidest moments (of which this movie has many).
-
And we can’t close out this post without mentioning BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS--a movie that was so bad is was great! It was 90 minutes of cheesy fabulousness that you just couldn’t take your eyes off of! (And, believe me, no movie with leather-clad bodacious “B Movie” queen Sybil Danning is all bad). Second-tier stars (Richard Thomas, George Peppard, John Saxon, Robert Vaughn and Sam Jaffe gobbled up much of the budget for their salaries but they tear through the material with verve and gusto. The FX are minimal and low tech (even by that period’s standards) but it doesn’t matter. You just keep watching…
-
So--any more that I may have missed?
-
I also feel I need to add a couple of “honorable mentions” that didn’t quite make the list. DEAD AGAIN is an excellent movie that I’m not sure quite fits into the category of fantasy or science fiction film. Then married Brits Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson are a married couple troubled by dreams of a long-ago murder that may or may not have taken place. The truth (which I won‘t reveal here) is brought to light with the help of psychiatrist Andy Garcia. The movie is a well-acted, perfectly directed, taut thrill and it’s a classic in its own right.
-
And who can forget the nearly-classic FLASH GORDON--a rock and roll re-do of the classic movie serial? It was a movie with a split personality that couldn‘t decide if it was high adventure or high camp. A mixed cast of unknowns and major talents didn’t help as some went for deadly earnestness while others went for high camp with gusto. All the sets and costumes were lavish and excellently done as were many of the effects. Still, some of the FX were kept deliberately low-tech (to enhance the “campy“ aspects of the film). In the end it was a big budget mess that never quite jelled and audiences stayed away in droves. Thanks to the new Flash Gordon series on th eSciFi Channel the movie is getting some attention but I doubt it will fare well with the current generation of movie fans (science fiction or otherwise.)
-
I can’t finish this report without mentioning CLASH OF THE TITANS. Critics loved this movie--especially the retro style of Ray Harryhousen’s stop-motion FX and the whole 50s and 60s vibe of the film. Audiences, though, had gotten used to movies like STAR WARS so they never embraced the film. It’s a pretty decent retelling of the “Perseus” myth (with a few other stories thrown in for good measure), A few big-name actors appear briefly (Laurence Oliver as Zeus, for example) but head actor Harry Hamlin has the looks (and acting ability) of a “Ken” doll and never quite seems to get it through the whole movie. Fans revere the old classics like Jason and the Argonauts but this one never connected.
-
So that’s my list of ten overlooked classics. Feel free to come up with your own list--and happy viewing!
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