It combined so many bad elements -- sort of a legion of Roman fighters, Orc-type creatures, medieval hair, magicians evil and good, women swinging from trees (all the actresses had wonder bras of course), leather and chain mail, a mouthy side kick, ninja-type fighters with cat masks, a nephew who wanted the crown, a long-lost son who is really the next king, a daughter who wants to be a magi, fight scenes that go on forever, and on and on. Here is a short synopsis:
Whoa, it actually has an official website which can be found at http://www.inthenameoftheking.com/. I am the type to find humor in many things and make comments in what I see as humorous, a la Mystery Science Theater 3000 (loved that series). The material from this movie was rich. MST3K would have a field day with this one; I know I did.A man named Farmer sets out to rescue his kidnapped wife and avenge the death of his son -- two acts committed by the Krugs, a race of animal-warriors who are controlled by the evil Gallian.
Speaking of the 80s, my junior high/high school/college formative years were the 1980s, so I can praise or disparage as I like -- I was there, I lived it.
There were some good fantasy movies from the 1980s:
- Excalibur
- The Dark Crystal
- Dragonslayer
- The Neverending Story
- Ladyhawke
- Highlander (the first one)
- The Princess Bride
- Willow
And honorable mentions to movies that were so bad, they're good:
- Flash Gordon
- Labyrinth
But then there are the simply bad ones:
- Hawk the Slayer
- Clash of the Titans
- Ator the Fighting Eagle (both)
- The Beastmaster
- Conan the Barbarian (all of them)
- The Sword and the Sorcerer
- Conquest
- Deathstalker
- Fire and Ice
- Krull
- Thor the Conquerer
- Sheena
- The Warrior and the Sorceress
- Legend
- Red Sonja
- Master of the Universe
- Erik the Viking
These almost define the 1980s just like the teen movies of that era. Sadly, I can say I've seen most of these movies. (sigh) It's not on the list because I'd categorize it more as scifi but Dune (1984 version) was also a very bad movie. I *adore* the books and had looked so forward to this movie but laughed (and cried inside) in the theater.
Stopped by the library yesterday to pick up a hold that has now jumped the reading queue. SHANGHAI MOON by SJ Rozan is the 9th of 9 in series featuring Lydia Chin, a 30-something Chinese American private eye, and Bill Smith, a 40-something Army brat private eye in New York City. The books alternate POV between the two leads and done so well that you can tell the difference between the two characters though written by one person; this one is a Lydia story. The author has been nominated for and won several mystery awards with this series. For the past seven years she put out two standalones, that IMO, weren't very good so I'm glad she's back to her usual stuff. Here's a description of this book:
The author's website can be found at http://www.sjrozan.com/.Estranged for months from fellow P.I. Bill Smith, Chinese-American private investigator Lydia Chin is brought in by colleague and former mentor Joel Pilarsky to help with a case that crosses continents, cultures, and decades. In Shanghai, excavation has unearthed a cache of European jewelry dating back to World War II, when Shanghai was an open city providing safe haven for thousands of Jewish refugees. The jewelry, identifed as having belonged to one such refugee, Rosalie Gilder, was immediately stolen by a Chinese official who fled to New York City. Hired by a lawyer specializing in the recovery of Holocaust assets, Chin and Pilarsky are to find any and all leads to the missing jewels.However, Lydia soon learns that there is much more to the story than they've been told: The Shanghai Moon, one of the world's most sought after missing jewels, reputed to be worth millions, is believed to have been part of the same stash. Before Lydia can act on this new information, Joel Pilarsky is murdered, Lydia is fired from the case, and Bill Smith finally reappears on the scene. Now Lydia and Bill must unravel the truth about the Shanghai Moon and the events that surrounded its disappearance sixty years ago during the chaos of war and revolution, if they are to stop more killings and uncover the truth of what is going on today.
Today's Blog/Website of the Day is http://pattinase.blogspot.com/. This blogger has started the craze of listing forgotten crime fiction on Fridays. A worthy project, indeed.
It's Sunday -- a day to read the newspapers; eat roast beast, potatoes and gravy; watch some sports if there's any on; take naps, and lament that tomorrow is Monday. See ya tomorrow.
Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster
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