# Top 10 Classic D&D Movies



## trancejeremy (Jan 16, 2015)

What's a D&D movie?  Well, there's the _actual_ D&D movies.  Or there's Peter Jackson's _Lord of the Rings_ and _Hobbit_ movies.  This list, though, by trancejeremy, is all about _classic_ movies.  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Patrick Stewart, and John Cleese await in this list of 10 Classic D&D Movies!


[h=4]#10 The Barbarians[/h]
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What do you get when you take two body builder twins and one of the most beautiful women in the world? _The Barbarians_, a really goofy fantasy movie that might not actually have a plot, but it easy to watch because of Eva LaRue as Kara the Thief.


[h=4]#9 Krull[/h]
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Something of a blockbuster, complete with dozens of merchandising tie-ins, Krull was a glorious mess of a movie, combining Sci-Fi with fantasy. It didn't make a lot of sense, but it had a lot of cool scenes and bits, none more than the "glaive", a really big throwing star.


[h=4]#8 Dragonslayer[/h]
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A surprisingly dark movie about a village who sacrifices maidens to their local dragon, until finally a magician's apprentice decides to slay it. Although parts are light in tone, it's surprisingly gritty, featuring an extremely realistic dragon, perhaps the most to ever appear on screen. Also featured a brilliant novelization by Wayland Drew, which was later reprinted without the movie-tie (new cover, etc).

[h=4]#7 Conan the Barbarian[/h]
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Setting the basic plot for most fantasy movies to come, Conan's village is destroyed by Thulsa Doom and ultimately he gets revenge, albeit with a great cost. Not bearing much resemblance to the actual stories of Robert Howard, Conan the Barbarian at least captures the spirit and has a lot of great lines. The ending scene is hauntingly beautiful in a grim way.

[h=4]#6 The Beastmaster[/h]
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Pretty much a Conan ripoff, featuring almost the exact same plot, but somehow more enjoyable. Maybe it's Tanya Roberts. Maybe it's John Amos. Maybe it's the kid that looks like Meeno Peluce but isn't. Okay, it's probably Tanya Roberts. Or maybe the ferrets.

[h=4]#5 The Sword & The Sorcerer[/h]
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Somehow this low budget movie made more at the box office than _Conan the Barbarian_. Probably because it featured a sword with three blades, two of which could be shot at the press of a button. Lee Horsley plays Talon, the former prince of a kingdom taken over by Richard Lynch with the help of the sorcerer Richard Moll. His kingdom lost, he becomes a mercenary but soon finds himself back in his old kingdom, where he agrees to help the daughter of his father's former counselor retake the throne. 

[h=4]#4 Excalibur[/h]
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A stylized yet gritty take on the King Arthur story. Perhaps the best visuals and production values in any fantasy movie, especially the mirror like armor worn by the knights.

[h=4]#3 The Golden Voyage of Sinbad[/h]
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Ray Harryhausen made a trio of Sinbad movies, all of which are good, but this is the best. Sinbad is drawn into a quest for the Fountain of Destiny, also pursued by an evil sorcerer, played by the legendary Tom Baker. Lots of cool fights with monsters and Carolyn Munroe.

[h=4]#2 Hawk the Slayer[/h]
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If you saw this when you were 10-12, you thought it was the coolest movie ever. As somewhat standard in these movies, Hawk has his kingdom stolen, this time by his unlikely brother, Jack Palance. He enlists a motley band including an elf, a giant, a dwarf, and a witch to defeat his brother. But the real star is Crow, expert archer and the best on screen elf, at least until Tauriel. The second coolest thing is a crossbow of speed. which along with Crow's arrows, kills 95% of the peopel in fight, while the rest of the party mostly just pushes people over.


[h=4]#1 Monty Python and the Holy Grail[/h]
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This is really the ultimate D&D movie, more quoted at D&D tables than anything else. Besides the popularity of Monty Python with D&D players, it features the various knights of the round table going on quests, looking for the Holy Grail, coming across all sorts of obstacles and monsters, like the dreaded vorpal bunny.


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## trancejeremy (Jan 15, 2015)

I didn't hear of that until I was in college, actually.


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## TrippyHippy (Jan 16, 2015)

So, the work of Peter Jackson kinda passed you by then?


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## Wednesday Boy (Jan 16, 2015)

I would have added _Willow _into the mix too.


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## Greg K (Jan 16, 2015)

My own personal list in no order would be 
Archer: Fugitive From the Empire  (a failed U.S. TV pilot, but released as the movie Archer and the Sorceress in Europe so I am including it)
Beastmaster
Clash of the Titans
Conan
Dragonslayer
Excalibur
Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Ladyhawke
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Willow

I really want to put Heavy Metal on the list for the segments Den and Taarna. I also want to put Princess Bride, but it was never was mentioned in my gaming circles until the mid-nineties. 

I listed Archer and the Sorceress, because  only one of my friends in all my years of gaming had seen Hawk the Slayer or Sword and the Sorcerer. Personally, when he tried to show them to me, I could not sit through either whereas I liked the characters (especially, Slant whom is my quintessential D&D thief/rogue), the Heart Bow, Estra's necklace to summon animals, and the serpent men in Archer: Fugitive From the Empire despite the bad acting


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## DMZ2112 (Jan 16, 2015)

Krull at #9?  What is this I don't even.  LIAM NEESONS.


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## Keldryn (Jan 16, 2015)

"Run away!" and "it's just a flesh wound" have to be the most-quoted lines from the most-quoted movie.


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## Wednesday Boy (Jan 16, 2015)

Keldryn said:


> "Run away!" and "it's just a flesh wound" have to be the most-quoted lines from the most-quoted movie.




"Yeah?  Well, you know, that's just like uh, your opinion, man."


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## LandOfConfusion (Jan 16, 2015)

Thank you for including The Sword and the Sorcerer.  I have a vague memory from my childhood of a movie with a three-bladed sword where two of the blades could shoot off, but I could never remember the name of the move.

The Dragonslayer is actually my all time favorite fantasy movie.  It actually captures the feeling of the game Ars Magica really well.  At least the feeling of the 3rd edition of the game.  Now I want to play Ars Magica...

I agree that Willow needs to be on this list.


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## scholz (Jan 16, 2015)

A Couple missing pieces, not previously mentioned.
The 13th Warrior
Clash of the Titans (Harry Hamlin Version)
Ladyhawk
Flesh and Blood
and importantly, lest we ever forget....
 Mazes and Monsters!


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## ingeloak (Jan 16, 2015)

i watched most of those, some were better than others. i remember the Sword and the Sorcerer being good, until i tried to go back and live it again. OMG LIGHTBRIGHT FINGERS!!! it is soooo bad. 

i agree, Princess Bride and Ladyhawke are definitely supposed to be on this list. maybe a little late to the table, but quotes from "Princess" are used almost as much as Holy Grail in D&D.


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## Greg K (Jan 16, 2015)

scholz said:


> A Couple missing pieces, not previously mentioned.
> Clash of the Titans (Harry Hamlin Version)
> Ladyhawk!




I mentioned both


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## Wednesday Boy (Jan 16, 2015)

scholz said:


> The 13th Warrior




Good call!

It's not a movie I watched often but one of my friends loved _Legend_.


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## tomservo999 (Jan 16, 2015)

Keldryn said:


> "Run away!" and "it's just a flesh wound" have to be the most-quoted lines from the most-quoted movie.




"Is there someone else we can talk to?" somehow became our most quoted line.


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## NewJeffCT (Jan 16, 2015)

I'd also include Willow, The Lord of the Rings movies, Clash of the Titans (the original), Ladyhawke, The Princess Bride, Conan (the original), Golden Voyage of Sinbad and Excalibur. 

I keep Conan on the list, though when I rewatched it a while back, I didn't think it held up all that well.  Never saw Hawk the Slayer.   Loved Monty Python, but Princess Bride had more elements of pure fantasy in it


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## ShadoWWW (Jan 16, 2015)

Ladyhawke is the best!


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## ppaladin123 (Jan 16, 2015)

I love Red Sonya and Conan the Destroyer in all their cheesy glory and I am sad they are not on this list.


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## Hand of Evil (Jan 16, 2015)

Think I would have listed 

Deathstalker
Legend
Jabberwocky


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## Barantor (Jan 16, 2015)

Conan the Destroyer I thought was actually better than Barbarian in the sense of a D&D movie.

Not having Princess Bride on here is a travesty. 

Willow would probably make the list before Beastmaster.

Others I consider D&D type movies are Neverending Story, Legend and Labyrinth.


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## Mavkatzer (Jan 16, 2015)

"13th Warrior" has always seemed the most like D&D adventures I have played and run... or at least, how I'd hoped they'd run....


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## barasawa (Jan 16, 2015)

I was excited to see Beastmaster when it came out. I was extremely disgusted when I actually saw it. 
It's a horrible mangling of the book "Beastmaster" by Andre Norton. 
It's a scifi story with the main character being an ex-military esper who lead a beastmaster sabotage team, and was also a descendant of terran american indians. As to the ferrets, they were supposed to be a pair of meerkats.  
If you want to know more, just read the book, I'm sure your local library has it. 
Also, here's a link to a small wiki article on it, but still, read the book. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_Master


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## TheSwartz (Jan 17, 2015)

Awesome, a couple on there that I hadn't heard of. If someone made a larger list, don't forget the old animated Hobbit movie!


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## YourSwordIsMine (Jan 17, 2015)

Your Highness


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## ppaladin123 (Jan 17, 2015)

Just watched Hawk the Slayer...why is the dark lord broke? He seems to really need that 2,000 gold pieces. He has a pretty large army...couldn't he just take it?


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## Theo R Cwithin (Jan 17, 2015)

Fantasy movies that I recall as D&D-inspirational but weren't on the list:
  - Princess Bride
  - Willow
  - Dark Crystal
  - Never Ending Story
  - Clash of the Titans

Oh, and *E.T.*, because I found the D&D references fascinating as a kid. 
Disappointing was _The Dungeonmaster_. I was hard to disappoint at age 12, but man was that movie disappointing.


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## Stormonu (Jan 17, 2015)

Hawk, the cheesy movie that keeps on giving.  Hell, Hawk's part of my Amberos campaign.

I'll also add Fire & Ice as well as The Last Unicorn to the list of D&D great movies from the past.  Then there's always Dark Crystal.


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## KirayaTiDrekan (Jan 17, 2015)

The Goonies, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters, Stargate, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl... I'm sure there's a bunch of others I can't remember.


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## Mirth (Jan 17, 2015)

Time Bandits


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## snotling (Jan 17, 2015)

LadyHawke - Rutger Hauer and Matthew Broderick (Of course Michelle Pfeiffer).  Great list!


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## Herobizkit (Jan 17, 2015)

In its own way, The Neverending Story was pretty epic, if not strictly fantasy.


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## Corwwyn (Jan 17, 2015)

Jason and the Argonauts


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## bmcdaniel (Jan 17, 2015)

Somebody should take all the movies posted in this thread and make it poll to see which ones are the favorites...


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## Sword of Spirit (Jan 17, 2015)

I feel deprived that I haven't seen (or heard of) a few of the movies on that list. I'm not sure how I missed them, since they aren't any older than the ones I _have_ seen. Of course, it might be painful to watch them now for the first time. Nostalgia is powerful magic.


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## Zarithar (Jan 17, 2015)

Some others that I haven't seen mentioned:

Wizards

Labyrinth

Heavy Metal


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## Koloth (Jan 17, 2015)

The animated Lord of the Rings movie that was released unfinished due to either lack of money or a licensing issue.  

A second for Wizards.  Never has a mom taught a son a better spell then Conjure Luger.


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## ExploderWizard (Jan 17, 2015)

Some other crappy movies that have not been mentioned:

The Warrior and the Sorceress
Ator the Fighting Eagle
The Blade Master
Barbarian Queen
Barbarian Queen II The Empress Strikes Back  
Ironmaster 
Yor the Hunter from the Future
Hearts & Armor


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## gyor (Jan 17, 2015)

How could one have such a list and not have Barbarian Queen?


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## Nebulous (Jan 17, 2015)

Princess Bride and Clash of the Titans (original) really needed to be on here as quintessential D&D-esque adventures.


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## PezlerPolychromatic (Jan 17, 2015)

There is a Russian movie from 2006 called Wolfhound that is an excellent source of ideas and would definitely recommend. Also, an animated movie from 1982 called The Flight of Dragons had quite a few big names, and it's what inspired me to get into fantasy when I was a kid. Definitely a must watch movie.


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## Tormyr (Jan 17, 2015)

While not a fantasy move like others on the various lists, the movie that epitomizes D&D for me is Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising. My table is taking our break between adventure path chapters this week, and we are watching it.


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## Zarithar (Jan 18, 2015)

No love for Highlander and The Never Ending Story? In both cases I mean the first film in each respective series.


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## Stormonu (Jan 18, 2015)

Kiraya_TiDrekan said:


> The Goonies, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters, Stargate, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl... I'm sure there's a bunch of others I can't remember.




Great movies, but I wouldn't count any of them as "D&D movies".

Isn't it sad that no one is willing to admit there's been 3 actual D&D movies and an animated Dragonlance POS?


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## TrippyHippy (Jan 18, 2015)

Yep, any fantasy movie list that makes no mention of Lord of the Rings does little for me. But, yes, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising is very funny indeed!


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## KirayaTiDrekan (Jan 18, 2015)

Stormonu said:


> Great movies, but I wouldn't count any of them as "D&D movies".
> 
> Isn't it sad that no one is willing to admit there's been 3 actual D&D movies and an animated Dragonlance POS?




My choices are based on the formula of a hero or group of heroes embarking on a quest of some sort.  The Goonies is probably the best D&D movie on my list using that criteria - the fantasy element is strictly secondary to a movie being a D&D movie.


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## Greg K (Jan 18, 2015)

TrippyHippy said:


> Yep, any fantasy movie list that makes no mention of Lord of the Rings does little for me. But, yes, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising is very funny indeed!



They are great and would be on my list of top fantasy movies, but they are too recent to be "classic" as I think the OP is using which is 80's (possibly early to mid-eighties).


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## Greg K (Jan 18, 2015)

Stormonu said:


> Great movies, but I wouldn't count any of them as "D&D movies".




Agreed. They also fall out of the caveat placed in the original post.


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## SirAntoine (Jan 19, 2015)

#1 Conan the Destroyer and Conan the Barbarian, though the Destroyer more so between the two; starring Arnold
#2 The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson
#3 Dragonslayer

All three actually have magic and monsters in the movies, as well as sword fighting.


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## Whisper72 (Jan 19, 2015)

Well, I understand the '80's' theme, but would also be interested in seeing people's lists of more recent D&D themed movies...


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## Mavkatzer (Jan 20, 2015)

Just remembered "The Warriors".
Bop your way back to Coney, but in a fantasy sense.
It has been very inspirational to my "travel" adventures.


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## steeldragons (Jan 21, 2015)

Kiraya_TiDrekan said:


> My choices are based on the formula of a hero or group of heroes embarking on a quest of some sort.  The Goonies is probably the best D&D movie on my list using that criteria - the fantasy element is strictly secondary to a movie being a D&D movie.




That "criteria" is the plot of every story ever told...some might say the source of storytelling and creation of myth as a whole. Star Wars, Rocky, Good Will Hunting, and every action movie ever made all fall into that "criteria." I appreciate the "wider perspective", I guess you are going for. But that is so broad as to be meaningless.

I think you need to narrow your parameters a bit.  Saying fantasy [as a genre] is/could be "secondary" to a D&D movie I find...baffling.

Edit: All that said. Great list and great movies throughout this thread. My "personal faves" list would likely look something like this, give or take a few:
10. Legend
9. Dragonslayer
8. The Dark Crystal
7. Ladyhawke
6. Princess Bride
5. The Rankin/Bass "Hobbit" & "Return of the King" animated movies.
4. The Rankin/Bass  "The Last Unicorn" animated movie -for the magic[al]
3. Holy Grail -for the funny
2. Clash of the Titans (original.) -for the quest/monsters/gods' involvement [c'mon, Maggie Smith. nuf sed], overall "high stakes" of it all
1. The Conan movies -for the "putting a group of individuals together and getting it done."

and honorable mention "non-70's/80's" to The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson) trilogy. Fellowship moreso than the others, but all three.


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## KirayaTiDrekan (Jan 21, 2015)

steeldragons said:


> That "criteria" is the plot of every story ever told...some might say the source of storytelling and creation of myth as a whole. Star Wars, Rocky, Good Will Hunting, and every action movie ever made all fall into that "criteria." I appreciate the "wider perspective", I guess you are going for. But that is so broad as to be meaningless.
> 
> I think you need to narrow your parameters a bit.  Saying fantasy [as a genre] is/could be "secondary" to a D&D movie I find...baffling.




Different tastes and all that.    I take inspiration for adventures and campaigns from a lot of places.

For example - Die Hard.  Its a great big dungeon crawl for the most part.


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## mflayermonk (Jan 26, 2015)

So is this pre-D&D creation or post-D&D creation? 
Someone mentioned Fire and Ice, which is very close to Conan being a Frazetta movie.

There is also Flesh+Blood with Rutger Haeur, which has no magic, but does feel very D&D-ish.
Witchfinder General.
As others have mentioned, the Pirates of the Caribbean and Treasure Planet movies have a strong D&D feel.


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## Gecko85 (Jan 27, 2015)

Haven't ready through the whole thread, but has anyone mentioned The Black Cauldron? It was a so-so Disney adaptation of a really great (and very "D&D") series of books.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088814/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1


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## Celebrim (Jan 27, 2015)

I believe Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising is the best D&D movie ever made.

As far as D&D movies go, Hawk the Slayer is clearly a D&D movie, but I wouldn't count it as a good movie and it won't make any of my top 10 lists.  I understand that there are some actual D&D movies that are even more forgettable, but I've never seen them.  Red Sonya and Conan the Destroyer could both be D&D movies, but again, neither is good.

Actually good D&D movies in no particular order:

Pirates of the Caribbean:  There are clear PC's here that have PC plot protection and abilities.  There are pirate zombies.  There is a magical quest to get the foozle and cursed treasure.  There are wandering encounters.  The ending makes no sense whatsoever unless you say, "Well, of course, they are PC's and it's one of those DM's that never actually has the NPC's kill the murderhobos." 

Ladyhawke: A cursed Paladin and a Thief team up to kill an evil cleric and break the curse.  The Paladin has the 'throw anything' feat.

Conan the Barbarian: A barbarian, a fighter, a multi-classed thief-archer, and a low level shaman that joined the group late team up and act like typical murder hobos.  Along the way they manage - with a lot of DM plot force - to kill an evil cleric and thwart a diabolical plot.

The Goonies: Aside from the fact that their is a conceit that the adventurers are a bunch of kids in the modern world, this could easily be a D&D module, complete with crazy traps.

Dragonslayer: Clearly a second edition module.  The PC goes on a long journey only to witness an epic battle between NPCs that he has almost no ability to influence.


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## WayneLigon (Jan 30, 2015)

In these kinds of things, I've usually taken to staying away from the obvious top 1, 2 or 3 movies because everyone will simply mention them and nobody learns about anything new  So I don't mention the Jackson films, for instance. 

I'd certainly put Willow in there.

To me, the requirement for a good _D&D_ movie, as opposed to 'just' a great fantasy movie, is that it deals with a _party of adventurers_. That lets out a lot of the otherwise wonderful Chinese and Japanese movies, which are mainly solo or duo gigs. But that also lets out The Eagle, which I think of as a fantastic example of a D&D film: penetration into unknown lands, where there might be monsters and there are certainly hostile things, to retrieve something. 

It's hard not to think of the current Vikings series, which is D&D at it's simplest: A group of guys goes out traveling and killing for gold and glory. Mostly gold.


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## Corwwyn (Feb 1, 2015)

Stormonu said:


> Great movies, but I wouldn't count any of them as "D&D movies".
> 
> Isn't it sad that no one is willing to admit there's been 3 actual D&D movies and an animated Dragonlance POS?




And don't forget that thing titled *Eragon* ([sarcasm]what genius[/sarcasm]), with it's no doubt upcoming sequels, *Fragon* and *Gragon*.


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## Stormonu (Feb 3, 2015)

Corwwyn said:


> And don't forget that thing titled *Eragon* ([sarcasm]what genius[/sarcasm]), with it's no doubt upcoming sequels, *Fragon* and *Gragon*.




Eragon wasn't _that_ bad of a movie - it's certainly better than the D&D movie and several of these "cult" classics (being a fan of 9/10s of them BTW).  Unfortunately for it, it came out on the heels of the Lord of the Rings, and got panned in comparison (in some places, rightly so).

I'm amazed how different the movie is from the books.  An adaptation that followed the book a bit more closely *might* have done slightly better.


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## Deuce Traveler (Feb 3, 2015)

I'm surprised no one mentioned The Fall (2006).  It's the 1920s, and a crippled stuntman tells a little girl a fairy tale of a French swordsman, African archer, Indian warrior, Italian explosives expert, a mystic druid, and Doctor Charles Darwin (and his monkey Wallace) team up to fight the evil Governor Odious and his minions through 20 different countries.  The diverse characters (all with tragic backstories) fit an RPG make-up with the first three acting as warriors, the explosive expert as a mage, the mystic as a druid or shaman, and the good doctor as the healer.  I would be surprised if it wasn't heavily influenced by tabletop gaming.


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## Dan Helmick (Feb 5, 2015)

My top 10 favorite D&D movies:

10. Red Sonja. Okay, it wasn't a great movie, but I saw it a billion times as a kid, and I recall wearing out a VHS tape of this "gem" while sick in bed with pneumonia. I might not have watched it quite so many times, but it was a self-winder. Ahh, technology.
9. Cave Dwellers (MST3k version.) This flick always makes me feel better about the more disastrous games I took part in during my sordid youth. And it's just plain funny. How much Keeffe is in this movie? Miles O'Keeffe!
8. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Old-school Oriental Adventures goodness. And of course, for me, echoes of Feng Shui.
7. Magic Cop. This is more of a d20 Modern movie, but I do count d20 Modern as part of D&D, personally, so why not?
6. Excalibur. Weird and wild. A film I both hate and love, in equal measure.
5. Big Trouble in Little China. See number 7.
4. Swordsman II. Man, if you leave the bad effects to one side, that whole film is one long, sick, weird, creative as hell series of roleplaying encounters.
3. Conan the Barbarian. Well, duh.
2. Willow. I don't care if it's not supposed to be a retelling of Star Wars in fantasy togs, that's what it is to me. And Madmartigan is one of my favorite swordsmen of all time.
1. Brotherhood of the Wolf. YOU WILL BELIEVE IN RANGERS.

Honorable mentions: LotR: The Two Towers, Bunraku, Beastmaster, Masters of the Universe.


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## Wednesday Boy (Feb 6, 2015)

Dan Helmick said:


> 1. Brotherhood of the Wolf. YOU WILL BELIEVE IN RANGERS.




Good call!


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## f_lo_711 (Aug 13, 2015)

Willow FTW!


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## Legatus Legionis (Aug 16, 2015)

.


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