AinurOlorin
Half-elven
Feb 18 2013, 10:15pm
Views: 571
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He is right though. Leading into the era of The Rings movies you had a small handful, most tightly clutched
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together in either the late seventies or the early to mid 80s (or the distant past of the Silver Screen era, i.e. The Wizard of Oz). You had what? Excalibur (mediocre effects but strong on script and acting, with enough grit and sex to make it serious to the so called realists), then the hybrid mysticism/epic/sci-fi Star Wars, and a few 80s genre classics like the Henson gifts, i.e. The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, alongside The Neverending Story, Willow and Legend, (half of which had a mediocre performance at the box office, and only really got their due on VHS and later DVD as they became cult classics for people who grew up in the 80s and their friends and scions (some of whom happened to become famous directors and writers in their own right, and helped propel the rumour and awareness of the films into later popular culture), and for genre fans. There are also a few animated gems of related nature, like The Last Unicorn. Then you had one or two mediocre genre films, from the same decade, like He-Man and Conan. And then you had a series of horrible, pitiful (by most estimations), almost painful to watch films like Beastmaster and the like. Virtually anything else you can come up with that is firmly in the genre ( I leave out some great films with supernatural creatures, as they are not really in the same genre even if they have some of the same elements) from later than 1988 or 1989, and prior to 2000 was animated (The Nightmare Before Chritsmas, Spirited Away), or badly done and a flop (see Dungeons and Dragons). The 90s was a wasteland for movies of the Sword and Sorcery Genre. I don't even think any were made, Evil Dead and The Mummy if you stretch the genre to horror movies with portions set in Epic periods? Robin Hood Prince of Theives (and Men in Tights Ha!), if you stretch it to medival times with even a touch of sorcery implied?
Then we enter the 21st century and there is an opening of the floodgates. A decision is made to film and release movies in the genre based on classics like Rings and Narnia, and on hugely sucessful series like Harry Potter, with all the willingness and care of those 80s classics, alongside the rights to material, the broader technological options and enormous funding that Jim Henson, and even George Lucas at the time, did not have. Now, there is no denying, of the films that were made, The Lord of The Rings stands head and shoulders above the rest, in large part by virtue of the awards that it garnered, being, thus far, alone amongst its kind (and amongst any of the more paranormal/supernatural leaning genres) to achieve such accolades.
Having said that, and to Arranir's point, the period between 2000 and the Hobbit release of 2012 saw all three Rings films, eight Harry Potter films, three Narnia films (the first of which, at least, was very well received and made a strong net gain at the box office), Stardust and Pan's Labyrinth. All of those films had very high production quality, all of them were well acted, and most of them, exempting perhaps the last Narnia film, had at least reasonably good scripts, and at least one or two celebrated veteran actors in the cast performing exemplary work. Thus, after an entire decade in which this genre was avoided like a known carrier of gonnereah and syphillis, and during which no one aside from Tim Burton even drew close to its borders ( an avoidance due in no small part that the previous decade had produced only a handful of really good, quality films in the genre, and only about two of those from that Handful actually did well at the box office in their initial runs), we have seen a decade plus in which EVERY single year has offered at least one, and in some cases as many as three, high end, peak production quality, well made, well acted, Blockbuster films in the genre of Enchanted Realms. They have become ubiquitous aspects of popular culture, far exceeding anything from the previous three decades.
Are their distinctions between, say, Potter and Rings? ABSOLUTELY! But the differences between the High and Low of the genre are lost on more mundane critics and audiences. . . on the damn muggles, if you will. lol. Those who casually enjoy the genre can no longer be easily overwhelmed by a good film in the genre. They can find wonder in it, but it cannot blow them away as a wholly new experience the way it once would have. Those who don't and never did care for the genre, and who can't tell Gandalf from Dumbledore, can barely tell either one of them from the older Obi Wan Kenobi, or Arwen from Bella from Susan, and might almost struggle to work out the differences between Galadriel and The White Witch or Aslan and the great, white warg, have had all they can stand of such films, and can no longer be caught off their guard by the mere fact of one having a combination of good effects, good actors and a solid script.
Thus, while a little over a decade ago (say in 1999) An Unexpected Journey, as it stands, would have stood out as a great gemstone of wonder, causing jaws to drop left, right and center, and being hailed as a wonder far surpassing The Wizard of Oz, and a great and amazing feat that everyone should rush out to see. . . now, in the wake of over a dozen high-end genre spectacles, running one after the other for nearly 13 years. . . . it gets looked at with a far cooler and more critical eye, compared to every one of the good to great films that proceeded it in this century, and inevitably not always favourably etc. etc. That, I think, is the crux of what Arannir was saying, and I think it is a valid assesment. Additionaly, you have people fed up with Hobbits and Wizards, you have a lot more (and also good) fantasy movies on that scale - no uniqueness anymore - etc etc. I have a hard time coming up with many movies of its ilk. Unless you count everything with creatures or magic in it (Twilight for instance). I would argue LOTR & Hobbit are still pretty unique - sword & sorcery in a fantasy land.
"Hear me, hounds of Sauron, Gandalf is here! Fly if you value your foul skins, I will shrivel you from tail to snout if you step within this circle!"
"Do not be to eager to deal out death in judgement. Even the very wise cannot see all ends."
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I fully expect all three to hit that if not more for each film and I figure to see each of them an average of 5 times each. 
