There were,
in the middle of all this epic swordplay, a handful of near misses and
one-offs, as well as a couple of Science-Fantasy “epics” that seemed more like
an attempt to pander to the Star Wars
crowd as well as offer up mediocre swordplay and derring-do (or bad jump
kicks). Hollywood wasn’t interested in making the next fantasy blockbuster;
they were obsessed with remaking that last fantasy blockbuster, only much
cheaper than before. We ended up renting these at the video stores because,
come on, no one saw this in the theater. How on Earth could we have? They were
rated R for nudity, and/or they were shown at the drive-in (we had no car at
the time), and so we had to wait until they made it to VHS or HBO. Or both.
Thankfully,
my parents owned and operated a video rental store throughout my high school
years, which was great for me, since I was allowed to advise as to the movies
we stocked in the horror and science fiction sections. This made me the go-to
guy for staying caught up on the latest nerd-films, from cult classics like The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai to the
magnum opuses listed below. What they provided for us gamers, more than
anything, was laughs—hoots of derision or just knowing, rueful chuckles. After
all, we had seen better films, hadn’t we? Maybe we weren’t the most discerning
of audiences, but we did have some taste,
right?
