Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)
Martial Arts/Action Film
Part of the attempt to reboot the G.I. Joe film series into a shared universe, this is a kinetically driven martial arts film
Magical Artefacts
Magical Artefacts are objects of power that can produce or are empowered by Magic. Magical Artefacts can be rings, swords, orbs, scrolls, staffs, lenses, crystals, scrolls, keys, lamps, books, knives, boxes, doorways, mirrors, flying carpets, coins, items of clothing (often ones that may have been worn by a Magician) or jewellery, and assorted others.
These can variously wield magic and power, open Portals, conduct transformations, offer wishes, extend one’s life, conjure entities, control minds, divine the future and many other purposes. Use of such objects can sometimes require arcane knowledge or solving puzzles. In some cases, the usage will affect a price on the user. Artefacts that have malevolent purpose are discussed under Cursed Objects.
Rarely is it ever depicted how such an artefact comes into being, they are usually items that are just discovered. Frequently they are hidden where Adventure Films often concern quests to discover their whereabouts, or else they can be unassuming items found in the everyday.
The most famous Magical Artefacts on screen might be King Arthur’s sword Excalibur, Aladdin’s lamp, Dorothy’s Red Slippers in The Wizard of Oz (1939), the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings and Thor’s hammer.
The Snow Queen (1995)
Animation/Fairy-Tale
Lightweight British animated adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale made for children
Snow Queen (2002)
Fairy-Tale/Epic Quest
The Hallmark tv mini-series version of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale is lushly produced but tends to plod when it should come to life as fantasy
Snow White (2001)
Fairy-Tale
Caroline Thompson, a regular Tim Burton scriptwriter, directs a uniquely revisionist version of the fairytale in which she digs in to explain the origins of many of the familiar aspects of the story
Son of the Mask (2005)
The Mask Sequel
Sequel to the Jim Carrey starring The Mask with Jamie Kennedy taking over in a film that was regarded as one of the worst sequels of all time
Song of the Sea (2014)
Animation/Selkies and Celtic Mythology
An Oscar nominees for Best Animated Film – a unique and exquisitely drawn dive into Celtic mythology that comes with wit, humour and the emotional tenderness of a Hayao Miyazaki. This deserves to be seen far more widely than it ended up being
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010)
Apprentice Wizard
A live-action film based on the titular segment from Fantasia. From Jerry Bruckheimer meaning that it is a film of empty-headed special effects that fails to conjure any magic of its own
Status Update (2018)
Magical Cellphone That Causes Things to Come True
Light fantasy comedy in which a teenager gets a magical cellphone that causes whatever he types into his status update to come true
Storm Warriors (2009)
Flying Swordsmen Fantasy
The Pang Brothers are some of the most exciting genre directors in the world. Here they take on the Wu Xia film and make a sequel to The Storm Riders that feels fuelled by too many viewings of 300
Stuff (1999)
Resurrection Ring/Black Comedy
Canadian-made black comedy about a ring that can revive the dead
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018)
Animation/Team-Up of DC Comics Super-Villains
A DC Universe Original Animated Movie given over to Suicide Squad. Clearly inspired by the live-action film, this goes overboard on the super-villains present, having three entire teams running around to general confusion, while striking a very odd tone in its pitch for an R-rating
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Animation/Videogame Adaptation
Illumination Entertainment, the company behind the Despicable Me films, make an animated film based on the popular videogame franchise. The result was the second highest grossing film of the year
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)
Animation/Videogame Adaptation
Sequel to the animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which was the second highest grossing film of 2023. From the people behind the Despicable Me films, this exists as little more than eye candy for five-year-olds
Suzume (2022)
Anime/Quest to Close Portals
Beautifully made anime from Makoto Shinkai about a young girl and a three-legged chair on a quest to close a series of portals across Japan and prevent unimaginable chaos emerging
Swordsman (1990)
Hong Kong Flying Swordsmen Fantasy
The first in a highly enjoyable series of flying swordsman films produced by Tsui Hark. The series hit its peak with the second film but this is an enjoyably energetic and busy effort in its own
Swordsman II (1992)
Hong Kong Flying Swordsmen Fantasy
Sensational example of the Hong Kong Wu Xia/Flying Swordsman film. Ching Siu-Tung delivers an amazing series of martial arts battles with fantastical moves that are quite out of this world
Swordsman III: The East is Red (1993)
Hong Kong Flying Swordsmen Fantasy
The third in the Hong Kong Wu Xia/flying swordsman series. After a sensational second entry, this one figures it has to top it, resulting in some utterly whacko scenes even by the usually OTT, anything-goes standards of Hong Kong fantasy
The Swordsman (1992)
Mystical Sword/Action/Reincarnation
Action film starring Lorenzo Lamas as a detective drawn into underground fight clubs while discovering a mystic sword owned by Alexander the Great
A Tale from the East (1990)
Hong Kong Supernatural Comedy
A wannabe entry aboard the HK supernatural fantasy fad of the late 80s/early 90s sparked by the likes of the Mr Vampire and A Chinese Ghost Story films … This, which involves a time travel plot, is crippled by a pandering to a slapstick inanity that makes it a painful watching experience
Tales That Witness Madness (1973)
Horror Anthology
Director Freddie Francis had had great success making several of the Amicus horror anthologies then went independent to made another Amicus-styled anthology here with mixed results
Tangled (2010)
Disney Animation/Rapunzel Adaptation
Disney fairytale Lite. The story of Rapunzel gets hiply modernised and is now no more than a cute adventure/romance about a handsome rogue and a girl who has magical hair. Eminently forgettable Disney animation.
Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (2006)
Rockstars' Gonzo Quest
Film spinoff of the rock parody act headed by Jack Black. This emerges like i>The Blues Brothers recast with Cheech and Chong and delivers some occasionally surreal and amusing gags
There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble (2000)
Magic Soccer Boots
Film about a pair of magical soccer boots, so centred in its local sports culture that it is unlikely to have much appeal outside of its Manchester setting
The Thief and the Cobbler (1994)
Gonzo Arabian Nights Adventure/Animation
Legendary animated masterpiece from Richard Williams that was butchered in release. Williams’ animation is visually extraordinary
The Thief Lord (2006)
Orphan Thieves Fantasy
Children’s film made with care and attention, written and produced to an adult level, far superior to 95% of the US studio efforts
The Thief of Baghdad (1961)
Arabian Nights Adventure
Dull remake of the classic Arabian Nights film that casts Steve Reeves and tries to make it into a Hercules peplum adventure
The Thief of Baghdad (1978)
Arabian Nights Adventure
The fourth film version of the Arabian Nights adventure, a tv movie released theatrically in some parts.
Thor: God of Thunder (2022)
Norse Superhero/The Asylum Mockbuster
A low-budget mockbuster from The Asylum designed to jump aboard the bandwagon of Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
The fourth of Marvel’s Thor films, where director Taika Waititi gets the balance of humour down much more successfully than he did in the previous film
Thor: Tales of Asgard (2011)
Animation/Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
Though Marvel Comics have had massive success with their big screen adaptations in the 00s, they have been far less successful with their attempts to spin off animated films. An okay but unexceptional animated prequel released at the same time as the first Thor live-action film
A Thousand and One Nights (1945)
Arabian Nights Adventure
Part of the fad during the 1940s for swashbuckling Arabian Nights adventures, this tells the story of Aladdin and is more embracing of the fantasy elements than most of the other films of this period
The Thousand Faces of Dunjia (2017)
Wu Xia/Flying Swordsman Fantasy
One welcomes a collaboration between Tsui Hark, the godfather of Hong Kong fantasy cinema, and Yuen Wo Ping, fight choreographer for The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but the the results are oddly disappointing, with Yuen’s talents seeming buried under the CGI
The Throbbit (2015)
The Hobbit Parody
An excruciating fan-made parody of The Hobbit films filled with amateur actors delivering performances in ridiculous falsettos. What makes this mind-boggling is its realisation it can’t compete with Peter Jackson on effects, resulting in things like Smaug played by a drag queen
Time Raiders (2016)
Tomb-Raiding Adventures
Not a time travel film as the title leads you to expect but a Chinese copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark where you expect they were trying to call it ‘tomb raiders’. The director is also the production designer leading to a gorgeously designed film but also one of constant action postures almost entirely lacking in substance
Tin Man (2007)
Modernised Wizard of Oz
Nick Willing conducts the first of his SF revampings of popular tales. Here The Wizard of Oz is reworked into a Steampunk fantasy with some startling reinterpetations of the familiar characters
Tomb Invader (2018)
Tomb Raiding Adventures/The Asylum Mockbuster
The Asylum’s mockbuster response to the theatrical reboot of Tomb Raider. This is cut-priced and features globe-spanning adventures that never travel outside of California
Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983)
Caper Adventure
Cheap and tatty copycat of Raiders of the Lost Ark shot in the short-lived 1980s 3D revival fad
The Turkish Star Wars (1982)
Planetary Adventure/Bad Movie Classic
A strong contender for Worst Film Ever. Rather than create any effects, it has simply uplifted footage from Star Wars, while the score is a mismash taken from popular films of the era. The dialogue is so bizarrely surreal it makes the brain hurt trying to understand it
Turnabout (1940)
Husband-Wife Bodyswap Screwball Comedy
A madcap screwball comedy in which a husband and wife swap bodies. The very first bodyswap film. From director Hal Roach who discovered Laurel and Hardy
Upworld (1991)
Cop and Gnome Partner
The most bizarre of the variants on the buddy cop film that came out after Lethal Weapon in which Anthony Michael Hall is partnered with a gnome. Directed by makeup effects man Stan Winston and an embarrassment to all involved
User Friendly (1990)
Eccentric Comedy/Statuette With Rejuvenative Powers
Oddball New Zealand-made comedy with various characters in pursuit of a statuette with rejuvenative properties
Vibes (1988)
Psychic Powers Comedy-Adventure
Psychic powers comedy made in the aftermath of Ghostbusters where Jeff Goldblum is upstaged by a kooky Cyndi Lauper
Vice Versa (1988)
Father-Son Bodyswap Comedy
One of a spate of bodyswap comedies in the mid-1980s where father and son Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage end up swapping bodies
Volcano High (2001)
High School Fantastical Martial Arts
Energetic South Korean attempt to employ the Wu Xia action moves popularised by The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in a high school setting
Warriors of Virtue (1997)
Fantasy Otherworld
Fantasy film set in a magical otherworld defended by martial arts wielding kangaroos
The Watch (2020)
Terry Pratchett Adaptation
Mini-series based on the works of Terry Pratchett that feels as though it is made, designed and cast by people who haven’t even read the books
The Witches of Oz (2011)
Wizard of Oz Sequel/Modernisation
Sequel/modernisation (it is confusing what) to The Wizard of Oz relocated in New York. This tv mini-series may be the cheapest work ever served up bearing the Oz name and flounders amid the shabbiness of its effects and utter lack of magic its director conjures
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Adventures in a Magical Land
An indisputable classic fantasy … a gorgeous sparkling fantasy that made full use of Technicolor in an era dominated by black-and-white and is told in such bold and earnestly heartfelt tones that it becomes the nearest we have to a piece of genuine American mythology
Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1984)
Sword and Sorcery
A painfully cheap entry in the 1980s fad for sword and sorcery films.
The Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy (1964)
Mexican Wrestlers vs Revived Mummy
This is surely one of the great exploitation titles of all time. Another Mexican wrestling superhero film where a duo of woman wrestlers take on the Aztec Mummy from another Mexican horror series
Wu Dang (2012)
Martial Arts/Wu Xia Fantasy
Martial Arts/Wu Xia fantasy with various people involved in a competition while hunting for a fabled sword
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Comic-Book Superheroine
The much-anticipated sequel to the Gal Gadot starring Wonder Woman is a highly divided success, partly due to an inane plot centred around a magic wishing stone
YatterMan (2009)
Anime TV Series in Live-Action/Gonzo Giant Robot Heroics
Takashi Miike conducts a live-action adaptation of a 1970s anime tv series with completely madcap results. The effect is like drowning in multi-coloured candyfloss flavoured with LSD
Zu Warriors (2001)
Wu Xia Film
Tsui Hark’s follow-up to Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain the film that popularised Wu Xia cinema. The point where Tsui discovered CGI and latches onto it to do more than just show flying swordsmen but create an exquisitely dreamy world of pure fantastique imagination
Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983)
Wu Xia Film
The modern beginnings of Wu Xia and the flying swordsman film. Tsui Hark creates a totally nutso film filled with wild martial arts battles with demonic forces. The results are out of this world