Heroic fantasy movies and television changed in the 1990s. CGI came to Hollywood in 1993 with Jurassic Park but the Fantasy film genre stayed away for the most part (too expensive). Dragonheart is the obvious exception. The Odyssey used it too but ouch! This would become the standard in the 2000s. The Thirteenth Warrior uses a small amount for the ocean voyage but is mostly a live-action film. It is my favorite film of this decade. (Very few of these shows are based on books. Fairy tales and mythology become popular again.) We also saw other countries than America produce their own version of heroic fantasy in anime and live action.
1990
In the Time of Barbarians (aka Time Barbarians) Directed by Joseph L. Barmettler
The Silver Chair – BBC production starring Tom Baker and David Thewlis.
1991
The Beast Master II: Through the Portal of Time Directed by Sylvio Tabet–features Marc Singer and Sarah Douglas
Beauty and the Beast– Disney fare based on fairy tale.
Fantaghiro: The Cave of the Golden Rose
Highlander II: the Quickening – the confusing sequel that changed the background and left thinking, enough?
The Never-Ending Story II: The Next Chapter
The Polar Bear King – shades of Philip Pullman to come…
Wizards of the Demon Sword
1992
Aladdin – more Disney but more Sword & Sorcery in nature
Conan the Adventurer (Animated) (1992-1993) – produced by Jetlag Productions – featuring Michael Donovan, Scott McNeil.
Deathstalker IV: Match of the Titans Directed by Howard R. Cohen
In the Time of Barbarians II Directed by Ricardo Jacques Gale
1993
Highlander: The Series (1993-1998) – better received than the sequel but i could never wrap my brain around the idea of eternal swordsmen doing anything besides compete. The formula is reminiscent of The Fugitive (or The Incredible Hulk or The Littlest Hobo) with the hero helping a different person each week.
Conan and the Young Warriors (1994) – Produced by Sunbow Entertainment- featuring Phil Hayes, Mark Hildreth.
1994
Aladdin Television show (1994-1995)
The Princess and the Goblin – a children’s cartoon of a children’s bookby George Macdonald, but very important to the history of epic fantasy.
The Never-Ending Story III: Escape From Fantasia
The Pagemaster – McCauley Culkin wanders through books with some sequences being heroic. Guest starred Whoppi Goldberg, Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Lloyd and Frank Welker.
1995
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys(1995-1999) Produced by Sam Raimi
Slayers- The Movie (Animated) – Directed by Kazuo Yamazaki and Hiroshi Watanabe
Slayers (Animated (1995-1997) – Produced by E. G. Films.
Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001) Produced by Sam Raimi. More popular than Hercules, this show was a worldwide sensation, making the producers billions.
The Adventures of Sinbad (1996-1998) Produced by Ed Naha – Sam Raimi’s Arabian spin-off that never caught on.
1996
Dragonheart – Directed by Rob Cohen – featuring Sean Connery, Dennis Quaid. The CGI dragon set the standard for the next decade though it looks pretty bad now.
Beastmaster III: the Eye of Braxus
1997
Hercules – more Disney but a funny and heroic film.
Conan the Adventurer (Live Action) (1997-1998) – Produced by Max Keller, featuring Ralf Moeller, Danny Woodburn.
Kull the Conqueror – directed by John Nicolella – featuring Kevin Sorbo, Tia Carrere, Thomas Ian Griffith.
The Odyssey – starring Armand Assante – a nice effort but the CGI is so bad.
1998
Mulan – probably Disney’s best and that’s saying something. The 1990s was a good decade for feature cartoons.
Young Hercules (1998-99)
1999
The Beastmaster: The Legend Continues (1999-2002) Episode List – featuring Daniel Goddard, Jackson Raine, Monika Schnarre
The Thirteenth Warrior – Directed by John McTiernan – featuring Antonio Banderas, Omar Sharif, Vladamir Kulich. – based on the Michael Crichton novel The Eaters of the Dead.
