D&D Cinema the 80's

After the recent Netflix price hike announcement I've been much more motivated to work my way through my Netflix queue, both instant and otherwise.  Today I watched both Conan the Destroyer and LadyHawke two D&D-esque films from the 80's.  They fall into a similar piecemeal genre so I felt apt to compare them.  Don't expect anything detailed this is merely a personal opinion of mine.

I was rather disappointed with Conan, it was much more lame than I remember as a youth.  Aside from the Conan-laying-waste-to-minions scenes I found it very difficult to pay attention. Much of the plot and plot reveals were largely forgettable.  LadyHawke on the other hand was actually quite impressive.  Well, when you move past the cheesy special effects, low production values and 80's synth heavy tracks.  Then again Conan's special effects weren't much better, but hey, it was the 80's.

While Conan fits the bill of the Swords and Sorcery genre that D&D draws heavily from, Lady Hawke felt more D&D to me.  Witty thieves, stoic knights on a quest of vengeance in medieval europe with a touch of supernatural provided a much more attractive milieu than mirror wizards and unicorn fish gods.

Also, that double crossbow was kickass.