magic – Around the World in 80s Movies Podcast

Red Sonja (1985) | Richard Fleischer

April 10, 2020 qwipster Comment is Closed

An unofficial spinoff of sorts to the Conan franchise, Red Sonja starts off with Sonja (Brigitte Nielsen) as an attractive farm girl that evil lesbian Queen Gedren of Berkubane (Sandahl Bergman) finds fetching enough to invite over. Sonja finds the offer so repulsive she ends up giving the queen’s face a nasty gash. Spurned, Sonja’s […]

Conan the Destroyer (1984) | Richard Fleischer

April 3, 2020 qwipster Comment is Closed

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Power-hungry Queen Tamaris of Shadizar (Sarah Douglas), who offers Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) a bargain. Taramis will resurrect his dead lover Valeria upon completion of a special mission. He is to assist with the protection of her niece, a young virgin princess named Jehnna (Olivia d’Abo). Jehnna travels with her bodyguard Bombaata (Wilt Chamberlain), to venture into […]

Fire and Ice (1983) | Ralph Bakshi

March 20, 2020 qwipster Comment is Closed

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This animated story involves a fantasy world imagined before the last ice age, featuring human civilizations and exotic dinosaurs coexisting. It is a time where the lands are divided among two factions, the evil Ice Peak sorcerer warlords, Queen Juliana and her wicked son Nekron, leading an army of ape-like subhumans, and the goodly Fire […]

The Black Cauldron (1981) | Richard Rich & Ted Berman

May 5, 2018April 18, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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1985’s THE BLACK CAULDRON represents Disney at its nadir as an animation studio, resulting in a box office failure and years of obscurity. It’s first PG-rated animated feature struggled to find an audience clamoring for its dark and violent tones. However, it has garnered a significant cult following over the years, with its tales of […]

Xanadu (1980) | Robert Greenwald

March 24, 2018April 17, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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The much-maligned 1980 musical gets re-evaluated in this podcast review. Olivia Newton-John plays a muse who is sent to earth to inspire a struggling artist (Michael Beck) fulfill his dream of starting a roller-disco club with a retired construction magnate (Gene Kelly). Newton-John and pop group ELO deliver a powerhouse soundtrack in this visually impressive […]

The Dark Crystal (1982) | Jim Henson & Frank Oz

March 4, 2018April 17, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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Jim Henson conceived of this elaborate realm of fantasy in which two competing races vie for the destiny of a faraway planet, as the evil Skeksis try to thwart the Gelflings of prophecy from uniting the planet yet again and bringing equilibrium to life there for those enslaved. This imaginative film had been a disappointment […]

Labyrinth (1986) | Jim Henson

November 5, 2017April 16, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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Jennifer Connelly is cast in one of her first starring roles as Sarah, a teenage girl who has grown tired of her stepmother and father leaving her home alone to babysit her infant brother, Toby. In a bout of exasperation, she wishes him away, and inadvertently summons the vain and moody Goblin King of myth, […]

Ladyhawke (1985) | Richard Donner

October 30, 2017April 16, 2019 qwipster Comment is Closed

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Set in France during the Middle Ages, Philippe ‘The Mouse’ Gaston, a convicted pickpocket escapes from a castle dungeon only to get involved in a bitter feud between the powerful, scheming Bishop of Aquila and two lovers, a former captain of the guard named Etienne of Navarre and a lady named Isabeau d’Anjou, who were […]