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What are the best movies/shows with good magic in them?

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  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,004
    Sovrath said:
    Murmaider said:

    I'm trying to remember if the movie Solomon Kane had this criteria. (2009 movie with James Purefoy.....highly recommend it)
    I own this movie, it's really good. It has its flaws but it's a favorite.
    I like this movie also.  It just came back to Netflix, watched it a few days ago.  :smile:
    MurmaiderSovrath

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • AsheramAsheram Member EpicPosts: 5,072
    [Deleted User]MadFrenchiecollektOctagon7711Tuor7
  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,973
    Arkade99 said:
    Vrika said:
    Mistborn books have the best magic I've seen in any fantasy IP.

    I think they're making it into a movie, but there's no info on when movie version will be released.
    Check out Dave Duncan's "A Man of His Word" series. One of my all time favorite magic systems.
    Ty, I'll check it.
     
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,273
    So I remember watching Warcraft movie, not that it was an amazing movie, but it was entertaining and they portrayed the magic users pretty well I must say. They were powerful and badass like a wizard should be. 

    I contrast this to LOTRO, where Gandalf pretty much sucks. I mean if he's such a wizard, why is he fighting with a sword. Yeah, he can stop that Balrog, but in other cases, the magic just sucks. He runs a lot for someone who is one of the most powerful wizards ever. I envision a wizard just kicking ass with impunity. Half the time, Gandalf just runs away. 

    In GoT, the white walkers, actually act like beings with nasty magic. In Shannara chronicles, I think the magic is decent, but it would be helped by being higher film production. (I'm only on episode 2 of the second season, so no spoilers). 

    I thought, the legend of the seeker was pretty decent in terms of magic, but I had a big issue with that show and it only survived 2 years. 

    I just think that if you're a wizard, you should be more ballsy than Rambo/Terminator/Jean Claude Van Damme, put together. Just a badass. 

    Any other shows/movies that do magic well? 

    Cryomatrix

    Gandalf is wary of using his power, he Saruman and Sauron almost share a common "heritage". Sauron arrived during the first age and his love of power and dominion started to corrupt him and make his form more immaterial. He invested himself in the physical world and paid an ever increasing price, he created a ring that magnified his power hugely, yet if it was destroyed so would he be destroyed.

    The Istari (Gandalf, Saruman, a few others) were sent to redress the unbalancing of The Song (the world in a sense) which Sauron had caused. They knew to use power, to invest in the world would begin their corruption, and risk binding them to Middle Earth. So Gandalf tries to inspire others to take up arms; not use magic, which caused this whole problem in the first place.

    Saruman starts out much as Gandalf does, but seeks wisdom to overturn the designs of Sauron. But he falls prey to a love of power and starts down the path Sauron did thousands of years ago.

    If Gandalf had not used his power to wisely, I do not think he would have been able to return after defeating the Balrog which might have spelt the end of the race of man and elves.


    You are not going to get too much magic in TV series, costs too much, but I rate:

    The Magicians
    American Gods
    Octagon7711
  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,004
    edited February 2018
    Forgot about The Magicians, it's pretty good.  Lead guy is a little too mousy for me, same for the lead character Jay Baruchel, in The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
    Leiloni

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,273
    Forgot about The Magicians, it's pretty good.  Lead guy is a little too mousy for me, same for the lead character Jay Baruchel, in The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

    But the lead was true to the books, in fact the series is, with one work around to conform to good TV principles.
  • Tindale111Tindale111 Member UncommonPosts: 276
    Dont know if it will ever be a movie /show but my favourite book would be Magician by R E Feist  would love to see HBO take this one up 
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    edited February 2018
    In a way, Stranger Things uses magic, but it's sci-fi explained, though.  The boys in the show view it as magic, referencing their D&D booklet multiple times throughout the show to describe the different parties (i.e. monsters are the "Demogorgons").


    I mention it because using her powers took a toll on her, preventing Eleven from seeming too powerful.  That's my favorite kind of "magic system" to see in film: extraordinary powers that must be used sparingly or are dangerous when used.  LOTR also had this, as others have explained with Gandalf and Co..
    Sovrath

    image
  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 43,975
    edited February 2018
    Guilty confession,  when I was young  I wanted to marry a genie like Barbara Eden in the 60s sitcom. (I  Dream of Jeanie)

    I mean, c'mon,  she even called Major Nelson "Master."

    ;)


    AsheramcollektSovrathScot

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  • AsheramAsheram Member EpicPosts: 5,072
    Kyleran said:
    Guilty confession,  when I was young  I wanted to marry a genie like Barbara Eden in the 60s sitcom. (I  Dream of Jeanie)

    I mean, c'mon,  she even called Major Nelson "Master."

    ;)


    Or Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched. ;)
    Kyleran
  • CryomatrixCryomatrix Member EpicPosts: 3,223
    The thing about magic that I like is the conjuring and the graphics of it. 

    I must say, I liked how warcraft did it. Stranger things is okay, but they are missing the theatrics that I like in wizardry. 

    I didn't like Dr. Strange that much. A good movie for magic, this is a classic, is "Big Trouble in Little China". That's the type of magic, I want. 

    I guess i'll have to check out Sleepy hollow, the magician and stuff. I prefer a full fantasy series but we really don't have one. Shannara chronicles is closest to it, GoT is more low fantasy setting. 

    You think a movie with Drizzt would do well?

    Cryomatrix
    Catch me streaming at twitch.tv/cryomatrix
    You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations. 
  • Slapshot1188Slapshot1188 Member LegendaryPosts: 17,586

    All time classic  MY NEW FAVORITE POST!  (Keep laying those bricks)

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  • AllerleirauhAllerleirauh Member UncommonPosts: 496
    edited February 2018
    I'm just here expecting someone to mention Harry Potter even though I prefer LOTR (of course). Though I watched Willow many times and enjoyed that movie. Does the movie Dragonheart, quality for using magic? I also enjoyed Merlin (1998) starring Sam Neill. It could be because I have a partiality for Sam Neill, even though he's old enough to be my grandfather.
    Kyleran said:
    Guilty confession,  when I was young  I wanted to marry a genie like Barbara Eden in the 60s sitcom. (I  Dream of Jeanie)

    I mean, c'mon,  she even called Major Nelson "Master."

    ;)


    Yeah, you would have to be dreaming to have a woman call you "master"; see it even has "dream" in its title. ;)
    Currently Playing: Path of Exile

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  • CryomatrixCryomatrix Member EpicPosts: 3,223
    Asheram said:
    I just watched it all. 

    It is pretty good. 

    Cryomatrix
    Asheram
    Catch me streaming at twitch.tv/cryomatrix
    You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations. 
  • WarWitchWarWitch Member UncommonPosts: 351
    Dune
    Daikuru
  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 43,975
    why are so many russian bots fishing for things on mmorpg ? What is your favorite blah, what don't you like about bleh. this is not just this website, but across all social media.

    This is literally the 10th or so post in the last 3 weeks for phishing
    @Cryomatrix is a Russian bot?  That explains so much.....

    ;)


    CryomatrixScot

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • Viper482Viper482 Member LegendaryPosts: 4,099
    The Warcraft movie had some cool magic in it. The new Amazon show Britannia has some cool Druid stuff. 
    Asheram
    Make MMORPG's Great Again!
  • SovrathSovrath Member LegendaryPosts: 32,780
    Kyleran said:
    Guilty confession,  when I was young  I wanted to marry a genie like Barbara Eden in the 60s sitcom. (I  Dream of Jeanie)

    I mean, c'mon,  she even called Major Nelson "Master."

    ;)


    Yeah, that first episode? Rowrrr!
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  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    edited February 2018
    G.R.R. Martin (paraphrase): readers / viewers regard it as silly so publisher, TV companies don't want to know about it. So with GoT he tackled magic in the same way you cook a lobster (i.e. the audience) very slowly. So not much of it about. 
     

    However, as mentioned above, Solomon Kane, a R.E. Howard character that makes Conan look puny, is superb. 

    Also: Stardust is very good - in the vein of the classic A Princes's Bride (some magic in that!) Labyrinth is another excellent film as well.

    As far as Arthurian stuff goes: 
    - Merlin the TV series is indeed OK, although not much magic per episode in it.
    - "A Sword in the Stone" , Disney animation, actually has a lot of magic portrayed (twee though)
    - The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2009 Bruckneimer) is actually well done.
    - Big call out though to John Boorman's Excalibur (1981). Drawn from Mallory's Morte d'Arthur it is visually stunning. 

    Way out:
    Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire (2009 TV series) is not big on "flashy magic" but it is funny.

    Tales of Earthsea
    The (mini-series) sadly fails to capture the soul of Le Guin's masterpiece (hard) but its magic is "flashy".
    In some ways harder to watch than The Shannara Chronicles - which I feel should be better. There is a 2006 Earthsea film as well, better done but still.

    Oldies: The Raven (1963) Edgar Alan Poe brought to life by a stellar cast. Jason and the Argonauts (1963) is another. And lets not forget The Thief of Baghdad (1940).

    What else: a lot of Hong Kong / Chinese wire-fu films have "flash bang" stuff and the likes Kingsglaive: FFXV - technically animation! - has magic. (There is some live action anime stuff out there as well some of which - sorta fits)

    There are others - that sort of qualify - Dark Crystal say, the Arnie Conan and yes I have seen Hawk the Slayer! but there really isn't that much and so you end up scraping the barrel so to speak.
  • CryomatrixCryomatrix Member EpicPosts: 3,223
    why are so many russian bots fishing for things on mmorpg ? What is your favorite blah, what don't you like about bleh. this is not just this website, but across all social media.

    This is literally the 10th or so post in the last 3 weeks for phishing

    How the heck am I a russian bot? Comrade?  :D

    Read my other posts. You sir, deserve a solid WTF for your post. 

    Cryomatrix
    KyleranScot
    Catch me streaming at twitch.tv/cryomatrix
    You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations. 
  • AkulasAkulas Member RarePosts: 3,028
    Real life wizards just sit in a little ran down shack on the corner of the beach with alot of bookshelves and carry a strange stick and yell at you loudly if you approach their front porch.

    This isn't a signature, you just think it is.

  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 43,975
    Everyone knows the greatest form of magic is "the boomstick."




    UngoodAsheram[Deleted User]

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • wandericawanderica Member UncommonPosts: 371
    Lots of good stuff mentioned.  The Magicians is one I would recommend.  Another is The Originals (on Netflix now).  It's a spinoff of The Vampire Diaries, but it's less love story, and more badassery.  It's better in the same way Angel was better than Buffy (also worth a mention for magic, BTW)  Lots of good voodoo style ritual magic as well as hand flinging magic. 


  • UngoodUngood Member LegendaryPosts: 7,534
    Kyleran said:
    Everyone knows the greatest form of magic is "the boomstick."




    Everyone knows the Boom Boom Stick.


    AsheramOctagon7711
    Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.

  • UngoodUngood Member LegendaryPosts: 7,534
    Once Upon a Time, the Series.

    If magic is your thing, this show has it in spades.
    KyleranOctagon7711
    Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.

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