In the 1980s
we had an embarrassment of riches when it came to printed material; everything
from stacks of paperback books, comics, Frazetta posters and print books (and
other artists, as well, but c’mon…FRAZETTA), and even maps that we could hang
on our walls for inspiration.
Another
thing happened in the 1980s and that was this: special effects took a quantum
leap forward. Now it was possible to put stuff on screen that would have
required Ray Harryhausen to pull off. This was entirely because of the astronomical
success of movies by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and given that back
then it took four to five years to make a major motion picture, 1977 plus 5
equals…1982. Prime Zeitgeist Real Estate for giant fantasy films and also the
perfect sweet spot for wooing a horde of eager D&D players to the movies.
Sword, knights, barbarians, magic, monsters…we were there, man. Even if we had
to sneak in (or wait until HBO picked it up and ran it into the ground).
