The Thief of Baghdad (1978)
Feb 27, 2003Arabian Nights Adventure
The fourth film version of the Arabian Nights adventure, a tv movie released theatrically in some parts.
Ian Holm
Alien (1979)
May 2, 1999Alien Nasty on a Spaceship
One of the most influential films on this site, producing a host of sequels and making the careers of all involved. At heart, a simple monster on a spaceship film, it is made into a classic through Ridley Scott's relentless suspense and H.R. Giger's design work
Time Bandits (1981)
Jul 29, 2002Gonzo Adventures Throughout Time
Highly enjoyable Terry Gilliam film about a young boy who joins a group of dwarves on a series of adventures though time
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
Aug 17, 2012Revisionist Tarzan Film
Maybe the definitive Tarzan film, one that drops the pulp adventure and recasts the story as British arthouse theatre. Superbly mounted and cast. Christopher Lambert has never better in the title role
Brazil (1985)
Aug 1, 2001Dystopian Black Comedy
Terry Gilliam's satire on Nineteen Eighty-Four is a darkly brilliant work - it is a madly out of control film but is filled moments of wild imagination and black-than-black humour than make it an unnerving ride
Dreamchild (1985)
Feb 27, 2001Real-Life Alice in Wonderland Reminisces
Dennis Potter scripted film with the great Coral Browne as the aging Alice Liddell, who inspired the fictional Alice in Wonderland, who imagines the creatures come to life to show her the hidden message in the book
Kafka (1991)
Jun 7, 2002Fictionalised Author Biopic/Mad Scientists
Steven Soderbergh's second film was this flop pseudo-biopic that places Franz Kafka (Jeremy Irons) alongside mad scientist elements and German Expressionist homages but fails to find much of Kafka's paranoid mood
The Borrowers [<i>Season 1</i>] (1992)
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Sep 16, 2025Miniature People Adventures
Absolutely delightful and charming BBC series about a family of miniature people who live in secrecy inside the walls of human houses. The best of several versions of the popular books
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)
May 8, 2000Frankenstein Adaptation
An adaptation of Frankenstein made as companion piece to Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula. As director, Kenneth Branagh creates a lush production but the attempts to emulate Coppola's sensuality go off-balance
Loch Ness (1996)
Nov 24, 2002Quest for the Loch Ness Monster
Big-budget Loch Ness Monster film with a CGI creature made not long after Jurassic Park this only resorts to simplistic cliches
A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
Feb 20, 2009Kidnapping & Angelic Intervention Comedy
Danny Boyle eccentricity with Ewan McGregor as an inept kidnapper and Cameron Diaz as his more astute abductee. A head-scratching comedy that also throws gun-toting angels into the mix
The Fifth Element (1997)
Apr 19, 2004Space Opera/Showdown Against Ultimate Evil
A big-budget space opera from Luc Besson. This offers a dazzlingly designed future but the plot is an inane hodgepodge of bad SF elements with a tone that flails between action and camp
Simon Magus (1999)
May 22, 2001Orthodox Jewish Village/Visions of the Devil
Film set in a small 19th Century Orthodox Jewish village struggling to deal with the modern world, featuring Noah Taylor as a fool troubled by visions of The Devil
eXistenZ (1999)
May 22, 1999Virtual Reality
David Cronenberg tackles Virtual Reality themes in an interestingly mind-bending work. Cronenberg has some interesting takes but this ended up being overshadowed by the phenomenon that was The Matrix the same year
Bless the Child (2000)
Aug 11, 2000Satanists Pursue Divine Child
Reasonable budgeted film that does no more than rehash Devil Child cliches from The Omen – or even more so the basic plot of Servants of Twilight. Chuck Russell throws in lots of CGI effects to little effect
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Dec 19, 2001Epic Fantasy Adventure
Peter Jackson wowed the world with this first part of his adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy. Epic filmmaking and one that shows Jackson in full command of his craft
From Hell (2001)
Oct 21, 2001Jack the Ripper
Disappointing attempt, based on a Alan Moore graphic novel, to depict the Jack the Ripper killings. The film feels over-produced and slides off the cliff by throwing its weight behind one of the more ludicrous and implausible Ripper theories
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Dec 23, 2003Epic Fantasy Adventure
The weakest of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films, the most variant from the source material and the one where Jackson allows visual effects bloat to take over
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Jun 1, 2004New Ice Age/Environmental Disaster Movie
In another of his big budget disaster spectacles, Roland Emmerich embraces environmental concerns about Global Warming. Here he (unscientifically) imagines the abrupt onset of a new Ice Age worldwide
Renaissance (2006)
Nov 10, 2006Animation/Futuristic Film Noir
Dazzling French animated Cyberpunk film shot in the performance capture animated process and then rendered in striking two-tone black-and-white
Ratatouille (2007)
Sep 9, 2007Pixar Animation/Talking Rat Chef
The eighth film from Pixar and Brad Bird's follow-up to the hit of The Incredibles. Telling the story of a rat that becomes a gourmet chef, this is slightly the lesser among the high standard that Pixar have set nevertheless still immensely enjoyable
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Dec 14, 2012Epic Fantasy Adventure
Peter Jackson returns to J.R.R. Tolkien and epic-sized adventure in the first of his Hobbit films. The visual sweep is there but the film feels over-extruded and over-burdened by its own self-importance.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
Dec 20, 2014Epic Fantasy Adventure
After two bloated and over-padded Hobbit films, Peter Jackson finally gets it together and produces what everyone was expecting him to deliver, even if it means dragging one battle scene out to last an entire film