Looking for a certain type of film

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Recently I've taken to a certain kind of film. Films that I used to see as a child, mostly. Funny thing is, when I saw them again I realized that THAT is, essentially, what I'm looking for in film - though I essentially LOVE mindfuck films such as Donnie Darko, Saw, Dark City and Memento, I rediscovered my need for such films as Edward Scissorhands, The Secret of NIMH and The Last Unicorn (I mentioned 3 films, 2 of which were cartoons... I wonder why).

So I thought I might as well ask here. I only know as far as my memory takes me back, and that isn't much - the only other film I remember is "Nausicaa", or "Warriors of Wind", and I'm in the process of getting that one (don't know if I'll like it too, not the same way I liked ESH, SON and TLU, but I'll see).

(another coouple of films I remember are Happily Ever After and The Adventures of the AMerican Rabbit, but reviews seem to indicate those were not that good, and since I still haven't re-seen them I don't mention them in this discussion)

Here's the actual question - what films do you know, be they older than the hills or just out of procutions, that have this kind of beauty? It's not easy to explain exactly WHAT they have, but whoever has whatched them will know. I find a certain kind of magic in them that I don't ind in many other places. Big FIsh, for instance, was beautiful - one of the best things Tim Burton ever made, I'm sure - but it just didn't hold a candle to the magic and the simplicity in Edward SH. Music also plays a big part, of course - these three films I mention have great soundtracks, which I listen to occasionally. On the whole, everything on the film contributes to the experience.

Disney has great classics, yes, but somehow their (arguably) best picture, The Lion King, still does not quite fit into what I'm looking for. What did SON and TLU have that Lion King did not? Frankly, I don't know. Maybe I'm just being too picky.

Well, that's about it. Any suggestions?

EDIT - From what I remember, "Black Beauty" is another such title. The real motion film, I mean.

[TheYak]

One you didn't mention that might fit your mold is Watership Down ... of course it is a touch twisted.  (Better yet, imo)

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Hmmm... I saw bits of it in Donnie Darko Director's Cut some months ago, but I had only even heard of the book 5 years ago, or something, when I read Stephen King's "The Stand". And until I saw DDDC, I didn't even know there WAS a cartoon about it! Many thanks, I'll give it a go. Many, many thanks.

BTW, while it would be very appealing for me to have this thread become "here, try this one", I'm sure it wouldn't be interesting for anyone else. I wouldn't want that, so any kind of discussion regarding these films (and maybe expand to similar books, or plays, or adventure games - a genre which is unfortunately lacking in these things, which is my greatest regret) is more than welcome.

[Kinoko]

Watership Down scarred me. I remember those rabbits with wild, red eyes buried alive... then that sad, sad f$#cking song. I loved the movie, but boy... it was an emotional workout.

The Last Unicorn is one of my all-time favourite movies ever. I used to love the Secret of Nihm when I was a kid, and rewatched it last year... it was actually kind of boring. I was really disappointed it was so much suckier than I remembered. I see what you mean about it, that -feel- is there. It's not awful, but I do remember just wanting it to finish, and that's just not a good sign of my enjoyment of a film.

Labyrinth/Goonies and Never Ending Story are what I consider to be my "Big Three" childhood movie loves, though even those are ever so slightly different.

what YakSpit said though is exactly right, even if he doesn't realise it. Those movies we remember with that special "feel" are that way, not only for the music and animation and stories, but for one special thing they all have in common. Darkness. I bet you can't name a single one of these films that doesn't have a touch of darkness, something you might be surprised to see in a modern Disney movie. A character dying, real sadness, cruelty. It's not the REASON we love them, but it's what gives them that kick because they were movies that made you FEEL something, even if you didn't quite understand it when you were a kid.

[evenwolf]

Kinoko hit some really good ones.

I think you value these movies because they offer you another, more mystical world to escape to.

"Red Flyer" fits this theme perfectly, but it does have very dark parts.


--- edit: whoops, I did mean "Radio Flyer" afterall.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

I think you value these movies because they offer you another, more mystical world to escape to.

Heh. I don't know if you meant "you" as in "me" or as in "people in general", but as far as I'm concerned, I'd say you are absolutely right. It's interesting, though, how these films with the "darkness" Kinoko mentioned are much more appealing... that "kick" Kinoko talked about seems to be fundamental. Maybe it makes that mystical world that much more real. Or maybe it's simply in our nature to enjoy tragedy in fiction. I read something interesting in Stephen King's Danse Macabre, which I can't quote but the gist of it was, essentially: you read about all those horrible things, you INSIST on being scared out of your wits, because then you can relax and some part of you says "There there, it's just a story, this won't ever happen to you... but what a rush it was while it lasted!" Kinda like the rollercoaster. What a rush, man, you feel like you're playing Russian Roulette or something! What if something goes wrong and you fall? It won't, and you know it... but it doesn't take away the rush!

EDIT - And this rush, when it's combined with a good emotional story... but the rush isn't necessary. It was there in NIMH, oh yeah, but in Edward, it didn't really appear untill AFTER the most beautiful scene in the film - the ice statue scene. I guess it all has to do with the overall feel of the thing and how the story flows, or something.

Evenwolf, searching IMDb for Red Flyer came up with this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034353/ . Is that what you meant?

[Kinoko]

I actually haven't heard of Red Flyer. I used to really like a movie called Radio Flyer ^_^

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Heh. Yeah, IMBd's entry for that one seems more like it.

[Kinoko]

Well, just to throw some more names out, another big film from my childhood I bought on DVD as soon as possible (along with Labyrinth and Goonies) was Return to Oz, which still freaks the begeebies out of me during one scene. GREAT film and much, much more true to original books than that stupid Wizard of Oz film.

[Vince Twelve]

Kinoko's right on the button!  Labrynth was a must-own DVD.  And Goonies... don't even get me started... LOVE IT!  Return to Oz scared the crap out of me.  That's one I've got to rewatch.  But, I've gotta throw this one out... Dark Crystal.  Can't forget Dark Crystal!  Did you know they're making a sequel?

[dgunpluggered]

Rui, although this isn't a movie, one TV series you MUST find on DVD (if on DVD yet) is 'The Storyteller'. It's a Jim Henson series starring John Hurt and it's well worth viewing. We (my parents and sister) all used to watch together when I was a kid..
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092383/

One of my favourite films from my childhood is The 7 Faces of Dr Lao. My parents introduced it to me when I was a kid, and I think you'll like it a lot. It's on oldie, made in 1964...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057812/

Another oldie that I loved was Harvey, starring Jimmy Stewart... You'll like it if you liked Donny Darko. In fact, think of it as a light-hearted Donny Darko...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042546/

Also, some early Terry Gilliam, like Jabberwocky, Time Bandits, or Baron Munchausen...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076221/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081633/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096764/

And that's all I have to say about that...

[Kinoko]

Oh, the Storyteller! I was addicted to those... must get them on DVD some day.

I can't believe I forgot to mention Dark Crystal. It's another one of those things I liked a lot more when I was a kid though, not so much now.

[PaulSC]

One of my all-time favourite films is Tornatore's "The Legend of 1900" with Tim Roth. It's probably not strictly fantasy, but I think it's got the kind of 'feeling' you're talking about. It's whimsical and sad, and the music (by Ennio Morricone) is just wonderful. A lost classic, I think.

[2ma2]

Aah.. all those movies.. wonderful!

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds, really terrific in every aspect. I also second the Gilliam suggestion, but if you're into more darker themes, I'd tip about Brazil and also Naked lunch.

What else, what more? I don't necesseraliy think it's about escaping into another world, there's enough drama in ours aswell. But simplicity is bliss, and disguising hardship in simplicity is even blissier (is that a word?)

[Darth Mandarb]

Wow, talk about a nostaligic trip down memory lane ...

The Goonies and Labyrinth are classics.

The Last Unicorn is one my all time favorites as well.  I still listen to the song from it (by the band America) at least once a week!

The Never Ending Story I would have listed as well.  It's great to see others enjoyed the same movies.  I have the theme for this on my regular play list as well.

The Dark Crystal is a movie that effected me so greatly that I was even working on a sequel to it (in AGS) called "The Song Crystal".  I have the story completed ... just need to find the time someday to finish the game!

Some movies that haven't been mentioned:
- The Last StarFighter
- Hook
- Willow
- An American Tail (just to clear it up there ARE cats in America, I have two!)  Same deal with the song here.

And ... though it IS Disney, I feel I must mention The Fox and the Hound.  This movie was one of the saddest movies I'd ever seen as a kid.  Very dark for a Disney 'classic'.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Heh. Glad to see I'm not the only one who still has a spot in his heart for this kind of film. Darth, it's funny you should mension "Fox and Hound" - that was the film Disney was making when Don Bluth approached them with NIMH. They didn't like it, I think (don't hold me to it) they thought it was too dark to be commercial (so to speak), so he quit and made it anyway.

Thankyall for the suggestions, I'm not exagerating when I say I plan to view them all!

EDIT - BTW, I might as well add to the list "The Muppet's Christmas Carol". I think it's the best adaptation of the Charles Dickens book - the atmosphere is amazing. In fact, I think it's the best Christmas film ever.

[Kinoko]

Ahh, I loved Hook too, even though it's so silly. I own Willow on DVD (though, never ever saw it as a kid, only in the last couple of years). I'd also say Flight of the Navigator got many, many viewings during my childhood.

As for Disney stuff, I ADORE Robin Hood and The Sword in the Stone.

[Esseb]

Speaking of sequels to Dark Crystal:
http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/001988.html.

As for the topic of this post, let me throw in Future Boy Conan (I feel like I do little else). It's a TV-series, but I still think it fits the theme. Whatever that may be.

[Darth Mandarb]

Speaking of sequels to Dark Crystal:http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/001988.html

That makes me super excited ... and sad at the same time.  I kind of liked my sequel idea but at least they didn't call it the same thing!

Does anybody remember this movie: Explorers

[Potch]

Most of you mentioned my favs from when I was a kid... Neverending Story, Labyrinth, Goonies, Dark Crystal (I had a little record of that, which I knew by heart when I was 5) 

I also liked Legend (did someone already say that one?).  And there was one summer where I watched Ghostbusters every single day.  And Charlotte's Web.  That's a childhood classic.  OH... and how could I forget... I thought Flight of the Navigator was the coolest thing as a kid.

Secret of Nimh was actually my favorite book.  I read it like 20 times when I was a kid.  I was very disappointed in the movie though.  The book was fantastic.  There was a sequel too, called Racso and the Rats of Nimh. 

And Darth... I remember Explorers.  I LOVED that one.