The Film Utopia summer quest thunders onward as Steven, Benjamin, and Sean venture into the fantastical mid-80s; 1984 – 1986. An era when fantasy cinema became darker, more kid-friendly, and occasionally farcical.

From the dreamy surrealism of A Company of Wolves and the childlike wonder (and childhood trauma-inducing) The NeverEnding Story to the neon-drenched Dungeonmaster, the ever-present loincloth-clad barbarian sights of Red Sonja and Barbarian Queen, and the iconic delights of Legend, Labyrinth, Return to Oz, and Highlander, we dig into a treasure chest of magic, monsters, and questionable wigs.

Along the way, we bicker over whether Weird Science counts as fantasy, swoon over Clancy Brown’s Kurgan (with inevitable, but requisite impressions), and wax lyrical about the era’s unforgettable music; from Bowie’s magic to Queen’s immortal Highlander score, via Jerry Goldsmith vs. Tangerine Dream’s duelling Legend soundtracks.

Come join us for a trip aboard the nostalgia express as we take a wild ride through one of fantasy cinema’s boldest chapters.

The Film Utopia summer quest continues in this second instalment on fantasy cinema of the 1980s as Steven, Benjamin, and Sean tackle the shimmering, sword-swinging, and body oil-drenched years of 1980 to 1983.

From popular mainstays such as Hawk the Slayer (1980), Clash of the Titans (1981), Conan the Barbarian (1982), The Dark Crystal (1982) and Krull (1983), to side quests veering into the more eclectic cult offerings of Heavy Metal (1981), Conquest (1983), Deathstalker (1983), and Ironmaster (1983), we explore an exhaustive, yet somewhat curated list of muscle bound heroes, animatronic dragons, stop-motion mythical monsters, glistening boobs, and weirdly shifty wizards.

Along the way, we ponder why the fantasy boom of the ‘80s refused to die despite the genre’s apparent box office curse, and take great amusement in highlighting the genre’s many cliches. Namely the barely restrained outfits that seemed contractually obligated in the era. There’s also a spirited (and faintly absurd) debate over whether Flash Gordon (1980) counts as fantasy or if that’s heresy punishable by vivisection with The Glaive.

Prepare for deep cuts, big laughs, and a nostalgic adventure through the gloriously mad dawn of 80s fantasy cinema.

Before the loincloths, elf-muppets, crystal balls, dying horse trauma, and mullets of 80s fantasy cinema, there was… quite a lot, actually! In this opening episode of our new series on 1980s fantasy films, Steven, Benjamin and Sean gather round the mic to set the stage and trace the tangled narrative roots of fantasy, both on and off the screen, from a time before things got all neon-coloured and swordy.

We dive into everything from Ray Harryhaussen epics and surreal Euro-fairytales, to biblical epics, Bakshi’s animated LSD trips, Disney’s monopoly on German fairytales and folklore, and the unsettling brilliance of Jean Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête (1946). There’s also time for myth, psychedelia, swords & sandals, and some classic self-pity as Steven once again laments his tragically cinema-deprived childhood.

As always, we’re unscripted, unfiltered, and occasionally unhinged. But always reliably off-topic.

So join us as we ask: How did fantasy cinema get here? And why did it explode (and flop) so gloriously in the 80s?

Steven and Sean continue their exploration of Italian genre cinema with a laid-back chat about the filmography of Lamberto Bava.

Unlike his father, horror maestro and Giallo godfather Mario Bava, Lamberto carved out his own unique legacy by straddling the line between art horror and sleaze – usually opting for the latter – with a mix of gore, kinetic pacing and trashy fun; trading in typical Giallo elegance for rubber demons, dodgy cash-in knock-offs, synth soundtracks, and pure VHS-era pulp.

On this episode we discuss Macabre (1980), A Blade in the Dark (1983), Blastfighter (1984), Devil Fish (1984), Demons (1985), You’ll Die at Midnight (1986), Demons 2 (1986), Delirium (1987) and Body Puzzle (1992).

Steven, Benjamin and Sean conclude their retrospective of the late director, David Lynch, and find themselves heavily in agreement in some areas of the auteur’s directorial filmography, but completely opposed in others. On this episode, we discuss Twin Peaks (1990 – 1992, 2017), Fire Walk With Me (1992), Lost Highway (1997), The Straight Story (1999), Mulholland Drive (2001), and Inland Empire (2006).

With the recent passing of auteur filmmaker David Lynch fresh in mind, Steven Benjamin and Sean reflect on the director’s legacy and discuss their thoughts on his innovative and influential theatrical filmography. In part one we cover Eraserhead (1977), The Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1984), Blue Velvet (1986) and Wild At Heart (1990).

With Amazon Studios now in control of the Bond franchise, we thought we’d share our hopes and fears for the future of 007. At least, that’s how this episode was originally planned! However, as Sean wasn’t part of our original Bond retrospective review series back in 2015 that we’ve just republished over the last 10 days, we have decided to hear out his ranked list of the 25 Eon produced Bond films, in ascending order, while Steven and Benjamin chime in with any updated opinions they have of each film as well as lambast Sean for his placement of certain films in the series! At the end of the episode we talk a little about what we originally planned, and lament over the direction we assume Amazon will be taking James Bond.

Originally recorded and published in 2021. Please excuse our less-than-stellar audio quality efforts back then!

With Bond in the news again, and in the run up to our 2025 Bond update episode coming later this month, we’ve decided to reach way back into the depths of our archives and resuscitate one of our classic filmography review series’, our nine-part, complete James Bond movie retrospective, originally released back in 2015 to coincide with the release of Spectre (2015), plus a single-episode, stand-alone return in 2021 for a review of No Time to Die (2021).

On the final part of our Bond retrospective series, Steven and Benjamin reconvened in 2021 for a response to the release of the latest film, No Time to Die (2021).

Originally recorded and published in 2015 for our former podcast, Filmwerk. Please excuse our less-than-stellar audio quality efforts back then!

With Bond in the news again, and in the run up to our 2025 Bond update episode coming later this month, we’ve decided to reach way back into the depths of our archives and resuscitate one of our classic filmography review series’, our nine-part, complete James Bond movie retrospective, originally released back in 2015 to coincide with the release of Spectre (2015), plus a single-episode, stand-alone return in 2021 for a review of No Time to Die (2021).

On the final part of our original archive series from 2015, Steven and Benjamin review Daniel Craig’s 4th outing as James Bond in Spectre, which was just out in cinemas when this episode was originally published. Additionally, in the second half of this episode, Steven and Benjamin reflect upon the film series as a whole and share some of their favourite moments, cars, henchmen, villains and music from across the Bond films as well as some of their not-so favourites!

Originally recorded and published in 2015 for our former podcast, Filmwerk. Please excuse our less-than-stellar audio quality efforts back then!

With Bond in the news again, and in the run up to our 2025 Bond update episode coming later this month, we’ve decided to reach way back into the depths of our archives and resuscitate one of our classic filmography review series’, our nine-part, complete James Bond movie retrospective, originally released back in 2015 to coincide with the release of Spectre (2015), plus a single-episode, stand-alone return in 2021 for a review of No Time to Die (2021).

On part 7, Steven and Benjamin explore the first three movies from the Daniel Craig Bond era and talk about the stunts, the cars, the villains, the music and all the rest of it! Covered on this retrospective are Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008) and Skyfall (2012). Please note: Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021) were originally presented as stand-alone episodes and will be re-published as such over the next two days following this.