Renaissance

IMDB: Renaissance

• OVERALL: 82
• VISUAL: 99
  
• STORY: 63
  
• ACTING: 83
  
• BETTER THAN: Ultraviolet
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Sim City
  
• WAS MISSING: Surprises. The plot moved too slowly and too much toward an expected ending to really hold your interest.
  
• SEE IT FOR: The black and white animation is stunning and shines most in the backgrounds, including simple things like bricks and rooftops. You feel like you're in a graphic novel. Plus, the baddie with the cloaking device and Gatling-gun arm is pretty impressive.
  

Dragons II: The Metal Age

IMDB: Dragons II: The Metal Age

• OVERALL: 71
• VISUAL: 86
  
• STORY: 49
  
• ACTING: 79
  
• BETTER THAN: Dragonheart II: A New Beginning
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Dragon's World: A Fantasy Made Real (The Last Dragon)
  
• WAS MISSING: Earth, Wind & Fire on the soundtrack.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Your dragon fetish. Past that, the only people who may truly enjoy this would be fans of the old Gargoyles series, because the style of the dragons matches that old artwork.

The Golden Compass

IMDB: The Golden Compass

• OVERALL: 79
• VISUAL: 91
  
• STORY: 67
  
• ACTING: 80
  
• BETTER THAN: The Polar Bear King
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: The Spiderwick Chronicles
  
• WAS MISSING: Coca-Cola product placement with all those polar bears running around.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Any scene with the polar bears, especially the one-on-one battle, as well as a few cool steampunk elements thrown in.

Frazetta: Painting With Fire

IMDB: Frazetta: Painting With Fire

• OVERALL: 92
• VISUAL: 99
  
• STORY: 93
  
• CHARACTERS: 84
  
• BETTER THAN: Crumb
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: The Joy of Painting (TV Series & Collected)
  
• WAS MISSING: Even more time spent on the countless knock off Frazetta artists, including comic book covers, magazines, films and album covers. So many people used his style. I would've loved to see even more of these exposed, either as plagiarism or homages.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Unbelievable mastery of art and the human form. You would never have guessed his lack of training, his "funnies" beginnings or his sincere dedication to family. I also truly enjoyed the before and after shots of works he repainted in hopes of improving them.

Labyrinth

IMDB: Labyrinth

• OVERALL: 86
• VISUAL: 91
  
• STORY: 87
  
• ACTING: 79
  
• BETTER THAN: Meet the Feebles
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: The Dark Crystal
  
• WAS MISSING: A laser light show and a creepy talking wolf.
  
• SEE IT FOR: An early film from Jennifer Connelly, "helping hands," and a scene where Harry Potter's Yule Ball meets Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.

Darkon

IMDB: Darkon

• OVERALL: 69
• VISUAL: 73
  
• STORY: 75
  
• REAL LIFE CHARACTERS: 60
  
• BETTER THAN: Lord Protector (The Dark Mist)
• NOT AS GOOD AS: The Visitors (Les Visiteurs)
  
• WAS MISSING: Respect. I couldn't take anything very seriously and it seemed to feed right into every negative stereotype you'd think they would be trying to knock down.
  
• SEE IT FOR: I love medieval themes more than most, and I'm down with costumed role players, fairs and games... but I've never been down with professional LARPer-types who live out the medieval days, on and off the field. Disappointingly, Darkon did not change my mind, but to each their own!
  

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

IMDB: Hellboy II: The Golden Army

• OVERALL: 84
• VISUAL: 91
  
• STORY: 80
  
• ACTING: 82
  
• BETTER THAN: Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Hellboy
  
• WAS MISSING: Mignola's striking artwork mixed in, and attention to gritty storytelling instead of the endless Shrek-like cheap laughs.
  
• SEE IT FOR: A somewhat-romantic, drunken serenade, as well as steampunk in the 70 x 70 fashion. That will make sense when you see it.

Tank Girl

IMDB: Tank Girl

• OVERALL: 90
• VISUAL: 95
  
• STORY: 88
  
• ACTING: 87
  
• BETTER THAN: Cherry 2000
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
  
• WAS MISSING: Even more artwork in the film and some comic book DVD extras.
  
• SEE IT FOR: A 20-something Watts as Jet Girl, perfect comic-drawings-to-live-action segways, Petty's comic irreverence, and the coolest Bjork video to date. This movie's worth far more than 2 dollars and 15 cents!
  

Starcrash

IMDB: Starcrash

• OVERALL: 49
• VISUAL: 51
  
• STORY: 39
  
• ACTING: 32
  
• BETTER THAN: Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Ice Pirates
  
• WAS MISSING: A "Comedy" or "Parody" classification. Still, there's value here!
  
• SEE IT FOR: Too many to list. You have redneck robots, leather slave girls, Argonaut-ish stop-motion giants, blatant Star Wars ripoffs, Windows Media Player-type special effects and hilariously voice-tracked dialogue. And, I haven't even mentioned The Hoff in makeup!
  

The Good Night

IMDB: The Good Night

• OVERALL: 92
• VISUAL: 85
  
• STORY: 97
• ACTING: 95
• BETTER THAN: What Dreams May Come
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Waking Life
  
• WAS MISSING: Pain. I'm sure there was unseen pain.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Insomnia. Lucid dreaming. Depression. There are a few scenes where you may literally laugh out loud. Pegg should be Pigg. Paltrow is so put out. It tackles these issues in a non-threatening way and, "You can't just reciprocate the complaint!"
  

10,000 B.C.

IMDB: 10,000 B.C.

• OVERALL: 69
  
• VISUAL: 87
  
• STORY: 54
  
• ACTING: 66
  
• BETTER THAN: Carnosaur
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Jurassic Park
  
• WAS MISSING: Any desire to root for the humans
  
• SEE IT FOR: Mum-Rah, beautiful red sails and the bird from Hell that every pet owner should have.

Fire & Ice

IMDB: Fire & Ice

• OVERALL: 78
  
• VISUAL: 91
  
• STORY: 75
  
• ACTING: 69
  
• BETTER THAN: Quest for Camelot
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Heavy Metal
  
• WAS MISSING: Clothes. I think everybody chose fashion over protection.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Frazetta's artwork inspired this bad boy, so enjoy the battle sequences, women and warriors.

Lancelot of the Lake (Lancelot du Lac)

IMDB: Lancelot of the Lake (Lancelot du Lac)

• OVERALL: 87
• VISUAL: 89
  
• STORY: 92
  
• ACTING: 81
  
• BETTER THAN: Lancelot and Guinevere
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: First Knight
  
• WAS MISSING: Any sense of passion or leadership from the King Arthur character.
  
• SEE IT FOR: One of the best "Huh? Say it ain't so!" endings ever. Plus, one of the rawest portrayals of Guinevere as a young, naive girl who finds herself innocently torn between her distant sense of duty and her blossoming intrigue for passion.

Jabberwocky

IMDB: Jabberwocky

• OVERALL: 73
• VISUAL: 79
  
• STORY: 69
  
• ACTING: 72
  
• BETTER THAN: Satan's Cheerleaders
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  
• WAS MISSING: John Cleese and gangs of medieval nuns.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Slow-motion jousting and knights playing hide-and-seek. The movie ends with an impressive visual of the horned-helmet knight versus a great, giant Jabberwocky puppet monster.

Excalibur

IMDB: Excalibur

• OVERALL: 99
  
• VISUAL: 100
  
• STORY: 100
  
• ACTING: 96
  
• BETTER THAN: The Sword in the Stone
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Braveheart
  
• WAS MISSING: Not much. If I had to be picky, I'd say an original score that matched the greatness of the movie.
  
• SEE IT FOR: One of Liam Neeson's first roles, as well as Orff's masterpiece Carmina Burana in its finest form. It's been used in so many movies since, but never has it been more inspiring and epic than Excalibur's scenes of the knights charging up over the misty hills on armored horseback.

Teeth

Bloody genitalia. If that's your thing, then this is the movie for you. The rest of the world? Let's just say this movie is more fulfilling as a teaser trailer than a full-length feature.

IMDB: Teeth

• OVERALL: 78
  
• VISUAL: 83
  
• STORY: 73
  
• ACTING: 77
  
• BETTER THAN: Poison Ivy: The New Seduction
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: Basic Instinct
  
• WAS MISSING: Bite. Imagination preying on your fears. Seriously... This was like "Signs" where the less they showed, the better off they'd have been. You get bloody crotches galore though.
  
• SEE IT FOR: If you always wondered what happened to Reese Witherspoon's character in "Freeway" after the credits rolled and she grew a mutant, man-eating vagina. Yeah, I didn't think anybody was wondering that.
  

Wizards

IMDB: Wizards

• OVERALL: 82
  
• VISUAL: 92
  
• STORY: 85
  
• ACTING: 70
  
• BETTER THAN: Fire and Ice (1983 Animated)
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: The Lord of the Rings (1978 Animated)
  
• WAS MISSING: Political correctness.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Nazi-zombie wizards, "They shot Fritz!," and Peace, perhaps the coolest assassin ever to grace the movies.

Top 10 Best Medieval Movies (Non-Animated)

Top 10 Best Medieval Movies (Non-Animated)
Links will be added as the reviews go up! The list keeps growing!

1. Braveheart - 99
   
2. Excalibur - 99
   
3. Lord of the Rings Trilogy - 98
   
4. Gladiator - 97
   
5. Flesh & Blood - 95
   
6. Ladyhawke - 94
   
7. King Arthur - 93
   
8. The 13th Warrior - 93
   
9. 300 - 93
   
10. Camelot - 93
    
11. The Princess Bride - 92
    
12. Monty Python & The Holy Grail - 92
    
13. Henry V - 91
14. Dragonheart - 90
    
15. First Knight - 90
16. Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le pacte de loups) - 90
    
17. A Knight's Tale - 90
    
18. The Reckoning - 89
    
19. Timeline - 89
20. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc - 88
    
21. Krull - 88
    
22. Robin Hood: Men In Tights - 87
23. Lancelot of the Lake - 87
24. The Highlander - 86
    
25. Conan The Barbarian - 85
    
26. The Three Musketeers - 85
    
27. Pathfinder - 83
    
28. The Last Legion - 83
    
29. Troy - 80
    
30. Willow - 80
    
31. The Man in the Iron Mask - 78
32. Beowulf (1999) - 77
    
33. In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale - 76
34. The Viking Sagas - 75
    
35. Lancelot and Guinevere - 75
    
36. Kingdom of Heaven - 74
    
37. Alexander - 74
    
38. George & The Dragon - 73
    
39. Jabberwocky - 73
40. Black Knight - 73
41. A Kid in King Arthur's Court - 72
    
42. Attack of the Gryphon - 70
    

Delicatessen

IMDB: Delicatessen

• OVERALL: 89
  
• VISUAL: 94
  
• STORY: 84
  
• ACTING: 90
  
• BETTER THAN: Parents
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: The City of Lost Children
  
• WAS MISSING: Likable characters for the underground rescue team. They tried, but failed.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Dominique Pinon will make you fall in love with him. Entertaining and engaging.
  

Beowulf (Animated 2007)

IMDB: Beowulf (Animated 2007)

• OVERALL: 82
  
• VISUAL: 95
  
• STORY: 69
  
• ACTING: 83
  
• BETTER THAN: Beowulf and Grendel
  
• NOT AS GOOD AS: The 13th Warrior
  
• WAS MISSING: Pacing and suspense building to the great battles. The art of the tease.
  
• SEE IT FOR: Amazing animation. Unreal battles that play out like video games. Also, I'm not a Jolie fan, but everybody in the world is raving about her part(s) in this movie.