Forgotten fantasy films from the 1990s

Think back to some of the big movies of the 1990s and chances are that for every film you recall, there are countless you forget. But what if we narrow things down to just the fantasy films – surely that would make things easier, right?

Maybe so; but it’s likely that there are still a large number of fantasy films that you would draw a blank on. And some of those titles are likely to be featured in this post: Forgotten fantasy films from the 1990s.

Below are fifteen fantasy movies from 1990s that have slipped through the cracks in time. These are pictures which have either largely been forgotten, don’t gain a lot of chatter and traction, or are just simply gosh darn awful.

__

The Indian in the Cupboard (1995)

OK, let’s start off with a gentle fantasy film directed by Frank Oz. The movie – based on a book by Lynne Ried Banks – follows the story of nine-year-old, Omri and his adventures with a native American figurine which is brought to life via a magical cupboard. No, seriously.

The movie is The Indian in the Cupboard, which was produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, and Jane Startz, and has the distinction of featuring cameos from RoboCop and Darth Vader (both in toy form). But, cameos aside, The Indian in the Cupboard is a fairly bland picture, and while it’s not terrible, it is not a thrill-ride either, meaning that most people forget it even exists.

__

Joe’s Apartment (1996)

Next up is Joe’s Apartment – a musical comedy about a guy who has talking and singing cockroaches living in his home. The movie – based on an MTV short called Joe’s Apt – starred Jerry O’Connell as Joe, with Billy West, BD Wong, Tim Blake Nelson, and Dave Chappelle providing voice over duties for the roaches.

If you remember this one then chances are you rented Joe’s Apartment on VHS; you didn’t see it at the cinema. Barely anyone turned up when it played in theatres, causing it to bomb big time, before making its way onto tape, and then finally slipping into the dank and dusty realms of obscurity.

__

Kull the Conqueror (1997)

The next film on the list is the 1997 fantasy, Kull the Conqueror – a sword and sandals affair with Kevin Sorbo taking on the role of Kull. Directed by John Nicolella, the film was based on Robert E. Howard’s Kull of Atlantis, and Universal Pictures was hopeful it was going to be the next big thing in fantasy adventure films!

Of course, it wasn’t, but mostly because it was a bit lacklustre. Less Kull and more dull.

Produced on a budget of $35 million, the film only managed to scrape together $6 million in box office returns. Suffice to say, there was no Kull II: Electric Boogaloo, and Sorbo’s career never really hit the big leagues.

__

Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle of Mount Olympus (1998)

And Kevin Sorbo crops up again in this next film, which also wins the award for longest title of an underwhelming movie. The film is Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle of Mount Olympus.

Created as an animated, musical spin-off of the live-action shows, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, the film was a sort-of Disney-style adventure movie from director Lynne Naylor. Unfortunately it wasn’t particularly good, and while legions of fans still praise Xena: Warrior Princess (and reluctantly acknowledge Hercules: The Legendary Journeys), they don’t tend to mention this cartoon caper.

__

Cool World (1992)

Directed by legendary animator and director Ralph Bakshi, this next film is Cool World, a live-action/animation hybrid which told the story of a cartoonist who is transported into a living comic book. The film starred Brad Pitt, Kim Basinger and Gabriel Byrne, and was penned by Poltergeist co-writers Michael Grais and Mark Victor.

Conceived as an adult take on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Cool World could have been something truly special. Unfortunately, ‘could’ is the key word here because ultimately it lacked the charisma, uniqueness, and talent to achieve its goals.

If you were one of the few people who caught Cool World at the cinema, then you know how bad it is. And I say “few people”, as this film was a huge financial disaster, which made less than half of its budget because no one went to see it.

__

Freddie as F.R.0.7 (1992)

Next on the list is the animated musical fantasy comedy, Freddie as F.R.0.7 (aka Freddie the Frog). The film – directed by Jon Acevski – featured the voice of Ben Kingsley as the titular Freddie, who was a member of the French Secret Service.

In the movie, Freddie heads to the UK to seek out the villainous El Supremo. El Supremo has been pinching some of the UK’s most iconic buildings, including Buckingham Palace!

Pitched as a sort of animated parody of the James Bond movie series, and backed by a significant marketing campaign, there were high hopes for the film. However, Freddie as F.R.0.7 was a bit of a confused mess which wasn’t as family friendly as it needed to be and did not live up to audience expectations.

__

Flipper (1996)

This next movie is the 1996 adventure film, Flipper. The film was a remake of the ’60s movie and TV series of the same name and focused on the friendship between a boy and his dolphin!

Alan Shapiro directed and wrote the screenplay for this one, which featured Paul Hogan and Elijah Wood amongst the cast. Unfortunately, upon release Flipper received mixed reviews and pretty much came and went with little interest.

__

We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story (1993)

And now onto the first of two dino-themed movies on this list. Yes, two dino movies, because dinosaurs were huge in the 1990s!

Thanks to the success of Jurassic Park, dinosaurs were big business and this meant a number of films were either based around dinosaurs or featured dinosaurs. This one – We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story – was an animated adventure about a group of dinos transported from the Jurassic era to live in the 1990s.

Somewhere along the way they spent some time wandering around New York and got into some trouble. Oh, and they could talk too.

The animation was fine in We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story, but the story was bland and uninspiring. It didn’t make a huge impact in 1993, it’s barely remembered today, and it’s really not worth revisiting.

__

Theodore Rex (1996)

Sticking with the theme of dinosaurs takes us neatly onto Theodore Rex, a buddy cop movie about a detective who partners with a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Once again, this is an actual film – I’m not making it up!

Whoopi Goldberg played the detective, while George Newbern – the voice of Superman in the ‘00s Justice League cartoon – voiced the eponymous dino, Theodore Rex.

How bad was the movie? Well, not only did Whoopi Goldberg regret making this film, she also tried to pull out before it went into production, which pretty much tells you all you need to know.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, Theodore Rex was initially intended to play in cinemas, but it ended up going straight to video. At a cost of $33.5 million to produce, this meant that at the time of its release it was the most expensive direct-to-video ever made!

__

Hudson Hawk (1991)

Oh, jeez, there really is no excuse for this one. Hudson Hawk had a lot going for it, including a lead performance from Bruce Willis.

Yes, Bruce Willis playing a master thief in a fantasy action comedy. Sounds like a decent movie, right?

Well, yes, but sadly Hudson Hawk is anything but good. In fact, it’s one of the worst films of the 1990s.

Richard E. Grant, Sandra Bernhard, Andie MacDowell, and James Coburn all joined Willis to try to inject life into this very, very bizarre film, yet they all failed. Tonally it was all over the place, and every attempt at comedy missed the mark by a mile.

This film is only remembered by people who point out how bad it is. Or by those who make lists about forgotten fantasy films of the 1990s.

__

Last Action Hero (1993)

Another action film, and another high-profile action hero, this time in the form of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie is Last Action Hero, which some people will remember.

So, if some people remember this film, why is it on the list? Simple – everyone should remember Last Action Hero, and they don’t.

Directed by John McTiernan, Last Action Hero was a big budget adventure movie conceived as a satire of the action genre. The film told the story of a young boy, transported to a parallel universe where movie characters were real and movie clichés were a dime a dozen.

Sounds fun, doesn’t it? And in part it was. Arnie got to play two roles, the film was loaded with cameos and self-referential dialogue and there were some good gags. But unfortunately, it just didn’t land the way it should and as a result, it is often over-looked in favour of stronger Arnie films.

Is it worth a watch? Yes. Dial down your expectations and imagine what it could have been.

__

Steel (1997)

Written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, there were yet more high hopes for this next movie, the comic book fantasy, Steel. Based on the DC Comics character of the same name, who originally appeared as a supporting character in Superman stories, Steel starred Shaquille O’Neal, Annabeth Gish, Judd Nelson, and Richard Roundtree.

Unfortunately, there was no Superman in Steel, nor was there anything super at all. The story was a by-the-numbers origin tale, Shaq’s superhero outfit looked daft, and the whole thing played like a TV movie.

Steel cost $16 million to produce and it took just $1.7 million from theatrical screenings. Certainly not a steal by any stretch of the imagination.

__

The Pagemaster (1994)

Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, and Whoopi Goldberg (her again), all featured in The Pagemaster – a children’s fantasy film about a young boy transported to a world filled with literary characters. The film was largely animated, but was bookended by live-action sequences, which were actually the best parts of the movie.

So, what gives with this one?

Well, due to the involvement of Macaulay Culkin – a big box office draw during the early 1990s – The Pagemaster had quite a lot of buzz surrounding it. That was until it opened in theatres and both critics and audiences were left underwhelmed and largely nonplussed.

In the years since its release, The Pagemaster has mostly drifted into obscurity. Some people remember the name, many can tell you the film starred Macaulay Culkin, but few seem to recall seeing it.

__

Rainbow (1996)

Up next, loveable British actor Bob Hoskins directed and starred in this children’s movie about a group of kids who ride a rainbow to Kansas. Along the way, one of them steals some gold and this causes all of the colour to drain from the world, which results in humanity turning bad in the process. No, seriously, that was the story.

Anyway, Rainbow was a huge flop at the cinema and it didn’t do much better on home video. The result? No one remembers it, and nor should they, as it is utter rubbish.

__

Congo (1995)

And finally, another movie that should be remembered as being a big hit of the 1990s, but for many reasons it fails to stir up those all-important warm and fuzzy memories. The movie is 1995’s Congo!

Here’s what Congo had going for it:

• Congo was based on a book by Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park
• The movie starred fan-favourite actors such as Tim Curry, Bruce Campbell, Dylan Walsh, and Ernie Hudson
• Frank Marshall, the director of the excellent Arachnophobia helmed this picture

Sounds alright, so why is it on this list then? Because Congo is bobbins. Absolute poop of the highest order.

Dodgy special effects, some bad performances, and a weak story about apes all helped to bury Congo. Both critics and audiences hated the film, it died a quick death at the box office, and few people remember it today.

__

Editor/Writer/Person Who Lived Through the ’90s

Alex Wiggan

__

Thank you for taking time to read this post about forgotten films of the 1990s on It’s A Stampede!. If you would like to read about more movies, then check out the recommended reads below.