Twenty-five years ago the movie Conan spotlighted the Atlantean
sword. They designed and created a unique sword just for the movie and
this started a new trend in fantasy movie making, and today, just about
every fantasy movie is released with a collectible sword. Here is a look
at some of these great movies and the swords in them.
The movie Conan, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, was released in 1982 and
the sword called "The Atlantean" was specifically designed for the
movie and for the actor. It was given a major role in the movie because
it played a major role in the Conan stories and novels written by Robert
E. Howard. The sword itself proved to be very popular and replicas were
created for sale on the mass market. Twenty-five years later replicas
of the Atlantean are still made and sold. This sword started a whole
trend in movie making and today fantasy moviemakers take great care to
design, create, and market unique swords as part of the movie and as
part of their marketing. This can be seen in the recently released movie
300, which has caused a resurgence in the gladiator type sword. And the
new Harry Potter movie will spotlight a sword wielded by Harry himself.
This sword replica has already been released and is available in
currently limited quantities on the mass market.
The Highlander movies, (First installment released in 1986) are
another good example of the sword as a centerpiece of the movie. The
swords play a major role in the film plot in that the sword must be used
to dispatch a foe, and consequently, to gain the foe's powers. In the
first film a Scottish Claymore was used and as the Highlander moves
through time into the present he switches to a highly stylized version
of Japanes katanas. This use of the Japanes katana is one of the
earliest examples of mass marketing of Japanese swords and this has been
very successfully followed in the Kill Bill movies.
Braveheart (released in 1995) is a good example of using replica
swords that stay true to the flavor of the time period they portray. Mel
Gibson wields a number of different weapons that stay accurate to the
time of the movie. These weapons include a warhammer and a flail. The
most famous of the weapons that he wields is A Flamberge which is a
two-handed sword with a leather wrapping around a portion of the blade
which allows the user to choke up on the weapon and use it in close
combat situations.
Blade (1996-2004) is a series of vampire movies that use a variety of
weapons including flailing, and whipping weapons. The primary weapon of
the main character (Wesley Snipes) is a Japanese Katana that has the
added effect of a booby trap. If a person picks up the weapon they have a
few seconds to press a secret button. If they don't, secret blades pop
out of the handle damaging the hand that is holding it. This series of
movies are another good example of how the Japanese katana has become
very popular in the movies.
Gladiator (2000) is a good example of how the weapons of the high
Roman era have made their mark on movies and on the collecting of
swords. The Roman Gladius wielded by Maximus (Russell Crowe) is a good
example of the weapon that was wielded at the time and it is still a
popular choice of weapon collectors.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies (2001 - 2003) have had an
impact on the collecting of movie swords that goes beyond all other
movies. This movie returned the collector to the art of the pure fantasy
sword much like the Conan sword. While the trend in movies was to
create period accurate replicas this series of movies moved the whole
trend toward the creation of fantastic blades that represented the
wielders personality. Each major character in the movies has his own or
her own weapon. Each weapon is unique, and easily available on the mass
market for collectors.
Eragon (2006) continues the tradition of unique fantasy sword in that
the main character wields a beautiful sword called Zar'roc. This sword
has a blue Sapphire mounted at the base of the hilt and the sword itself
has significant power and symbolism. It plays an important role in the
movie and an important role in the replica collection world.
The past twenty-five years of filmmaking has given us a wonderful
selection of fantasy swords that are both accurate reproductions from
the real swords of the past and exciting creations of fantasy that never
existed except in the minds of writers and blacksmiths. This trend was
first started with Conan and over the next twenty-five years we are sure
to get an even more incredible selection of weapons and swords in the
movies.
