Inspirational Fantasy setting Movies

[Agray Day]

Lately i have been watching Asian Fantasy movies, and I thought i would share some titles which i think are great sources for ideas not only for story, but also style, design, and encounters. Watching these i have had all sorts of ideas for story.

I recommend fantasy setting DM's to try watching these, i own all these movies.

Please post movies that you have borrowed from that are not the ones that everyone has heard about.

1) League of Gods: This was really a great movie to watch. The design style was very interesting and unique. Wonderful encounter ideas, and its a Jet Li movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsy6u5LdRRA


2) Legend of the Naga Pearls: this movie has some great humor, is on the lighter side of things, but some great ideas here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U7fFZ2T9VA


3) Immortal Demon Slayer: A Sun Wu Kong Movie, great action, wonderful sets and costumes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iY3hvM6BVQ



4) Journey to the West: Another Sun Wu Kong movie (there have been a lot lately) Not as good as Immortal Demon Slayer, but still a good watch. Lots of encounter & plot ideas here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLRO7mzVFHg

This is a series too with the first movie titled: Journey to the west Conquering the demons, i think there is a third one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aelriSQLqkc


5) the monkey King havoc in heavens palace: Another Sun Wu Kong Movie, Lots of Action and Design ideaa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCj-XP5cjOY

*Note: This series continues with Moneky King 2 and Monkey King 3 released this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygTmV3K57_8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7MR5MsIoSQ



6) Dectective Dee Phantom Flame & Rise of the Sea Dragon: Great Movies with wonderful design and ideas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOp_TrO4MbA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doHAaothY70

The new one out this year: "Four Heavenly Kings".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkygyG0--8o


7) Legend of the Ancient Sword

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBAcMbDSOI4

 

[Bedrockgames]

That is a good list. I like the previous Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons as well (the two A Chinese Odyssey films from the early 90s are also good).

Some others I've found inspiring in a similar mold:

A Chinese Ghost Story: Great movie with ghosts, swordplay and demonic trees. Also a good bit of romance. There are two sequels that are also worth checking out.

Buddha's Palm: Gonzo. Absolutely gonzo. Hard to describe without watching.

Painted Skin & Painted Skin Resurrection: There is also one from the 90s that was good as well. Like a Chinese Ghost story these are based on stories by Pu Songling. Very beautiful and atmospheric. Romantic but also horrifying at times. Great monsters to draw on here.

Web of Death: This is also pretty gonzo. Based on wuxia source material but takes it to a fantastic level. There is a deadly weaponized spider, a venom clan with vast underground chambers and much much more.

Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain: This inspired Big Trouble, Little China. It is perfect for gaming inspiration.

Also straight forward wuxia like the Brave Archer series or the drama series based on the three stories are quite inspiring. Flying Swords of Dragon Gate Inn is pretty recent one that I liked. Reign of Assassins also gave me some cool ideas. Classic stuff is good too. The Temple of the Red Lotus Trilogy was quite inspiring for things like trapped temples.

For ancient world, a movie that really inspired my world building was Agora (2005). It is basically about the christianization of Rome from the perspective of Hypatia of Alexandria. That had a huge impact when I was making my fantasy setting. I, Claudius, the tv series, also had a very large influence on my campaigns.

 

[Nerditorium]

I'm not sure if you only wanted to list films set in Asia, but one of the big inspirations for me when I started D&D was the anime, Vampire Hunter D. It also had a sequel, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. Its combination of fantasy, post-apocalyptic horror, ancient civilizations, and its fusion of magic and science brought a very unique feel to its world. So many cool monster ideas.

 

[Mallus]

Stephen Chow's Kung-Fu Hustle is great movie partially about the inherent deadliness of retired, high-level PCs.

I'll second the Detective Dee films and Zu Mountain. And add in King Hu's beautiful Touch of Zen. It might be a little to classy to use as inspiration for a RPG campaign, but who knows? Maybe some people like their RPG antics on the classy side.

 

[Agray Day]

Wow, this week i watched "The Endless", This movie is a great source of inspiration for Call of Cthulhu setting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Endless_(film)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reMwL8uYXps

*PS the directors slipped in a whole scene and cast of characters from their first movie titled "Resolution" which is also good.

 

[Chad Hooper]

Sorry, I'm not clear.

Are only movies set in Asia, or made in Asia, eligible? Please define "never heard of", I have seen a lot of American-made Fantasy and SF movies and TV that may be unheard of by those even 10 years younger.

 

[Thomas Bowman]

Lately i have been watching Asian Fantasy movies, and I thought i would share some titles which i think are great sources for ideas not only for story, but also style, design, and encounters. Watching these i have had all sorts of ideas for story.

I recommend fantasy setting DM's to try watching these, i own all these movies.

Please post movies that you have borrowed from that are not the ones that everyone has heard about.

1) League of Gods: This was really a great movie to watch. The design style was very interesting and unique. Wonderful encounter ideas, and its a Jet Li movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsy6u5LdRRA


2) Legend of the Naga Pearls: this movie has some great humor, is on the lighter side of things, but some great ideas here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U7fFZ2T9VA


3) Immortal Demon Slayer: A Sun Wu Kong Movie, great action, wonderful sets and costumes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iY3hvM6BVQ



4) Journey to the West: Another Sun Wu Kong movie (there have been a lot lately) Not as good as Immortal Demon Slayer, but still a good watch. Lots of encounter & plot ideas here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLRO7mzVFHg

This is a series too with the first movie titled: Journey to the west Conquering the demons, i think there is a third one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aelriSQLqkc


5) the monkey King havoc in heavens palace: Another Sun Wu Kong Movie, Lots of Action and Design ideaa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCj-XP5cjOY

*Note: This series continues with Moneky King 2 and Monkey King 3 released this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygTmV3K57_8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7MR5MsIoSQ



6) Dectective Dee Phantom Flame & Rise of the Sea Dragon: Great Movies with wonderful design and ideas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOp_TrO4MbA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doHAaothY70

The new one out this year: "Four Heavenly Kings".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkygyG0--8o


7) Legend of the Ancient Sword

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBAcMbDSOI4

You forgot Godzilla! Do you think that is Asian Fantasy, it certainly is a rise of a sea dragon, isn't it.

 

[Agray Day]

Sorry, I'm not clear.

Are only movies set in Asia, or made in Asia, eligible? Please define "never heard of", I have seen a lot of American-made Fantasy and SF movies and TV that may be unheard of by those even 10 years younger.

Post any movies you think tell a story or have great ideas that would work with an RPG session. I left out at the obvious western style movies (Kull, Conan, excaliber, Sinbad, Lord of the rings, the hobbit, Narnia, Legend, Robin Hood, Clash of the titans, immortals, 13th warrior, Dragonheart, Willow, Black Cauldron, Hellboy, .....). I was just surprised at how closely those asian films followed the way that i have experienced role play sessions so closely in the way the story is told.

so have it, recommend something.

 

[Agray Day]

Actually, regards to Godzilla,

you could certainty run a session or a campaign based on how humans are destroying some part of the world (think Saruman in LOTR), and they unleash some beast or beasts upon the world (Think Balrog in LOTR) and have your heroes track it, and destroy it or them. This would obviously work for CoC as well.

That is the story of Godzilla (Mess with Radiation and unleash the beast!).

 

[Chad Hooper]

Hawk the Slayer, Circle of Iron, Fire and Ice (animated), Wizards (also animated, Ralph Bakshi IIRC)

Unrelated Genre but story ideas to salvage from Westerns: Death Rides a Horse, Support your Local Gunfighter, Support your Local Sheriff, and Magnificent Seven. Also any Clint Eastwood Westerns where his character has no name.

The Original: Seven Samurai: Long movie, and I feel some of the cultural moments are lost on me as a Westerner. Still enjoyed it, found some inspiration for game content therein.