The Twilight movies are definitely not my cup of tea but they definitely are popular fantasy movies which is why I felt obligated to write a review of these movies and give my opinion on them.
Story
Over the course of the Twilight Saga movies (Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse) the young girl Bella comes in contact with a group of vampires, the Cullen family. She fall in love with the handsome Edward Cullen. Edward loves her as well but does not want a relationship as he is afraight to hurt her. In the absence of Edward, Bella also develops some sort a a relationship with the werewolf Jacob Black. When evil vampires are hunting Bella in the movies, both Edward and his family as well as Jacob and his “werewolf family” protect her. In the end, Bella has to choose between Edward and Jacob.
Themes & Elements
The Twilight movies are focused on teenagers (mostly girls) and all their issues surrounding first romances and insecurities. The contemporary fantasy, in the form of vampires and werewolves, simply is the setting that sets the movies apart and makes them more fascinating.
When looking at the themes of the movies, two stand out. First, there is the romance between Bella and Eward and the choice she has to make between Edward and Jacob. The other is that, when Bella finds out Edwards is a vampire and therfore immortal, she also wants to become a vampire. The question of whether or not it is justified for Edward to turn Bella into a vampire is an interesting one (vampires have no soul) but when it is discussed a couple of times you kind of get the point.
Conclusion
The combination of uninteresting story lines, bad acting and the focus on teenage girls make the Twilight movies a mixture of pretty all that I do not want to see in movies. Two more movies in the series will be made (Breaking Dawn – Part 1 in 2011 and Breaking Dawn – Part 2 in 2012) but I am pretty sure I will skip them.
My advice to you: if you have limiting time available, skip The Twilight Saga and watch some of the many other great fantasy movies around.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are two contemporary fantasy series, shown between 1997 and 2004. Both series were created by Joss Whedon and revolved around a group of people, lead by the vampire slayer Buffy and vampire-turned-good Angel, fighting evil in the form of vampires and other supernatural creatures. Angel started out as a character in Buffy and got his own spin-off series after a couple of seasons. Boths series were action-packed but also contained a lot of humor which is why I believe they are among the best fantasy TV series ever made.
Question is: which series was the best?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy was quite the hype when coming to the screen in the late nineties. The idea of a young and hot cheerleader (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who managed to fight vampires and others demons while still trying to hold on to her normal life was a huge hit. Teenagers, both boys and girls, liked the setting and the themes of the series. The combination of action with fantasy/ horror elements and the high school setting with all its issues and relationships proved very entertaining. Together with the lighthearted humor it was a recipe for 6 years of success.
Angel
Angel (David Boreanaz) started out as an enemy of Buffy but turned out to have a good side and became her lover. The character became popular and showed potential for further development resulting in a spin-off series that ran for 5 seasons.
This resulted in a series about Angel being a private detective for dark and occult cases, fighting demons, preventing them from taking over the world and trying to save his own soul. The series had a dark and more grown-up vibe to it while at the same time it was quite heavily action-orientated and had a cynical type of humor.
My favourite is… Angel
For me, the clear winner is Angel. The combination of a darker atmosphere, more sinister and action-packed story lines, the more grown up characters and the humor resulted in a TV series that I believed to have been better and more entertaining than Buffy. In short, the fact that Angel had less of the teenage campus atmosphere that Buffy had, has made Angel my favourite series.
Then again, that is just my opinion so let me know if you disagree.
A lot of types or genres of fantasy can be distinguished. The categorization of the genres is often not clear but vague and/ or overlapping. Also several names are used to describe the same or similar fantasy genres.
Below an overview of the main types of fantasy as I would categorize them. It is by no means a complete list of fantasy genres but I think that most people would agree that it contains the main genres and could be used to classify almost all fantasy books and series. As indicated before, the exact definition and categorization of the genres is often unclear and different views on it exist. Therefore, my interpretation of the different genres may be up for debate.
High Fantasy / Epic Fantasy
High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy are sometimes discussed as separate types but I consider them to be the same.
This type of fantasy is characterized by stories that are happening on an epic scale in a world completely different from our own. Strange beings, great battles and lots of magic.
Most of the popular fantasy series and books are part of this category with the best know example of course being The Lord of the Rings.
Heroic Fantasy
This category of fantasy almost always revolves around the typical story of a young boy who turn out to be a great hero.
It can be seen as a subgenre of high fantasy. Many if not most high fantasy stories have such elements but some books/ series completely revolve around it.
Closely related is Sword & Sorcery genre, which I consider to be a more extreme version of Heroic Fantasy. A good example of Sword & Sorcery is Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian.
Low Fantasy
Low Fantasy is probably the most vague category of fantasy. To me, Low Fantasy stories are set in a relatively normal world, containing some fantasy elements. Magic is most of the time on the background (dormant) and when it does play a role it is more subtle compared to high fantasy.
A Song of Ice & Fire I would consider to be High Fantasy, but the series also has elements of Low Fantasy as fantasy is not the main focus of the series and magic only pops up every now and then.
Historical Fantasy
Fantasy set in a historical setting, not in a thought-up fantasy world. Of course the story may not follow actual historical events but it uses a period from our past, often the Dark Ages, as the setting for a book. Fantasy elements, like dragons and wizards, are then added.
The story of King Arthur is an example of this genre.
Humorous Fantasy
Fantasy with a comedy twist. Books in this category not only contain humoristic stories set in fantasy realms but they are often also a parody or satire of “real fantasy” books, series or movies.
Several authors have picked fantasy as the setting for their humorous books with Terry Pratchett and his Discworld novels as the best-known example.
Dark Fantasy
Fantasy in which scary creatures like werewolves and vampires are the main or important characters. This type of fantasy is closely related to the horror genre which is why it is sometimes difficult to draw a line as to what is fantasy and what is not.
Examples of dark fantasy is The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, the movie Pan’s Labyrinth or the computer game Diablo.
Contemporary Fantasy
Fantasy in a modern-day setting, with the story at least partly happening in our real, contemporary world.
Clearly, the best-known example of this genre is the Harry Potter series but several popular movies and TV series are made in this genre, like the Twilight movies and the True Blood television series. The vampire theme is a modern setting is especially popular these days.
Science Fantasy
Stories that contain a mix of fantasy and science fiction elements. Often the evil side has powerful weapons while the characters on the good side are in touch with the earth or their inner selves and can use some form of magic.
One could argue that Shannara is related to this genre as the background story of this series clearly involve science. It is also a popular them for computer games, like Warhammer.
I hope this overview has created some clarity in the field of fantasy. Let me know if you have any additions or don’t agree with the distinctions made.
