25 Years of Fantasy Swords in the movies
April 30th, 2007Swords have been in the movies since the beginning of movies. Swords are an integral part of our culture and represent a lot in terms of power, symbolism and more. It is only natural that swords would play an important role in film. The movies, however, have expanded on the role of the sword. Now they often take on a personality all their own. Or at the very least, they are carefully crafted to reflect the personalities of whoever it is that wields them. This whole “the art of the sword in movies” trend has been going on for about twenty five years now and it pretty much began with Conan in 1982. Here is a look at some of the more famous movies (and swords) over these past two and a half decades.
The Conan Sword (1982 Movie)
The Riddle of Steel - “Crom is strong! If I die, I have to go before him, and he will ask me, ‘What is the riddle of steel?’ If I don’t know it, he will cast me out of Valhalla and laugh at me.” ~Conan the Barbarian . . 
An interesting observation about the sword. It is very similar to a flamberge which was a two-handed sword from the middle ages and the unique thing about the flamberge was the wielder could hold it in the normal way and swing it with both hands much like it was
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Conan Swords at Amazon.com
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a baseball bat. But the Flamberge had a special section above the crosspiece which was wrapped in leather. This allowed the wielder to choke up on it and swing it in tighter circles. The Atlantean has this same kind of structure. You can see in the picture from the movie above that conan’s left hand is on the choked up section. The atlantean didn’t have a leather wrapping here it was metal. 
Highlander The Movie (1986)
Born in the Highlands of Scotland in 1518, Connor Macleod is immortal. When he is wounded in battle but does not die, he is banished from his village. He meets another like himself, Ramirez, who teaches him swordsmanship–the only way to kill another immortal is to take his head–and the ways of the immortals. Modern-day New York is the location of “The Gathering,” where Connor and the few remaining immortals must battle to the last for “The Prize.” . 
Macleod Sword The highlander sword changed over the course of the movies and this is a replica of the sword used in the first movie. It has the traditional look of medieval scottish swords. As the movies evolved so did the swords. The main character in the movies of course updates to more modern weapons as he moves forward in time. His ultimate weapon is a highly stylized katana. This is a replica of the set he uses in Highlander 3. 
4 Pcs Highlander 3 Duncan Samurai Katana Sword Set Bk and Free Knife
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Braveheart (1995)
This is one of the best movies ever made and it showcases a lot of different weapons through a lot of different battle scenes. The most famous weapon is the big two handed flamberge that Mel Gibson wields. you can see it in the movie cover pic on the left
. One of the unique features of this weapon was the extra sheathing above the crosspiece (it covered part of the blade) This served an important purpose. When the wielder had lots of room he swung the weapon two handed like a baseball bat. But when the combat got in close and there wasn’t room to swing it he could place a hand on the choked up leather section and wield it in a more controlled fashion.
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Blade (1998 - 2004) This is a trilogy of movies with Wesley Snipes as a vampire hunter. His weapon is very stylish and is modeled after the katana. It has the added booby trap of having blades that will sever a user’s hand if a safety button is not depressed. This insures only Blade can wield it.
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Gladiator (2000) This movie is a strong pre-cursor to the now popular 300 movie. The roman era had its own unique style of weapons and here is a look at the sword of Maximus (Russell Crowe) 
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Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
There are of course many swords and other weapons in the Lord of the Rings movies. And these movies have done much to forward the hobby of collecting swords. But of all the weapons in the movie one rises above them all. It is the small sword of Frodo 
Baggins which was given to him by Bilbo Baggins. The sword is of course “Sting” and it glows when an Orc is near. This sword has magical powers. If you want to learn about some of the other swords in the Lord of the Rings movies I have put together a whole section devoted to these weapons. You can learn the names of the weapons and who wielded them. Lord of the Rings Swords
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Eragon (2006) This movie has quite a few unique weapons in it including the main sword Zar’roc which Eragon wields. It has a blue sapphire mounted at the end of the handle and this symbolizes the blue egg and the dragon. 
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300 (2007) A blockbuster movie that has done a lot for the art and craft of the Roman era as seen by the modern movie goer. There were several famous 
weapons used in the movie and none more famous than the Gladius - a standard sidearm of the Roman soldier and used only as last resort when the battle got in real close. The lack of a crosspiece showed the limitations of metal working from this period of history. It wasn’t until centuries later that the sword changed dramatically as metal working and blacksmithing technologies improved.
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.Whats next in the world of movie swords? The New Harry Potter book is breaking out, and of course there is a new Harry Potter movie. This means that there are some HP collectibles and coming up is the sword of Harry Potter. I have already gotten a look at this new sword and it is beautiful. I will keep you posted on its progress and let you know when it is available on Amazon.com
Tags: Medieval, Medieval Weapons, MoviesPopularity: 18% [?]
