Film I Recommend (Fantasy & Sci-Fi)

THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY (2001-03)
Writers: Fran Walsh (The Frighteners, King Kong-2005); Phillipa Boyens (King Kong-2005); Peter Jackson
Director: Peter Jackson (The Frighteners, King Kong-2005)
Composer: Howard Shore (Mrs Doubtfire, Gangs of New York, The Last Mimzy)
The Heroes: Frodo: Elijah Wood (Forever Young, Sin City); Aragorn: Viggo Mortensen (Hidalgo, Eastern Promises); Gandalf: Sir Ian McKellan (The Scarlet Pimpernel-1982, Richard III-1995, X-Men trilogy); Sam: Sean Astin (The Goonies, Memphis Belle, Rudy); Legolas: Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Kingdom of Heaven); Gimli: John Rys Davies (Indiana Jones I & III, The Living Daylights, Sliders-TV); Merry: Dominic Monaghan (Lost-TV); Pippin: Billy Boyd (Master and Commander, The Flying Scotsman); Boromir: Sean Bean (Sharpe's series-UK, GoldenEye); Faramir: David Wenham (Van Helsing, 300); Madril: John Bach (Farscape-AU TV, Duggan-AU TV); King Théoden: Bernard Hill (Titanic, The Scorpion King); Éowyn: Miranda Otto (What Lies Beneath, War of the Worlds-2005); Éomer: Karl Urban (Xena: Warrior Princess-TV, Doom); Háma: John Leigh (Xena: Warrior Princess-TV); Gamling: Bruce Hopkins; Arwen: Liv Tyler (Armageddon, The Incredible Hulk); Lord Elrond: Hugo Weaving (The Matrix trilogy, V for Vendetta); Lady Galadriel: Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, The Aviator, Indiana Jones IV); Haldir: Craig Parker (Xena: Warrior Princess-TV, Power Rangers Ninja Storm-TV); Bilbo Baggins: Ian Holm (Jesus of Nazareth, Time Bandits, Henry V-1989)
The Villains: Sméagol/Gollum: Andy Serkis (King Kong-2005, Inkheart); Sauron: Sala Baker (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy-stunts, Chronicles of Narnia I-stunts); Saruman: Christopher Lee (Dracula-1958, The Man with the Golden Gun, Star Wars II & III); Lord Denethor: John Noble (All Saints-AU TV, One Night with the King); Gríma: Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Child's Play, The X-Files-TV); The Witch-king/Lurtz/Gothmog: Lawrence Makoare (Xena: Warrior Princess-TV, Die Another Day); The King of the Dead: Paul Norell (Hercules: The Legendary Journies-TV, Xena: Warrior Princess-TV)

This is Peter Jackson's brilliant adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien's epic fantasy classics, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE TWO TOWERS, and THE RETURN OF THE KING--which comprise THE LORD OF THE RINGS. This tale has everything you would expect in such an epic tale of mythic proportions: Good vs Evil, love, friendship, betrayal, uncommon valour, honour, adventure, massive battles, timeless characters, faraway lands, and a little bit of magic. This is the story of a hobbit, Frodo Baggins, who agrees to take The One Ring of the evil Lord Sauron to Mount Doom to destroy it. Along the way, he and his fellow hobbits meet a plethora of heroes, villains, and dangers, and eventually find themselves a part of the great Battle for Middle-Earth. Only one other time has a film been worthy of winning eleven Academy Awards (being Ben-Hur).

THE STAR WARS SAGA (1977-2005)
Writers: George Lucas (THX-1138, American Graffiti, Indiana Jones series-film and TV); Lawrence Kasdan (The Bodyguard, Indiana Jones I, Wyatt Earp); Leigh Brackett (The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo)
Directors: George Lucas (THX-1138, American Graffiti); Irvin Kershner (The Return of a Man Called Horse, Never Say Never Again); Richard Marquand (Eye of the Needle)
Composer: John Williams (Superman I, The Patriot, Harry Potter I & II)
The Heroes: Anakin Skywalker: Jake Lloyd (Jingle All the Way) & Hayden Christiansen (Life as a House, Shattered Glass); Padmé Amidala-Skywalker: Natalie Portman (Léon the Professional, Mars Attacks!, V for Vendetta); Obi-Wan Kenobi: Ewan MacGregor (Trainspotting-UK, Moulin Rouge!, The Island) & Sir Alec Guiness (Great Expectations-1946, Bridge on the River Kwai, Scrooge); Luke Skywalker: Mark Hamill (The Big Red One, Batman: The Animated Series-animated; Leia Organa: Carrie Fisher (The Blues Brothers, When Harry Met Sally); Han Solo: Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones series, Blade Runner, Patriot Games); R2-D2: Kenny Baker (Time Bandits, Amadeus); C-3PO: Anthony Daniels (Prime Suspect 4-UK); Chewbacca: Peter Mayhew; Master Yoda: Frank Oz (voice/puppeteer-The Muppet Show-TV, Sesame Street-TV); Master Mace Windu: Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Shaft, Iron Man); Lando Calrissian: Billy Dee Williams (Lady Sings the Blues, Batman); Wedge Antilles: Denis Lawson (Local Hero-UK, Bleak House-UK); Master Qui-Gon Jinn: Liam Neeson (Darkman, Rob Roy, The Chronicles of Narnia-voice); Jar Jar Binks: Ahmed Best; Captain Panaka: Hugh Quarshie (Highlander I); Shmi Skywalker: Pernilla August; Master Ki-Adi-Mundi: Silas Carson (Jeremiah, Hidalgo); Wicket the Ewok: Warwick Davis (Willow, Harry Potter series)
The Villains: Darth Vader: David Prowse (Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell) & James Earl Jones (Conan the Barbarian, Field of Dreams, The Lion King-Disney); Emperor Palpatine: Ian McDiarmid (Sleepy Hollow, Elizabeth I-UK, Charles II: The Power & The Passion-UK); Darth Maul: Ray Park (X-Men I, Iron Fist); Count Dooku: Christopher Lee (Dracula-1958, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Lord of the Rings trilogy); Grand Moff Tarkin: Peter Cushing (Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula-1958); Jango Fett/Commander Cody/Clone Troopers: Temeura Morrison (Once Were Warriors-AU); Boba Fett: Daniel Logan & Jeremy Bulloch (Doctor Who-1965 UK TV, Robin of Sherwood-UK TV); General Grievous: Matthew Wood; Viceroy Nute Gunray: Silas Carson (Jeremiah, Hidalgo); Admiral Piett: Kenneth Colley (Firefox)

I am one of the many MANY who have been influenced by the George Lucas's Star Wars saga. The film series tells the story of the fall of Anakin Skywalker and ultimately Luke's (his son) attempt to redeem him. Two civil wars play as the backdrop for this mythological space fantasy and the adventures of father and son cross paths with other iconic heroes and villains, exotic alien races and planets, Jedi warriors, The Force, and awesome space battles and lightsaber duels. The original trilogy is still my favourite--being A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi; "Epsiode III" in the series, Revenge of the Sith, is also highly recommended; The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are also enjoyable in their own way, but should be viewed more as optional backstory and eyecandy than anything else. I would suggest watching the three original films mentioned before the prequel trilogy. Also look for cameos throughout all six films from such cult legends as Brian Blessed (The Black Adder, Henry V-1989, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) as the voice and inspiration for Boss Nass, Terence Stamp (Superman II, Smallville-TV) as Chancellor Valorum, Jimmy Smits (NYPD Blue-TV) as Bail Organa, John Ratzenberger (Cheers-TV, Toy Story I & II) as a Rebel officer on Hoth in "Epsiode V", the Lucas family as various characters in the opera house, and various masked actors and members of LucasFilm who portray unmasked background characters, mostly in the prequel trilogy (e.g. Anthony Daniels, Ahmed Best, Jeremy Bulloch, Rick McCallum, Steve Sansweet)