112. ‘80s Fantasy Part 4 – Inconceivable!: The Late-Eighties

Film Utopia’s summer quest reaches the tail end of the 1980s as Steven Benjamin, and Sean reminisce about the fantastical twilight of the decade. From the muscle-bound chaos of The Barbarians, to the satirical fairytale perfection of The Princess Bride, the surreal stop-motion wonder of Alice, the “best leave that one in childhood’s memory” Willow, and the gleeful absurdity of Erik the Viking, we explore how the fantasy boom began to wind down in the late 80s. Steven’s love for The Princess Bride remains barely containable, Sean forgets yet more actor names, and Ben gleefully goads Steven into conceding that Masters of the Universe does, in fact, count as fantasy. Along the way, we tip our hats to fantasy-adjacent oddities like The Witches of Eastwick, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Big, Vice Versa, and Mannequin. It’s a nostalgic, irreverent look back at the last hurrah of 80s fantasy. Equal parts insight, banter, and affectionate mockery.