Clash of the Titans (1981)

A heroic fantasy based upon the legend of Perseus and his beloved Andromeda. It's an impressive collection of Greek mythology set pieces stitched into a standard quest structure, directed by Desmond Davis but perhaps remembered most as the swansong of FX man Ray Harryhausen.
The opening is horrifying in its implication. It leads to Perseus (Harry Hamlin) being controlled like some kind of living action figure by the Gods, favoured by Zeus (Laurence Olivier) due to his being an extra-marital offspring of the wild-oats sowing beardy, but jealously despised by some of the others.
In essence, coming out as it did early in the decade, the film also feels as if it's being pushed and pulled from opposing sides: not as alluring as an actual 70s work but not yet full 80s in tone, it's personified best in Perseus' character. For me, Burgess Meredith and the stop-motion FX are the highlight.

3½ head-snakes out of 5

Under Milk Wood (1972)

Dir. Andrew Sinclair's UMW is a strange but eminently memorable film that over the course of just one day offers a glimpse into the labours, loves and lecherous thoughts of various residents in a small Welsh fishing village. It has more than one narrator, each of them giving a unique life to Dylan Thomas' immensely moving, poetic words. The words are the real focus; so much so that a considerable part of the imagery is arguably superfluous.
The cast is large; we don't have labels for most of them and I can't possibly name them all in this post, but I must give special mention to Ann Beach because of all the folk songs that featured, hers was the most beautiful.

3½ audible dreams out of 5

Dune (1984)

Scratchy sand, suits with piss in the thighs, giant phallic worms, quasi-religious nonsense and a floating fat man. I love Dune.
It’s a mess that requires you to have a deep knowledge of the book that it’s based on to understand it. You’ll need to be able to fill in the blanks to have even a hope of defending it to the haters. There's some dodgy casting and some inspired casting, and the music is hero music at its finest. One thing is certain: the sets are some of the best you’ll find in an 80’s sci-fi film.

4 litanies against fear out of 5

Becket (1964)

Two close friends are tested when their destinies lead them to different callings. It's a concept that's been explored many times in film but rarely with such passion. Dir. Peter Glenville's Becket is lavishly made, almost decadent in design, has an unapologetically honest script and stars two of the greatest British (well, Welsh and Irish) actors that ever lived. Seeing Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole in the same scene in one old film is worth fifty of today's disposable multiplex movies. The scenes with Henry II (O'Toole) and his wife (Pamela Brown) and children are vindictively hilarious. What a guy!

5 wenchings out of 5