Re: The Dark Crystal, The Never-Ending Story, and other fantasy classi
I think Krull is underrated. It stars Kenneth Marshall, whom Trek fans know as Eddington from Deep Space Nine, and he's a surprisingly effective fantasy hero.
I thought that too, until I watched it again. I had fond memories of it from the first time I saw it (I was probably ~10-12 at the time), then I watched it a year or so ago with my son who was 17 at the time. It's nowhere near as good as I remembered. It's not terrible, but it hasn't aged well.
Well, I never saw it when it first came out; I first saw it on DVD sometime in the 2000s, I think. And while it wasn't a brilliant movie, I found it entertaining. Maybe it's just that I had low expectations going in.
Legend; is a bit painful because of Tom Cruise and the female lead being vapid as hell. But besides that? One of the most beautiful movies I've seen; the forest with its floating, glittery things, the swamps, the fortress of the Prince of Darkness...and of course Tim Curry himself as said prince, marvelous!
I like the director's cut with the Jerry Goldsmith score better than the theatrical edition. Not only does it have a Jerry Goldsmith score, but the story is better. It's still flawed, though.
Haven't seen the Dark Crystal yet...have been trying to for years, but there's somehow never the time...
It's terrific. Perhaps the purest expression of Jim Henson's creativity, an entire world in which every single thing was an imaginary construct. I'm disappointed they didn't do more like it, whether sequels or otherwise -- more movies populated entirely by creature characters, without a human in sight. One of the reasons I dislike
Labyrinth so much as a followup is because it has all those pesky humans cluttering it up.
Speaking of...Willow! The movie has its goofiness but overall it is also definitively a fantasy classic. Well acted, great costumes and props.
Typically of George Lucas's work, it doesn't have that great a story, but is noteworthy for its technical advances. I think it was the first movie to use the computer effect we now call morphing, although it was called splining at the time (after the mathematical term for the line connecting a given point in the starting image to the corresponding point it merged into in the destination image).
I think the main thing I appreciated about
Willow was that it gave Warwick Davis a starring role, rather than burying him in a creature costume. It was rare at the time, and still is (aside from Peter Dinklage), for actors of his stature to get to play hero roles rather than fantasy creatures or aliens. Granted, he was playing a hero who was also a fantasy creature, but he was the hero. (Even though he was relegated to third billing, which I think was blatant height discrimination.)
I also recall being rather smitten with Joanne Whalley. Evidently Val Kilmer was too, since they married shortly afterward.
But I'm glad to hear that if it's the plan.
everyone should watch it, if only for the few scenes with Maggie Smith.
