This is the one where Eddington has hair, right? I enjoy this one.
I just watched this for the first time Friday night, and I thought it was a lot of fun. It was a little cheesy and campy, but just enough to be fun.
I thought it actually had some interesting world building, and bits and pieces of lore. One thing that caught my attention that I thought was interesting was that The Slayers were basically evil Trill in humanoid armor suits. I was a little surprised that the movie didn't bring more attention to them being worm/slug creatures.
That cast was pretty good with some interesting characters, it was especially fun seeing young Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane. I do agree it would have been nice if the women in the cast got more to do.
It was interesting mix of sci-fi and fantasy, with a nice mixture of elements of both with the evil aliens with energy weapons that are also swords, and magic and a giant spaceship.
I thought it actually had some interesting world building, and bits and pieces of lore. One thing that caught my attention that I thought was interesting was that The Slayers were basically evil Trill in humanoid armor suits. I was a little surprised that the movie didn't bring more attention to them being worm/slug creatures.
That cast was pretty good with some interesting characters, it was especially fun seeing young Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane. I do agree it would have been nice if the women in the cast got more to do.
It was interesting mix of sci-fi and fantasy, with a nice mixture of elements of both with the evil aliens with energy weapons that are also swords, and magic and a giant spaceship.
That's why he seemed so familar. I'm especially shocked I didn't recognize him since I had actually just watched For The Uniform as part of my DS9 rewatch on the same day I watched this.
Honestly, the sf (well, sci-fi) element is very slight: the Black Fortress has engine glow (I think) as it descends from space, the Slayers use (movie) lasers, and the people if this world apparently know what a galaxy is. The plot would be no different if those were removed (which could have been done with a few pencil slashes in the script before production), so I’d say it’s “really” just a fantasy movie. The Beast himself is pure evil fantasy villain
Well, why wouldn't a fantasy universe have planets and galaxies the same as ours? And if a universe with magic can have traditional technology like swords and wheeled carts, why can't it have more advanced technologies like lasers or rockets? It's only a convention to set fantasy stories in the preindustrial past. For ages, I've looked at those medieval sword-and-sorcery worlds and wondered what they'd be like in a thousand years. (Which is the origin of my Thayara fantasy universe set in a steampunkish industrial age, though I've only had one Thayara story published in a magazine and the rest are on my Patreon.) And of course, there's also fantasy fiction set in the present. So why couldn't fantasy be set in the future, or at least feature space travelers with more advanced technology than ours?
I’m not sure I’m seeing the contradiction you’re objecting to here? At least if I’m understanding your post correctly, which maybe I’m not.
EDIT: As far as I can tell, I’m arguing that Krull is basically straight fantasy, and so are you. So I’m unclear as to the concern here?
I haven't watched it in decades, but I recently picked up the 4K restoration on a whim. I'll probably pop it in. It might be a good double feature with something like Flash Gordon.
I haven't read them yet, but Brandon Sanderson starts his Mistborn books in a traditional medieval world, but then he jumps ahead to an era equivalent to the early 20th Century in the second set, and then I think he's going to do a third set that's going to jump further forward in time again.
You said "The plot would be no different if those were removed (which could have been done with a few pencil slashes in the script before production), so I’d say it’s “really” just a fantasy movie." I disagree with that -- I'm saying it would still be "really" a fantasy movie even if those elements were more integral to the story, because there's no reason a fantasy universe couldn't have elements we generally associate with science fiction. Genres are not "Keep Out" signs.
I mean, it stands to reason that in a universe where magic exists, someone would figure out a way to use magic to power spaceships. Or a blend of magic and advanced technology, the same way the usual medieval fantasy universe shows a blend of magic and medieval technology.
…Christopher, I was responding to Anwar’s description of the film as a combination of fantasy and science fiction (which was common in the original publicity material too), instead arguing that it’s really just fantasy— along pretty much the same lines you then go into. Nobody’s putting up any “Keep Out” signs.
No, I disagree with that too. I was making more of a general point about how one would define fantasy, but if we're talking specifically about Krull, then yes, it is a blend of fantasy and science fiction, and there's nothing wrong with calling it that. The SF elements are minor, true, so that they feel like a weird inclusion, but the filmmakers wanted them to be there, because that was the feel they wanted to evoke. That deliberate blend of genres is part of what makes it distinctive among fantasy films.
I mean, this was a 1983 film. What was the biggest, most influential thing in genre films at the time? Star Wars. Which is nothing if not a mashup of fantasy and science fiction elements, with several other genres tossed in the blender with them. So it's no surprise that a fantasy film at the time would've tried to ride its coattails by tossing in some sci-fi trappings, rather than getting hung up on genre purism.
That's the one with Klaus Kinski and Harvey Keitel, right?
It's fun. Not the greatest film ever made, but it is fun for what it is. I've always enjoyed it whenever I catch it
It is, yes. With Keitel as the least European knight since Tony Curtis.
As "European" as Keanu Reeves in Dracula?
Yeah, but Keanu doesn’t have a Bronx accent!
See also Firefox.
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