Legend (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
1986's 'Legend' (directed by the great Ridley Scott, Alien, Blade Runner) is a beautiful, but dark, twisted fantasy full of menacing & poetic imagery. Portions of this film may terrify young children. But I saw this as a child and the bleakness of the story mixed with the gorgeous faerie tale components completely bewitched me. In a classic faerie tale setting, the story involves a fearless, musically inclined princess named Lili (Mia Sara) & her friend, a forest child named Jack (Tom Cruise); who is teaching her to speak the language of the forest animals. One fateful day, Jack takes Princess Lili to see a pair of unicorns who are gently drinking from a stream. Lili goes against Jack's orders & tries to touch one of these rare magical creatures.
To that, evil forces are hunting these same unicorns because they represent the power of Sunlight, and the Lord of Darkness orders his goblins & trolls to carve a unicorn's magical horn so as to cast darkness upon the land. And so, just as Lili innocently touches the male unicorn, he is shot with a poisoned dart. Black clouds gather and a wintry shroud instantly blankets the land, nearly trapping Jack beneath the ice of a river in which he had dived to retrieve the ring that Princess Lili had just disobediently tossed-in. All of this leads to the malevolent climax in the cavernous, underground domain of an enormous horned, goat-footed demon known simply as Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry, under mounds of incredible make-up), where Jack & his forest allies {various dwarves, sprites, etc.} must rescue Lili, the remaining unicorns, & restore daylight from this eternal night. Chaos ensues.
Simply put, though I acknowledge that the plot & other particulars are creaky here ... this film is THE reason why I became enamored with the fantasy film genre. A bizarre, mercurial hodgepodge of J.R.R. Tolkien, the Brothers Grimm, Walt Disney, the Muppets, Cocteau's Beauty & the Beast, and Terry Gilliam is what comes to mind while watching this -- it's all just utterly fantastic. Now, a lot of things went against 'Legend' at the time of its release. Made in 1984, its entire forest set burned down with just 10 days of filming remaining. This created delays en route to its '86 release. It endured a host of editing issues, different run times, Director's Cuts, poor reviews, disappointing box office, a complete music soundtrack change from Jerry Goldsmith's score to Tangerine Dream's score & back to Goldsmith; depending on the Director's Cut. Problems abounded. And yet, today (2019), it has achieved cult classic status. Its aura is unflappable.
Tom Cruise is fine, here; a Midsummer Night's Dream's Puck who is tasked to prance around the forest baring his thighs, staring in awe at magical happenstance, & exhibit great chemistry with Mia Sara. Sara fares better as the entrancing princess. I loved the intensely creepy sequence in the underground dominion where Lili is bewitched by a mirror-image, cloaked-in-black version of herself and she eventually turns INTO the cloaked, whirling dervish princess; she then encounters the horrible Lord of Darkness when he steps through a mirror to stun her -- to say that this sequence is surreal is an understatement. And speaking of the villainous Lord of Darkness, Tim Curry is sensational. His deep, theatrical voice was electronically enhanced to make him even more menacing. He gets to utter some great lines. i.e., "I require the solace of the shadows and the dark of the night. Sunshine is my destroyer". And his look is as terrifying as you get; his red-skinned, curve-horned monster is one of the most iconic images in all of fantasy cinema. Curry - along with the visuals of this film - are the main reason this film is remembered.
I mentioned negative reviews earlier. To me, aside from the iffy plot & some witless dialogue, those poor reviews are mostly attributed to Ridley Scott's juggling of tones. Antics of the dwarves & forest sprites undercut a lot of the macabre tension in the story. Many critics say that the film is too scary for kids. i.e., one wriggling sprite is captured by a grotesque goblin to be baked in a pie. But to me, children's films nowadays are sorely lacking in dark themes/imagery like this. Everything is too sanitized. Movies like this one, Return to Oz & The Witches riveted me because of their inherent darkness.
Lastly - and I touched upon this earlier - along with Tim Curry, it is the visuals which enrapture me in 'Legend'. The scene of Lili running through the woodland flowers and the air saturated with petals & pollen is a vision that lingers with me -- it's THE classic fantasy image. Memorable images abound. i.e., the unicorns frolicking in the stream; looking like a Pre-Raphaelite painting come-to-life. Alex Thomson's camera lens captures this world of enchanted forests, unicorns, magical swamps, faeries & rainbows in stunning fashion. And clearly, the immense production design, fantasy costumes & varied make-up {not just of Tim Curry, but of the dwarves/goblins} is wondrous. 'Legend' is a classic tale of good vs. evil. The plot may be silly & contain an amalgamation of fantasy tropes, but oh, how wonderful that amalgamation is. I love the fantasy film genre … because of 'Legend'.
To that, evil forces are hunting these same unicorns because they represent the power of Sunlight, and the Lord of Darkness orders his goblins & trolls to carve a unicorn's magical horn so as to cast darkness upon the land. And so, just as Lili innocently touches the male unicorn, he is shot with a poisoned dart. Black clouds gather and a wintry shroud instantly blankets the land, nearly trapping Jack beneath the ice of a river in which he had dived to retrieve the ring that Princess Lili had just disobediently tossed-in. All of this leads to the malevolent climax in the cavernous, underground domain of an enormous horned, goat-footed demon known simply as Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry, under mounds of incredible make-up), where Jack & his forest allies {various dwarves, sprites, etc.} must rescue Lili, the remaining unicorns, & restore daylight from this eternal night. Chaos ensues.
Simply put, though I acknowledge that the plot & other particulars are creaky here ... this film is THE reason why I became enamored with the fantasy film genre. A bizarre, mercurial hodgepodge of J.R.R. Tolkien, the Brothers Grimm, Walt Disney, the Muppets, Cocteau's Beauty & the Beast, and Terry Gilliam is what comes to mind while watching this -- it's all just utterly fantastic. Now, a lot of things went against 'Legend' at the time of its release. Made in 1984, its entire forest set burned down with just 10 days of filming remaining. This created delays en route to its '86 release. It endured a host of editing issues, different run times, Director's Cuts, poor reviews, disappointing box office, a complete music soundtrack change from Jerry Goldsmith's score to Tangerine Dream's score & back to Goldsmith; depending on the Director's Cut. Problems abounded. And yet, today (2019), it has achieved cult classic status. Its aura is unflappable.
Tom Cruise is fine, here; a Midsummer Night's Dream's Puck who is tasked to prance around the forest baring his thighs, staring in awe at magical happenstance, & exhibit great chemistry with Mia Sara. Sara fares better as the entrancing princess. I loved the intensely creepy sequence in the underground dominion where Lili is bewitched by a mirror-image, cloaked-in-black version of herself and she eventually turns INTO the cloaked, whirling dervish princess; she then encounters the horrible Lord of Darkness when he steps through a mirror to stun her -- to say that this sequence is surreal is an understatement. And speaking of the villainous Lord of Darkness, Tim Curry is sensational. His deep, theatrical voice was electronically enhanced to make him even more menacing. He gets to utter some great lines. i.e., "I require the solace of the shadows and the dark of the night. Sunshine is my destroyer". And his look is as terrifying as you get; his red-skinned, curve-horned monster is one of the most iconic images in all of fantasy cinema. Curry - along with the visuals of this film - are the main reason this film is remembered.
I mentioned negative reviews earlier. To me, aside from the iffy plot & some witless dialogue, those poor reviews are mostly attributed to Ridley Scott's juggling of tones. Antics of the dwarves & forest sprites undercut a lot of the macabre tension in the story. Many critics say that the film is too scary for kids. i.e., one wriggling sprite is captured by a grotesque goblin to be baked in a pie. But to me, children's films nowadays are sorely lacking in dark themes/imagery like this. Everything is too sanitized. Movies like this one, Return to Oz & The Witches riveted me because of their inherent darkness.
Lastly - and I touched upon this earlier - along with Tim Curry, it is the visuals which enrapture me in 'Legend'. The scene of Lili running through the woodland flowers and the air saturated with petals & pollen is a vision that lingers with me -- it's THE classic fantasy image. Memorable images abound. i.e., the unicorns frolicking in the stream; looking like a Pre-Raphaelite painting come-to-life. Alex Thomson's camera lens captures this world of enchanted forests, unicorns, magical swamps, faeries & rainbows in stunning fashion. And clearly, the immense production design, fantasy costumes & varied make-up {not just of Tim Curry, but of the dwarves/goblins} is wondrous. 'Legend' is a classic tale of good vs. evil. The plot may be silly & contain an amalgamation of fantasy tropes, but oh, how wonderful that amalgamation is. I love the fantasy film genre … because of 'Legend'.