British director Ridley Scott's film "Legend" is a visual marvel, full of beautiful imagery and sounds. It has a fantastic script by William Hjortsberg that remains faithful to classic fairy tale lore of good vs. evil, even while discarding some of the more extravagant (but all too familiar) elements of fantasy such as black magic, dragons, and all manner of sorcery. This is a darker and more brilliant vision of the fantasy genre, something that it desperately needed when we've become so used to bright lights and magic - you know, stuff for children. But in all the beauty and magic, it's easy to see how things such as a complicated story, uneven scriptwriting, and mediocre performances can seriously undermine what could have been a truly great fantasy epic.
"Legend" concerns the classic good vs. evil, light vs. dark, Heaven vs. Hell battle common in most fairy tales. Jack (Tom Cruise) is a young forest dweller who one day invites his beloved Lily (Mia Sara) to join him in watching two of the last unicorns, the most mythical of all forest animals, we're told, as a gift for her. Conflict arises when three goblins sneak into the forest and slay one, stealing its horn, thereby throwing the world into darkness, and turning this once-beautiful landscape into a frozen wasteland of death and despair.
It's at this point that I must stop describing the plot. These opening scenes are some of the rousing and beautiful special effects sequences I've ever seen. They're full of life and light, sounds and imagery, that are certainly unlike any other fantasy film I've seen before it. Players Cruise and Sara fit nicely into the forest scenery, and the emotive and surreal score by Tangerine Dream matches it gracefully. Closing my eyes, I can imagine myself in the forest with them, surrounded in this beautiful fairy tale land of special effects. I found myself playing these scenes over and over again because I just wanted to envelope myself in the scenery.
In the chaos, Jack and Lily are separated - Jack getting trapped and forced to wander through the blinding snowstorm, while Lily is kidnapped by the three goblins and taken to the depths of the Netherworld. Jack is then allied with his four forest friends - an elf named Gump, two dwarfs, and a fairy - and together they set off on a dangerous trek to the Netherworld to rescue Lily from the hideous, would-be satanic, the Lord of Darkness (an unrecognizable Tim Curry), who wants Lily to be his bride.
It has to be said over and over, but "Legend" is a beautiful-looking film, with some strong writing and poetic dialogue that are compliments of writer Hjortsberg. The production and makeup effects (by effects wizard Rob Bottin) really bring Hjortsberg's world to life on screen under Scott's careful direction, and that is a strong plus on the part of "Legend." In the sights and sounds, however, it's easy to lose track of the characters and their performances, and our feelings for them. It could be said that Scott's direction only focuses on the special effects rather than the players, so it's difficult to really care for anything that happens to them (although there is one eerie and surreal sequence where Lily dances with a demon in the Lord of Darkness's chamber that is deeply affecting upon my second thoughts of that scene).
But nonetheless, I found the characters and the actors to be alive and graceful (and occasionally very humorous), even if they are sometimes relegated to the background of special effects. The most impressive of all these characters is Tim Curry as the Lord of Darkness. As I stated earlier, he's pretty much unrecognizable under Bottin's heavy prosthetics, though I wonder how such a light-built actor was able to carry on his performance under such heavy makeup. Regardless, Curry pulls it off and succeeds in being a truly memorable villain.
"Legend" is far from being a failure, but it is something different from what we're used to seeing when it comes to the fantasy genre. It's a brilliant exercise in ideas and imagination, brought to life by a talented cast and crew that knew their roles and knew them well. This is what "Legend" is made of.
7/10
(Note: A two-disc ultimate edition DVD director's cut of "Legend," which includes never-before-seen footage and runs approximately 24 minutes longer than the 1985 theatrical version and also features the original score by composer Jerry Goldsmith, was released in 2002.)
"Legend" concerns the classic good vs. evil, light vs. dark, Heaven vs. Hell battle common in most fairy tales. Jack (Tom Cruise) is a young forest dweller who one day invites his beloved Lily (Mia Sara) to join him in watching two of the last unicorns, the most mythical of all forest animals, we're told, as a gift for her. Conflict arises when three goblins sneak into the forest and slay one, stealing its horn, thereby throwing the world into darkness, and turning this once-beautiful landscape into a frozen wasteland of death and despair.
It's at this point that I must stop describing the plot. These opening scenes are some of the rousing and beautiful special effects sequences I've ever seen. They're full of life and light, sounds and imagery, that are certainly unlike any other fantasy film I've seen before it. Players Cruise and Sara fit nicely into the forest scenery, and the emotive and surreal score by Tangerine Dream matches it gracefully. Closing my eyes, I can imagine myself in the forest with them, surrounded in this beautiful fairy tale land of special effects. I found myself playing these scenes over and over again because I just wanted to envelope myself in the scenery.
In the chaos, Jack and Lily are separated - Jack getting trapped and forced to wander through the blinding snowstorm, while Lily is kidnapped by the three goblins and taken to the depths of the Netherworld. Jack is then allied with his four forest friends - an elf named Gump, two dwarfs, and a fairy - and together they set off on a dangerous trek to the Netherworld to rescue Lily from the hideous, would-be satanic, the Lord of Darkness (an unrecognizable Tim Curry), who wants Lily to be his bride.
It has to be said over and over, but "Legend" is a beautiful-looking film, with some strong writing and poetic dialogue that are compliments of writer Hjortsberg. The production and makeup effects (by effects wizard Rob Bottin) really bring Hjortsberg's world to life on screen under Scott's careful direction, and that is a strong plus on the part of "Legend." In the sights and sounds, however, it's easy to lose track of the characters and their performances, and our feelings for them. It could be said that Scott's direction only focuses on the special effects rather than the players, so it's difficult to really care for anything that happens to them (although there is one eerie and surreal sequence where Lily dances with a demon in the Lord of Darkness's chamber that is deeply affecting upon my second thoughts of that scene).
But nonetheless, I found the characters and the actors to be alive and graceful (and occasionally very humorous), even if they are sometimes relegated to the background of special effects. The most impressive of all these characters is Tim Curry as the Lord of Darkness. As I stated earlier, he's pretty much unrecognizable under Bottin's heavy prosthetics, though I wonder how such a light-built actor was able to carry on his performance under such heavy makeup. Regardless, Curry pulls it off and succeeds in being a truly memorable villain.
"Legend" is far from being a failure, but it is something different from what we're used to seeing when it comes to the fantasy genre. It's a brilliant exercise in ideas and imagination, brought to life by a talented cast and crew that knew their roles and knew them well. This is what "Legend" is made of.
7/10
(Note: A two-disc ultimate edition DVD director's cut of "Legend," which includes never-before-seen footage and runs approximately 24 minutes longer than the 1985 theatrical version and also features the original score by composer Jerry Goldsmith, was released in 2002.)