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Post by Popeye Doyle on Sept 23, 2019 16:33:00 GMT
Worth checking out?
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Post by politicidal on Sept 23, 2019 16:41:59 GMT
It's one of the most gorgeous looking fantasy movies I've seen for about fifteen minutes and then it's a winter wasteland. Tim Curry's Lord of Darkness is one of the very best looking fantasy villains in movie history. And is the best thing about an otherwise dull generic 'storm the cast & save the princess' movie. 4/10.
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Post by wmcclain on Sept 23, 2019 16:57:58 GMT
Legend (1985), directed by Ridley Scott. I had not seen this since it was in the theater and this was my first time with the director's cut and Jerry Goldsmith's score. The magic forest settings are just boggling in their poster-art beauty. The air is filled with floating fluff and the people wear skin glitter. Almost all of it was done on a sound-stage without CGI. The plot is like a first effort from a teen girl who has just discovered elves and fairies. Evil demon "Darkness" wants to conquer "Light" but the sacred unicorns stand in his way. Unicorns are attracted to "Innocence" so the goblin soldiers follow young Princess Lili and use her as unicorn bait. What exactly Lili is innocent of is not very clear. She runs wild and hangs out with ragged forest-guy Jack (young Tom Cruise). Her willfulness harms the unicorns (she just wanted to touch the horn -- see where that leads?) and she must enter Darkness's fortress to try to make it up. This is kind of cloying with its garden gnomes and Disneyfied fairies, including a Tinkerbell floating light and drunken Irish elves: "Twas a tirrible sight for a sober mon!" Even the goblin soldiers are more like naughty children than anything else. And yet: Lili's striking hellish dance with the cloaked phantom, a presentiment of her future self, is weirdly erotic, like something Powell & Pressburger would have tried in one of their opera or ballet fantasies of the 1940s. Or like the recent Black Swan movie. "Darkness" (Tim Curry with amazing makeup and head-gear) becomes smitten with Lili. Why would that be? If he is drawn to her virtues then he can't be entirely evil. Does "good" corrupt (or redeem) "evil"? Or does he just want to defile her purity? He seems pleased when she pretends to have crossed over to the dark side. I think he's just demonically male. Every guy will understand his frustration and scarcely maintained politeness while coping with his lady's diffidence and lack of compliance with his desires. Mia Sara's sexy black costume includes a filmy band of fabric across her chest; I don't think I noticed that in the theater. Available on Blu-ray with both theatrical and director's cuts. My thumbnails are from the latter, but the theatrical version is from a better source. It is brighter and more saturated in spots: see the ruddy skin tones on the peasant woman who is Lili's friend. Detail seems similar on both and image quality is mostly just fair. The director's cut is 20 minutes longer but still omits some bits from the theatrical version. The longer edit is darker, more suggestive; the shorter more obvious. Jerry Goldsmith provides a typically fine symphonic score for the director's cut. The theatrical version uses a simpler Tangerine Dream track with closing songs by Jon Anderson and Bryan Ferry. It suggests 1970s art-rock album covers and fantasy posters, which is an interesting treatment, but as background music it sometimes descends into synthesizer drone. For vivid comparison of the scores, watch Lili's dance with her dark phantom. The synthesizer track is a plain music-box theme, where Goldsmith provides a danse macabre, a hellishly stormy and erotic waltz. The director provides a relaxed and chatty commentary track with many interesting production details: - They burned down the huge sound stage with its intricate forest and had to move some of the snow scenes outdoors, but still at the studio.
- The underwater bits were done in Florida with actual alligators watching nearby.
- He regrets using soap bubble magic effects for one of the elves (Gump, who was inspired by Mickey Rooney's 1935 "Puck").
- He thinks this is a family picture, while admitting some scenes go too far, as the background butchering in Hell's kitchen. He doesn't show the demon's hand being cut off because he didn't want it to be too violent.
- Originally Lili was to transform into a cat-like creature as a result of her temptation, then fight her way back to humanity. No budget for it.
- He doesn't dislike the Tangerine Dream score but prefers his original Goldsmith. As I did above, he praises the music for Lili's dance.
- He's delighted by cheap physical effects that work, like Oona's fairy light dangling on a bit of fishing line. "That would be $200,000 in CGI today."
- Generous praise for everyone involved.
- He was surprised that Mia Sara had a pleasant singing voice and Goldsmith was pleased with it.
- He doesn't seem much bothered that it was a flop. He still likes it.
I didn't hear him talk about his intent: why did he want to make it? Fairy tales have always been rich matter for operas, ballets and movies, and the semi-comic versions worked up for film are a popular genre, for example Willow (1988) and The Princess Bride (1987). Did he just want to try it out himself?
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Post by Spike Del Rey on Sept 23, 2019 18:55:48 GMT
Visually it's fantastic, and Tim Curry is great as a Satanesque villain, but it's really thin on story and Tom Cruise is so out place it's jarring. But worth a look, especially if you're a fan of Scott.
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Post by Catman on Sept 23, 2019 19:53:10 GMT
It's the one film with Tom Cruise Catman can stand to watch.
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Post by Archelaus on Sept 23, 2019 20:33:49 GMT
The production design was gorgeously crafted. Tim Curry as Darkness was a good villain. The lead characters felt like a blank slate to me. I recommend anyone to watch the Director's Cut, but I prefer the musical score by Tangerine Dream.
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Post by Prime etc. on Sept 23, 2019 20:58:50 GMT
Visually interesting but otherwise kind of sucks. I suspect it was inspired by KRULL--the chatty scenes with the big monster and the woman for example.
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Post by alpha128 on Sept 23, 2019 23:11:03 GMT
Legend (1985) - Worth checking out? I'm not a Tom Cruise fan, but I own the Legend "Ultimate Edition" DVD, which includes both the U.S. and International cuts. The film is stunning visually. The makeup on Tim Curry is outstanding. The goblins are funny with great quotable dialog, e.g., "She was so sweet, I could eat her brains like jam!" If you haven't seen it, I think you should check it out.
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Post by mslo79 on Sept 24, 2019 6:30:16 GMT
I could not finish watching it due to boredom (i.e. 2/10).
Cruise has THE best overall filmography out there but this was one a clear misfire as his movies are almost never that bad as a very high percentage are a 5/10 or higher.
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Post by PreachCaleb on Sept 24, 2019 16:54:41 GMT
A fantastic fantasy film. It's beautiful with one of cinema's greatest villains ever.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2020 11:39:50 GMT
The movie looks and sounds amazing (both soundtracks), but the acting is weird. I can't put my finger on it, but the way the actors speak the lines is a bit wooden. I don't know if it's intentional or Cruise and co were still learning to act. The Director's Cut is worth a watch though. Jerry Goldsmith's score is magical.
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Post by wolf359 on Jan 12, 2020 19:36:06 GMT
It's the one film with Tom Cruise Catman can stand to watch.
LOL, you must really not like him as an Actor.
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Post by Catman on Jan 12, 2020 22:25:13 GMT
It's the one film with Tom Cruise Catman can stand to watch. LOL, you must really not like him as an Actor.
Catman was indifferent to him until they turned Jim Phelps into a villain.
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Post by wolf359 on Jan 13, 2020 1:10:35 GMT
LOL, you must really not like him as an Actor.
Catman was indifferent to him until they turned Jim Phelps into a villain.
oh!
"good morning mr. phelps!"
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Post by moviemouth on Jan 13, 2020 2:12:54 GMT
Yes. I'd recommend watching both versions, but I prefer the theatrical version with the Tangerine Dream score. Tom Cruise's performance is better in that version too. As much as a love Jerry Goldsmith, his score pales in comparison for this particular movie. The main reasons to watch the movie is for the world building, cinematography, fantasy creatures, great 1980's fantasy film atmosphere and Tim Curry's performance and character design. Also, Mia Sara is very sexy in it. It does have a good premise, but as people said above, the script is a bit thin. Theatrical Cut - 6.5/10 Director's Cut - 6/10
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Post by Prime etc. on Jan 13, 2020 2:15:54 GMT
Catman was indifferent to him until they turned Jim Phelps into a villain. Peter Graves wasn't happy about that.
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