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Directed by: Ridley Scott Starring: Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry Legend is the last of Ridley Scott’s truly exotic films from the late seventies and early eighties, before he decided to move on to more commercial fare. It is set in a sylvan fantasy world, where good and darkness hang in a delicate balance. Tom Cruise plays Jack, a wild boy of the woods, and Mia Sara plays Lily, his love interest and a princess. When Lily disturbs the last pair of unicorns, the Lord of Darkness (played to incredible effect by Tim Curry) seizes his chance to gain the upper hand on the forces of good. He orders his group of goblins to kidnap the unicorn so he can use the magic of its horn. Lily follows them back to Darkness’s lair, compelled by her guilt, but finds herself in over her head. When Darkness discovers her, he tries to bring her to the side of darkness by tempting her with precious gifts and power, as his final triumph over innocence. Legend is a case of art direction run amok in an otherwise mundane film. The sets, costumes and creature effects (by Rob Bottin) are all stunning, but ultimately distract from the story, and drown out the actors (most noticeably Cruise, who’s performance is lost in the orgy of eye-candy). Bubbles and flower petals fill the frame, overwhelming the audience with its fairy tale stylization. Scott’s direction lacks the intelligence of his earlier films, and he allows for a lot of the plot and characters to go undeveloped, instead giving primary focus to the impressive visuals. Legend looks like a cinematic opera, more so than almost any other film, with theatrical staging and performances that reach brilliant crescendos of energy and fantasy, but it isn’t enough to save the film from the weak story. One of the biggest flaws of the film is the Scott fails to develop the setting into a believable world like he did with Alien and Blade Runner. Nothing outside of the forest or dark lair is ever shown, and the existence of an outside world isn’t even hinted at. The director’s cut, available on the DVD, features an incredible score by Jerry Goldsmith, which feeds the operatic production of the film. While the primary actors (both relatively young and inexperienced actors) fail to deliver compelling performances, the supporting cast provides a lot of the films liveliness and momentum. Tim Curry IS the Lord of Darkness, and manages to act through the heavy make up, and impressive feat. He is as charming and repellent as most people would imagine the devil to be, and his make-up is an effective mixture of elegance as it is horror. Alice Peyten as Blix, the leader of the goblins, delivers an ideal fairy tale characterization, speaking in rhyme and poetry. Legend works best in short, individual scenes, but the final product is less than the sum of its parts. The narrative is a weak as the visuals are extraordinary, which results in a bells and whistles type of film, leaving the audience feeling empty despite all of the sugary imagery. vertov fucked around with this message at 02:42 on May 3, 2004 |
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May 3, 2004 02:34
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 02:39 |
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All my friends have told me this is a great movie, and that it's one of their favorites. I watched it, and just didn't get it. I think this is one of those movies that held a certain magic in childhood, but didn't age well. I think the same thing about Krull. One of my childhood favorites, but people I watch it with now just don't like it.
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May 3, 2004 03:19
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I hate Legend. I feel pretty stupid for buying the Ultimate Edition DVD.
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May 3, 2004 04:09
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quote:Wendell came out of the closet to say: It is a pretty good package despite the film's shortcomings. Scott is one of the few directors who gives interesting commentaries, and there is a lot of interesting information on his track for this film.
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May 3, 2004 04:17
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I haven't listened to the commentary track yet, but I'll be giving it a try sooner, rather than later, now.
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May 3, 2004 20:53
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I haven't seen more than a few minutes of this, but I will add that the loving tangerine dream soundtrack is completely inappropriate for the setting and killed any interest I had in watching the rest of the movie. Fantasy needs operatic/classical to work imho.
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May 3, 2004 22:08
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I hated it. The story was boring, the pacing was slow, the characters were dull, and the excessive prop atmosphere was ridiculous. Why did there have to be a dust storm of rosepetals in every scene? Too much of it was silly and played for laughs, yet the tone was so serious and brooding. Tim Curry was neat to look at, for a bit, and got lame as well.
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May 3, 2004 22:42
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Another one of my favorite movies. Everything in the movie was dreamlike, right down to the soundtrack. It really felt that you were in a twisted fairy tale the entire time, half awake, and half asleep. And Darkness, is still one of the best looking demons ever. As he comes through the mirror, my jaw still drops to this day. It's a timeless classic for me.
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May 6, 2004 04:41
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Tim Curry's role of the villain Darkness alone is worth the time/effort of seeing this film.
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May 6, 2004 08:17
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 02:39 |
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i used to get high and watch this movie. they talk in meter, man. 5/5
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Sep 24, 2019 05:18
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