Rating: Summary: +-+ Loved It +-+ Review: I love anything Magickal/Mythical or Fantasy like so I absolutly loved this movie!!It has Unicorns,Faeries,Gnomes,Elves,Goblins and also a very young Tom Cruise.Take all that and add a very enchanting story to it and there's no way that you can go wrong! :)
Rating: Summary: Almost Great Review: I love this movie, but I feel I love it more for its potential then what it actually achieves. This movie manages to actually feel more like a fantasy book then a movie. It adheres to the rules of modern, adult fantasy stories. The Fairies / elves are dark and mysterious despite being on the side of light. The scenery is magical. Everything seems dreamlike. The acting is marvelous. I would say Tom Cruise is the weakest actor of the lot, and that probably has more to do with the fact he has done some many things it is hard to suspend his acting history. The weakness of this movie is the plot. It is a simplistic good vs evil tale that is drawn out too long. However, even this does allow the viewer some time to revel in the setting. I do fear the meandering of the story will deter multiple viewings, but thanks to the magic of DVD you can just jump to the scene that you want. I also like the fact that both the director's cut and the American release versions are including on the DVD with all the usual commentaries. This is a dreamlike story, a lulling tale before bedtime, not an action pact adventure. It is in the tradition of books like The Last Unicorn, or Patricia A. McKillip's stories.I feel that the only fantasy movie that does a better job of telling it's story more like a modern fantasy (fairy tale subdivision) book than a kid's movie is Lord of the Rings. And I believe that Lord of the Rings, Legend, and Labrynth (Jim Henson) are the three movies that lovers of the genre should check out.
Rating: Summary: Mystically Magical Movie Review: Prancing Unicorns, fluttering Fairies, an evil, horned, hooved Lord Of Darkness. Tom Cruise in a short suit showing off his gorgeous legs. This movie has everything. Including an absolutely, WONDERFUL song at the end. Not only do you need to buy this movie, get the soundtrack as well. You'll love this movie. And if you have kids, they'll love it too.
Rating: Summary: A REVIEW OF THE UNCUT VERSION Review: Fantasy movies are rare. Good fantasy movies even more so. The story behind the movie is pretty simple--just about any fantasy author out there could tell this tale in a short story or at most a novella. Which is one of my problems with this movie. Some movies (like Battlefield Earth), try to cram 1000 pages of material into two hours. Legend stretches a mere yarn into a movie. What one gets is a lot of boring, drawn out scenes that just make one yawn alot. I found the ending rather disappointing, how they use light to kill darkness. It was far too childish and cliche for my taste. On the more positive side, I thought that Mia Sara was perfectly cast as the princess. And of course, the Dark Lord, even by today's harsh standards, looks very cool and evil. Younger people might like this movie, but for me, just reading a good fantasy novel--and there's lots of them, if you know where to look--is like a movie in itself.
Rating: Summary: HMMMM COULD BE GOOD... Review: i couldnt decide if this movie was just plain bad or just horrably hilarious. I mean the Lord of darkness holding his "Horn"...that was just, just....funnier then [anything].Every secene seemed to have, on some level, a reference to sex. No this is no movie for the kiddies.... but excellent if your bored out of your mind and need a good humorous movie!
Rating: Summary: Could have used a better script Review: I enjoyed Legend when I first purchased the Theatrical version on VHS, and this DVD makes this good movie into an even greater experience. Now, the dvd gives you 2 versions, 1-the US theatrical release which runs at 1hr.30min,2- the Directors cut which runs at 1hr.54min with a new score implemented. I found the Theatrical release enjoyable but I always thought it needed a more in depth script, the actors were very good, the settings were great, the effects were awesome for its time, the story was a unique idea, and the directing was fantastic. Unfortunately, this is all working off of a just above average script, which simply needed to implement more action and more character depth. The first half leaves you wanting more, the second half engrossing you. The Directors cut gives you basically the same movie, a slow start and a good end, with some new scenes added in w/ new music but nothing to make the movie any more enjoyable (like for example: T2 or The Abyss). The extras I like, not a whole lot but great for the bargain . I love the "lost scenes" option. The best part is the 2 uniquely edited endings, one for the theatrical release and one for the directors cut. They both are basically the same ending; the directors cut working more off of the 2 lead characters feelings for each other thus better on a directions point of view, and the theatricals more charming "movie like" ending working off of the entire cast. Both work very well but I personally would like the theatricals ending after the directors cut film. In the end, if you've never seen this, give it a rent and if you like it, this dvd is a MUST HAVE, especially for the price. If you didn't think this was all that good, don't bother.
Rating: Summary: Still like the original best! Review: Okay, I just watched both versions (the expanded Director's Cut with the Jerry Goldsmith score and the original theatrical release with the Tangerine Dream score)and even flipped back and forth and watched specific scenes like the ending more than once. My verdict is that the U.S. theatrical version with the Tangerine Dream score is still vastly superior. That music was just so haunting and so otherwordly while the Goldsmith score, while pretty, was much more traditional. I did enjoy more dialogue to explain what was going on (the U.S. theatrical version was notoriously short on that), but in some places it really bogged down the story and explained things that were better left to the viewer's imagination. It made the draggy scenes (which usually involved the fairies or the trolls) even draggier. And the ending is worlds better in the Tangerine Dream version. Anyway, I've always loved this movie so I'm giving it five stars. I know the plot, acting, and dialogue are hardly stellar, but I'm willing to overlook that because the visual sumptuousness is unsurpassed as is the primal appeal of its images. Definitely a fairy tale for the ages! I'm so thrilled to have both versions on DVD. Unlike so many DVD's, it truly lives up to its billing as the ULTIMATE edition!
Rating: Summary: Fantasy Flop: Legend, Flee For Your Life ! Review: For starters I would recommend renting this movie before purchasing it. I love fantasy and after watching half of this movie it has almost ruined the genre for me. Legend is much like a minor league baseball player who has not hit a single pitch at bat, in 16 years. I found both music scores to distract and already confusing film. The characters were more like images with no sense of development within the film. As a viewer, I felt dizzy, uncertain, and lost, much like this movie. I would also add that this is not the kind of movie I would allow my children to view. Bottom Line A: Rent, buying could lead to depression. Bottom Line B: This is the kind of movie you buy for someone you do not like.
Rating: Summary: Mixed opinions about the Director's Cut. Review: Certain Director's have improved their films over the years by adding extra footage cut when it was released or placing digital enhancements (Star Trek I, Terminator 2, and Léon- The Professional are happy examples). However, this wasn't necessarily the case with Legend. The top reason to buy this DVD is because it comes with both the Origional Version and the US Theatrical Version. The other would be the myriad of technical details, the making of, and publicity photos along with Commentaries common on many DVD releases. The Director's Cut of this film has Jerry Goldsmith's origional score and alternate scenes along with reattached footage. I welcome the extra footage because it can fill out certain parts of the story, but the reason why Goldsmith's score was replaced by Tangerine Dream's in the first place was because the music was dry, quiet and dull in someplaces (but not all), especially the dancing scene and closing. Other parts, like the beginning where Darkness was ordering his minion had given me mixed feelings. Him announcing his weakness to daylight early and the missing hellish butchering scene disappoined me, but I like the way we didn't see what Darkness looked like until much later, offering an element of mystery. At the same time, the familar beginning is prefered and should be intact especially when we all know what Darkness looks like anyway. What gets me is the alternate ending. The end of Darkness was too short and the awakening of Lily was too long, yet incomplete and empty. If Ridley Scott just added extra footage to the US Theatrical version, leaving in Tangerine Dream with some Goldsmith in some parts for the dark moods and left the beginning and ending with what we are famliar with, this would leave us with a happy medium and a good Director's Cut.
Rating: Summary: An misunderstood film now has become an near classic. Review: Set in a world is timeless, when the Good and Evil are separted from the light and dark places. Where's a mystical forest inhabited by fairies, goblins, unicorns and mortals. When the Son of the Devil named Darkness (Tim Curry) wants to turn the world into a somber never ending age ice by killing a Unicorn that could bring his control. When he enlisted a goblin named Blix (Alice Payten) to go and destory the Unicorns that weaken his Power. When an young, beautiful princess named Lily (Mia Sara), who likes to manipulate people, including the forbidden love with a mystical forest dweller named Jack (Tom Cruise). Things are about to change, when Jack sees Lily, the immortals unicorns, when she charms the male unicorn, everything nearly falls apart, when Blix killed and remove the Horn, which present the ability of Power. Since there's one Unicorn left, Jack is now helped by fairies (David Bennett, Billy Barty, Cork Hubbert, Annabelle Layton) and protect the last Unicorn to defeat Darkness and trying to get back, the world, it once was. Directed by Ridley Scott (Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down) brings this magical dark fantasy film to live, since it was very underrated, when it got release in Overseas in 1985 and Release in the U.S. in 1986 with very mixed reviews. This is cleverly written by William Hjortsberg (who wrote-the novel:Angel Heart). This has great Make-Up effects by Rob Bottin (The Thing, Total Recall, Fight Club), Excellent Production Design by Leslie Dilley and Assheton Gordon and Good looking cinematography by Alex Thomson (Labyrinth, Excalibur, Alien 3). Well, the Overseas and American Version has two different music score by Jerry Goldsmith (European Version) and Tangerine Dream (American Version) and of course-the editing is different also. DVD's is a 2 Disc Set for the European Version with Never Seen Before Footage with an interesting commentary track by the Director:Scott and the Original american release. Both has strong anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer. Director's Cut has an impressive Digitally Remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound (also in DTS and Dolby Surround) and American Version is in Dolby Surround. DVD extras are great, including:An great documentary on the memories of the film with the filmmakers and cast, an lost never seen before deleted scene runs 10 mins, the fairie dance scene using the Original Audio with Storyboards and Photos. Isolate Music Score from Tangerine Dream and more. Some might dislike the original ending on the director's cut but it's much more closer and inventive ending, he wanted to have. I do like american version has an good (If uneven in someways) ending and we do see Darkness at the beginning (That explain why Scott prefer is Original Cut, which he's right) and even after he dies. Director's Cut is much more better and original with Goldsmith great score in it. It's almost perfect movie but there's one Character named Blix just disappears in the middle half of the movie (Even in the Director's Cut, we never know, what happen to Blix), Payten did actually dubbed Bennett's voice in the movie. Still, it's a fine, extremely entertaining movie. J-D-C Scope (Joe Dunton Cameras). Grade:A- (For the Director's Cut) and Grade:B+ (For the American Cut).
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