Krull

Rating:
Summary: One of the best special effects movies of the 80's!
Review: With this movie being one of Liam Neeson's first debuts to the silver screen, It is one of my all time favorites! I have seen it many times and have yet to get bored with it. It is a movie about an adventure and has a good story line with some of the best special effects of its time. There was even a video game created about this movie! Take it from a true fan of the 80's, this one is a MUST SEE!

Rating:
Summary: Pisses all over LOTR
Review: Great rollicking adventure/fantasy in the tradition of dragonslayer, ladyhawke and star wars. Beautiful cinematography, great effects, cool weapons and amazing set design. Some genuinley creepy parts. Still holds up today.

Rating:
Summary: Retro Fantasy Classic
Review: This movie is one I grew up on in the 80's. I was pleased to find it on DVD, It is worth owning just for memories of retro special effects and just basic escapism.

Rating:
Summary: So bad, it's classic!
Review: This movie truly a guilty pleasure for me. To paraphrase a previous reviewer, it is trite, unoriginal and derivitive . . . and that's its charm. It really tries hard, and in the end good triumphs over evil and they all live happily ever after. It's fun to watch with friends and point out the technical goofs, the overly theatrical dialogue and the ridiculous premise (how'd that mountain get there?) If you try to take Krull seriously as an important science fiction / fantasy work, you'll be disappointed. On the other hand, if you watch it for what it is, you'll have a great time.

Also - watch out for appearances by the not-yet-famous Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane!

Rating:
Summary: A Completely Banal, Trite & Boring Waste of Time
Review: Back in 1983, a good friend and I actually paid good money to go to the theater to see the film "Krull". At least we only paid a matinee price. Being just about the only two people in the entire theater watching this film, and after forcing ourselves to sit through its entirety, there was no doubt in my mind why the theater had been so empty. Having opened in theaters only two months after George Lucas' third installment of "Star Wars" ("Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi"), it was rather obvious what director Peter Yates and screenplay writer Stanford Sherman were attempting to do: to try and capitalize on the popularity of fantasy films that pit some poorly-equipped heroes against a seemingly unstoppable & all-powerful enemy. However, instead of copying what had been done in "Star Wars", Yates & Sherman found much of their inspiration in J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy of books from the 1950's:

* Like the dark lord Sauron of "Lord of the Rings" in his dark tower within the dark lands of Mordor with his armies of heavily armored orks, "Krull" has its own dark lord (from outer space) inside of his "black fortress" with his armies of heavily armored "slayers". The only difference here is that the "black fortress" appears in a new place with every new sunrise.
* Like the fellowship of the nine of that set out from Rivendell in "Lord of the Rings", "Krull" has its motley group of heroes that set off to save Princess Lyssa (Lysette Anthony) who has been kidnapped by the dark lord. The group includes her newlywed husband, Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall), and Kegan (Liam Neeson, who is better known for playing the Jedi master Qui-Gon in the 1999 "Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace").
* Like the light sabers of "Star Wars" or Frodo's glowing sword in "Lord of the Rings", "Krull" has its mystical/magical weapon too in the form of an oversized, five-pointed, ninja-like throwing star (called the "glaive") that Prince Colwyn must use on the dark lord if he is to free Princess Lyssa.
* Similar to "Lord of the Rings" that has its giant spider, "Krull" has a "widow of the web" (Francesca Annis) that is surrounded by spiders. Only she knows where the dark fortress will appear with the next sunrise.
* Like the super fast white horse that Gandalf rides in "Lord of the Rings", there's a super fast herd of horses in "Krull" that Prince Colwyn and his buddies must ride to the dark fortress before as it arrives at sunrise.

In short, there are a few battles with the slayers, Prince Colwyn gets the glaive, they get some info from the widow of the web, ride some fast horses to the dark fortress and Prince Colwyn does some fighting. Yawn. The tagline for this lame flick was "a world light-years beyond your imagination". Well, though this film was made long before CGI, George Lucas didn't need CGI in his first three "Star Wars" films that all predate "Krull"; but the special effects used in "Krull" were light-years behind "Star Wars". Consequently, for being a completely banal, boring, and trite waste of time, I have no choice but to rate the 1983 "Krull" with 1 out of 5 stars. Take it from someone who paid to see this celluloid disaster in a theater: if you must watch "Krull", rent it first before you decide to buy it. As a side note, long before Robbie Coltrane played the beloved character of "Hagrid" in the "Harry Potter" films, he actually played a part in this drivel of a film.

Rating:
Summary: My First Fantsy
Review: When Prince Colwyn rescues his girl and finally confronts the evil and powerful Beast, he uses his mystical throwing weapon, the Glaive, to take him out. Now keep in mind, by the time the ending rolls around, we are desperate to see what the Glaive can do! The whole thing has been built up, and Colwyn has kept his ace up his sleeve for the whole movie, saving it for this final, cataclysmic confrontation. What happens? The Glaive gets stuck in the Beast's boob, that's what! Then Colwyn and his girlfriend recite their wedding vows and use some corny fire to lay the final beat down on the Beast. Talk about disappointment.

Krull is a fantasy quest, and it has all of the familiar elements of that genre. It also plods. Colwyn has to get the Glaive, go find a blind fortune teller, take said fortune teller to a special place so his powers can work, go find another fortune teller when this one dies, then find some magical horses that can get him to the Beast, then get to the Beast. In other words, Colwyn goes down a lot of side roads before he really gets moving.

All of this aside, Krull has some cool parts. There is a Cyclops with a special gift / curse, and there are many rather unpleasant deaths throughout the picture. There also some worthwhile set designs and the score isn't bad. None of this is enough to save the picture, however.


Rating:
Summary: Fantasy and Sci-fi meshed together
Review: When I was young, this was one of the first films I remember seeing at the drive-in, and it was fantastic. It had your fantasy (heroic warrior to save his betrothed, a lovely princess, battling and recruiting a band of brigands, a wizard, mythical creatures AND a legendary weapon, the Glaive.)mixed in with sci-fi (powerful aliens bent on world domination.) Compared to today's special effects, this movie is quite dated, but is still enjoyable in my book.