Rating: 
Summary: LEGEND-DWARFS AND DRIVEL
Review: "Legend" is a vacuous surrealistic mess, with characters so brutalized into archetypal pulp that Good and Evil imprison the viewer in a airless, sadistic penitentiary of set design. See Tom Cruise, battered and bewildered with the director who has forsaken him. Yes, Ridley Scott was the mastro behind this over-canonized fanboy monstrosity. As for this grueling, torturous "Director's Cut", one would be better off using the DVD as an hors d'heurve platter. Spare your senses. And as heretical as it may sound, the the Tangerine Dream score better suits the revisionist nature of the film, which I urge you on your life not to see. Watch "Blade Runner" again. By the way, the solitary star's for my man Tim Curry with the dope devil horns. Sweet. And Tom Cruise was harsh in fiery emotional consternation in "Vanilla Sky". Check it out. Later, Mike D.
Rating: 
Summary: See the light
Review: I was glad to hear Scott was putting out a directors cut of one of my more favorite movies. Yet I have come to find the original American realease is still my favorite. I like the additional scenes in the UK version, but I'm partial to the Tangerine Dream score. I like the original score but there is something about the Dream score that is more mistical than the more classical score used in the UK version.
Still this is a must see for any "fantasy" movie buff. Tim Curry's over the top, melodramatic performance makes Legend a legend in this type of film making. And I don't think I have ever seen a Scott film that I didn't like. He is a master film maker.
Check out both versions and decide for yourself. You'll see the light and not be disapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Awful...just awful.
Review: I bought the ultimate edition because I saw legend as a small child and I thought I remembered it being good. It isn't. Visually stunning? Yes. But that is all. The plot is so ridiculous it is hard to even think that the writer actually put it on paper (and the featurette showing Ridley Scott and the writer discussing Legend as if it were Citizen Kane is particularly revolting.) The dialogue is really bad. The director's cut is excutiatingly painful to watch, and made even worse by Mia Sara's Princess Lily running around singing about birds and Spring. I now have cavities from the sugar. Tom Cruise is creepy, not magical and mysterious. His character comes off more like a chester the molester than an enchanting forest dweller. "Come to the forest with me Lily...I have something to show you..." Yeah. Keep your pants up, leaf boy. It was all around, BAD. My biggest peeve was Ridley Scott saying that the film flopped because people are too dim to understand his brilliant artistic vision. Um...maybe it flopped because it [is not good]? Summary: I would rather slit my wrists and take a bath in lemonjuice that watch this film again. I would give it zero stars but I can't.
Rating: 
Summary: Elves, magic--what's not to like?!?
Review: A glowing, phantasmal gem of a movie, "Legend" reminds you that unicorns are cool. Ridley Scott's masterfully slow pace lets your breathe this movie in, almost smelling the wisps of summer flowers he so beautifully photographed. The soft focus imbues every shot with an ethereal quality of transcendence, whisking the viewer away from the humdrum lucidity of more realistic films. Tangerine Dream's score is haunting, yet comforting, like a half-remembered favorite childhood dream. Tom Cruise masterfully embodies the rogue spirit of the hero, a more cunning Peter Pan. Mia Sara (even more lovely than her appearance in "Time Cop") captures the wide-eyed sweetness of the maiden, who marvels at the splendor
of her world. Tim Currey's portrayal of the Dark Lord juxtaposes this well, like finding a horrid black spider lurking in a treasured heirloom. It's difficult to believe the same director would go on to create the clanking, bloated "Gladiator." "Legend" has no need for cruel violence, or a flawed hero on an empty quest for vengeance. Magnificent fantasy!
Rating:
Summary: an 80's classic bigger and better on DVD.
Review: For those who own the original Legend VHS, i suggest you throw that one away and own the DVD version cause it contains both the Director's Cut and Original version. The features on this disk are great including Lost Scenes, TV Spots, Documentary, Photo Stills and more goodies that would please any fan of this movie. It's a 1986 Fantasy classic about a Mideval boy ( Tom Cruise) who must save his girlfriend ( Mia Sara) and the Unicorns from the lord of Darkness ( tim Curry). This is an outstandly beautiful fantasy now bigger and better on DVD, i suggest you fans of fantasy to own this movie on DVD. Similar movies recommended: Last Unicorn, Labyrinth, The Princess Bride, The Dark Crystal, Wizard of Oz, Army of Darkness, The Neverending Story, Conan The Barbarian, Vampire Hunter D, and Flight of Dragons.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic and finally the way it should be
Review: Legend turns out to be the best it has ever been with Ridley Scott's true version of his dream masterpiece. For years there has been a soundtrack out with the original music written by Jerry Goldsmith and to finally see the "black dress" scene with what was originaly intended makes the movie a true "Grimm" tale. The making of on disc two tells you alot of info on the trials it took to make the movie with most of the cast. (Why Tom Cruise wouldn't talk about this film is beyond me.) Movie buffs will be amazed to see the old 007 soundstage where the movie was filmed and was the last to be shot there. For anyone who hasn't see the movie, take the time to watch both versions. Tim Curry's performance is worth both versions and he just plays it so over the top that he IS the ultimate "devil" and evil being. For Star Trek fans, Robert Picardo (The Doctor from ST: Voyager) plays the witch "Meg" and shows how you can play a charater through all that rubber. Here is also an example of how great visiuals could be attained before the digital age of special effects. The documentary on the making of is one of the best that has been produced by Universal.
Rating:
Summary: Legend is a Good Movie
Review: Legend is a good movie. Released 16th January 1986 in US, and the 28th of August 1985 in France, This movie is the most beautiful in visual effects but the story was very basic. It was about good versus evil. The movie was often confusing also because you didn't understand where Lily really came from or where Jack came from, and there was no explanation of anything in the movie. That's also what makes this movie so interesting. The Director's cut explains some but not much more and the score by Goldsmith does not go and the Tangerine Dream's score is more appropriate and makes it more eerie. This was not a bad movie but don't anylyze it or you won't like it.
Rating:
Summary: YUCK
Review: This movie is really really really bad!!! First the beginning of the movie where we see the torture area is just plain gross. The story line was a complete joke. I couldn't even enjoy it. I can't figure out why anyone could possibly like this movie. Trust me this movie will scare your children, and make them cry, when the bad guys kill the unicorn. Besides I thought in Fairy Tales that you can't kill a unicorn. Anyone it's a joke, don't watch it, unless you really want to. Though I can't understand why you would! P.S. I didn't want to give it any stars but it wouldn't let me.
Rating:
Summary: The Director's Cut: An Improvement
Review: Finally to DVD comes Legend. The tale of Legend's failure is well known to the fans of the film. In a manic attempt to market the film properly, Ridley Scott butchered his original version of the film for the US, while retaining his true vision for the films European audience. We in the US got stuck with a narrative disaster. Legend was little more than a mess of visual eye-candy that utterly buried any character and story the film might have had. And worse, it did away with the timeless classical score of Jerry Goldsmith and used a (very) dated electronic piece. Now, Tangerine Dream might have composed a couple of beautiful passages, but c'mon now; a film like Legend needed classical music. But now we have the European version i.e. the director's cut, and yes, it's a big improvement. First off, in the director's cut, we no longer have an opening scroll; the new approach is far more subtle. Also, as the films starts, we are no longer allowed to see the Lord of Darkness, aside from his hand. This already changes the entire scope of the film from the US version. It gives the atmosphere a much better sense of menace and dread. The near thirty additional minutes expands on the characters, fleshes out their story, and adds a degree of coherency the US cut simply does not have. Plus, we now have a soundtrack fit for a dark fairy tale. The DVD itself is beautiful: Universal has issued Legend with sharp, pristine 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers for each version of the film. The extras are plentiful, though it's the commentary and the brand new, fifty-minute feature that make this DVD worthwhile. In the end, Legend is a film steeped in the conventions of the fantasy genre. There is no spectacular action in this film, as the film's pace is very gradual and deliberate. This may bore some of today's Matrix/MTV audience. However, this director's cut goes a long way to take Legend out of the shadows and let's it stand on its own as a truly fine slice of fantasy filmmaking.
Rating:
Summary: The wait is over, the legend begins
Review: Finally it is here - and well worth the wait for a magnificent DVD package. I was lucky enough to have never seen the US release, we got the "European" release in Australia. I can see why it flopped in the US! Still, the best thing about DVDs are the features and this package has it all - commentary, alternative scores, missing scenes, making of documentary and a few other gems. I can see how the US release was, like Blade Runner, dumbed down for an audience with a limited attention span and a need for everything to be spelt out for them - but I am glad that Ridley Scott never stops fighting to make intelligent films and hope that the audiences who constantly view commercial pap will one day raise their standards and expectations of what this medium can do.
| 
