Krull

Krull

Rating (from metacritic.com): N/A (IMBD: 5.8/10)

Storyline (from IMDB.com):
A prince with a fellowship of companions sets out to rescue his bride from a fortress of alien invaders who have arrived on their home planet.

Source: My personal collection

Review:
Krull is the product of the late 70’s/early 80’s fantasy movie craze that swept Hollywood. It could be that people were inspired by the unlikely success of the Star Wars franchise, or it could have been just one of those things. In the era of Conan, Legend, and the Princess Bride, Krull was different. First off, it had a dash of Sci-Fi, with ‘laser lances’ and an evil enemy from the stars. It also had a well-drafted background, which made sense, as well as the sense of a living world. Unlike many other fantasy movies, the writer didn’t feel the need to over-explain every little detail of that world. Things simply were, and you didn’t need a narrator to explain a name like ‘Terrible Slaughter Valley of Damnation.' Not to say the writer took shortcuts to reduce dialogue; it just didn’t need to be explained.

Krull starts with a massive space ship traveling the void towards a planet. The music kind of ruins the feeling, as the composer hadn’t left Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan behind, so I keep thinking the USS Enterprise (with no bloody damned A, B, C, or D) would suddenly appear and strafe the thing.

After a bit of waiting, the thing finally lands on the planet, Krull, and we learn that it’s the Black Fortress and aboard it is The Beast, who leads The Slayers to conquest and pillage. Of course, we have the standard issue prophecy, where man loves woman and blah, blah, blah. You’ve seen a fantasy movie before, you know what this is. Anyway, the good prince is set to marry his lovely princess, but they get attacked by the Slayers (anyone else keep thinking I’m talking about a band?) and after a great battle, the princess is kidnapped, and the prince grievously wounded. The prince is brought back by a Kindly Old Man, who tells him that he must search for The Glaive. (A note: a glaive is polearm weapon, kind of like a spear.)
Off to mountains they go, where the prince reaches his hand in molten lava, and pulls out… some kind of starfish thing? With blades? Huh? I would have called it the Star-Blade or something, but that’s just me. After recovering this ultimate weapon, they run across a wizard who doesn’t seem all that powerful, and is supposed to be a Dwarf. He joins up with them after being scared by a Cyclops, a special effect well done for its time. The Kindly Old Man explains that Cyclops are ‘sad, lonely creatures’ as their race made a deal with The Beast to see the future, but all they can see is the moment of their own deaths. They are then attacked by highwaymen who end up joining the cause because the prince appeals to their sense of honor… I’m just going to let you think about that for a minute… Moving on, they journey about, finding the Emerald Wizard or somesuch, who tries to help them. He can’t see anything about The Beast, as it is too powerful, so they have to go on another journey.

They end up in some dark, evil swamps, and the Emerald Wizard is replaced by a Slayer. With the Emerald Wizard dead, the Kindly Old Man must visit another seer, who kills any who seek her. He enters a cave with a large, very frightening spider. If I had seen this as a kid, I would have flipped out. The special affects for this thing were also awesome for the 80’s, and really make the thing feel real. It turns out the Widow in the Web is an old lover of the Kindly Old Man and had killed his son. Her punishment was to remain in the web. Somehow, the Old Man forgives her. In order to allow his escape, the Widow sacrifices herself. That’s one way to atone for murdering your child, I guess.

With the location of the Black Fortress known, the adventurers set out to fight The Beast and free the princess. They harness flying Clydesdales (not making that up), and fly/ride to the Black Fortress. When they arrive, the highwaymen start dropping like flies, saying ‘It was worth it’ in so many ways, as does the Kindly Old Man. The Cyclops enters and sacrifices himself so the adventurers can enter the Black Fortress. Inside it looks like the place was designed by H.R. Giger, with an alien, organic look. The prince fights The Beast, but loses the Glaive and discovers that with the power of the princess behind him, he can defeat The Beast.

And they lived happily ever after…

Let’s face it, this isn’t an original movie. It’s pretty standard fantasy fare, but it did have some good visuals going for it. I also like the sci-fi touches, which set it apart from many movies of the time. They couldn't quite capture its scope. Unlike Conan (which I do enjoy), I didn’t find myself saying, “Come on, get on with it already!” I must admit, there are some faults with this movie. But, if you can let yourself enjoy a nice fantasy epic, you won’t be disappointed. It’s worth re-watching if you saw it as a kid, or watching for the first time if you've never seen it.

Final Thoughts: This movie was pretty damn good.

It was a GOOD movie.

Coming Soon: Saved!