PH. D takes a look at Legend (1985)

Ridley Scott's 1985 fantasy effort is a worthy addition to the canon. That is... if you're considering the Director's Cut, which includes over 20 minutes of extra fleshing-out and reintroduces Jerry Goldsmith's wonderfully lyrical score. The original theatrical cut was severely truncated and had a trippy, yet eventually ineffective score by Tangerine Dream. Some people might look at the box and be turned off by Tom Cruise, but don't worry. This is a rather young (pre-ego?) Cruise and he actually seems somewhat invested in a role that doesn't involve him sprinting for half the running time.

O.K., on to the movie itself...

The plot would be considered standard fantasy fare. Lord of Darkness wants to cause eternal night, attempts to kill unicorns. Uncertain young man becomes hero, must capture his true love who happens to be a princess... etc. etc. etc. It's all rather predictable, but where this movie does show it's colors is in it's visual presentation. Ridley Scott is, of course, renowned for his sleek, commercial quality films. These qualities come out really well in this fantasy-adventure yarn. As in some scenes of Kingdom of Heaven, Scott is obsessed with tiny bits of floating... stuff. I guess it's dandelion fluff, but it seems to be EVERYWHERE. Sometimes it seems like the actors are being bombarded by the left-overs of several pillow-fights. It's silly, but I guess it adds a certain whimsical, and should I say, fantastical (?) element to the visuals. Later on, he pours torrents of snow on the actors, and achieves really brilliantly effective winter scenes.

The sets are really fantastic, and include an impressive forest that was based in the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios until it burnt down during filming(!). There's also an underground lair which has an awful ventilation (there's always a crap load of steam and smoke billowing into everyone's faces).

One of the craziest parts of this movie is the Lord of Darkness, played by Tim Curry, in intense makeup. This is NOT a guy you'd like to meet on the street. I mean it. Also, the size of his horns are really ridiculous. Other actors of not are Mia Sara, playing the young princess with a mix of detached regency and horror, and an assorted cast of dwarves and goblins, including Kiran Shah, who was in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and was Frodo's body double in all the Lord of the Rings films.

Phew!!! All in all, a decent watch if you're craving for your fix of fantasy/adventure. Make sure to get a version which includes the director's cut... and watch out for those horns!