Krull

How have I never seen this movie before now?

Then again I finally watched The NeverEnding Story for the first time just last summer so I guess there's always "new" stuff out there for idiots like me to "discover" (have you heard of that band Led Zeppelin?  They're totally awesome!).  Having picked up Krull on Blu-ray* for the low, low price of $4.99 (new) at my local MovieStop recently I have to say: I loved the hell out of this fun 1983 sci-fi/fantasy adventure, and I don't care who knows it!  As far as I'm concerned Krull is the best damn Star Wars film since Return of the Jedi.

Prince Colwyn rockin' the Glaive and flippin' the bird

This pulpy swashbuckling Saturday matinee mash-up of Arthurian sword and sorcery and pew-pew laser gun action involves a motley band of outlaws (including a comedy relief shape shifter, a giant melancholic cyclops, and a scruffy Liam Neeson) led by the Robin Hood-like Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall, armed with a big five bladed ninja throwing star called a Glaive) as he and his merry men attempt to rescue Colwyn's betrothed, the Princess Lyssa (Lysette Anthony), held prisoner in the Black Fortress in the clutches of the villainous Beast and his vile army of Slayers.  It's got a rousing score by James Horner, which in my estimation certainly elevates it above mere standard B-movie status, along with some nice action set pieces, some inspired organic/bio-mechanical set designs and beautiful location shots; it also has a couple of actors that would appear together in Dune the following year (Francesa Annis and Freddie Jones), and even the future Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts, Rubeus Hagrid himself (Robbie Coltrane).

In this age of overly green-screened, CGI Hobbitry/bombast, Krull is a genre flick that made this viewer particularly wistful for the craftsmanship and handmade artistry of pre-digital cinematic illusion: matte paintings, miniatures, prosthetics, stop motion animation (there's a lengthy scene involving a giant stop motion animated transparent glass spider that was particularly enjoyable); these ancient techniques are all used liberally and effectively throughout this fun film.  Certainly, some of these effects don't look 100% realistic--but then again neither did all the high tech CGI wizardry of Peter Jackson's recent Hobbit trilogy either (budgeted at a whopping $750 million versus Krull's relatively modest $27 million). And for a movie that depicts the magnificent, majestic creatures known on the planet Krull as Fire Mares (horses that are so fast that ribbons of fire literally burst forth behind them from their hooves as they run, much like Doc Brown's DeLorean when it travels through time!  Oh and they can fly too!) do we even care about realism?  Should we even care?

Still, regardless of how ridiculous the whole premise is in the first place, I say give me real live Fire Mares over CGI bunny-sleds any day!

*Just a few words on the Blu-ray: it's super cheap but looks good--crisp and clean while still looking very film like with lots of nice grain left intact, but there are NO extras: no subtitles, no alternate audio tracks, not even a chapter list, let alone a trailer; just a menu screen with a "play movie" button.  It does have chapter stops though, so it's got that going for it.  Hey, it's from Mill Creek, what do you expect?

Here's the trailer: