Legend 1985 Director: Ridley Scott Cinematographer: Alex Thompson
Starring Tom Cruise, Tim Curry, Mia Sara
She is of the purest innocence. He is pure evil. He is darkness.
Legend is one of the most sensuous films made. The cinematography, set design, lighting… gorgeous.
The movie failed theatrically. Tom Cruise was not a mega star yet. The rest of the cast was relatively unknown. Fantasy, pure, hard, unflinching fantasy, was not fashionable pre lord of the rings. This kind of movie was considered silly or for children and would get bad word of mouth because it is not ‘for children’.
Legend is a very simple fairy tale, steeped in British fantasy tropes. The story is small, straight forward, unassuming. The visual language is a fantasy painting in motion. The spfx pushed the boundaries hard and were lost in the shuffle. Darkness is the pinnacle of make up horns. Entire scenes are given texture by what is in the air filling the screen. The atmosphere is so think, so overwhelming.
Jack, our hero, loses his forbidden love as her purity is not as pure as his purity, causing the death of a unicorn and giving Darkness and his flunkies a field day of evil shenanigans.
I want to it in to some of the odd things I love about this movie.
Jack gets a sword, shield and mail to aid him as per usual. He loses the sword and gives the shield away.
The gimp is stronger, faster, better than jack but falls in line when it’s needed.
Una, the fairy, falls in love with jack, is turned away, and still helps him. Darkness is seriously effected by Lily. He tries to give her everything he has to woo her. It’s crazy how hard he tries.
I adore the dress dancing with Lily before Lily wears it. The kitchen crew- I want to know more about them. I want to know more about this world. It is so interesting. Sure, it is propped up by the most generic tropes, but who cares? It doesn’t hide what it is.
Two versions currently exist. Watch either. Doesn’t matter. They are both great.
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