Krull

In the wake of Star Wars, fantasy films about brave heroes trying to rescue kidnapped princesses were suddenly in demand. Krull was one such film to jump aboard the band-wagon. There are also elements here of Robin Hood (the costumes look like they've been borrowed from natives of Sherwood Forest, and the hero is aided by a rogue's gallery of "merry men") and Perseus and Andromeda (the hero has to complete several mini-tasks before he can get on with his main quest).

Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall) has just married the beautiful Princess Lyssa (Lysette Anthony) when their city is raided and the princess is kidnapped. She is taken away to a heavily defended citadel. Colwyn sets off to rescue her, and during the course of his quest he picks up additional companions, including a bumbling magician (David Battley), a courageous cyclops (Bernard Bresslaw), and a gang of honourable bandits (which includes Alun Armstrong, Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane).

Krull is highly derivative, but reasonably entertaining. The special effects are decent for the time, but probably look a little primitive to over-spoilt modern eyes. Marshall's leading performance is extraordinarily bland, but his unashamed earnestness actually becomes part of the fun once you get used to the fact that he's trying desperately to play it seriously (without a shred of success!) The supporting characters are more interesting and are fairly well-played (despite the hopelessly hokey dialogue they have to contend with). In general, Krull is a likable movie which tries to keep up its lively pace, and manages to provide a fair number of thrills for youngsters and sci-fi afficianados. If you don't expect too much from it, you'll come away satisfied.

Saw this one at the movies and really enjoyed it.For a non-CG picture,I thought the effects were quite good.Of course,I'm not a hard -to-please Gen-X whiner,so "cheesy" effects don't bother me too much.And why don't you MST3K wannabes come up with another word besides "cheesy"?Anyway,I got just as much enjoyment from "Krull" as I did "Lord of the Rings" trilogy,and my butt did'nt get as tired from sitting."Krull"had a better music score,too,so there.

I remember that when i saw this for the first time i wasn´t very impressed. I remember that i didn´t like the "laser" beams that came out of the bad guys weapons. I remember thinking KRULL wanted to be a STAR WARS but it wasn´t very good at it.

Then as the years passed, i got to watch KRULL on video, and somehow i started realy to like this movie. By this time i had read a couple of fantasy books and i started to appreciate the attention to details in KRULL and the way the whole concept was organized as a movie.

Since then, each time i see it, i realy enjoy it more. Ok, it´s not the perfect fantasy movie, but compared to the usual more recent unimaginative excuses for movies that come out of Hollywood, (see "Neverending Story III" or "Warriors of Virtue"), this movie KRULL is a brilliant fantasy masterpiece.

KRULL has an excelent and different atmosphere, a much, much better script than WILLOW, excellent characters, a fantastic magic weapon, a good set design and it follows the Dungeon and Dragons formula in a very imaginative way, compared to the more recent movies.

The actors do their jobs well, (try to spot Leam Neeson) the situations are imaginative and the soundtrack is realy good and very atmospheric also.

The only minor fault in this production, is the way in wich we can immediately tell, when the outdoor scenes are filmed in indoor studios, because there is immediately a big contrast between the natural magnificent landscapes and the ones that are built in the studio. Which is a shame because sometimes it spoils the movie atmosphere. Anyway, who cares! KRULL is an excellent fantasy movie, and someone should make a directors cut from it and re-release it, because it might teach many hollywood executives how a good fantasy movie should be made. Even with its flaws !

A fantastic High Fantasy movie ! Go see it. It´s a shame this movie is so forgotten. Excelent stuff.

This movie is half way between being so bad, it's good and being so good, it's er...good. It's neither too camp, nor badly acted, nor does it have any really dire special effects. But then again, the acting isn't brilliant nor are the effects stunning (except for the spider, which is pretty good).

In short, it's OK.

The hero's main weapon is a kind of giant shuriken-thing which slices through almost anything. It's also under his mental control, which is nice, but as he's non-too bright we don't get to see any of the really wicked things you COULD do with a flying circular saw if you had an imagination.

The cast has a few well-known names in it. Liam Neeson, for example, in his early years. The things actors do before they become famous.

There's also my fave bad actor, Bernard Bresslaw. Sadly, his bad acting is hampered by a dodgy facial prosthetic which hides half his face. So we are not treated to his usual silliness and clown-like mugging. Instead we have to endure the presence of his cyclop's prosthetic throughout the movie. And trust me, it ain't very convincing. Imagine a one-eyed giant whose face has been frozen through Botox abuse and you'll get the idea.

And there's the evil Beast, which the cast are trying to destroy. Apparently it doesn't have legs, and is trapped inside it's fortress. All it can do is blow fireballs at the hero, which are pretty ineffectual. I actually felt a bit sorry for it. The final fight scene was rather like watching someone beat up a disabled person.

But on the whole this movie is alright and destined to be remembered with fondness for years to come.

It's hard to rate this film in conventional terms. I am a sucker for this golden age of sci-fi fantasy. I did see it as an adult for the first time, so didn't imprint on it as a child. The good was wonderful and the bad was amusing. It's certainly derivative, but shines in moments of originality.

Plot: 6/10 (derivative fantasy; a cornucopia of Star Wars, Willow, LOTR and other classics) Art direction: 10/10 World/Magic: 10/10 Characters: 6/10 (none evoke much empathy, development is mostly shallow) Acting: 4/10 (mostly - a few good actors stood out) Locations: 9/10 Pace: moves quickly, stays dynamic. Definitely doesn't drag.

Better than Legend, not as good as Willow. Similar in overall style & quality to Labyrinth, except no Bowie, no muppets.

Lowkey cameos by: Galadriel/Shelob, ponyta, Starlord, Highlander, the princess from Legend, Fin Raziel, Sauron, Capt. Archer's beagle, necromongers/stormtroopers/ringwraiths, light sabers, Obi Won, John Carpenter's The Thing, Mt. Doom, Sarumon, Road Warriors, Lothlorien x Death Star, Jodorowsky's Dune. Granted, in some cases this came first. Watch the madness unfold. Enjoy.