El cristal encantado

This must be, along with KRULL, one of the most forgotten fantasy movies ever ! I´ve been searching for a VHS copy of DARK CRYSTAL, for years now ! Nobody seems to have ever released this on tape !

WHY, is this movie so hard to find ?!! I´m fortunate enough to have a copy of it, but it isn´t a very good copy at all, because it was taped about 10 years ago, from a movie channel, and it´s got tons and tons of satelite interferences and "rain" in the image. At least i get to own the movie. I guess...

The first time i´ve seen anything about DARK CRYSTAL, was back in 1982 when i was 12 years old. I wento to see Spielberg´s - ET, and before it, the presentation movie trailer for DARK CRYSTAL came on the screen. I remember that i was much more impressed by it, than by ET. By the end, all i wanted to know was when DARK CRYSTAL would be on the theater. I was so impressed by it, that those 2 minutes from the presentation stayed in my mind ever since, and all that i remember from the day i went to see ET, was that i watched 2 minutes of something that i never thought it existed or would be possible. Remember it was 1982, and in those days, children´s programs on tv didn´t included the amount of fantasy stuff that it is showned today, so watching that was somehow a revelation for me.

Anyway 6 year later i got to finaly see it, on a forgotten childrens matinee, and i loved every minute of it, altough i felt even then that it had some dull parts in it. Somehow there is something diferent with the pace this story is told. Even now i feel this, each time i watch DARK CRYSTAL.

But this is just a minor thing. Maybe i´m being just picky. Because DARK CRYSTAL is a masterpiece, it might have its flaws, but that doesn´t prevent it from being one of the greatest fantasy movies ever. Even though is so forgotten by everyone. Even i forget i have it. In a way, this is an Historical movie, because to my knowledge this was the first time that the atmosphere from the now common fantasy novels was portraited in a movie. And what a begining !!! Jim Henson got it right, right at the first try !

Every time i watch this i only wished he had lived enough time to adapt TOLKIEN´s - LORD OF THE RINGS to the movies. He would make a fantastic job for sure.

With DARK CRYSTAL ,Jim Henson achieved a perfect balance between a kids movie and a fantasy movie for adult viewers. This only added credibility to the world he created for this story. Just for this alone he should be praised. He showed the way, a fantasy movie should be made, but nobody in Hollywood seem to have learned anything from it.

I have read that DARK CRYSTAL, was a comercial flop, because it was released during the ET days, and not many people went to see it. Wich is a sad thing, because a masterpiece like this deserved to have filled the theaters. Maybe adults thought it was just for kids and the kids wanted to see ET, so it flopped. I read that even american reviews attacked DARK CRYSTAL. Maybe it was the usual in america, when a movie can´t be put in a category, nobody makes many efforts to publicize it. And i bet this was a nightmare to some people who had to publicize it. How would they present it ?

So if, you can find it, you have to see this movie ! I f you like fantasy, you´ll go nuts with it. Only the landscapes are enough to make anyone drool. The story is very,very good and much more adult oriented than it might seem at first, the pecial effects are pefect for it, the soundtrack is excelent, and the characters are very lifelike and believable. I only don´t like very much of the hero, it feels to much like a pupet. Compared to the others is a bit strange.

It´s time DARK CRYSTAL gets the atention it desrerves, this is a brilliant movie.

This movie is like an odd, but wonderful dream. It takes place in a fantasy world, created by the talented duo, Frank Oz and Jim Henson. Everything in this film is so meticulously done, that it still lives on to this day. Computer effects be damned. This film has texture, and it is pleasing to watch. This movie, as you will see, was made for kids. But really, it is a masterpiece in film-making. True, good, story-telling. Sure, kids will love it, but the film isn't really aimed at them like most kid movies are. It is complicated, eerie, beautiful, and intelligent... most of all, mystical. I reccomend this to anyone seriously interested in film, especially fantasy... not to be missed!

You know, I'm not a fan of the majority of Jim Henson's work. I despise THE MUPPETS and generally all related things, finding them twee and unfunny; I was the same when I was a kid. Call me a curmudgeon, or old before my time, but this shouty, over the top type of humour just isn't my cup of tea at all. What a surprise, then, that Henson should make THE DARK CRYSTAL, one of the finest dark fantasy films of the 1980s!

I had this film on video as a child and it's a memorable film when you watch it as a kid - and for all the wrong reasons! That's because THE DARK CRYSTAL is a completely HORRIFIC film for a child to watch. I remember being scared out of my wits by the stuff on show here - the crumbling corpse, the enforced stripping sequence, the striders dying, and of course the essence-stealing scene, which is still disturbing even when I watch this back as an adult.

The level of cruelty and violence on display makes THE DARK CRYSTAL stand out from other, more twee stuff like LEGEND and LABYRINTH, and indeed I think this gives it an edge to the competition. Otherwise, the production values are strong, the characters memorable and the quest-style storyline fits with the material just right. THE DARK CRYSTAL is an underrated children's movie and one which beats every other animation or puppet film I can think of from the 1980s.

The Dark Crystal is a fantastic film made by Jim Henson. It truly is one of those movies that prove what a genius he was, and that his genius stretched past Kermit and Big Bird. However…I always have mixed feelings about this movie.

The Dark Crystal takes place in a fantasy land that has fallen out of balance and turned evil because "the dark crystal" has lost a shard. Then comes Jen, a "gelfling", a small creature with a sweet face and long hair. Jen has has been raised by the "mystics" large, peaceful creatures that tell him he is the last of his kind. He is the last of his kind because the "skeksies" have killed all the gelflings due to a prophesy that a gelfling will overthrow their reign. The skeksies are evil, bird/reptile like creatures that are the complete opposite of the mystics. Simultaneously, the leader of the skeksies and leader of the mystics die, and Jen goes on a quest to find the missing shard in the Dark Crystal. On his journey Jen finds Kira, a female gelfling raised by "podlings", who also believed she was the last of her kind. Together, Kira and Jen must find a way to restore the shard to the dark crystal, therefore creating balance in their world once more.

This movie is a visual feast. It is absolutely amazing what Henson managed to do with the muppets and the worlds he created. As many have said it is even more amazing to see it in comparison to today's CGI and advanced special effects, and appear superior. The plot is also solid, with lots of meaning and spirit. However…I personally always found the film difficult to enjoy. As a child this movie gave me horrible nightmares, as it did for many other people. This is probably high on the list of traumatizing children's movies! So parents be forewarned, this shouldn't be shown to children under age 8, or even those a bit older who scare easily. In fact, adults can still find many aspects of this film disturbing, including scary characters, music, voices, and actions. One of the most disturbing aspects is how the skeksies would suck the "essence" (soul) out of podlings, drink it to prolong their own youth, and then make the podlings into slaves. As an adult I can look past the scary parts to recognize how well the film is made and written, but I still find it difficult to enjoy. That aside, it's definitely worth a watch.

I had never heard of dark crystal before they announced the Netflix series taking place in the same universe. I got curious and watched the film first and I am so not disappointed. Few years after the first Star Wars and the first alien, special effects didn't look so realistic compared to today. But what they achieved visually is worth the 200 millions of CGI a film nowadays requires. Amazing designs and colours. There is a feeling of immersion, which I have rarely achieved watching films from early 80's. The Story-telling is good and enjoyable once you accept this universe's basic rules, which are kind of dumb, but I'll give it a pass. This is a very enjoyable hero's journey before the era of comic-book movies and you can really feel that because everything in this film feels so honest and genuine. The film makers had really a lot of freedom and I believe there should be more films with such creative freedom in the 21st Century. The film aged well, but you can see that the characters move and special effects are old, despite a clever use of the camera to hide it as well as possible. An excellent surprise to discover this film, I had a great time!