The Last Unicorn

The imagery is just gorgeous! The songs are delightful and such fun. Hard to believe it's 30 years old and so well done.

I remember watching this movie as a child and wearing out the old VHS tape. The music provided by the 70s music group, America, provides a wonderful folk mood to the piece. I recently discovered this movie on DVD and immediately bought the movie. I watched the movie and read the book. I love how the animators were able to bring forward the essence of Peter Beagle's masterpiece of fantasy fiction.

The Last Unicorn is story about friendship and love. The Unicorn discovers that she is the last unicorn in the world. Searching for a sense of identity, she starts a quest to find the other unicorns. That quest introduces her to Schmendrick and Molly Grue. The Unicorn, Schmendrick and Molly are each searching to fill a void, and as an audience member, I vicariously find a way to fill my void through their experiences.

I saw this film so many times when I was younger, and loved it. The songs are actually really lovely, but I do think that Jeff Bridges singing lacked support. The animation is actually very nice. Yes it does fall flat sometimes, but it is the 80s after all, besides overall it was quite stylish, beautiful and whimsical. The screenplay is very good also, and if I am not mistaken, it was written by the author, so there was a hint of faithfulness. Apparently Haggard's lines were literally adapted from the book. The voice talents are top notch. Alan Arkin was more than adequate as Schmendrick, and Tammy Grimes was poignant as Molly Grue. Jeff Bridges and Christopher Lee added a huge amount to the film, as did Angela Lansbury as Mommy Fortuna. Topping them all, was Mia Farrow as the brooding and sensitive Amalfia/Unicorn. The red Bull was also really sinister, and Rene Auberjoinis made me laugh as the Skull. All in all, an imaginative movie. 8/10 Bethany Cox

or this film had some sort of supernatural power over me...I think all three are true because I saw this film once when I was 3 or 4 and fell so deeply in love with it that since we didn't have a VCR I somehow found out when it was on again, mashed scotch tape over a cassette I found, shoved it into my new huge Fisher Price tape recorder and audio recorded the entire movie. At that age I already knew this film held the secrets of the universe and if I could get that on tape I had it made. Well I lost the tape and haven't seen the film since, so someday I'll watch it again and see if I was right....wow...the soundtrack must've been awesome because I can still hum the song in my head(!)

The first time I saw this movie was when I was very young. So young, in fact, that the only things I can remember about this movie are subtle images; I couldn't even remember if I liked it or not. Now, more than twelve years later and after reading the book, I can honestly say that this is a truly great film.

I have seen very few films that have actually brought me close to tears, and most of those movies are ones I didn't like. The Last Unicorn is an especially good film not just because it stays true to the book, which animated films are rarely good at, but also because it breaks away from the Disney formula for telling the story. All the characters in this film are sympathetic in one way or another, including the villains King Haggard and Mommy Fortuna. Many people would ask why a villain would need to be sympathetic? The simple answer is they don't. The villains are sympathetic though because they are human. The unicorn herself doesn't truly become sympathetic until she is transformed.

I say this film is in the spirit of the great filmmaker and master animator Hayao Miyazaki, a Japanese director, because even though this film is a fantasy, it is not a fairy tale. Miyazaki has become famous for making animated films that are enjoyable for children, but are also sophisticated and deep enough for adults. What makes this movie great is its story.

One of the things that makes this movie so special for me is because it has become one of my favorite love stories. More specifically, it is a story about hopeless love. There are only four love stories, this one included, that I regard as my favorites. One them being Princess Mononoke, one of the many great films by Miyazaki. It is also a unique love story because it is about true eternal love. How is it eternal? I will not say because I don't want to spoil the movie.

My only real complaint about this movie is that the animation isn't very fluid, but I am willing to let that slide because the film was obviously low budget. I only hope that the live-action version will be as good and hopefully even better than the animated version, because even though this movie was well paced there were certain things from the book I hope they mention in the new version that they didn't have time to put into the animated version. I also hope the live-action version is as truthful to the book as this movie was, and leans more to the adult side of the story so more emotion and character development can come out of it.

You're never to old to believe in the impossible.