Willow

(At least I do, every time I see it.) I first watched this movie a long time ago, and have seen it several more times over the years (it pops up on TV somewhat frequently). I have enjoyed it with each viewing, mainly because I just take it for what it is to me – namely, just a fun, escapist fantasy flick that whisks you away to a magical kingdom where all kinds of mystical, cute, clever, and at times even sinister things are happening, all against a backdrop of remarkably beautiful scenery. Oh, yeah: you also get to see Val Kilmer (Madmartigan) step squarely into a fresh pile of troll poop – truly a classic moment in cinema history!

I noticed that other reviewers herein went to great efforts to point out glaring similarities between Willow and Star Wars, and these similarities apparently ruined the movie for them (or at least, they just didn't *like* Willow). Well, to each their own… As for me, I won't even begin to compare Willow to Star Wars, because: (drum roll please...) I've never even seen Star Wars. Not even once. So there!! ("You've never seen STAR WARS!!" I can hear the collective gasp of all you moviegoers out there. Yeah, okay, so just shoot me already!). But similarities shmimilarities! As Bill Murray said in Meatballs, "It just doesn't matter! It just doesn't matter! It just doesn't matter!..."

Anyway, if you haven't seen Willow, then I would recommend you see it at once and enjoy it for what it is: a fun, escapist fantasy movie that (heaven knows, current events and all...) we could all use a little more of in this day and age. If you have already seen it and love it, well, go see it again! And finally, if you have seen it but don't like it because of annoying similarities between it and Star Wars, well, what can I say? I would hazard that, all things considered, Willow nevertheless DOES have its own special charms that you probably won't find in Star Wars. At the very least I haven't heard that Madmartigan's counterpart in Star Wars, Han Solo, stepped in a big wet pile of troll poop!

Well, I'm glad I got all this off my chest. I feel BETTER!!

At a stormy and dark night in the bowels of a stronghold whose owner results to be a nasty witch Queen called Bavmorda : Jean Marsh, there takes place the birth of a baby. According to a prophecy, as the innnocent child grows, it means the end of her rule . Howewer, a basket containing the baby carries her at the Munchkins land and darf Willow : Warwick Davis, meets her. Willow carries out his fate by sheperding the abandoned baby on a risked journey to fulfil his destiny as a saviour for good . As Willow discovers that the founded girl is actually a sacred infant who is destined to overthrow the ominous queen and rule the land . On the quest her parents, Willow falls with a plausible roguish adventurer called Madmartigan : Val Kilmer . Both of whom join and set out to destroy the power of evil, the heinous witch : Jean Marsh and her daughter : Joanna Whaley. Along the way they are helped by two small men : Rick Overton, Kevin Pollack.

This epic fantasy picture has more than a few elements in common with Bible's innocents massacre , Moises history, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and fairytales as Snow White. This is a great adventure movie with too much action-packed, though strangely predictable and the bulk of plot concerns Willow's mission who is assigned the task of returning a child her security , while attempting to free her from the claws of the evil hag and give the baby to the good witch . The picture contains a lot of weird creatures as Death Dogs, Faeries, Brownies, Trolls, dwarfs and a two-head, fire-breathing dragon . Breathtaking climax full of struggles , muscle and magic, providing a thrilling final confrontation . As you can expect from executive producer George Lucas, there is much action and plenty of high-quality FX made by specialists Dennis Muren and Phil Tippet, in addition, stop-motion monsters by Dave Allen. Cast is pretty good with some dwarf actors as Warwick Davis, Billy Barty, David Steinberg, Tony Cox. And popular actors as Val Kilmer and Joanna Walley Kilmer, marriage at the time . As well as a nice secondary cast, such as : Jean Marsh, Gavan O'Herlihy , Kevin Pollack, Rick Overton, Pat Roach and Patricia Hayes as good witch.

The film displays a breathtaking, enjoyable, and, nowadays classic, musical score by the great James Horner. Colorful and brilliant cinematography by Adrian Biddle. The motion picture was well directed by the famous actor and director Ron Howard. From his starts as an actor, as he played George Lucas' American Graffiti , he's had a long career, as he went on as a filmmaker, shooting successfully, his film debut was Grand thef auto, following other hits, such as : Night shift, Splash, Cocoon, Gung Ho, Parenthood, Backdraft , Far and away, The Paper , Apollo13, Ransom , EdTv, The Grinch, A beautiful mind, Cinderella man, The Da Vince Code , Frost/Nixon , among others. Rating 7/10. The yarn will appeal to fantasy fans and Sword/witchery genre buffs.

Enjoyed this. A good family film. Warwick Davis should have been a Hobbit.

For its day, Willow was one of the better fantasy movies. The effects look a little dated now (especially the two-headed beastie) but it has enough humour and action to keep most satisfied. It's no LOTR, but then it was made 14 years ago.

Warwick Davis plays Willow, a Nelwynn, a race of hobbit-sized folk who don't have anything to do with "The Big People" as they call humans. Basically, it's the Shire transplanted into this movie, but without the budget. Billy Barty is the village's wizard and basically plays the character Gweldor again (from Masters of the Universe) but without the silly make-up and stupid musical key.

Val Kilmer is Madmartigan, a human warrior who befriends Willow and helps him on his journey with varying degrees of ulterior motive.

The acting is all reasonably good. Warwick Davis was only 18 when this film was released so his performance is very good considering his age and lack of experience (prior to this he'd played a goblin in Labyrinth and an ewok in Return of the Jedi). It's also interesting to see Pat Roach here. Pat was a former wrestler and has carved out a little niche for himself playing villains and tough guys. Here he plays General Kael, the right-hand henchman of Queen Bavmorda, played with gusto by Jean Marsh. That woman is truly frightening.

It's all good fun and the two funniest characters in the movie are Franjean and Rool, two Brownies, who "help" Willow regardless of the latters wishes. They have the funniest double act and reminded me more than a little of Merry and Pippin in LOTR.

All in all well worth a watch if you want some pure, and somewhat silly, entertainment.

It's one of those films they starting SUPER GREAT and you saying "Oh my God, what a gem I found"... and as the film continues its getting less better and ends almost bad.

To me, the first 40 minutes are AMAZING, probably equal to "Lord of the Rings" trilogy!!!! Trust me, THAT GOOD! And then... the plot/scenario does a HUGE drop/fall, its getting quite boring and the finale (the last battle) is almost hilarious/joke/comedy!

But... its a remarkable fantasy film, left a mark to the fantasy universe of movies.