Krull

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.

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.

The planet Krull has been invaded by a great evil The Beast. Two kingdoms have joined through the planned marriage of Princess Lyssa (Lysette Anthony) and Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall). At the wedding, the forces of The Beast attack, kidnapping the princess, and massacring everyone else. Sole survivor Colwyn joins with a band of disparate characters on a quest to kill The Beast and rescue the princess.

This is a very simple good versus evil storyline. It's a quest road movie. David Battley is especially funny as the incompetent magician Ergo. All the iconic characters are there including the great Alun Armstrong as the bandit leader Torquil. And sharp eyes will see a younger Liam Neeson.

This along with Dragonslayer is my favorite British fantasy of that era. The stories are original and yet comfortably familiar. It had the FX but CG would soon make the miniature models and real sets old school. It didn't help that Return of the Jedi came out right before this. This movie has great cheese appeal, but is outclassed in production value by Jedi.

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.