Legend

This is the one that hurts the most personally.

I think it's no secret Tim was a treasure to behold and has been an almost lifelong favorite actor of mine, and I've never seen this movie and really only heard little bits and pieces through the years so it was a unique experience. Dear sweet Satan below though, can there ever just be a Ridley Scott movie with one damn cut? It was a journey in and of itself researching the 3 versions, hell I pretty much watched two of them for this review! I saw the U.S. cut and the european cut and goddammit both are a little bit of a mixed bag so I can't even say there's a definitive version, and I didn't even touch the near two and half hour version for the sake of brevity. But before we get wrapped up in the details let's talk plot. It is undoubtedly and positively high fantasy through and through, concerning a young princess embroiled in the machinations of his most infernal majesty who wishes to plunge the world in unending darkness as an unlikely hero rises to save his love and the idyllic world as well. Doesn't sound that far off from the most quintessential of fairy tales and that was without a doubt the goal for Ridley Scott and how the film is presented only pounds that truth to almost the center of the earth. Now production wise it is a visual feast of the most epic proportions, the sets are absurdly big and very involved with so much set dressing and props it would make the most die hard theater kids drool, the costuming is rich but not super flashy, the music in my personal opinion is better with the Tangerine Dreams soundtrack instead of the Jerry Goldsmith score though zero offense to Jerry, and I'll say this up front the editing is way WAY better in the european cut than the american cut which seems choppy and disjointed at times. You wouldn't think four minutes would make a tremendous difference between versions but it gives a better pace and rhythm for the scenes. I will fully admit Tim is the highlight of the film and is the biggest drawing factor, which is funny because he's really not that prevalent in the story I'd be surprised if we even get 25 minutes of him on screen but it's all in the presence and the un-fucking-believable prosthetics by Rob Bottin a king of 80s special effects. Like I'm sorry but if my choices were long haired pretty boy Tom Cruise or 7 foot tall, deep voiced, smitten Tim Curry...I guess I'm just gonna be the devil's lapdog and don't save me. I double dare you not to be enthralled by his performance and magnetism! Tim is glorious but we all know that already! Mia Sara as the princess Lily is very lovely, a true pure soul who tries to put things right and she does very very well even if it isn't exactly the deepest role and my God did she get a glow up when she's all evil queen which was wonderful. Tom Cruise, oh boy where do I start? Now do I think he did a terrible job? No. Do I think he was the right fit for the role? Also no! And apparently he was less than thrilled himself with the film and vowed never to do something like this again and stayed true to his word to this day, but hey man it was veryyyy early in his career and the fact he got Top Gun after this cemented his career. It's a decent film and considering fantasy was pretty much box office arsenic in the 80s, and yeah the film is bursting with style and beauty yet kinda lax on plot, but it no doubt has grown a cult following in the four decades since. I was happy to see it, even if it was twice just so I could compare notes and yeah let's just wrap that little tangent up. I would say go european, but man if I was actually smart and knew how to edit I would make my own fan edit with the longer runtime and the Tangerine Dreams soundtrack incorporated with some particular shots and lines kept in from the american cut. I mean I'm sure it might exist somewhere and hey if you find it drop me a line cause I'd be down for it. It's a little bit of a mess but we'll live anyway. I give it 3 stars, 7.5/10, last week was fucking bullshit and we need a win more than possibly ever. In fact this might be the last review until the tail end of the month mainly because I got so so much to bring to you next month in the most wonderful time of the year and well I'll need the time to make it all happen. So be good to yourselves, stay safe, and embrace the night.