Legend (Ultimate Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Legend (Ultimate Edition)
Movie Review: See the director's cut first
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, sometimes it has its advantages to live in Europe. For instance when movie makers are bold enough to show their movies with a more artistic and less commercial approach. This was the case with movies like Army of Darkness or Legend. Being European I highly recommend the original cut with Jerry Goldsmith's fabulous score. Then again I guess it's all a question of personal taste. I saw the original cut first and fell in love with it, others may feel the same way about the U.S. version. So here's the good thing about this DVD - now you can own both versions and watch the one you personally prefer. If you have never seen this film before try the director's cut first. Its longer and the characters are better set.The feature commentary by Ridley Scott answers some but by far not all questions you may have about the movie. So I'm still not absolutely certain if the director's cut is exactly the film version I saw 17 years ago. On the other hand there is a nice documentary on the DVD that features some very interesting interviews with the cast and crew - including the Master Tim Curry. Also you learn a lot about how they achieved some of the stunnig art work and overall dazzling look of the picture. This alone would be worth the price for the Ultimate Edition.
Still. One wonders what another director like Terry Gilliam would have done with this material. Or what would have happened if they'd done the movie with todays technology. Or if they didn't have to cut down on the script for reasons of money and time.
Anyway, if you are looking for a visual jawdropper: buy this DVD.
Movie Review: One of the best Fantasy films ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
May I suggest that 'surround sound' is turned off???As all the other reviewers seem to be concentrating on the presentation and not the content of the film, here's my twopence worth.
Definitely not a kid's film, this is a dark, sensual adult film of the age-old theme of the devil wanting darkness to take over the world - requiring the services of a virgin and a unicorn. The visual effects and photography are just brilliant, given the era this was made in - you can see Ridley Scott's influence and imagery in the latest Lord of the Rings films.
The acting is superb;
young Tom Cruise (as Jack) brings off the young lad charged with the task of rescuing the Princess and destroying Darkness with a grace and style that belong to a veteran;
Tim Curry is in his best-ever role here, (even better than Frankenfurter!); the stifled undercurrent of rage is barely held in check as he woos the slightly-willing princess; one is almost convinced by him as he declares his philosophy and aims - "No Good without Evil; no Love without Hate; no Innocence without Lust..." in that rich chocolatey voice; and his laughter and dismissive tone as 'the BOYY!' Jack confronts him sends shivers down one's spine;
and Mia Sara (whatever happened to her?) is both innocence and seduction, and believable in both roles, but her forceful rejection of the Lord of Darkness is as powerful a piece of acting as you will ever get.
Altogether a classic of film-making - seeing it again after several years makes one realise what a masterpiece this is!
Unreservedly recommended. *****
Movie Review: Great DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all: I am from Europe and we can't get the Legend: Ultimate Edition anywhere here.
After hopelessly trying to find it in any story, I bought it from amazon us and I am VERY happy, I did. The DVD is very good. It comes with the Director's Cut of Legend, which in my opinion is really excellent, because it shows the movie as it was intented. Lots of new scenes, for example Jack killing Meg Mucklebone nad having trouble with his sword at first. This really shows Jack as just becoming the hero, not already being it.
I never got to watch the US version of Legend, but on this DVD it was included, so I gave it a shot. I find this version a little strange and the Tangerine Dreams soundtrack does not add the athmosphere necessary for that movie, but it was interesting to see what movie the US audience saw in theatres. (Darkness with green glowing eyes and nails is VERY weird :)
The bonus content is satisfying. The making of ranges from Tim Currys problems with his costume to Mia Saras problems with the director, it all was interesting (although it would have been nice to hear some comments of Tom Cruise to this movie). The audio commentary from Ridley Scott is ok, but not too great.
The only letdown with this DVD is its cover. One DVD does not fit tightely into the box and keeps coming loose. And once the box is open, it can not be closed again properly.
But despite those box-problems I would recommend this DVD to anyone who likes the movie and especially to anyone who would love to have both: US an European version.
Movie Review: Fire, fire, burning higher!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
In 1985, I saw Legend and thought that it was beautiful. The main tale followed the innocence (or perhaps the word "ignorance" might be a better selection) of two humans as they screwed up the world by meddling with good personified (unicorns). O those pesky humans.
It was a beautiful outing, too. The prosthetic effects were done really well and, as far as a fairytale goes, Ridley Scott put on a damn fine tale. That was the beautiful of Scott back then; he could put together a story and hire the right teams to make a movie wayyy beyond its time. Good thing, too, because old movies do not always age gracefully.
Watching Legend again some 20 + years later, I noticed that some of the effects had aged but that the story was still intact. The minor characters were also a bit more entertaining than I recalled, nobody really died in the movie (the "sea hag" only took a sword and sort of swirled into the water and the "dinner" being chopped up didn't actually die on screen), and that there were buckets of glitter kicking it in the forest. Still, it wasn't the reminder of childhood that made me happy BUT the fact that it was still a great watch.
O that Tim Roth - what a sexy beast.
If you haven't seen the movie for some odd reason, it is a good watch and one that is cheap to obtain. It does have some places where it shows its age, but it is a fairytale and doesn't really use anything that can seem too outdated when watch.
And that Lord of Darkness and his little rhyming goblin - they make for a good watch on their own.
Movie Review: A Film Classic - Sort Of...
Summary: 5 Stars
Legend is a Film Classic - sort of. I wholly disagree with the Ridley Scott that the Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack is the better of the two. The Tangerine Dream soundtrack is so much more in-tune with the events on the screen that it makes one wonder if Goldsmith had even seen the movie when he wrote his version. Goldsmith's music is very fine music, no doubt, but the Tangerine Dream music is eerie and otherworldly which is exactly what this movie needs.The longer director's cut is sometimes painful to watch, but again, I think it goes back to the soundtrack. If they had re-edited the Tangerine Dream soundtrack to match the original edit of the film it may have worked perfectly. As it is, the shorter version, the U.S. release, is the film classic and the longer version is the curiosity. I'm glad I had the chance to see the original version, but after one viewing, it's the Tangerine Dream version that I'll be watching over and over.
The extra's in this DVD are interesting, but not special. I found it interesting that although Tom Cruise is the `star' of this movie, he wasn't even mentioned once in the making-of documentary.
Tim Curry gives the best, most powerful, and most memorable performance in this movie. This DVD is worth it if only for Mia Sara's dance and transformation and Tim Curry as Darkness stepping through the mirror with the ethereal Tangerine Dream masterwork weaving it all together making us all gasp with beauty and terror of it all. A true classic movie moment in a classic movie.