Willow (1988) -
Although Willow himself, played by Warwick Davis, was quite annoying the film as a whole was fantastic fun to watch. In fairness he was very young, perhaps not really old enough to even be the father character that he played, regardless of that I'm not sure that I could imagine anyone else in the role.
The film also had my favourite Val Kilmer performance in his role of Madmartigan. He was really quite sexy and very funny. I certainly wouldn't have minded lying down in the grass with him, but I'm also sure that it would take magic dust for him to fall in love with me. Not only was he great at delivering his comedy moments and hunky topless shots, but his character was brilliantly cool and fierce too.
Having rescued a prophesied baby from the river, Willow embarked on a journey to return her to her own people, which was a dangerous path full of rogues, cruelty, magic and critters, akin perhaps to Dorothy's wander along the Yellow Brick Road* and many other stories. It was done in such an exciting way, with a great build up to a superb climax that made it easily accessible for the whole family to sit down and watch together, having something for everyone.
I was actually surprised that the story wasn't based on a novel, because it was so well constructed and full of detail and I felt that this should be the blueprint for all fantasy films, because I even put my phone down for most of it.
The sets were very good and some of the locations were beautiful. It was obvious that George Lucas and Ron Howard had put thought in to this film and not scrimped too much on its budget. A fantasy equivalent of George's 'Star Wars' (1977) with its epic trip centering on a group of interesting and mixed personalities, it didn't quite score as highly as the sci-fi classic, maybe because of its more lighterhearted side, but it's pretty close.
The only negative I could find was that it was a bit of a stretch to believe that Bavmorda's (Jean Marsh) ritual took so many frigging hours to perform, giving the good guys plenty of time to counter an offensive, but that could easily be forgiven.
Since seeing this film for the first time I have spent my life saying "Willow" with the vibrations of a Goat's bleating any time I hear the word mentioned, regardless of the the context, so I suppose you could say that it had an impact on me.
With a similar appeal to that of 'Flash Gordon' (1980), it was and still is great fun for all the family, but maybe not the really young ones, unless they're in to monsters and Pat Roach (Kael) being a big, scary bad guy again. I look forward to watching the recent series.
900.55/1000.
*The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
Although Willow himself, played by Warwick Davis, was quite annoying the film as a whole was fantastic fun to watch. In fairness he was very young, perhaps not really old enough to even be the father character that he played, regardless of that I'm not sure that I could imagine anyone else in the role.
The film also had my favourite Val Kilmer performance in his role of Madmartigan. He was really quite sexy and very funny. I certainly wouldn't have minded lying down in the grass with him, but I'm also sure that it would take magic dust for him to fall in love with me. Not only was he great at delivering his comedy moments and hunky topless shots, but his character was brilliantly cool and fierce too.
Having rescued a prophesied baby from the river, Willow embarked on a journey to return her to her own people, which was a dangerous path full of rogues, cruelty, magic and critters, akin perhaps to Dorothy's wander along the Yellow Brick Road* and many other stories. It was done in such an exciting way, with a great build up to a superb climax that made it easily accessible for the whole family to sit down and watch together, having something for everyone.
I was actually surprised that the story wasn't based on a novel, because it was so well constructed and full of detail and I felt that this should be the blueprint for all fantasy films, because I even put my phone down for most of it.
The sets were very good and some of the locations were beautiful. It was obvious that George Lucas and Ron Howard had put thought in to this film and not scrimped too much on its budget. A fantasy equivalent of George's 'Star Wars' (1977) with its epic trip centering on a group of interesting and mixed personalities, it didn't quite score as highly as the sci-fi classic, maybe because of its more lighterhearted side, but it's pretty close.
The only negative I could find was that it was a bit of a stretch to believe that Bavmorda's (Jean Marsh) ritual took so many frigging hours to perform, giving the good guys plenty of time to counter an offensive, but that could easily be forgiven.
Since seeing this film for the first time I have spent my life saying "Willow" with the vibrations of a Goat's bleating any time I hear the word mentioned, regardless of the the context, so I suppose you could say that it had an impact on me.
With a similar appeal to that of 'Flash Gordon' (1980), it was and still is great fun for all the family, but maybe not the really young ones, unless they're in to monsters and Pat Roach (Kael) being a big, scary bad guy again. I look forward to watching the recent series.
900.55/1000.
*The Wizard Of Oz (1939)