A prince and a fellowship of companions set out to rescue his bride from a fortress of alien invaders who have arrived on their home planet.
| Tagline | A world light-years beyond your imagination. |
| Release Date: | Jul 29, 1983 |
| Genres: | Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction |
| Production Company: | Barclays Mercantile Industrial Finance, Columbia Pictures |
| Production Countries: | Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, United States of America |
| Casts: | Ken Marshall, Lysette Anthony, Freddie Jones, Francesca Annis, Alun Armstrong, David Battley, Bernard Bresslaw, Liam Neeson, John Welsh, Graham McGrath, Tony Church |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $27000000 |
| Revenue: | 16916617 |
This was a first-time watch for me so seeing this fantasy film from 1983 directed by Peter Yates with music by James Horner which is kind of funny because the music kind of reminded me of Star Trek just a little bit but I have to say that the beginning battle seems kind of awkward but once the young prince ended up running into his ragtag band of Misfits and outlaws as you journey to save his one true love it was definitely a difference fantasy world where I could see both creature effects as well as some very decent CGI effects when it came to the destruction of each of the creatures every time one was killed it's like lightning shot up through the heads and this alien creature kind of slipped out each time. There were two characters that I recognized one being that of Ergo the Magnificent the man that kept changing into different animals but was kind of a bumbling fool I remember seeing him play the teacher of Charlie in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory The musical that involved Gene Wilder and a young Liam Neeson who we will know as the lead star of the film Taken. This film had a little bit of everything it was a hodgepodge fantasy film that mixed dark magic with that of sorcery and combined a little bit of the mystical. When it came down to the final battle in the palace that was never in the same place twice however there were a couple of scenes that slightly dragged but it all came around full circle and I surprised myself that I have not seen this before. I would say that this is an odd film that is out there in left field and I would definitely recommend it for others who enjoy films of this nature to at least see it once. I relatively enjoyed the film and believe that it is definitely a cult classic. I really hate giving films any kind of a star rating as i find it degrading but this site gives me no choice.
**An expensive film, typically from the 80s, but it aged badly and was forgotten.** I usually like fantasy films, but this film mixes things that seem so different from each other that I don't understand how such a thing was possible: on the one hand, the film shows a threat coming from space in the form of a spaceship, which looks like a black mountain with a big egg on top, and troops that shoot ray guns. On the other hand, it shows us an apparently medieval world, with castles, knights, princes and princesses. Almost as if Darth Vader had decided to invade planet Earth during King Arthur's reign. The cast is quite satisfying, as the actors do what they need to do and make no mistakes, even though the job isn't demanding and there's nothing deep or very challenging here. The dialogues, for example, sound like they were written for a TV movie rather than something that has cinema quality. Despite the film featuring a young Liam Neeson, I barely recognized him. Technically, the film is a very expensive production, and this can be seen from the quality of the sets and effects used. Well, quality doesn't exactly mean good taste, from what I can say that the film's visuals are expensive, elaborate, meticulously designed, but quite "kitsch", and the truth is that the special effects, although they were very good in their time, have aged badly and seem archaic nowadays. Finally, a word for the soundtrack, quite epic and triumphant at certain points.
My father called it one of the cheapest movies he had ever seen.... but when I saw it, I was a little kid, and it looked awesome, not cheap. Now that I'm older and revisiting one of my favorite childhood films, yeah, some of the backgrounds move more than a Monty Python sketch. There is some obvious miniatures. But... who cares, the story is really good. It's an adventure with loyal companions, an evil enemy, and a princess to rescue all in a sword and sandal sort of science fiction plot that tells a pretty good story even if it's a genre of adventure that we have seen over and over again. It's just pure entertainment, and, if you are a kid, it's an epic film that you will love for the rest of your life.
Just as 'Colwyn' (Ken Marshall) and 'Lyssa' (Lynette Anthony) are about to exchange the flame of eternal love, the evil slayers arrive and trash her father's castle and kidnap the princess. Fortunately, he survives thanks to the kindly efforts of 'Ynyr' (Freddie Jones) but now awakened and recovered, he is obsessed with rescuing his damsel in distress. 'Ynyr' thinks that perhaps the emerald seer (John Welsh) could help and so they set off to find him in his remote cave. Along the way they encounter a group of escaped prisoners led by 'Torquil' (Alun Armstrong) whom the new king manages to convince to join the quest in return for their honourable freedom should they succeed. Meantime, in his menacingly skeletal fortress, the alien lord who has stolen 'Lyssa' is offering her unlimited riches and power if she will consent to be his queen. Can she hold out long enough for 'Colwyn' to find her location - a seemingy impossible task, and then hopefully rescue her? Might she be tantalised by the golden robes and golden crown? This is one of my favourite fantasy adventure films and though time hasn't been so very kind to the visual effects, it is still a solid story well led by the engaging Marshall and played out by a cast of largely familiar British faces. It is tinged with a little sentiment now and then, but with the laser armed soldiers chasing them, a changeling wizard and Francesca Annis sparingly dignifying the proceedings as the 'Widow of the Web', this is an enjoyable and unchallenging feature that I recall fondly from my teenage days when films like this were especially thin on the ground.
