Monday, June 04, 2007

If you thought ninja throwing stars were cool: "Krull"

That's right, kids. One of the B-movies often referenced in this piddly little blog finally gets its own post. Imagine my good fortune when I saw one of the HD channels throwing this masterpiece out there for a week or so. True, it wasn't packaged as a double feature with "Flash Gordon." But you take your victories where you can get them.

Released in 1983 -- good lord, is that 24 years ago? -- "Krull" wasn't the coolest movie I saw as a kid, and probably didn't even make the top 10. Still, when there's the promise of a five-pointed, razor-tipped throwing thingamajig, how can you not be captivated?

Our story has a bunch of aliens -- sent from a fortress that landed from outer space -- invading the world of Krull. Yes, hence the title, and maybe the winner for the most obscure reason for why a movie has its name. Really, the word "Krull" is mentioned in the opening narration, then we never, ever think of it again. But if they had named this movie "The Glave" -- after the throwing thing -- or "Colwyn vs. the Beast," it's not like the box office would have been better. (It sucked, by the way.)

The aliens take Princess Lyssa just as she's getting married to Prince Colwyn, who gets hurt but lives to become king after everyone else is killed. With the help of an old guy, the razor thingy, a bunch of bandits, a cyclops, an inept magician, a seer, a woman who lives with a giant spider and some horses who can fly, Colwyn sets out to rescue his damsel in distress from the aliens and their Beast king, who has magical powers of his own.

Yes, yes ... it's all rather silly. But amazingly, this odyssey really isn't as bad as I expected it would be now that I'm, in theory, an adult. Maybe it's all the Brits to give it an air of sophistication. Nah ... that didn't work for "Clash of the Titans," which really suffers with age. I think it's because the movie just keeps moving and moving, and even if the special effects aren't anything great, at least stuff is always happening. I really had forgotten all the trials that Col and the Gang went through to make it to the Beast's fortress.

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Before They Were Famous guys in the cast. There's Robbie Coltrane as one of the bandits. Better yet, there's Liam Neeson -- excuse me, Oscar-nominated Liam Neeson -- as another one of the bandits. And you thought he was trying to forget "Darkman."

In the end, I must confess that I still like "Krull." Sure, the whole promise of this razor-star flying around is largely unkept; we wait until almost the end for Colwyn to use it, and even then, it's not a big deal. And like I said, the special effects ... kind of cheesy. But this isn't bad sword-and-sorcery fare, with some goofy Brits thrown in for good measure. It's no "Flash Gordon," true, but it gets me by.

2 Comments:

At 11:57 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nobody can forget "Darkman."

 
At 2:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow! A Krull movie review that features references to Flash Gordon and Clash of the Titans. The only thing missing was a Dune reference for a clean sweep a terrible, yet truly enjoyable 80s sci-fi/fantasy flicks.

I love this movie. The glaive, the cyclops, the Widow of the Web, the flying horses, the goofy magician for comic relief, the awful special effects, the terrigle acting. Just a great, great Saturday afternoon movie.

 

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