Coming off the back of the massive massiveStar Wars hype train was this transatlantic cult, a blend of classic fairytale fantasy and good old fashioned science fiction (kinda unique at the time). I remember seeing this on the telly back in the day (must have been late 80's I guess) and being quite scared by it, I never really saw all of it, just the dark imagery of the Beast and his eerie Ringwraith-esque minions. I even remember seeing the VHS in the old videoshops back in the early days, up on the top shelve with other grown-up looking covers (for the time obviously). Yes even the cover gave me the willies too, but can you blame me, its pretty grotesque and vivid really (and a spoiler).
Anyway the plot is pretty much your standard, Prince saves the Princess from an evil monster type situation, along with wizards, jesters, warriors and young apprentices, completely cliched hokum. The planet Krull is attacked by an evil force know as the Beast, a huge hideous creature that dwells within a giant fortress made of rock that apparently can fly through space. In time the Beast manages to gain control of the planet forcing its inhabitants to live in fear, everyone knows of the creature and its legion of faceless Slayers. Eventually the Beast's Slayers attack one of the main kingdoms of Krull, kill pretty much everyone and kidnaps the Princess in true fairytale style (might as well call him Bowser/King Koopa). Unfortunately for the Beast, the lone Prince Colwyn survives this attack and sets off to save the Princess (his future bride) with the help of a plucky band of warriors.
Now lets get one thing straight here, suspension of disbelief is required throughout this adventure, yes we all know its a hokey 80's fantasy so...duh! But seriously, this ain't no classic George Lucas or Ridley Scott flick here, this is pure cheesy cheese with extra lashings of cheese on top...with cheese. The whole idea of this movie is from the outset, kinda daft, but interesting nonetheless. The planet of Krull is a typical sword n sandals type place where everyone goes around on horseback, uses swords, armour and all manner of ancient weaponry, and there is magic and mythical creatures abound. The alien race that comes down to Krull are your typical armour suited creatures with laser guns and...errr, they also ride on horseback? Actually it makes you wonder really, apparently these aliens have swept across the galaxy conquering worlds easily (apparently), but how? They use horses, they don't seem to have any futuristic vehicles to travel around in, no heavy weaponry, they all walk really really slowly making themselves easy targets, their fortress is a flying lump of rock and their only weapons seems to be sticks that fire one laser bolt. Once that shot has been fired they reverse the stick and it becomes a sword or spear of sorts. How the f*ck did this guys manage to conquer anything??! Surely they might have come across an alien race that could match their powers at some point. Luckily for the Beast and his Slayers they've stumbled across another planet full of lifeforms that only use swords to defend themselves.
As the adventure starts the hilarious plot holes do start emerge, and they are hilarious...but still cool. Colwyn (Ken Marshall) meets up with Ynyr the old one, an old Obi-Wan Kenobi type clearly. Now this guys knows everything, absolutely everything about anything, handy at the best of times. He knows exactly what can defeat the Beast (the Glaive) and where to find it which makes you wonder why he hasn't gone and got it for someone to use. Nonetheless they both trot off to get this legendary weapon which happens to be inside a massive mountain. So Ynyr points Colwyn in the right direction and waits patiently for his return. This whole sequence is really amusing, simply because the journey that Colwyn undertakes to retrieve the Glaive is arduous and long, really long! The guy must rock climb up sheer cliffs for flips sake! numerous times it seems, then he must stick his hand into molten lava (so it seems) to get the Glaive (which he finds quite easily and very quickly once inside a huge cavern). Now all this would surely take most of the day, if not days! yet he manages it within the afternoon and without getting even remotely tired apparently, because the minute he gets back they journey onwards to their next destination! I understand they need to get the plot going but Holy smouldering balls of fire! that's ridiculous!
The bulk of the story sees Colwyn firstly recruiting his band of warriors across various places. He picks up a small band of criminals that look like ugly rejects from the Mad Max universe, with even more stupid names. Its like watching Robin Hood and his unwashed band of merry men, each having their own set of skills naturally, knives, nets, battle axe etc...These cannon fodder characters are mostly faceless accept for the noticeable inclusion of a young Robbie Coltrane sporting an unusually modern haircut for a fantasy film. A young Liam '60+ action man' Neeson who should have easily played the character of Little John looking as he does, very young Grange Hill and Eastenders star Todd Carty, and sort of young epic British character actor Alun Armstrong (with hair and dodgy dog collar). Other team members include the Carry-On legend Bernard Bresslaw sporting some quite brilliant makeup and prosthetics as Rell the Cyclops, David Battley as the clownish Ergo the (not quite so) magnificent, John Welsh as The Emerald Seer...another powerful wizard type, and Graham McGrath as the young apprentice Titch who does nothing accept get in trouble.
As the band of heroes travel to various places to gather various bits of information from various people so they can catch the Black Fortress (it moves at sunrise), we go through a series of set pieces and plot exposition scenarios in different hostile/pleasant landscapes. The main one is a nice, visually pleasing, battle within a barren swampland where it amazes me how these Slayers manage to overcome any adversary frankly. There is the typical campfire setting, an icy snow setting (fortress only), rocky mountainous terrain, lush green valleys and the really cool widow of the web sequence (the full gamut of stereotypical alien terrains). Again this entire spider web premise makes no sense at all and to this day I still don't really get what's going on. Ynyr used to be in love with this woman who, for some reason, killed their only child and as punishment has been placed within this giant spiders web...by someone. The giant spider is somehow controlled by her with an hourglass of sand? or it protects her? or keeps her prisoner? no idea how she survives, what does she eat or drink etc...She seems to be popular because many try to reach her but none ever manage it, either eaten by the spider or falling to their death (the web is over a huge chasm), I'm just not sure what she has or knows that is so important.
Anyway somehow she knows where the Black Fortress will go next, so she gives her lifeforce to Ynyr (the sand from the hourglass) so he can escape the spider, but when the sand runs out he will die? why exactly? This means the spider can now happily attack, destroy and kill the widow and her delicate web abode...but I'm not really sure why, or what would happen next with the spider. Does it wait for someone else to get trapped by persons unknown in its lair? beats the shit outta me. Despite the bizarre story behind this weird-ass sequence, the effects here are some of the best in the movie. The whole spider web set is really well designed and created, it actually looks quite real, where as the spider is truly fantastic in stop motion form. If you think along the lines of classic Ray Harryhausen, only better, then you have your vision. Sure it looks a tiny bit plastic but that's probably down to the deliberate transparent look of the creature (which I love!). But its the arachnids movements, sound effects and the top notch blending of live action, matte painting and stop motion model work, that overall create this truly spine-tingling atmosphere. It just makes me wonder why some of the other movie effects couldn't look as good.
The finale is a huge bluescreen affair that really does show its age I'm afraid, some quite hideous effects. First a rather embarrassing bluescreen ridden sequence where the remaining heroes travel on fire mares (think horses like Pegasus, but really fast and no wings) to the Black Fortress. The interior of the Black Fortress is very imaginative and surreal with a nice blend of models, sets, matte paintings and bluescreen, of course the sets are easy to spot. Then we have the main monster (Beast), simply a bloke in a big rubber suit which we don't really see too much of, hidden by smoke and shadow. It is well made and has quite scary facial features but you can't help but feel it just looks like something out of Dr Who. Pretty much the same with the Slayers, men in rubber suits that also look a bit Dr Who-ish. To add to that, the Beast doesn't really do anything, he shoots out large white balls of power from his mouth with truly awful effects but that's it. Colwyn counters that against another dreadful bluescreen effect with the Glaive which, lets be honest, is merely a ninja throwing star that acts like some kind of boomerang. So in the end Colwyn merely stabs the Beast to death, oh and then he burns it alive with his fire shooting powers that he gains with Princess Lyssa, for some reason.
I've taken the piss here a lot, a lot, but that doesn't necessarily mean I don't like this movie. As I already explained, you know exactly what to expect with this movie, you knew back in the day, and to that degree it does its job well as a light-hearted, dark, space fable of sorts. Yes there are lots of plot holes and ludicrous moments that make no sense, like what exactly are the Slayers? when they die a big slimy bug thing comes out of their heads, why does that bug thing then burrow straight into the ground? Where do these Slayers and the Beast come from? why are they trying to take over the galaxy? what did the Beast want or need with this particular Princess? was she more special than other lifeforms from other planets or did he just fancy her? What's with the big rock fortress? etc...The movie is a product of its time and shouldn't be taken apart, even though that's exactly what I've done...but! I still enjoy the movie for what it is. For me the film falls into the same type of category as some of the lesser Harryhausen movies like the Sinbad trilogy, although not quite as good. Its very much a guilty pleasure with some great moments and some awful moments, but on the plus side, an epic never again cast line up, a rousing rip-roaring score and overall a good calibre of imagination.
7/10
Last edited by Spirit Zero; 02-06-2016 at 03:47 AM.
TBH, it was one of my favourite fantasy movies growing up. I still have a lot of time for it now, and picked up the BD as soon as it was available (region locked but the top menu trick works).
There are plenty of movies from around that time that haven't really aged that well, and my enthusiasm for them has waned, but Krull, still gets away with it.
Decent cast, decent VFX and makeup etc (for the time), decent soundtrack from memory too. All in all, when I rewatched it last year, it was still a fairly enjoyable fantasy romp.
I was obsessed with this movie back in 1983, and I even owned the novelization and the comic book adaptation.
I happily snatched up the Blu-ray as soon as it was available, because I love revisiting it quite often.
I mean, I know that it's not The Godfather or Citizen Kane, but this movie still rocks my face.
Lysette Anthony is beyond gorgeous. The Beast is an insanely cool villain. Liam Neeson is a great in an early role. Francesca Annis is great as the Widow of the Web, and the spider is fun to watch. The fire horses are a trip. The lair of the Beast, which transports itself to a different location daily, is a fascinating concept. The scenery is excellent. Finally, the Glaive is a terrific weapon.
I just adore the movie, outright. it's an amazing adventure, with intricate and at times organic set designs, the universe is well realized. JAMES HORNER really shines.
Been watching Star Trek DS9 and its been cool to see Kenneth Marshall as Micheal Eddington.
I also was obsessed with this film back in 1983 and still love it! I could give a rat's ass what anybody else thinks of it or any film because I go by my own thoughts. It has a good soundtrack, also a very good storyline, a good cast, Liam neeson and Robbie coletrane in one of their early roles and are incredible actors. Lysette Anthony was very good in this! The scenery is beautiful and especially when they are capturing the firemares! The ending where the surviving group is sitting on the ground was nice as well! Awesome film as it's one of my favorites!! I own the bluray and the DVD for special features!! I revisit this a lot along with others!!
I didn't see this until I was in my 20s. I could dig the mix of sci-fi and fantasy. Story's full of interesting twists. Special effects are interesting for the time.
But, it is a bit cheesy and a little fake-looking. I think the plotting could be improved a lot (I mean, they give the guy the most important tool at the very beginning, then the rest is just bad run-ins with weird monsters until they finally reach the tower - this could all be much more intense if the whole movie centered around finding the glaive, imo).
I would be very intrigued to see how this movie would turn out if remade with modern effects and production values. I know it might sound like blasphemy to suggest such a thing - I'm just interested at the thought of it.
There's nothing guilty about the pleasures I get from Krull. This movie rules. An excellent piece of fantasy cinema.
Some of the criticisms or "wtf's" from the op don't hold water imo. The slayers remind me a lot of the 70's cylons. They are slow-moving hulking figures whose looks are self-explanatory and sufficiently intimidating. This criticism that a weapon w/ one shot then used as a sword makes me wonder if the op also thinks an old rifle w/ limited bullets that can serve as a combat weapon with a bayonet is also essentially useless? Criticising the beast because he doesn't do much is akin to criticising sauron as a useless eye on top of a tower.
I love Krull and I didn't watch it until I was in my 20's. It captures that authentic fantasy atmosphere. With mostly great practical effects paired with a good cast and an awesome score, it comes together really nicely. As others have mentioned the sci-fi elements add something a little extra special to the film.
Granted the op did rate it a 7, which I think is fair. I give it a high 8 or maybe even a 9. I absolutely adore this film.
There's nothing guilty about the pleasures I get from Krull. This movie rules. An excellent piece of fantasy cinema.
Some of the criticisms or "wtf's" from the op don't hold water imo. The slayers remind me a lot of the 70's cylons. They are slow-moving hulking figures whose looks are self-explanatory and sufficiently intimidating. This criticism that a weapon w/ one shot then used as a sword makes me wonder if the op also thinks an old rifle w/ limited bullets that can serve as a combat weapon with a bayonet is also essentially useless? Criticising the beast because he doesn't do much is akin to criticising sauron as a useless eye on top of a tower.
I love Krull and I didn't watch it until I was in my 20's. It captures that authentic fantasy atmosphere. With mostly great practical effects paired with a good cast and an awesome score, it comes together really nicely. As others have mentioned the sci-fi elements add something a little extra special to the film.
Granted the op did rate it a 7, which I think is fair. I give it a high 8 or maybe even a 9. I absolutely adore this film.
Hello, I'm the...op?
The Slayers come from a distant world we are led to believe, they travel across the galaxy (galaxies?) with their leader, the Beast. I think its right to assume these creatures have high intelligence, have mastered technology and architecture/construction and have some form of supernatural/magical powers etc...
So with all that, I just found it funny that their prime weapon seems to be a stick that seems to fire one laser bolt, and that's it, then it becomes a sword. You'd think they would have laser guns or at least some other forms of weaponry. But I'm just picking because that's what I do generally and as I said in the review, I enjoy the movie a lot. But its fun to delve deeper and really question some things (like how is the Black Fortress powered? hehe)
Just re-watched Krull for the first time in years. I first saw this film in the 200X's (on the regular DVD), and feel this is a great '80's sci-fi/fantasy flick.
It's sometimes difficult to combine the sci-fi & fantasy genres, but I feel Krull pulled this off well. I liked how the Slayers initially used laser guns, but then when they were fighting in close quarters, they instead used swords.
Also, visually it was interesting how the Slayers were in black armor while outside the fortress, then when they were in the fortress the armor was white.
The Beast was a horrific monster, and it was disorienting trying to figure out how large the character was (he was primarily seen in the shadows, a distance from the other characters).
And, despite the fact that the Slayers & the Beast were "aliens" from another galaxy/planet, they appeared more like fantasy "monsters" than sci-fi aliens, which I'm sure was intentional.
Last edited by AnamorphicWidescreen; 06-25-2016 at 01:39 PM.
There's nothing guilty about the pleasures I get from Krull. This movie rules. An excellent piece of fantasy cinema.
Some of the criticisms or "wtf's" from the op don't hold water imo. The slayers remind me a lot of the 70's cylons. They are slow-moving hulking figures whose looks are self-explanatory and sufficiently intimidating. This criticism that a weapon w/ one shot then used as a sword makes me wonder if the op also thinks an old rifle w/ limited bullets that can serve as a combat weapon with a bayonet is also essentially useless? Criticising the beast because he doesn't do much is akin to criticising sauron as a useless eye on top of a tower.
I love Krull and I didn't watch it until I was in my 20's. It captures that authentic fantasy atmosphere. With mostly great practical effects paired with a good cast and an awesome score, it comes together really nicely. As others have mentioned the sci-fi elements add something a little extra special to the film.
Granted the op did rate it a 7, which I think is fair. I give it a high 8 or maybe even a 9. I absolutely adore this film.
Spot on. KRULL RULZ. Super excited for the upcoming 4K, even though it really deserves a deluxe boutique label box set.
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Krull (UK/US, 1983): A Retrospect
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