Krull (movie review)

• Title: Krull
• Year: 1983
• Rating: PG
• Director: Peter Yates
• Cast: Ken Marshall, Lysette Anthony, Freddie Jones, Alun Armstrong, Liam Neeson, Francesca Annis, Robbie Coltrane

Newly-minted King Colwyn must rescue his Princess from an evil invader that threatens to destroy his planet in this dark fantasy with scifi trappings. With the aid of a band of rogues, a cyclops, a wizard, and an ancient weapon called the glaive, he battles the Beast’s army of Slayers to win through to the Black Fortress.

Rewind . . .

. . . and eight-year old me is sitting in the movie theater, next to Mom, getting my tiny mind rocked by a movie replete with dark alien invaders, flying horses, giant spiders, sparking swords, changelings, quicksand, cyclopes, wall-spikes, British accents, and a giant creep called the Beast. It was pretty much all of my favorite things in one place, at a time when a straight-faced handling of certain cheese-ball fantasy tropes was just my mental speed. Watching Krull now, I realize how innocent I was to enjoy it as much as I did back then — which almost lets me recapture that feeling, however briefly.

Krull is an earnest tale of hero-questing, damsel-rescuing, and evil-slaying, with a certain distinctive dark edge to it that elevated it above some of the other fantasy films to explode onto the screen in the 1980s. The effects are passable, the writing uneven, but the vision led to some original and appealing material. There’s the fatalistic cyclops that knows the hour of his own death, and the scatter-brained hedge wizard, Ergo the Magnificent (“short in stature, tall of power, wide of purpose, and narrow of vision”) who tends to accidentally turn himself into various animals. Emir the wise-man may be Obi Wan by a different name, and Colwyn, the heroic lead, might seem a bit sissy, but they fill the space they are supposed to — they get the job done. Replacing the usual Knights in Shining Armor with a company of rogues in shackles and spiked collars (notice a young Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane) was another great, distinctive touch.

I think what ultimately appealed to me as a kid were the tragic elements of Krull. Here was a fantasy where characters you liked actually died — and not just the wise man who pretty much has to at the the of the third act — and the tone of heroism and self-sacrifice is an essential one when telling a story that aims to resonate on the level of myth. Here was something a bit different from some of the ‘safe’ movies I watched growing up, something with a dark overtone.

Of course, the other thing that really appealed to me was the glaive. Imagine a throwing weapon shaped like a metal starfish with steak knives sticking out of it and you have a rude approximation. I’m sure the glaive was a direct cause of many wall dings and busted lamps in my house as a kid. Never mind that the glaive never actually did a whole lot in the film, or that if the hero had used it sooner he might have saved some lives.

Fast Forward . . .

. . . to an era when nobody makes a fantasy film based on an original screenplay, but only on an existing property. Best selling books and video games, and series that everybody has at least heard of, are the requirements for shelling out tens — if not hundreds — of millions of dollars on a scifi or fantasy film in today’s world. For whatever flaws of cheesyness or heavy-handed use of tropes on display in Krull, one tremendous point in its favor is that it was original. Yes, many of the elements are completely derivative, but many are also distinctive and inventive and unique to this film. In a time when films not yet a decade old are being remade, or every movie seemingly has to be based on something that will give it a marketing hook, a movie like Krull is much less likely to happen.

Some people might think that’s a good thing.

But I say not. When I think of all the many types and styles of genre film I was exposed to as a kid, and compare that to today’s franchise world of mega-series and their offshoots, I have to think myself pretty lucky indeed. All those different worlds, all those ideas, all those voices, made for an imaginary landscape just a bit more unexpected and richer than today’s. Sure, today the effects are better, and even much of the story-telling techniques, and — perhaps biggest of all — fantasy and scifi films don’t feel the need to dumb down or apologize as they once did. But there is a lot of sameness in the movie world, too, and rough little gems like Krull don’t come along any more.

Watching it now I see plenty of flaws but I don’t much care — pointing them out would feel like bringing a pin to a kid’s birthday party just to pop all his balloons. I do think the ‘scifi’ trappings — no doubt tacked on as a sop to the tremendous popularity of Star Wars — are completely unnecessary, and some of the movie’s more ‘tropeic’ plot elements could have done with a bit more adult supervision. But the set design was great, especially the swamp and the Black Fortress interior, which had an eerie organic quality. The triumphalist musical score by James Horner deserves special mention for really holding the movie together, and buoying some of the more maudlin moments with the gravitas of horns and strings.

• Nostalgia Rating: Galaxy-Spanning
• Rewatch Potential: Low — frequent viewings would erode its charm.
• Wilhelm Scream?: No (but close — which only proves you don’t need Wilhelm every time someone falls off a bridge into a bottomless cavern)
• Verdict: Great if you are eight years old, or first saw it at that age. For everybody else it can be a fun romp if you are prepared to excuse its many flaws.

What I Learned: That love is a flamethrower, and that ‘guzbree’ is actually British-person talk for ‘gooseberry.’

Top Marks: The Slayers. In a time when Stormtroopers couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn these guys did seem to occasionally find the mark with their spear-cum-shooty sticks. From their weird and angular spiky armor, to their wall-climbing and water-breathing, they actually felt like bad news when they showed up. Coolest of all was how they died — crack open their dome-like heads and a screaming alien parasite shot out and burrowed into the ground. Sweet.

If (When) It’s Remade: The lead will be less of a wuss, the Princess will demonstrate some mandatory spunkiness in her scenes with the Beast, and the CGI effects will roll like fine wine on the tongue — or grape juice, made from concentrate. Krull probably actually has a shot at being a better film the second time around, but I bet it would also be one with less of an innocent approach to heroism and self-sacrifice which gives it some of its appeal.

Final Thoughts: So, Colwyn and Lyssa rule an entire planet with medieval technology? And their kid will rule . . . the entire flipping galaxy? I guess the Thundermares can achieve escape velocity.

More Reviews of Krull

This review is part of an ongoing series entitled Movies of a Misspent Youth, that looks at all the great fantasy, science fiction, and horror films available to the generation of kids growing up in the boom years of the 1980s. For more in this series, please visit my Film & TV page.