Pretty Good

Crappy film

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Legend was Ridley Scott's follow up to his most personal film Blade Runner. And it was the start of his "average" phase. Legend is a decent film- it looks astonishing Ill give it that. But the story is basic and Tom Cruise is simply adequate. Tim Curry as the bad guy actually completely steals the show but overall this is just an okay film filled with pretty visuals. If you want to watch a fantasy there are other better films. Unless you're a fan of Ridley Scott or Tom Cruise I think you can safely avoid this.

Old school fairy tale, with princess, elves, fairies, dwarfs, unicorns, goblins and, of course, prince of darkness. I'm not one of those who think that fairy tales are for children only, moreover I like them very much. But this one is really just for kids. It's beautifully done, with, for its time, stunning visuals, nice soundtrack and good acting (as good as possible considering Tom Cruise in leading role), but, targeting mainly children, story is too linear and predictable and whole movie is too restrained for my taste. The strongest impression on me left makeup of fairy tale creatures, especially Tim Curry as Darkness. For these masks, this movie deserved the Oscar, not only the nomination.7/10

Legend (1985) Starring: Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, David Bennent, Alice Playten, Billy Barty, Cork Hubbert, Peter O'Farrell, Kiran Shah, Annabelle Lanyon, Robert Picardo, Tina Martin, Ian Longmur, Mike Crane, Liz Gilbert, Eddie Powell, and Mike Edmonds Directed By: Ridley Scott Review (Directors Cut) THERE MAY NEVER BE ANOTHER DAWN ADVENTURE HAS GOT YOUR BACK After his success with Alien and Blade Runner Ridley Scott wanted to do a fairy tale movie. Ridley Scott hired writer William Hjortsberg, being a fan of his work. Ridley Scott credit aside from direction was that he mostly wanted there to be a unicorn and for the villain to be named Darkness. Legend revolves around Jack who must stop Darkness, for darkness plans to kill the second unicorn so that he may come out of his dungeon. Princess Lily was shown the unicorns by Jack, she touched one and has unwittingly led the unicorn to its death due to her innocence. She is kidnapped with the second unicorn, now her friend Jack with the help of Gump and screwball must save the unicorn and her or the land may plunge into an eternal darkness. They shot this film in a 007 stage in pinewood studios so they could achieve the lighting for Scott's vision, the trees are mostly made out of plastoid Styrofoam and the set was extended with mirrors. The direction and production are what help make this movie give it that enchanting fairy-tale feel. Ridley even brought the fairy-tale genre back to its roots with this film in the beginning when we meet Jack and Lilly the lighting which he wanted shows the child-like innocence within most fairy-tales you see in Disney films but as the film progresses it shows off its dark and Grimm aesthetics. Assheton Gordon's (production designer) set also had real tress and birds, with the noise inside it made it so difficult to record the dialogue and so some of the lines had to be dubbed which can be off putting for some people but it didn't bother me because when it is quite noticeable in the scene in which Lily is crying her facial expression says it all. But it did not work in Tom's favor when he was with the wounded unicorn. Mia Sara and Tim Curry as Princess Lily and Darkness are my two favorite actors/characters in the film. At one point the stage caught fire and the 007 stage burnt down. Luckily it was rebuilt in 1985. The story is very simple and is full of action, adventure, horror, romance and suspense. The movie mostly focuses on Jack, Lily, and Darkness as you can imagine by my synopsis. There are four cuts to this film, this is the only I have or ever will see. Because it doesn't contain the tangerine dream musical score and Darkness is hidden throughout most of the movie making his reveal that much more of a surprise. Rob Bottin who worked on the Thing 1982 had the difficult task of visualizing all the creatures in the world of Legend. Ridley wanted the character of Darkness to be sexy but also half goat, Rob felt there hadn't been a definitive version of the devil on screen and he clearly succeed with his creation. this is my favorite of his work. If anything because of how intimidating Tim was behind all that makeup. The music of the film is quite lovely and creates a transcendent and child-like feel for the film. Jerry Goldsmith's that is, I did not hear the tangerine dream music. But if there is one piece of music from the theatrical cut of this film that I did listen to its Bryan Ferry's "Is Your Love Strong Enough". I saw it on the back of the cover under bonus features and was curious by the song title and Gave it a listen. I love that song, it may be, no it is my favorite love song. Legend in my eyes is a masterpiece, while I may agree it has weakness's the film is a deeply entrancing experience that make up for what I consider to be the ultimate fantasy film. I know for a fact that this is a film I will be re-visiting very often and I do recommend you give it a watch (both versions) but decide which version is your favorite. I'm giving Legend a 10 out of 10.

"Legend" plays out like the movie a bunch of guys would get together and make under the influence of serious hallucinogenic drugs, and who knows, maybe that was the case? In many ways it's a rather bad movie. It's not good at all in telling a narrative -- the editing is confusing and disjointed, Ridley Scott's direction is awkward and clunky.But on the other hand, the visual look of "Legend" is stunning, and it's worth watching for that alone. It's clear that Scott had a distinct tone and vision in mind when making the movie, and that comes through strongly despite the weakness of the film making in other regards. I found myself fascinated by the film and could easily overlook its flaws.The film received a much deserved Oscar nomination for Best Makeup but lost the award to "The Fly." Tough category that year.Grade: B+