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KRULL
Review by Gordon Justesen
Stars: Ken Marshall, Lysette Anthony, Freddie Jones,
Francesca Annis, Liam Neeson
Director: Peter Yates
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround, French, Spanish, Portuguese Dolby
Surround
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Studio: Columbia Tri Star
Features: See Review
Length: 121 Minutes
Release Date: April 3, 2001
Film ***
I can still remember the countless time I visited the local
arcade, back when Atari was the reigning champion of the video game industry.
One of the most popular games at the time was Krull, which of course was
based on the movie of the same name. The film itself is a marvelous and
entertaining mixture of science fiction adventure and medieval fantasy, a genre
that was really given a boost after the Star Wars and Indiana Jones
movies had breathed a new life into moviemaking. Such films of this nature
include The Beastmaster and Dragonslayer. Krull contains a
cast of mostly unknowns, with the exception of such actors as Liam Neeson and
Robbie Coltrane, who have since then gone on appear in numerous films. It all
adds up to a rousing, highly entertaining adventure made perfectly for Saturday
afternoon.
The movie takes place on a faraway planet named Krull,
which is a land of beauty and elegance. The film opens with a ceremony to wed
Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall) and Princess Lyssa (Lysette Anthony). The wedding
is then interrupted when a deadly, futuristic race known as The Slayers, who
travel in a spacecraft which strangely resembles the monster asteroid from Armageddon,
kidnap Lyssa and terminate the king. Colwyn, though now designated the king of
Krull, has no kingdom to rule, and even worse, the love of his life and future
wife is being held captive by an indescribable beast, which leads The Slayers.
So Colwyn rounds up a group of men willing to battle The Slayers, then they plot
to overthrow the alien race, who retreat at the Black Fortress, and plan to take
back the kingdom and the universe.
Krull is about as gleefully junky as any movie of
its kind can get. I mean, how many adventure movies manage to mix in futuristic
adventure with medieval times as if the two ages existed hand and hand. You know
you’ve come across a pure guilty pleasure when the film’s hero is able to
climb an entire rock mountain with no harness or assistance whatsoever, but hey,
this is a fantasy, so why do I even quibble at that gesture?
The most memorable element in Krull is perhaps the
weapon that Colwyn uses. It is known as The Glaive, which is the key to
destroying the beast leader of The Slayers. It has a boomerang look to it, only
instead of Nurf rubber at the end of each tip, this baby has little blades on
each tip. It’s a great looking weapon, and one of the great things about Krull.
I also admire the look of the movie, too. Each scene in Krull seems to
have a memorable and distinct look to it. Plentiful settings are seen in the
movie, such as a castle, country landscape, a swampy forest, a spider’s
web/cave, and the Black Fortress, which very much as a unique look to it. The
cast of Krull seems to be having a blast of a time. Ken Marshall, who I
had never seen before, had done mainly stage work before this movie, and I
bought him as the courageous Colwyn.
In the end, Krull is simply wonderful escapist
entertainment, which is made to thrill and woo us, and it does a fantastic job.
Filled with some impressive special effects for a movie from the 80s, and some
dazzling, elaborate sets, this is one movie that players of Dungeons and Dragons
will most certainly enjoy.
A stunningly impressive transfer from Columbia Tri Star. I haven’t seen many of their pre-90s movies on DVD, but judging from the look of the transfer of this nearly twenty-year-old movie, they are extremely professional at taking old movies and making them look as good as new. Give or take a couple of soft images in some darkly lit scenes, the rest of the movie is absolutely sharp and crisp, and anamorphically enhanced to perfection, as well.
I was a bit skeptic as to
how this film would turn out in the audio department, and the results exceeded
my expectations entirely. The disc uses both 5.1 Dolby Digital and Dolby
Surround channels. The Dolby Digital presentation is as perfect as it can get,
though many of the old sound effects don’t seem to be remastered in anyway,
but I suppose it was the best the studio could do. Other than that, the sound
quality is quite impressive.
Another Special Edition
from Columbia Tri Star for the time capsule. The studio has loaded this disc to
the fullest, which features two commentaries. One featuring the cast and crew,
and the other featuring behind the scenes secrets that reveal what went into the
process of creating the movie. Also included is the original behind the scenes
documentary, titled “Journey to Krull”, photo galleries, trailers, and a
neat look at the Marvel’s adaptation of the movie, a feature I’ve never seen
on a DVD before.
Summary: