Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Guilty Pleasure - Krull

"This it was given me to know, that many worlds have been enslaved by the Beast and his army, the Slayers. And this too was given me to know, that the beast would come to our world, the world of Krull, and his Black Fortress would be seen in the land, that the smoke of burning villages would darken the sky, and the cries of the dying would echo through deserted valleys. But one thing I cannot know, whether the prophecy be true, that a girl of ancient name shall become queen, that she shall choose a king, and that together they shall rule our world, and that their son shall rule the galaxy."

So opens, and ends, the movie Krull. This is a really fun, romantic film that needs the length of a mini-series to fully develop the story. To me, that is the greatest flaw of this movie - we don't get to see Colwyn and Lyssa meet and fall in love, then plan how to bring peace to their warring people. And once Lyssa is kidnapped by the Beast, Colwyn puts his ragtag band of fighters together with relative ease. But all in all, this is worth the watch if you love fantasy. Obviously, this movie was trying to cash in on the Star Wars' popularity, and though it in no way comes close to the genius of that franchise, this film is good. Not great, but certainly not hideous.

I love it because it is such a template of the traditional hero-quest story. Good vs. Evil, true love, thwarted love, sacrifice, friendships that defy class, and a great big showdown between hero and villain in the end.

2 comments:

Michele said...

Oh my goodness!
You are a KRULL Fan?????
I've loved that show for years!!
I read the book first then saw the movie. As usual, books are better than the movie, but I have it on tape and hope to get it whenever I see it on DVD. Is it out there yet?
Anyway.....Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Its amazing that a lot of the actors I now see on other shows....until then, I didn't know they were famous.
Your blog is simply wonderful!

Kelli McBride said...

Thanks! I do adore Krull - but I think it desperately needs to be remade - maybe by SciFi, and turned into a miniseries. So much potential for expansion.

I've never read the book - I assumed it came after the movie and was just a marketing device. I'll have to dig it up.