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Krull (1983)
Lookback/Review by Markdc
It is a truism that most movies and books borrow from other movies and books that came before them to one degree or another, and this is certainly the case within the hybrid genre of science fantasy. As I see it, there are two kinds of science fantasy films—those that are able to conceal their sources and appear new and fresh and those that can’t. In the first category, the gold standard is, of course, George Lucas’ original Star Wars and its immediate sequels. Before he crafted his seminal space opera, Lucas helped himself from a rich buffet of literary and cinematic goodies and heaped his plate high with delectable narrative elements from the Arthurian tales, Frank Herbert’s Dune, The Hidden Fortress, Forbidden Planet, The Searchers, and many other works. Then, with the help of writer and mythologist Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and an unparalleled imagination, he molded these influences into something moviegoers had never seen before; even John Williams scores, which borrowed heavily from composers like Richard Wagner and Gustav Holst, felt new because it was extremely rare at that time for science fiction movies to use orchestral music. Within the second category of science fantasy, one movie that proved a dismal failure when it came to hiding its derivative nature was Krull, directed by Peter Yates, a British filmmaker who had achieved critical and financial success with films such as Bullitt (1968) and Breaking Away (1979).
Krull opens with a prophecy delivered by some guy with an important-sounding voice, who states “that a girl of ancient name shall become queen, that she shall choose a king, and that together they shall rule their world, and that their son shall rule the galaxy”—and all in that order. The narrator also tells of an evil, gigantic, and powerful being named the Beast who lives in a ship called the Black Fortress—which, for some inexplicable reason, resembles a large mountain—and is served by a bunch of ruthless minions called the Slayers (not to be confused with the thrash metal band from the 1980’s). Together, they travel throughout the galaxy conquering planets because that’s precisely the sort of thing evil dudes do. The Black Fortress lands on a planet called—you guessed it—Krull, and the Beast wastes no time in launching an invasion. Two Krull(ish?) kingdoms that have traditionally been enemies agree to set aside their grievances and join forces to defeat the Beast and his army and save their planet. To this end, they forge an alliance via the marriage of their children, Prince Colwyn and Princess Lyssa. However, a force of Slayers crashes the wedding, kills the two kings and a whole bunch of their soldiers, wounds Colwyn, abducts Lyssa, and drinks all the punch from the reception. (Okay, okay, I just made that last part up on the fly.)
An ancient dude called Ynyr, a.k.a. the Old One, patches Colwyn up and sends him to a cave in the mountains to obtain a powerful weapon called the Glaive. When this is accomplished, Colwyn, accompanied by Ynyr, sets out on a quest to rescue his bride and destroy the Beast and his minions. Along the way, our hero, who’s now the king of Krull, encounters and receives the assistance of a seer, a cyclops, a magician, and a troop of ruffians. They have many adventures and suffer several casualties before finally reaching the Black Fortress, where they battle the Beast and his Slayers. Meanwhile, our main villain employs his powers and chicanery in an attempt to persuade Lyssa to marry him, but she is steadfast in her refusal—presenting the somewhat humorous irony that an all-powerful dude who calls himself the Beast can’t seduce a member of the fairer sex.
When Krull was released in the U.S. on July 29, 1983, professional critics launched an attack upon it that rivaled the Slayers’ attack at the beginning of the movie. Although some aspects of the production, such as the visual effects and musical score, received praise, most critics dismissed Krull as silly and derivative. For example, on their television program, the immortal duo Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert trashed the film. Ebert called it “one of the most boring, nonsensical, illogical fantasies in a long time” before his partner proceeded to poke logical holes in the plot with gleeful precision. The Washington Post’s Gary Arnold described Krull as “an elaborately lackluster attempt to fabricate a fresh adventure fantasy out of a batch of familiar genre ingredients.” Writing for the New York Times, Janet Maslin said this of the film: “For all its unusual touches, it doesn't fully feel like anything new.” Ironically, Krull, one of the many Star Wars knockoffs that Hollywood produced in the wake of the galaxy-shattering success of George Lucas’ space opera, went up against Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi at the summer box office. Suffice to say, the Beast and his Black Fortress were no match for Emperor Palpatine and his Death Star; the knockoff got knocked off—big time. Krull earned an embarrassing gross of just $17 million against a $27-30 million budget, marking it as a commercial flop, while the final entry in the original Star Wars trilogy devastated all competitors by grossing $374 million against a $32.5 million budget.
Although Krull currently enjoys an abysmal 30 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has, in the years since its release, become a cult classic. The overall assessment from the retrospective reviews that I found for Krull appears to be a mix of praise and criticism. For instance, in a piece for Den of Geek, Ryan Lambie acknowledged the movie’s considerable flaws, especially its unoriginality, but also called it “a film I have an abiding fondness for.” (Although Krull proved a major misfire for him, Peter Yates saw his fortunes improve greatly near the end of 1983 when he released another film—The Dresser, a drama about the British theatre. The Dresser grossed about a third of what Krull earned at the box office, but this wasn’t a problem since its budget was many times smaller. More importantly, The Dresser received overwhelmingly positive reviews and was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture.)
Prior to my viewing of Krull for this retrospective review, I had seen the movie once before just over two decades ago but had virtually no memory of it. When I watched Krull recently, I realized why I couldn’t remember it: with one notable exception (which I will get to below), everything about this movie is utterly forgettable. I wanted to like Krull, even if only on a superficial level, but I found it to be dull, hackneyed, and asinine. As was indicated by the reviews, this movie is nothing more than a cinematic smorgasbord of fantasy cliches. For example, you have a prince/hero, a princess, an evil villain holding said princess captive, a quest to rescue said princess from said evil villain, an old and wise man who serves as a mentor for said prince/hero as he goes on said quest to rescue said princess from said evil villain, a nincompoop sidekick who provides comic relief, an ancient prophecy, a powerful, mystical weapon, etc., etc., etc. (Since Peter Yates and Stanford Sherman, his screenwriter, were apparently trying to cram in every fantasy trope into their plot, they should have had a scene at the end in which Colwyn and Lyssa consummate their union and then discover that they’re actually brother and sister.) Also, aspects of the plot are just really dumb, like how the Beast’s Black Fortress never stays in the same place but constantly moves around the planet. And who in their right mind would want their spaceship to be shaped like an ugly mountain anyway?
The best thing that can be said about the cast is that the actors do what they can with the flat, clichéd dialogue they are given. Near as I can tell, no one is a standout; in particular, Ken Marshall and Lysette Anthony, who play Colwyn and Lyssa respectively, seem as though they were chosen because of their good looks rather than their acting ability. The only noteworthy thing about this cast is the presence of a very young Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane. Neeson, of course, has earned great popularity with critics and audiences alike for his performances in dramas, such as Schindler’s List, and action flicks like Taken. And though he was never a star, the now-deceased Coltrane is widely known for his role as Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter franchise. (There’s also some irony in Neeson and Coltrane’s casting in Krull, given the movie’s status as a glorified Star Wars knockoff. Coltrane made his Hollywood debut in Flash Gordon, the 1980 film adaptation of the popular space adventure comic strip that heavily influenced Star Wars. As for Neeson, 16 years after appearing in Krull, he would play Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.)
Now I should note here that Krull is well-made, and the visual effects were good for the early 1980’s, though they look horribly outdated today. With that being said, the effects had to be good, considering the fact that Krull cost $27-30 million to produce—a hefty price tag for a movie back then; if the effects had been bad, Krull would look even more pathetic than it already does. And speaking of outdated, one aspect of this film that definitely doesn’t age very well is its handling of gender. Princess Lyssa, Krull’s main female character, is a stereotypical damsel in distress who needs her prince to rescue her from the clutches of the Beast. Two other women in the film, the Widow of the Web, an old lover of Ynyr’s, and Merith, one of the many wives of the ruffian Kegan, are minor female characters who exist to serve the needs of the male characters. And then there’s Vella, Merith’s assistant and a femme fatale who tries to seduce Colwyn in an attempt to destroy the love between him and Lyssa. In our current age, in which many women in the movies are smart, independent, and can kick the asses of men twice their size, a film like Krull probably wouldn’t be acceptable to most females—and many males, for that matter. (Personally, I’ll take a Katniss Everdeen, an Éowyn, or even a Princess Leia over Princess Lyssa any day of the week.)
One of Krull’s biggest problems is the unsuccessful blending of its sci-fi and fantasy elements. When he made Star Wars, George Lucas did this sort of thing with amazing skill by creating a believable galaxy filled with starships, space stations, lasers, Jedi and Sith Knights, lightsabers, and the Force, and the end result was a perfect fusion of futuristic technology and ancient mysticism. In contrast, Krull features ridiculous scenes where people ride on horseback and use Medieval swords to battle invaders with spaceships and laser guns. (Seriously, haven’t the inhabitants of Krull ever heard the old adage “Never bring a sword to a laser fight?”) And speaking of weaponry and things that are ridiculous, I think it’s worth noting that the “Glaive” from Krull doesn’t look anything like an actual glaive; it looks like a throwing star. Given this, perhaps the filmmakers should have called this bad boy “the Throwing Star” instead of “the Glaive”? Just a thought. In his retrospective review, Ryan Lambie mentioned that his “abiding fondness” for Krull in spite of its many flaws stems from the fact that he loved watching it as a child. I can certainly understand this sentiment. As a child growing up in the 1980’s, I loved a number of cheesy sci-fi and fantasy films, such as The Dark Crystal, D.A.R.Y.L., and Labyrinth, and still harbor a fondness for them all these years later. If I had first seen these movies as an adult, I probably wouldn’t like them very much. Conversely, if I had grown up watching and loving Krull, I might think differently about it now. But that’s not the way things worked out.
Despite my numerous and harsh criticisms of Krull, I’m recommending this movie for two reasons. Firstly, even though I didn’t like Krull, I think many sci-fi and fantasy lovers might get a kick out of this cinematic relic from the early Eighties, especially Star Wars fans—just as long as they don’t expect Krull to be anywhere near as good as a Star Wars flick. Secondly, movie-lovers, and especially movie music-lovers, should see Krull for its one outstanding element—the truly awesome score by the late, great James Horner. (On a trivia note, after doing Krull together, Horner and Yates collaborated on The Dresser.) Horner, who died tragically in 2015 when he crashed his plane in a forest, wrote many wonderful scores for films such as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Willow, Glory, and Apollo 13. But, in the opinion of this writer, Krull will always be his magnum opus. The score is an enthusiastically epic and melodic blend of symphonic, choral, and electronic elements that’s a thousand times better the film for which it was written. I mentioned above that Krull competed with Return of the Jedi at the box office and lost that contest pretty badly, but while Krull is nowhere near as good as that Star Wars flick, Horner’s score is as good and possibly greater than John Williams’ score to Episode VI and should have been nominated for—and won—an Oscar. So my hope is that people will watch Krull and then buy the soundtrack (the compete version has been available for at least 25 years now). It’s the only reason why I’m glad this film was made at all.
Lookback/Review by Markdc
It is a truism that most movies and books borrow from other movies and books that came before them to one degree or another, and this is certainly the case within the hybrid genre of science fantasy. As I see it, there are two kinds of science fantasy films—those that are able to conceal their sources and appear new and fresh and those that can’t. In the first category, the gold standard is, of course, George Lucas’ original Star Wars and its immediate sequels. Before he crafted his seminal space opera, Lucas helped himself from a rich buffet of literary and cinematic goodies and heaped his plate high with delectable narrative elements from the Arthurian tales, Frank Herbert’s Dune, The Hidden Fortress, Forbidden Planet, The Searchers, and many other works. Then, with the help of writer and mythologist Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and an unparalleled imagination, he molded these influences into something moviegoers had never seen before; even John Williams scores, which borrowed heavily from composers like Richard Wagner and Gustav Holst, felt new because it was extremely rare at that time for science fiction movies to use orchestral music. Within the second category of science fantasy, one movie that proved a dismal failure when it came to hiding its derivative nature was Krull, directed by Peter Yates, a British filmmaker who had achieved critical and financial success with films such as Bullitt (1968) and Breaking Away (1979).
Krull opens with a prophecy delivered by some guy with an important-sounding voice, who states “that a girl of ancient name shall become queen, that she shall choose a king, and that together they shall rule their world, and that their son shall rule the galaxy”—and all in that order. The narrator also tells of an evil, gigantic, and powerful being named the Beast who lives in a ship called the Black Fortress—which, for some inexplicable reason, resembles a large mountain—and is served by a bunch of ruthless minions called the Slayers (not to be confused with the thrash metal band from the 1980’s). Together, they travel throughout the galaxy conquering planets because that’s precisely the sort of thing evil dudes do. The Black Fortress lands on a planet called—you guessed it—Krull, and the Beast wastes no time in launching an invasion. Two Krull(ish?) kingdoms that have traditionally been enemies agree to set aside their grievances and join forces to defeat the Beast and his army and save their planet. To this end, they forge an alliance via the marriage of their children, Prince Colwyn and Princess Lyssa. However, a force of Slayers crashes the wedding, kills the two kings and a whole bunch of their soldiers, wounds Colwyn, abducts Lyssa, and drinks all the punch from the reception. (Okay, okay, I just made that last part up on the fly.)
An ancient dude called Ynyr, a.k.a. the Old One, patches Colwyn up and sends him to a cave in the mountains to obtain a powerful weapon called the Glaive. When this is accomplished, Colwyn, accompanied by Ynyr, sets out on a quest to rescue his bride and destroy the Beast and his minions. Along the way, our hero, who’s now the king of Krull, encounters and receives the assistance of a seer, a cyclops, a magician, and a troop of ruffians. They have many adventures and suffer several casualties before finally reaching the Black Fortress, where they battle the Beast and his Slayers. Meanwhile, our main villain employs his powers and chicanery in an attempt to persuade Lyssa to marry him, but she is steadfast in her refusal—presenting the somewhat humorous irony that an all-powerful dude who calls himself the Beast can’t seduce a member of the fairer sex.
When Krull was released in the U.S. on July 29, 1983, professional critics launched an attack upon it that rivaled the Slayers’ attack at the beginning of the movie. Although some aspects of the production, such as the visual effects and musical score, received praise, most critics dismissed Krull as silly and derivative. For example, on their television program, the immortal duo Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert trashed the film. Ebert called it “one of the most boring, nonsensical, illogical fantasies in a long time” before his partner proceeded to poke logical holes in the plot with gleeful precision. The Washington Post’s Gary Arnold described Krull as “an elaborately lackluster attempt to fabricate a fresh adventure fantasy out of a batch of familiar genre ingredients.” Writing for the New York Times, Janet Maslin said this of the film: “For all its unusual touches, it doesn't fully feel like anything new.” Ironically, Krull, one of the many Star Wars knockoffs that Hollywood produced in the wake of the galaxy-shattering success of George Lucas’ space opera, went up against Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi at the summer box office. Suffice to say, the Beast and his Black Fortress were no match for Emperor Palpatine and his Death Star; the knockoff got knocked off—big time. Krull earned an embarrassing gross of just $17 million against a $27-30 million budget, marking it as a commercial flop, while the final entry in the original Star Wars trilogy devastated all competitors by grossing $374 million against a $32.5 million budget.
Although Krull currently enjoys an abysmal 30 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has, in the years since its release, become a cult classic. The overall assessment from the retrospective reviews that I found for Krull appears to be a mix of praise and criticism. For instance, in a piece for Den of Geek, Ryan Lambie acknowledged the movie’s considerable flaws, especially its unoriginality, but also called it “a film I have an abiding fondness for.” (Although Krull proved a major misfire for him, Peter Yates saw his fortunes improve greatly near the end of 1983 when he released another film—The Dresser, a drama about the British theatre. The Dresser grossed about a third of what Krull earned at the box office, but this wasn’t a problem since its budget was many times smaller. More importantly, The Dresser received overwhelmingly positive reviews and was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture.)
Prior to my viewing of Krull for this retrospective review, I had seen the movie once before just over two decades ago but had virtually no memory of it. When I watched Krull recently, I realized why I couldn’t remember it: with one notable exception (which I will get to below), everything about this movie is utterly forgettable. I wanted to like Krull, even if only on a superficial level, but I found it to be dull, hackneyed, and asinine. As was indicated by the reviews, this movie is nothing more than a cinematic smorgasbord of fantasy cliches. For example, you have a prince/hero, a princess, an evil villain holding said princess captive, a quest to rescue said princess from said evil villain, an old and wise man who serves as a mentor for said prince/hero as he goes on said quest to rescue said princess from said evil villain, a nincompoop sidekick who provides comic relief, an ancient prophecy, a powerful, mystical weapon, etc., etc., etc. (Since Peter Yates and Stanford Sherman, his screenwriter, were apparently trying to cram in every fantasy trope into their plot, they should have had a scene at the end in which Colwyn and Lyssa consummate their union and then discover that they’re actually brother and sister.) Also, aspects of the plot are just really dumb, like how the Beast’s Black Fortress never stays in the same place but constantly moves around the planet. And who in their right mind would want their spaceship to be shaped like an ugly mountain anyway?
The best thing that can be said about the cast is that the actors do what they can with the flat, clichéd dialogue they are given. Near as I can tell, no one is a standout; in particular, Ken Marshall and Lysette Anthony, who play Colwyn and Lyssa respectively, seem as though they were chosen because of their good looks rather than their acting ability. The only noteworthy thing about this cast is the presence of a very young Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane. Neeson, of course, has earned great popularity with critics and audiences alike for his performances in dramas, such as Schindler’s List, and action flicks like Taken. And though he was never a star, the now-deceased Coltrane is widely known for his role as Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter franchise. (There’s also some irony in Neeson and Coltrane’s casting in Krull, given the movie’s status as a glorified Star Wars knockoff. Coltrane made his Hollywood debut in Flash Gordon, the 1980 film adaptation of the popular space adventure comic strip that heavily influenced Star Wars. As for Neeson, 16 years after appearing in Krull, he would play Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.)
Now I should note here that Krull is well-made, and the visual effects were good for the early 1980’s, though they look horribly outdated today. With that being said, the effects had to be good, considering the fact that Krull cost $27-30 million to produce—a hefty price tag for a movie back then; if the effects had been bad, Krull would look even more pathetic than it already does. And speaking of outdated, one aspect of this film that definitely doesn’t age very well is its handling of gender. Princess Lyssa, Krull’s main female character, is a stereotypical damsel in distress who needs her prince to rescue her from the clutches of the Beast. Two other women in the film, the Widow of the Web, an old lover of Ynyr’s, and Merith, one of the many wives of the ruffian Kegan, are minor female characters who exist to serve the needs of the male characters. And then there’s Vella, Merith’s assistant and a femme fatale who tries to seduce Colwyn in an attempt to destroy the love between him and Lyssa. In our current age, in which many women in the movies are smart, independent, and can kick the asses of men twice their size, a film like Krull probably wouldn’t be acceptable to most females—and many males, for that matter. (Personally, I’ll take a Katniss Everdeen, an Éowyn, or even a Princess Leia over Princess Lyssa any day of the week.)
One of Krull’s biggest problems is the unsuccessful blending of its sci-fi and fantasy elements. When he made Star Wars, George Lucas did this sort of thing with amazing skill by creating a believable galaxy filled with starships, space stations, lasers, Jedi and Sith Knights, lightsabers, and the Force, and the end result was a perfect fusion of futuristic technology and ancient mysticism. In contrast, Krull features ridiculous scenes where people ride on horseback and use Medieval swords to battle invaders with spaceships and laser guns. (Seriously, haven’t the inhabitants of Krull ever heard the old adage “Never bring a sword to a laser fight?”) And speaking of weaponry and things that are ridiculous, I think it’s worth noting that the “Glaive” from Krull doesn’t look anything like an actual glaive; it looks like a throwing star. Given this, perhaps the filmmakers should have called this bad boy “the Throwing Star” instead of “the Glaive”? Just a thought. In his retrospective review, Ryan Lambie mentioned that his “abiding fondness” for Krull in spite of its many flaws stems from the fact that he loved watching it as a child. I can certainly understand this sentiment. As a child growing up in the 1980’s, I loved a number of cheesy sci-fi and fantasy films, such as The Dark Crystal, D.A.R.Y.L., and Labyrinth, and still harbor a fondness for them all these years later. If I had first seen these movies as an adult, I probably wouldn’t like them very much. Conversely, if I had grown up watching and loving Krull, I might think differently about it now. But that’s not the way things worked out.
Despite my numerous and harsh criticisms of Krull, I’m recommending this movie for two reasons. Firstly, even though I didn’t like Krull, I think many sci-fi and fantasy lovers might get a kick out of this cinematic relic from the early Eighties, especially Star Wars fans—just as long as they don’t expect Krull to be anywhere near as good as a Star Wars flick. Secondly, movie-lovers, and especially movie music-lovers, should see Krull for its one outstanding element—the truly awesome score by the late, great James Horner. (On a trivia note, after doing Krull together, Horner and Yates collaborated on The Dresser.) Horner, who died tragically in 2015 when he crashed his plane in a forest, wrote many wonderful scores for films such as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Willow, Glory, and Apollo 13. But, in the opinion of this writer, Krull will always be his magnum opus. The score is an enthusiastically epic and melodic blend of symphonic, choral, and electronic elements that’s a thousand times better the film for which it was written. I mentioned above that Krull competed with Return of the Jedi at the box office and lost that contest pretty badly, but while Krull is nowhere near as good as that Star Wars flick, Horner’s score is as good and possibly greater than John Williams’ score to Episode VI and should have been nominated for—and won—an Oscar. So my hope is that people will watch Krull and then buy the soundtrack (the compete version has been available for at least 25 years now). It’s the only reason why I’m glad this film was made at all.