Legend

I've seen most of it on TV (I always seem to miss the beginning).

It's got kind of a Lord of the Rings vibe to it, but it's a bit more for kids, at least that's how I saw it, although Tim Curry at the end is truly demonic. Mia Sara turns pretty convincingly from sweet young thing to being just on the verge of being seduced by evil.

Yeah, not bad considering she was 15 and it was her first movie.

Of the "Lord of the Rings" fantasy clones, "Krull" is one of my guilty pleasures and mainly for the soundtrack, one of Horner's best. "Willow" is good but after seeing parts of "The Return of the King," I'm afraid they are all going to be dwarfed (sic) by Jackson's cinematic view of the LOTR trilogy.

I saw Legend in a theater when it opened in '85. I really loved the look of it and the fairy tale aspect. I'm sure it was more impressive on a big screen than it is on TV. The plot didn't quite make sense at times, but that didn't bother me much as I recall. I dragged several people to see it.

Apparently, when the movie was completed, director Ridley Scott showed it to a test audience, and there was one small party of people in the crowd making jokes about it. Scott says that if that happend today, he would throw them out of the theater, but at the time, he got cold feet, cut the film down to a much shorter version, and re-did the soundtrack, originally by Jerry Goldsmith, using Tangerine Dream. The original version was released in England, though. The general concensus among the cast and crew when asked today, is that the American version was good, but not as good as the original. The original is on the DVD currently on sale.

I've just bought the DVD, but have only watched the "Making of 'Legend'" special feature and not the movie itself. I'm looking forward to seeing the version originally intended by the director.

Thanks for the info Brandon. I'll add it to my Netflix rental queue. I would love to see the full version.

I think he's an amazing director. He once did this really odd commercial for the WR Grace company in which current or near future political leaders are on trial, many years from now, for ruining the economy and creating a collapse of civilization. It has a futuristic "Mad Max" type look to it. The old, former political leaders are on trial, confined by cylindrical force fields and being questioned in an auditorium/courtroom by a very intelligent young teenager, while an audience of rabble cheer and boo. I haven't seen it for years, but that's what I recall. From "Legend" to "Blade Runner," his movies often have a very distinctive appearance.

Scott began in England as a moviemaker in the capacity of a production designer. All his films have a "look" and it's been copied by other production designers and directors. Spielberg almost consciously did it in "Minority Report." I'm going to see the re-release of "Alien" on the big screen (a Director's Cut, so hopefully it will be as good as the DC of "Blade Runner" which much improved on the original).

My favourite line from Legend:
"may be cute, may be sweet....not half as nice as rotten meat!"

I'd like to see the original of the film -- I'll check out if on NetFlix.

I have seen Legend many times and really like it. The music and setting really do create a magical atmosphere and having seen it from a yougn age i would agree with jespah that it is aimed at a young audience, it has a highly fantastical vibe. That is not to say however that older audiences will not enjoy it. I think that it is one of those films that can be watched over again and looking back at tom cruise as he was 18 yrs ago is not a bad experience either

By far the best part of that movie is Tim Curry's demon.... I always forget that it has Tom Cruise in the lead.

No matter what Ridley Scott is directing, you can always figure on it being aesthetically handsome and entrancing. I wish he would delve back into fantasy -- he certainly explored the raw realism of war in "Blackhawk Down." It looked like something filmed by a war correspondant photographer. The presence was mind boggling.