Legend
Platform: VUDU (owned movie)
Director: Ridley Scott
Release Year: 1985
Watch Date: 🤷🏼‍♀️ Sometime not too long before The Nun.
My Rating: 8.4
I could have sworn I blogged about this one when I watched it….but I guess I didn’t.
Let me start with a little backstory about my child hood. When I was little I would watch two movies pretty much every day. They were “the magical unicorn movie” and “around the world in 80 days” which are actually Legend and The Chipmunk Adventure. These two movies are on complete opposite ends of the movie genera perspective. I should point out that I was at most four when this started. My earliest memory is from when I am three (being bathed in a sink because I was covered in cake) so it could have started as early as then. My brother would have started going to school when I was one. While my mom was very hands on with my siblings, she was very hands off with me from an early age.
Anyhow, from Legend my love of unicorns and horror movies was born. A four year old has NO business watching Legend, but I loved it. I was fascinated by the contrast of light and dark. I adored Lili (played by Mia Sara). I did not adore Jack (I’ve never been a bit Tom Cruise fan)….in fact, I have always quite disliked him. He doesn’t seem to have a constant character.
I also find it necessary to point out that I watched the theatrical version of Legend. I HATE the directors cut of this movie with a fiery passion. I watched it a couple of times to see the added value. There was none….with the exception that Lili and Jack don’t end up together at the end. I didn’t think they were right for each other anyway. It always seemed to me like Lili grew from the experience a lot more than Jack did.
On to the movie. The very core of the movie is darkness versus light. When I was little, my mom told me that Darkness (played by Tim Curry) was the devil…but he isn’t. He is in fact darkness. He speaks to his “father” several times throughout the movie…I assumed his father was the devil. Darkness is plagued by light. As long as there are Unicorns left in the world, there will always be light. So he devises a plan to kill the last two Unicorns in the forest so the world can become dark.
Meanwhile innocent princess Lili is playing in the forest with her friend Jack, who takes her to see the Unicorns. Just as Lili touches one of the Unicorns, Darkness’ minion shoots it with a poison dart sending both of the Unicorns running off scared. Jack yells at Lili because she should not have touched the Unicorn. Truthfully, however, it is Lili’s purity and good ness that made the Unicorns let her approach them in the first place. They could have run off before she ever got close enough to touch one.
The minion cuts the horn off of the poisoned Unicorn and sets off for Darkness’ lair. Meanwhile a jerky sprite his convincing Jack that he needs to do something. Darkness is angered by the fact that the minions only got one horn and demands that they bring the other Unicorn to him. They capture the Unicorn and Lili follows them back to Darnkess’ lair where she stops him from killing the Unicorn.
Darkness becomes fascinated by Lili and wants to keep her for his own. Even though he is opposed to light, it is actually her light and goodness that he is attracted to. His father tells him that he must woo her. He tries, with no success. I love how defiant she is when he tells her to sit. This might be the start of a whole other set of interests I have, but that is a story for never.
Jack ends up finding some armor and with the encouragement of the awful sprite decides to get Lili back, save the Unicorn, and destroy darkness. Blah blah blah…….and so it goes. In the end Lili saves the Unicorn by tricking Darkness and Darkness is forced back into the shadows by pure daylight brought on by Jack and friends. Lili and Jack run off together into the sunset.
As movies go, the script is pretty awful. With the exception of Darkness and Lili, the acting is subpar. The plot has holes (even the director’s cut), and the movie leaves a lot to be desired. What this movie does have is:
Tim Curry who plays Darkness so well. He brings the character to life and almost makes you want to root for the “bad” guy.
Mia Sara who portrays innocence and light in a way that makes you fall in love with her character. She helps her character to grow through the movie. She even goes so far as to make you believe she is going to betray the light and kill the Unicorn.
Amazing cinematography. The sets, lighting, and color schemes of this movie are phenomenal.
A fantastic theme song: Loved by the Sun by Tangerine Dream and Brandon K. Verrett.
I will always be willing to watch this movie….as long as it isn’t the director’s cut. I won’t watch that garbage again.
Photo Credit: imdb.com
