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Overall Rating
  Awesome: 66.04%
Worth A Look: 18.87%
Average: 1.89%
Pretty Bad: 5.66%
Total Crap: 7.55%
1 review, 47 user ratings
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| Ladyhawke |
by Godfather
"Romeo and Juliet my ass. This is the quintessential love story."
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Notwithstanding uneducated opinions to the contrary, Ladyhawke is the greatest love story that has ever been written. Now don't get me wrong. Romeo and Juliet is a fine piece of work from that talented young playwright Bill Shakespeare but it just doesn't compare to the love that is demonstrated by the protagonists in Ladyhawke. "How can you say that ?" scream the dozen or so fans of Billy's work. "Romeo and Juliet were so in love that they were willing to die without one another." True. But would they been so much in love if they were a different species?Ladyhawke is based on a 13th century legend of a beautiful woman, Isabeau (Michelle Pfeiffer) and the love of her life the former Captain of the Bishop's Guards, Etienne Navarre (Rutger Hauer). It seems that Isabeau (that's 13th Century French for "Is a Babe") is so lovely that she is also courted by the evil Bishop of Aquila (John Wood). She is already in love with Navarre and scorns the Bishop's love. The lovers reveal their love to the monk Father Imperius (Leo McKern) who in turn, "in a drunken confession to his superior" tells the Bishop. The Bishop is overcome with lust and jealousy and strikes a deal with Satan. If he cannot have her then no one will. With that a terrible spell is cast. During the day, the beautiful Isabeau is turned into a hawk. And at night the brave and handsome Navarre takes on the form of a wolf. They see each other in human form only for a split second at sunrise and sunset. Forever together, eternally apart. The only way the spell can be broken is if they confront the Bishop together on a day when there is no night and a night when there is no day. For those of us who are meteorologically challenged this does not seem possible. Or is it?
Enter the comic relief (and also a movingly eloquent speaker) in the form of one young and infamous thief, and the only person to ever escape the dreaded dungeons of Aquila, Phillippe "the mouse" Gaston (Matthew Broderick). When Navarre hears of Phillippe's miraculous escape he seeks his assistance in getting back into Aquila in order to kill the Bishop. When the Bishop hears of the plan he sends his guards to kill Navarre. During a battle between Navarre and his former troops the lovely Isabeau (as a hawk) is seriously injured and Phillippe is ordered to seek the assistance of the former mentioned drunk monk Imperius to save her life. Phillippe learns of the story from Imperius and is reluctantly drawn into the lover's curse. Upon their reunion Imperius reveals to Navarre that God has spoke to him of the way that the spell may be broken. Navarre believes Imperius to be mad and seeks to continue his quest to kill the Bishop which will result in the lovers being doomed forever. Will the lovers ever be reunited? Will the plan God has given Imperius work or is he mad? Will Navarre kill the Bishop or will Philippe and Imperius be able to persuade him to try to break the spell?
The only way not to like this film is to be dead. It has comedy, it has humour, it has action, it has suspense. It even has a great soundtrack from that 70's progressive rock group The Alan Parson's Project (Alan Parson's was the engineer on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon). But I digress. Richard Donner is unsurpassed in his direction of this matchless cinematic piece of genius. If you are a woman you will love this movie because, well, you're a chick. If you are a man who is madly in love with his wife, partner, girlfriend etc (as I am with my wife) then you will love this movie because it has action and comedy and because movies like this make you think you're a chick. As a matter of fact, this is a great test for your relationship.
If you think you are in love with your wife, husband etc etc, watch this movie together. If you don't BOTH laugh, cry, and cheer at the appropriate places, break up and find someone else. Then watch it with them. Trust me. It will be worth it.For Hollywood BitchSlap, I’m the Godfather.
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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=2589&reviewer=142
originally posted: 01/06/00 12:32:27
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USA
02-Feb-1985 (PG-13)
UK
N/A
Australia
N/A
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