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Overall Rating
  Awesome: 68.24%
Worth A Look: 17.65%
Average: 10.59%
Pretty Bad: 1.18%
Total Crap: 2.35%
4 reviews, 61 user ratings
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| Dark Crystal, The |
by the Grinch
"Jim Henson, I miss you dearly."
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Remember the almost dead art of puppeteering? Well, if you grew up watching the Muppets, Fraggle Rock, the Storyteller, or any number of Henson produced goodies, odds are you recall clearly. And I'm sure you've often wondered "Why won't anybody do MORE movies that showcase puppetry?" Do you know why everyone seems to have forgotten the magic? Because apparently, CG Imaging is the only way to bring the extraordinary to life. Bah! That's like only having sex in the missionary position! Variety, please.So, most of us that don't bitch and moan about it on movie sites have to be content to watch masterpieces of storytelling magic from the past. And magic is the best way I can describe the Dark Crystal. One of the few movies that I begged my Mum to take me to see again and again. Henson and designer Brian Froud paid attention to every detail of the gelfing's world, right down to how the lifeforms of a planet with multiple suns would evolve to the environment, and what kind of ecology this would create. This attention to detail made for a world that you could wrap around yourself like a shroud of mystery and mysticism. Froud deserves alot of credit for this success, as his designs gave style and personality to many of the characters from the Dark Crystal and LABYRINTH.
The story is a simple one. And that ain't necessarily bad. The gelfling world has been enslaved by the evil, reptilian Skeksis. A young gelfling is chosen by his dying master to return a missing shard to the Dark Crystal, an ancient monolith that in some ways represents the lifeforce of the world. Unless the shard is returned to the crystal soon, the planet's inhabitants will forever be incomplete and the Skeksis power will grow like a black plague, forever controlling the land and its heart: the crystal.
The fx and sets in this are phenomenal...a million times more lifelike than JarJar Rinky Dinks. These ain't no rod-sporting talking frogs either, these are truly fantastical and anthropomorphic creatures that could very well exist on distant planets. The gelflings at times look disturbingly human and alive. The Skeksis are vulture-beaked fiends straight out of a child's worst nightmare. The masters are creepy and emotive. A very dark (go figure) yet beautiful movie. You can partly thank asswipes like George Pukeass, (who's claimed puppetry is too unrealistic to use effectively) for puppetry/animatronics losing favor in film. Yeah, George, I REALLY thought HarHar was actually there yukkin' it up with QuiGon and crew. Sell out. It's the story, stupid, not the geekboy digital fx.The only thing that gives me gas is that Disney now owns Henson Productions. And when they FINALLY re-released the video, they gave it this cheery, tacky cover. Hopefully that's all they did. See it before it's "obsolete". And I say that with the utmost sarcasm.
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=997&reviewer=156
originally posted: 11/10/99 16:00:49
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USA
17-Dec-1982 (PG)
DVD: 25-Nov-2003
UK
N/A
Australia
N/A
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