Legend (1985)

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writer:

William Hjortsberg (written by)

Release Date:

18 April 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

This is such stuff as dreams are made of. This is Legend.

Plot:

A young man must stop the Lord of Darkness from both destroying daylight and marrying the woman he loves.

Plot Keywords:

Unicorn | Princess | Demon | Monster | Miniature People

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 9 nominations

Cast

Tom Cruise	...	Jack
Mia Sara	...	Lili
Tim Curry	...	Darkness
David Bennent	...	Gump
Alice Playten	...	Blix
Billy Barty	...	Screwball
Cork Hubbert	...	Brown Tom
Peter O'Farrell	...	Pox
Kiran Shah	...	Blunder
Annabelle Lanyon	...	Oona
Robert Picardo	...	Meg Mucklebones
Tina Martin	...	Nell
Ian Longmur	...	Demon Cook
Mike Crane	...	Demon Cook
Liz Gilbert	...	Dancing Black Dress

Also Known As:

Legend of Darkness (UK) (working title)
Legend: Ultimate Edition (USA) (reissue title (video title))

Runtime:

94 min | USA:114 min (director's cut) | USA:89 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Brazil:Livre | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Ireland:G | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Agnes Scott College - 141 E. College Avenue, Decatur, Georgia, USA

Company:

Embassy International Pictures

Trivia:

When the character of Jack dives off the rock in the Forest, it is Ridley Scott's daughter Jordan who is playing Princess Lily, and a stuntman playing Jack. This was done to make the rock look larger than what it was, the added close-ups of Mia Sara were added in during editing.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Lily first sees the unicorns and they start running, you can the horns wobbling on those closest to the camera.

Quotes:

Princess Lily: This place holds more magic for me than any palace in the world.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Snoop Dogg/Avril Lavigne (#29.19)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Loved By The Sun

To take the horn of the Unicorn is to end all hope!

Never did the phrase "a beautiful film" have more relevance than in this wonderful piece of adult fantasy. Make no mistake, this masterpiece, Ridley Scott's fourth film (it followed BLADE RUNNER) was never intended for children. Those who have written it off as a kids' movie totally betray their limitations and inability to see what is being offered here.

A youthful Tom Cruise was such a good choice as Jack, the forest dweller destined to plunge the world into darkness and then have but one opportunity to restore the light. Mia Sara is the beautiful princess, part Cinderella, part angel, all virgin! and Tim Curry? well, what a simply staggering contribution as the Lord of Darkness. Totally unrecognizable both visually and audibly but what a performance.

All the Ridley Scott trademarks are here, the back-projected blue light, the filtered scenes of wonderment, central characters in a crisis, the enigma of life itself. If anything, LEGEND is better now than when it was released. In '85 it received critical praise - just no-one went to see it! Well that's not strictly true. I attended the Sydney premiere and sat thru it entranced as others fidgeted, whispered, and generally brought attention to their limited attention spans and lowered perceptions!

Certainly it is a film that on one level children could relate to and even enjoy but it is a far deeper film with a host of reflective ideas and quite magical concepts. What really IS the Lord of Darkness? What is the significance of the Unicorns? What becomes of the innocence we leave behind in childhood? If none of this interests you, make sure you avoid this film!