Krull

Krull original movie poster

Krull

The fantasy epic you've never seen.

In the wake of the phenomenal success of Star Wars, a plethora of sci-fi/fantasy films got made, among them was the sword and sorcery film Krull.

Krull follows the standard "epic quest" model of sword and sorcery films, with the requisite rescue-the-princess plot of high fantasy. It contains all the tropes of the Star Wars knockoffs - dark lord with army of identical minions, beautiful princess, brave young hero granted a special weapon, aged mystical mentor, comic relief sidekick, lovable rogue mercenaries, some (usually brawny) non-human ally - you get the idea.

But unlike the overtly sci-fi like Flash Gordon, or the overtly fantasy like Legend, Krull takes a mostly fantasy film, throws in some laser effects, and tacks on a sci-fi prologue and epilogue, to give just enough of a hybrid feel. And despite all the conventional tropes, there are some downright surreal scenes and sets. The Black Fortress of the bad guy has a bizarre pseudo living organism look to it.

The cast features some pretty good acting by male lead Ken Marshall (who seems to have disappeared in recent years, not appearing in anything in the past decade and a half), and a number of talented supporting actors, including Liam Neeson early in his career.

Top it off with a larger-than-life James Horner symphonic score, and you have an unapologetically fun popcorn matinee that was understandably panned by critics, yet also understandably became a cult classic during the home video era.