The Dark Crystal (1982)

Wow whenever I see a fantasy movie I feel visually stunned. Whenever I see one I have to feel happy and scared at the same time. Granted Fantasy films haven't received great merit, but there are few that do. Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter,.... these all contain elements conjured up brilliantly. In the 80s it became relevant that Fantasy films became a craze with Labyrinth, NeverEnding Story, Legend, etc. And all of these were great.

Whenever I associate Jim Henson I associate him with innovation to the genre he did direct two great Fantasy films in the decade. I say they were both great. Labyrinth wasn't as visually stunning as Dark Crystal had been.

The first I gazed on this movie I was awed the next time I saw it I said "Dang". This movie continued to be good in motion picture artistry.

Jim Henson was successful in conjuring up good movie magic with characters that were designed greatly. I liked this movie because at the end I screamed, "This is Fantasy!!!!!"

Made me feel like I was in another mystical world.

I give it a 10!

Fmovies: So what is this old stuff about? What's the hype? Jim Henson's project lasted for years. Together with the help of Frank Oz and Gary Kurtz, this magnificent film was created.

This is one of the very best fantasy films ever.

I cannot think of another film with more interesting effects than this one. This is not just working, it is a pleasure to see it work. You have all this living creatures, that wonderful nature, that realistic but yet fantastic mood.

The writing seem to be minimalistic, and is heavily compensated with all the beautiful elements in the picture. Fantastic landscapes, mystic creatures and a great mix of colors all over the screen, though the film remains minimalistic.

Terry Jones music contributes with a lot of emotions and mood, maybe one of my favorite-soundtracks.

Much more can be said about the film. Most of it should be good things. It is a pity that some seems to unlike with, whatever the reasons are. I highly recommend it for any lover of the cinema.

Rating: 10 of 10.

This is an awesome fantasy film from The Muppets' very own Jim Henson. The film has an essence of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the ever popular "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. I thought it's an amazing planet/world with such fascinating creatures and places too. My favorite Dark Crystal creature is the Gelfling like Jen & Kira, who are also my favorite characters from the film - they are so adorable.

I must comment on Brian Froud for his conceptual art for each race in the film. And also Trevor Jones' excellent music score too. Very good job, guys, you are AWESOME! My favorite scenes are when Jen visits Aughra to retrieve the crystal shard, and also when he meets Kira his main squeeze (*giggles*). I also love the scene when Jen & Kira are at the old Gelfling ruins.

The Dark Crystal fmovies. A well crafted and interesting movie! It was good but lacked a bit of world building so that this magical world of Thra feels a bit empty! The 2019 Netflix Show shads light into this "empty" world and impoves upon it greatly! So I recommend watching the Show first. This is just my opinion, comming from a guy who is a few years to young to have watched the movie back in the 80s.

Finally I would like to say to the critics of puppeteering: JUST GIVE IT A CHANCE! It is really good!

This must be, along with KRULL, one of the most forgotten fantasy movies ever ! I´ve been searching for a VHS copy of DARK CRYSTAL, for years now ! Nobody seems to have ever released this on tape !

WHY, is this movie so hard to find ?!! I´m fortunate enough to have a copy of it, but it isn´t a very good copy at all, because it was taped about 10 years ago, from a movie channel, and it´s got tons and tons of satelite interferences and "rain" in the image. At least i get to own the movie. I guess...

The first time i´ve seen anything about DARK CRYSTAL, was back in 1982 when i was 12 years old. I wento to see Spielberg´s - ET, and before it, the presentation movie trailer for DARK CRYSTAL came on the screen. I remember that i was much more impressed by it, than by ET. By the end, all i wanted to know was when DARK CRYSTAL would be on the theater. I was so impressed by it, that those 2 minutes from the presentation stayed in my mind ever since, and all that i remember from the day i went to see ET, was that i watched 2 minutes of something that i never thought it existed or would be possible. Remember it was 1982, and in those days, children´s programs on tv didn´t included the amount of fantasy stuff that it is showned today, so watching that was somehow a revelation for me.

Anyway 6 year later i got to finaly see it, on a forgotten childrens matinee, and i loved every minute of it, altough i felt even then that it had some dull parts in it. Somehow there is something diferent with the pace this story is told. Even now i feel this, each time i watch DARK CRYSTAL.

But this is just a minor thing. Maybe i´m being just picky. Because DARK CRYSTAL is a masterpiece, it might have its flaws, but that doesn´t prevent it from being one of the greatest fantasy movies ever. Even though is so forgotten by everyone. Even i forget i have it. In a way, this is an Historical movie, because to my knowledge this was the first time that the atmosphere from the now common fantasy novels was portraited in a movie. And what a begining !!! Jim Henson got it right, right at the first try !

Every time i watch this i only wished he had lived enough time to adapt TOLKIEN´s - LORD OF THE RINGS to the movies. He would make a fantastic job for sure.

With DARK CRYSTAL ,Jim Henson achieved a perfect balance between a kids movie and a fantasy movie for adult viewers. This only added credibility to the world he created for this story. Just for this alone he should be praised. He showed the way, a fantasy movie should be made, but nobody in Hollywood seem to have learned anything from it.

I have read that DARK CRYSTAL, was a comercial flop, because it was released during the ET days, and not many people went to see it. Wich is a sad thing, because a masterpiece like this deserved to have filled the theaters. Maybe adults thought it was just for kids and the kids wanted to see ET, so it flopped. I read that even american reviews attacked DARK CRYSTAL. Maybe it was the usual in america, when a movie can´t be put in a category, nobody makes many efforts to publicize it. And i bet this was a nightmare to some people who had to publicize it. How would they present it ?

So if, you can find it, you have to see this movie ! I f you like fantasy, you´ll go nuts with it. Only the landscapes are enough to make anyone drool. The story is very,very good and much more adult oriented than it might seem at first, the pecial effects are pefect for it, the soundtrack is excelent, and the chara

It took an infinity of imagination to make The Dark Crystal, a film so overflowing with invention that you literally have to watch it about 100 times just to take it all in. Everyone involved, from the director to the best boy gave the film such loving affection and made it the best it could possibly be. Kid's movies (if you want to call it that) these days simply are not what they used to be and probably never will be again. This is yet another thing that makes The Dark Crystal so damn precious.

The film is set in another world, in another time in an age of wonder. It has been 999 years and 1 year since the powerful, life-giving crystal cracked and stopping shining. Since then the land has become barren and the Urskeks (a race of God-like beings) have split into two separate races, the peaceful Uru 'Mystics' and the evil Skeksis-a horrific cross between bird and reptile. The three suns that shine upon the land are about to line up in a great conjunction that only happens once every 1000 years. If the crystal is not repaired before then the cruel Skeksis will rule the land forever.

Jen is a Gelfling (a sort of fairy creature), believed to be the last of his race. A prophecy tells of a single Gelfling defeating the Skeksis and restoring peace to the land. Raised by the Uru, Jen begins a journey to repair the crystal when the Skeksis Emperor dies (in a truly disturbing scene). On his way he meets Aughra, a sort of witch creature and Kira, another Gelfling and her race of Podling people (sort of like Fraggles). Though there is no specific love scene between them, there is a very nice romance developing through-out the story.

Filmed in gorgeous locations across England and Scotland (with the use of a lot of matte paintings of course) the film really, really does take you to another world. There's not a single human in sight (a perfect world or what) and, with exception to the awful Skeksis, almost every creature is cute and fluffy (such as Kira's Fizzgig). The production design, in particular the genius contributions by Brian Froud, is so immense and impressive that you wish you could jump through the screen and actually be there in order to appreciate it more.

Trevor Jones' breathtaking, beautiful score is among his best work (tying with Merlin in 1998) and is surely some of the best film music you are ever likely to hear. Ever! There was a limited edition of the score put on CD a few years ago but only 5000 were ever printed. It's sure to be quite expensive now but it's so goddamn worth it! Henson, Oz and Froud teamed up again a few years later to make Labyrinth which seems to be more fondly remembered as it's not as sinister as The Dark Crystal and has human actors in it to make it more accessible to those with narrower minds. I prefer this one though (no fruity songs, no David Bowie!) as it has a certain edge to it that Labyrinth lacks.

An epic. A masterpiece. An unforgettable classic. The Dark Crystal is magical, mystical timeless classic. I can't recommend it enough. If only we still had movies like this. I'll take risk-taking The Dark Crystal over PC drek like The Shaggy Dog any day.