Willow (1988)

The word "Tolkienesque" popped up a lot in the other reviews, I would like to inject, if I may, that ALL contemporary fantasy is Tolkienesque. The whole concept of the fantasy genre is blatant plagery of Tolkien with the names changed to protect the guilty. Not that I'm a huge Tolkien fan, and I've read and enjoyed not a few fantasy books, it's just that I feel the word Fantasy can be easily switched with Tolkienesque with no loss of meaning. Now on to the midgets. Willow is a pretty kickass movie. Val Kilmer is a drunken, lecherous, arrogant brawler, and Madmartigan is a fun character too. There are some great one liners in this movie, I find it to be endlessy quotable. Also, it's got multi-generational appeal. Kids and adults can watch and enjoy this, for completely different reasons. I have to say I love midgets. After Rainbow Motel, this is the best midget movie I've ever seen. It beat out Jedi because the midgets had to wear little bear suits. I asked a midget if he preferred to be called a Nellwyn, and, boy did I get a fierce shin-thrashing. A lot of people thought the Brownies were annoying...they are, but Kevin Pollack makes it funny at the same time. Billy Barty! Billy Barty is in it. Women were represented a lot stronger here than in the normal fantasy movie genre. The evil heavy Bavmorda is a chick, (I think), the baby savior, the possum-crow-goat lady, and Joanne Whalley all have a strong presence in the film. However the goat-possum-anteater lady had an annoying voice as an animal, but that added to the quotability of anything she said. "Willowwww use the waaaandd." Sadly we also have baby-puke and troll-poop, images I don't need to see in movies, but it's a minor complaint. All in all, Willow is a movie that holds up, thanks to midgets. Peace.

Fmovies: I think the people who wrote negative remarks about this movie are a bunch of morons, these are the people that have made movies so horrible today, These same people rave about the cookie cutter formatted movies with teens and more teens. This movie was made very well considering the Era. The story line was very entertaining and the cast was fantastic every step of the way. I've read people's comments that this is a rip off the lord of the rings. #1) Half of you out there didn't even know the lord of the rings until they made it a movie, a fine job, but it left a very bad taste in my mouth considering Hllywood has run of ideas so now they take fantastic stories from our past and turn them into money. Sacriledge! cat in the hat, grinch, little rascals etc Why not take the movie for what it is and leave well enough alone. Every movie can't possibly be an academy award winner. This movies is for the adventurer inside all of us, the one we feel when we watch movies about treasure hunting or space exploration. I recommend this movie to all (especially those who love flicks like Hercules etc) A fine job by Ron Howard...........I wish you made another one like this.

I literally waited three years to see this movie. I couldn't afford the theater at the time, and I do not have cable (I refuse to pay to watch TV), so I had to wait for it to come out on video.

It was well worth the wait. I own it on DVD now, and I must say the DVD version is outstanding! (but I'm still spun out on how much clarity and quality of sound you get with DVD) This movie captured my heart and never fails to make me laugh, and make me smile. I loved the movie.

The direction and acting were wonderful, the scenery was dead on and the costuming and props were top row. I also loved the subsequent books by George Lucas and Claremont. Forgive me, but I can't remember Claremont's first name.

Shadow Moon

Shadow Dawn and

Shadow Star.

Excellent trilogy based on the introductory "Willow." Kind of like Lucas's Lord of the Rings starting his the Hobbit, which is Willow. Excellent movie, excellent books which I would pay to see on screen.

It's one of the Fiend's many favorites and gets a sure-footed 9.8/10 from...

the Fiend:.

Willow fmovies. In a time of dread, seers have foretold the birth of a child that would bring about the downfall of the powerful Queen Banmorda (Jean Marsh) that wants to destroy the baby. When the child is found, her midwife flees with her. But she is hunted down by dog-like creatures and she puts the baby on a wooden raft to be carried out by the river. The Daikini (human) child is found by the Nelwyn (dwarf) family of the farmer and aspirant magician Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis) and his wife decides to take care of her. But when the dog-like creatures attack the Nelwyn village, Willow discloses the baby to the council. The sorcerer High Aldwin (Billy Barty) decides that Willow shall take the baby back to the crossroad of the Daikini land with a small group and deliver her to a responsible Daikini. But Willow meets the thief Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) locked up in a cage and he believes Madmartigan is not the right person. However he is convinced by his friend to deliver the baby to Madmartigan. But soon the fairy Cherlindrea (Maria Holvöe) tells that the baby is Elora Dana from the omen and is a very special baby. She also tells that he must protect Elora and deliver her to the sorceress Fin Raziel (Patricia Hayes) that will raise her. She also gives a magic wand to him to deliver to Fin Raziel. Willow embarks in his journey with Madmartigan and the Brownies Franjean (Rick Overton) and Rool (Kevin Pollak) but they are chased by Queen Bavmorda's daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) and the evil General Kael (Pat Roach). The struggle between good and evil begins.

"Willow" is a magic adventure from the magic 80's, when most of the best recent movies were made. This fantasy has action, adventure and romance in an excellent screenplay and special effects. The characters are charismatic and there are many funny scenes. Unfortunately this type of movie that is pure magic and entertainment has been recently forgotten by the studios. Today I have just watched "Willow" on DVD and it was a magic travel to almost twenty-eight years ago. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Willow – Na Terra da Magia" ("Willow – In the Land of the Magic")

For its day, Willow was one of the better fantasy movies. The effects look a little dated now (especially the two-headed beastie) but it has enough humour and action to keep most satisfied. It's no LOTR, but then it was made 14 years ago.

Warwick Davis plays Willow, a Nelwynn, a race of hobbit-sized folk who don't have anything to do with "The Big People" as they call humans. Basically, it's the Shire transplanted into this movie, but without the budget. Billy Barty is the village's wizard and basically plays the character Gweldor again (from Masters of the Universe) but without the silly make-up and stupid musical key.

Val Kilmer is Madmartigan, a human warrior who befriends Willow and helps him on his journey with varying degrees of ulterior motive.

The acting is all reasonably good. Warwick Davis was only 18 when this film was released so his performance is very good considering his age and lack of experience (prior to this he'd played a goblin in Labyrinth and an ewok in Return of the Jedi). It's also interesting to see Pat Roach here. Pat was a former wrestler and has carved out a little niche for himself playing villains and tough guys. Here he plays General Kael, the right-hand henchman of Queen Bavmorda, played with gusto by Jean Marsh. That woman is truly frightening.

It's all good fun and the two funniest characters in the movie are Franjean and Rool, two Brownies, who "help" Willow regardless of the latters wishes. They have the funniest double act and reminded me more than a little of Merry and Pippin in LOTR.

All in all well worth a watch if you want some pure, and somewhat silly, entertainment.

A wonderful fantasy full with lots of wonderful creatures and characters. The plot is great and the cast is brilliant. I wish this movie was more known, it's almost a hidden gem.

The movie is just one exciting ride after the other.

It's one of the best fantasy movies ever made, and if you're a fantasy fan you just got to see this one. I wish there were more movies of that kind, hopefully the upcoming Lord Of The Rings will deliver similar excitement.