This is another classic fantasy film, where the expectations upon release were huge; the film did decently at the box office, and since then has endured a cult-like following. This is a magical journey of adventure, where magic does exist along with brownies and fairies. The leading hero of the story is Willow an apprentice magician played by little person Warwick Davis formerly known as the lovable character Wicket the Ewok from Star Wars Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983). He has since then gone onto other things including an upcoming production titled ShortFellas (2009). You may also recognize him from the Harry Potter films playing the role of Professor Filius Flitwick.
The main story is about a small child that was born by a prisoner – that will bring the demise of the Queen played by Jean Marsh, who has taken over the lands with her wicked ways. The child must be protected at all costs and becomes Willow’s responsibility as caretaker. Along the way, he meets some unlikely friends that help him in his quest. With his charm and cocky nature the character Madmartigan is played by actor Val Kilmer who helps him. Joanne Whalley plays the character Sorsha and made her first Hollywood appearance in this film, and also fell in love with Val Kilmer while they filmed the movie in 1988. They would later divorce one another, she didn’t tell him initially he found out about it while watching CNN on television and waited for Val to begin filming The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996).
The late Billy Barty played the role of High Aldwin in this one, and the late Mark Northover played Burglekutt. Kevin Pollak plays the brownie Rool, and little person Phil Fondacaro plays Vohnkar. The late Patricia Haynes played the character Fin Raziel. This was a wonderfully entertaining film, that you can enjoy with friends and family. I highly recommend it especially to those who enjoy fantasy films. The screenplay was written by Bob Dolman. It was directed by Ron Howard and produced by George Lucas.
I’ve seen this one over the years many times, I thought the music was creative performed by David Bowie who also plays the role of Jareth the Goblin King in this as well. This was produced by George Lucas, and the late Jim Henson was responsible for the puppets and animatronics that were used to bring these characters to life. For this reason alone it was worth watching, but this is a nice, solid, yet simple story about a girl played by a much younger Jennifer Connelly named Sarah.
Her parents go away and she is left with babysitting duty. She is jealous of her little baby brother played by Toby Froud named “Toby” and wishes him to go away and from her intentions the child is taken by the Goblin King. This sets up the story, and we see her adventure into this fantasy realm of creatures and characters with stunning backdrops throughout the film.
She only has 13 hours to rescue her brother, and figure her way through the Labyrinth. She is a confused and typical teenager filled with lots of different emotions. She befriends different creatures along the way to aid her in her quest. This is another film that is worthwhile to watch with your kids and family. I highly recommend this one.
Most people that have seen this film didn’t like it. I however thought it was really good. It isn’t a typical story, and it is very science fiction, but it had many elements within the film that stood out. It is not meant to be taken seriously by any means, and I think that is why some people didn’t like it. I couldn’t resist doing a review of this movie because it was quite entertaining for the time period it was released. I still think it is a good movie to watch with your family. I mean come on a duck that saves the human race? How great is that?
The tagline is: “You will believe a duck can talk” and after seeing this you might start believing. It was witty and clever with a straightforward story and the cast seemed to fit perfectly.
The leading actors in this are Lea Thompson as Beverly Switzler a struggling musician trying to make it in the entertainment business; she is failing hard until she meets up with Howard the Duck the voice was done by Chip Zien and controlled by various puppeteers. Jeffrey Jones is Dr. Walter Jenning and does and exceptional job especially after he turns into the “Dark Overlord”. Tim Robbins is also in this as Phil Blumburtt and it is one of his early roles.
The main story is Howard is brought through a portal that was a freak accident, and it pulled him through to our world to Cleveland, Ohio of all places. He tries to fit in and for obvious reasons he stands out among the human race. There are lots of gags in this and are pretty funny and the story moves quite well. This movie was directed by Willard Huyck and produced by George Lucas. This film is based on the Marvel comic book character. Your inner child will appreciate this one, as well as your children. I recommend this one; to me it is a classic goofy sci-fi picture with a comedic edge.
I watched this movie when I was a child and loved it, I still do.
There have been very few movies that affected me like this one did.
The cast includes Swedish actor Max von Sydow, who plays the perfect Emperor Ming.
Sam Jones plays Flash Gordon and was his breakthrough role back in 1980.
Actor Topol from James Bond: For Your Eyes Only (1981) plays Dr. Hans Zarkov.
The lovely Melody Anderson plays Dale Arden.
Other notable appearances in this one are Timothy Dalton.
A little side note, Topol from Israel was in a James Bond movie and later Timothy Dalton would become James Bond in several movies including: License to Kill and The Living Daylights.
Other supporting cast include Brian Blessed who has a pretty long resume of movies and tv work that he has done. Also the lovely Ornella Muti plays Ming’s daughter.
This comic strip from the newspapers was the inspiration for George Lucas when he created Star Wars need I say more?
The special effects are a bit dated now since so much time as passed, but the costumes are simply wonderful and the sets that were made. It fits the world that was created by Alex Raymond that first appeared January 7th 1934 thru April 8th 1934 in newspapers. Things have certainly changed since then.
This is a great movie to watch with your kids and family especially if you like sci-fi fantasy films.
If I could go back in time, I would like to have seen the set of this movie and watched it. It truly is magical to me in different ways. The music by the legendary band Queen fits perfectly to the scenes and adds a certain something to the movie. There are some classic lines in this movie and the story moves at a nice pace. This is a must see movie for all ages I believe.
