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Legend (Ultimate Edition) Customer Reviews (25 - 27 of 68 Reviews)

Gorgeous but Flawed-- Some UE are missing discs!
"Legend" has become one of those movies from the 80s that was originally a box office bomb but attained a huge cult following as a generation (myself included) grew up with it on cable ("Clash of the Titans," "Dragonslayer," and "Willow" were in the same boat).

This is Ridley Scott's great experiment with the Joseph Campbell-via-George Lucas world of Hollywood fantasy, and it's one of the richest, most beautiful visual experiences ever committed to film. I'm not sure what awards the cinematography, special effects, and costume design won, but I hope they swept the Oscars in those categories. There has NEVER, EVER been a more beautiful fantasy world created in all of film history. It outdoes even the Lord of the Rings trilogy, despite being made a decade and a half earlier without the benefit of any CGI.

While it has the nostalgia and mindblowing visuals going for it, it's hard for me to watch this movie as an adult because of the weak characters and plot. Nothing wrong with the simple story of the hero's quest to save the world from evil, but this one is so by-the-numbers that it put me to sleep when I tried to watch the DVD. The only saving grace is watching Tim Curry chew scenery through all that makeup, reveling in the archetypical simplicity of pure, childish evil while the other actors (especially Tom Cruise) never shake themselves out of archetypical stiffness.

A word of warning about this DVD. I saw an earlier reviewer mention that a disk was missing from the Ultimate Edition they bought at Circuit City. The same thing happened to me with a copy from Best Buy, so I didn't get to see the Euro version that I bought the DVD for in the first place! Beware!

Newest release missing Disc!
Recently bought Legend at Circuit City during their holiday sales. Was suppose to have both versions on it. But it only has the Director's Cut. Be Warned. Check first.

Legend (1985) - Ridley Scott
LEGEND is Ridley Scott's foray into the realm of fantasy, and despite it's nice cinematography, set designs, and make-up, the film ends up being a likeable dissapointment. Coming off the heels of back to back science fiction masterpieces (Alien and Blade Runner) Scott's tale of good and evil is partially satisfying, but the film's script is incredibly thin, and the story too confining. Filming on sets instead of locations was both and blessing and a curse. The hand built forest is beautiful, and Scott takes great care in showing it off in lush, bright colors. The Lord of Darkness' chambers are equally beautiful, and full of ominous shadows, and red orange flames. Mia Sara is perfect as the princess, but Tom Cruise feels lost and unbelievable as the hero. Rob Bottin's make up effects are superb as usual, especially Tim Curry's as the Lord of Darkness. Unfortunetly, the script has nothing added to it that we haven't seen in a number of other fantasy films, and the filmed sets make the world seem boxed in taking away that "epic" sense most fantasy films have.

***1/2 out of *****

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