“Legend” was released on December 13, 1985. Inspired by Jean Cocteaus classic “La Belle et la Bête” (1946), director Ridley Scott collaborated with screenwriter William Hjortsberg on the fairy tale fantasy of Jack and Lily, a young couple on a quest to save their world from the Lord of Darkness. The satanic lord has a plan to kill the world’s two remaining unicorns and bring about an age of, well... darkness. Hjorstberg is the author of Falling Angel, the 1978 novel from which writer/director Alan Parker adapted his gripping 1987 psychological horror film, Angel Heart. Scott and Hjorstberg wrestled with the “Legend” screenplay as Scott co-produced and directed 1982s “Blade Runner”, with the two working through a reported fifteen drafts. But as a follow-up to both “Blade Runner” and his hugely influential “Alien” (1979), Scotts “Legend” was a relative disappointment. Tom Cruise, starring as Jack, seems out of place in the otherworldly setting, and characters are more archetypes than actual personalities. Tim Currys performance as Darkness is a standout though. And typical of a Ridley Scott film, “Legend” is worth viewing for its elaborate visuals alone, of which Darkness and the hundreds of other fantastic makeups are high points. At the time, effects-makeups creator Rob Bottin claimed the “Legend” makeup effects crew was the largest ever assembled for a feature film. The American release of “Legend” was delayed until 1986 as cuts were made from Scotts original 125-minute version. A 113-minute Orange County, California test screening print was further cut to a 95-minute U.K. release, and that became an 89-minute U.S. version. Jerry Goldsmiths score was replaced on the U.S. release by a Tangerine Dream soundtrack, another point of criticism. The longer versions of the film were thought lost until 2000, when Universal discovered an answer print of the 113-minute cut, complete with Goldsmiths score. Happily, the studio includes a restored version of this on their 2008 “Ultimate Edition” 2-disc DVD set and their 2011 Blu-ray release.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 04:02:03 +0000
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