Lily, a young and beautiful princess, misses both Jack, a young man close to nature, and darkness, the true embodiment of evil, who only dreams of plunging the world into eternal night by killing two guardian unicorns.
With the help of Elfie Gump and his sidekicks Screwball and Tom Brown, Jack embarks on a desperate quest to put an end to the demon’s actions and prevent Lily from turning into an evil being…
After making three huge films ( The Duellists , Alien , and Blade Runner . . . yes, that’s all!), Ridley Scott attempted to venture into fantasy in 1985 with Legend , which was a dismal commercial failure for the filmmaker.
Most of the film’s grosses were in the United States, grossing just under $15.5 million, while it didn’t bring in more than $1.33 million internationally. It hurts for the 25 million production envelope…
The slap in the face is all the more painful for him because he has been developing the story since his first film, The Dazzling Duelists, was completed. With a pretentious homage to Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast, Scott here abounds with references to the Grimm brothers’ tales, Perrault’s tales, Celtic and medieval legends, with a touch of Walt Disney.
The film has certainly aged a bit, and Tom Cruise’s performance is crushed by Tim Carr in the guise of the film’s big bad, an impressive demon of darkness who arguably has the most impressive horns in film history. An iconic character and one of the best performances for this brilliant actor.
Overrated upon release by the cinephile community, the legend also experienced a second youth in 2002 with the release of a 114 minute Director’s Cut version, close to the European version and its 93 minutes, and in any case vastly superior. to the optioned-operating version for American theaters and its 89 minutes of hunger.
The Director’s Cut version, which Scott himself thought was lost forever, until it was miraculously found in 2000 as a copy of the so-called “zero original”. That is, the first photochemical copy of the film, whose image calibration is considered final. A zero copy is used to check that there are no problems with image quality and reproduction, with respect to editing and special effects.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
