Legend (1986)

As far as fantasy goes I’m usually a huge fan of the magic, mythical creatures, and battles between good and evil, but Legend takes Ridley Scott into a whole new realm of bizarre.  We are entered into a world where goblins rhyme by speaking in annoying riddles and the overly innocent princess falls for the unsung hero in the middle of an enchanted forest whose goodness relies on the life of unicorns.  It is a compilation of fantasy cliché after fantasy cliché, especially when you take into consideration that it was made in the 80s where everything was already overdone and taken to new extremes.  Maybe in a different time with a different commercial audience Legend could have been more commercially successfully, but even today it remains a film that is hard to digest due to all of its disparate odds and ends.

Some say that Legend has garnered a cult following since its release in 1986, but I continue to be skeptical of the film as a whole work.  It largely lacks a compelling plotline that captures its audience from beginning to end because none of the main characters sustain the transformation that is usually considered a prerequisite for a fantasy film.  Jack begins as the nature-bound force of good and reason that contrasts Princess Lili’s impulsive innocence, but in the end they are the same characters that have endured separate journeys and are enamored with each other.  I found it unusual that Lili, Jack, and Darkness never overcame any of their obstacles because Ridley Scott generally develops his characters full circle in his films up to this point.  In Blade Runner and in Alien both Ford and Weaver’s characters go on fantastic science fiction expeditions, but they also both end up becoming different, more well-rounded characters because of their difficulties and they make stark realizations about their own personalities.  The overall message to the film, that goodness and light cannot exist without evil and darkness, explores a lot of the same issues tackled by Lucas’ Star Wars but without much of the finesse and realness that Lucas somehow discovered through the most unrealistic conceptualization of actuality.  It wholly felt like a regurgitation of previously mastered fables and fairytales made into an unnecessary amalgamation of concepts.

Although the costuming in Legend has been remarked as one of the most the impressive ensembles of makeup and artistry the industry had seen thus far, I felt as though the extravagantness of the prosthetics and costumes took away from the actors’ abilities to accurately portray their characters.  Tim Curry’s Darkness could have been more menacing without the 3 foot horns attached to his head and his minions were expertly disguised as horrible, disgusting creatures but it was almost to the point that they became more difficult to comprehend and take seriously under the ridiculous circumstances they were already in. 

One scene in particular that I found rather off-putting was Jack’s revelation to Gump that it was his fault that Lili touched the unicorn, thus putting the whole mortal realm in danger of Darkness’ evil.  In the American version of Legend, which we watched in class, Jack immediately admits to his faults of leading Lili to the unicorns and Gump almost immediately forgives him because Jack claims he did it out of his undying love for her.  This explanation, for some reason, is enough for Gump to forgive Jack’s transgressions, but I found it rather badly explained and rushed for such an imperative character introduction and pivotal scene in the eyes of Jack.  Gump, the lead forest nymph, does not even question Jack’s explanation of love and it leads me to wonder what kind of idealized type of love the Americanized version of Legend is upholding.  I looked into the difference between the releases in the UK in 1985 as compared to the American release in 1986 and found that not only was this one scene altered, but also six whole minutes were cut from the European version to the American one and the entire soundtrack was switched for the electric pop of Tangerine Dream.  These are rather significant changes that can alter the entire mood and atmosphere of the film.  Love, for example, in this particular scene is depicted as all encompassing and as a justification for any transgression, no matter how large.  It validates the idea that one can use the excuse of “love” to accomplish or get away with anything; if you do it out of love it is ok.  Is this the type of message Ridley Scott really wanted to present?  According to his other films, possibly, but never quite so overt and crass as in Legend.