The Dark Crystal (1982)

Director: Jim Henson, Frank Oz
Starring: Jim Henson, Kathryn Mullen, Frank Oz

Synopsis:
The last of a near-extinct race must go on a journey to heal the Dark Crystal and save his world, but the sinister Skeksis seek to kill him before he can succeed.

Impressions:
I absolutely love this movie. It is perhaps one of the best realized alien worlds in cinema. The sheer artistry of the Jim Henson Workshop really deserves note. Character and creature design, set design, it's all very impressive. This is perhaps the apex of puppetry in film. The puppeteers infuse a lot of personality in the characters through their performance and appropriately for a film made by a puppet studio, the performers get first billing. That's not to diminish the work of the voice actors. Among the standouts are Billie Whitelaw as Aughra, Barry Dennen as the Chamberlain, and Michael Kilgarriff as the General. And let's not forget the score by Trevor Jones. The main theme in particular is very strong. Some people may say the effects haven't aged the best, but don't think of it like that. Think of what's been done. Better, just lose yourself in the story and none of that will matter. This is an amazing film that deserves a spot in your collection.

Rating:
Treasure It