The Dark Crystal could uncharitably be called Tolkien-lite but to be fair, most fantasy was Tolkien-lite in the 80s. Their journey to the castle takes in plenty of other fantastical elements that fans of The Neverending Story, Willow, or indeed Lord of the Rings will enjoy. From there on Jen teams up with Kira and her fan favourite snappy, aggressive dog-like thing: Fizzgig. Aughra (puppeted by Frank Oz much like his best-known character, Yoda from the Star Wars series) is all cranky old lady and her sniping dialogue adds some much-needed humour to the movie. Once Jen meets astronomer Aughra and has someone to actually talk to, things pick up. This may be laying the groundwork for the later Acts but it’s clunky, dull, and dated. Even Jen, our erstwhile protagonist, spends most of his early screen time communicating via voiceover. Voiceovers explain the land of Thra, the Skeksis, the Gelflings, and the Mystics. Like many of its ilk, The Dark Crystal exhausts its early quarter-hour with heavy world-building. Anyone even remotely familiar with fantasy will recognise the ‘chosen one to restore a broken land’ trope. Plot-wise, these are a bit more standard. Even after all this time, Dark Crystal is gorgeous to look at. Flora and fauna (all puppeted) flitter about and the whole thing is given a fantasy ‘haze’ (due to a special lens filming technique) so that action appears more magical. The screen is always popping with tons of detail even besides the impressively performed main characters. The Dark Crystal is rich with visual splendor. And so Jen must locate the missing ‘shard’ of the Crystal, and undertake a dangerous journey into the heart of the Skeksis. Jen is found by the peaceful and wise Mystics, who raise him in secret until he is of age. But unbeknownst to them, a baby Gelfling named Jen survived. Due to a prophecy that their reign would be ended by a Gelfling, the Skeksis had all the Gelflings killed long ago. The evil Skeksis draw endless life force from the Crystal, and use their power to devastate the land of Thra. Whilst Henson was best known for The Muppets, The Dark Crystal is a darker tale. To the point where a 10 part prequel series has been commissioned by Netflix, due for release on 30th August. Although not massively profitable at the point of release in 1982, the cult movie has grown in standing in the 35+ years since hitting cinemas. The Dark Crystal, from the Jim Henson Company (also creators of Fraggle Rock), is a high fantasy tale set in the land of Thra.
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