Krull Movie Review (Spoilers)

I wanted to review an old movie from my childhood that I personally love, but many, for good reason do notJ. I grew up lucky enough to have HBO and Encore. Many a hot and humid Oklahoma afternoon was spent inside watching movies on these premium movie channels. What type of movies during the late 80s and early 90s populated the airways you ask? One such movie was the sci-fi epic Krull. I adore this movie, and I probably shouldn't. It is campy, has a week plot, and the special effects, even for the early 80s are not well done. It does have some redeeming qualities. James Horner's score is excellent. Horner is a great cinema composer, and he did not phone in his effort for Krull. The movie also is not horribly acted, while the script is bad, I think the actors made the best of it. I am probably one of the few who think this, and I know I am biased. I saw the movie in my formative years is my only defense.
The movie is truly a hodgepodge of science fiction and fantasy. The Beast, the main villain in the movie, arrives on the planet Krull to conquer and rule. The Beasts henchman, Slayers, have one shot laser rifles. The people of the planet Krull just have swords and other midlevel type weapons. The people of Krull do have magic. One character can shapeshift into different animals. Another is a witch who can see the future, but is held captive by a giant spider. The world also has flying Clydesdale horses, what kid wouldn't fall in love with this movie!
The plot is a straightforward hero quest. The Beast kidnaps the princess and the prince, Ken Marshal, with the help of an old wise man, must rescue her.
Side note on Ken Marshal. I was watching Deep Space Nine, and the security/
maquis officer was bugging me. I knew I had seen him in something before, but could not place him. IMDB to the rescue! He has lost almost all of his hair, and I did not recognize the handsome prince from Krull.
Ken Marshal's character must first find a magic weapon, the glaive, to defeat the Beast. It is a special blade that looks like a modified Chinese throwing star. When he uses the glaive he can control it with his mind, I guess, it is never really explained, and send it to cut and slash who he wants. With the help of the glaive and a band of merry men, he makes an assault on the Beast's spaceship/castle, and rescues the princess. A very young Liam Neeson has a minor role as a member of the band of men the prince recruits to his cause. His character is a womanizer who has many wives across the world. Not sure why I am including this, but I find it interesting.
This really is the whole movie. A simple rescue plot with a princess locked in a tower. I wonder why I ate this up as a kid. It may have been the cool Cyclopes in the movie. He did have an interesting backstory. All Cyclopes can see into the future, but they could only see their own death. The Beast, according to the wise old man, made a deal with them so they could see into the future. The Beast, the tricky devil, only allowed them to see their own death, and just the date and time. The Cyclopes in the movie makes for a good tragic figure. The comic relief in the movie is amusing, which I guess is the point. Ergo is a magician who can turn himself into animals. He does a poor job at it, always trying to turn others into things, but turning himself into them instead.
Krull is one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies. I own it on DVD. It was one of the first DVDs I bought after I purchased a DVD player in college. I made the trek to the mall to find it at one of those chain video stores. This was still when they mostly had VHS tapes. I know I paid an enormous amount to get it, when I could easily get it for a few bucks today. I recently even bought the disc to digital for the movie. I now can drift off to sleep listing to James Horner score, and watching Ken Marshall dispatch the Beast on my iPad. If you have never seen Krull before, watch it just for a nostalgic peak back to early 80s cinema. If you have seen it, watch it again and escape back to your childhood. (If you were born in 80s that isJ)
My rating: Craptaculur

My Ratings:

• Must Buy
  
• Must see in Theaters/Will stop and watch every time on TV
  
• Rentable
  
• Wait for HBO release
  
• Has a good scene or two. 
  
• Don't Bother
  
• Craptaculur (Guilty pleasure)