Krull (film)

Krull
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Peter Yates
Produced by	Ron Silverman
Written by	Stanford Sherman
Starring	Ken Marshall Lysette Anthony Liam Neeson Graham McGrath Robbie Coltrane Alun Armstrong Freddie Jones Francesca Annis
Music by	James Horner
Cinematography	Peter Suschitzky
Editing by	Ray Lovejoy
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures (Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Release date(s)	29 July 1983 (1983-07-29)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	US$45–50 million
Box office	$16,519,463

Krull is a 1983 heroic fantasy film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Ron Silverman. Released by Columbia Pictures, it stars Ken Marshall as Prince Colwyn and Lysette Anthony as Princess Lyssa.

The film's most distinguished features include a robust score by James Horner, its early screen roles for actors Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane, and its surrealistic set design within the Black Fortress. It opened to mixed reviews but later would become a cult classic thanks to its entertainment, production values and visual work.

Plot

The planet Krull is invaded by an evil, omnipotent entity known as "The Beast" and his army of Slayers, who travel the galaxy in a mountain-like spaceship, called the Black Fortress. Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall) and Princess Lyssa (Lysette Anthony; dubbed by Lindsay Crouse) marry and form an alliance between their rival kingdoms in the hope that, together, their combined forces can defeat the Beast's army. A prophecy foretells that Lyssa would bear a child destined to rule the galaxy. The Beast, intent on ensuring the prophecy remains unfulfilled, has his Slayers attack the wedding. The castle of Lyssa's father, King Eirig (Bernard Archard), is destroyed and the Kings are murdered. The Kingdoms' armies are devastated and the princess is kidnapped.

Colwyn, the only survivor, sets out to rescue his bride under the guidance of Ynyr the Old One (Freddie Jones). He must first find the Glaive, an ancient, magical star-shaped weapon, which he retrieves from a high mountain cave. Next, he must track down the Black Fortress, which teleports to a new location every day at sunrise. He is joined by a powerful, but awkward shapeshifting magician, Ergo "the Magnificent" (David Battley), the cyclops Rell (Bernard Bresslaw) and Torquil (Alun Armstrong), the leader of a band of ten fugitives that includes Kegan (Liam Neeson), Rhun (Robbie Coltrane; dubbed by Michael Elphick) and Oswyn (Todd Carty). Colwyn enlists the convicts' aid and in return offers them their freedom as their reward.

Colwyn and Ynyr get help from blind prophet the Emerald Seer (John Welsh), and his young apprentice Titch (Graham McGrath), to find the Black Fortress. However, the Beast has the seer killed before he can tell them. With time running short, Ynyr journeys to the Widow of the Web (Francesca Annis) for aid. The Widow is actually an enchantress, also named Lyssa, who loved Ynyr long ago and was exiled to the spider's lair for murdering their only child. The Widow reveals where the Beast's fortress would be at the next sunrise. She also gives Ynyr the sand from the enchanted hourglass that kept the spider from attacking her. Ynyr returns to the group to reveal the news before he loses the last of the sand, which kills him.

Colwyn and his followers use captured Fire Mares (the only transport fast enough to reach the teleporting fortress in the same day) to locate the Black Fortress, but are attacked by Slayers, who kill Rhun. When they get to the Black Fortress Rell, using his massive strength, holds open huge rock doors long enough for the others to enter. He dies, though, when the entrance closes, crushing him. Kegan is killed by a Slayer shortly afterwards and Colwyn gets lost. When the Slayers try to kill Titch, Ergo surprisingly transforms into a tiger and kills the Slayers, injuring himself while saving Titch's life. Torquil and Oswyn are caught in a trap with slowly closing walls studded with massive spikes.

Colwyn injures The Beast with the Glaive and finds Lyssa. He is, however, unable to pull the Glaive from the Beast's body. Lyssa realizes that the flame she was to pass him at the marriage ceremony can finish the beast. The two use the flame to slay The Beast and they make their way out of the crumbling Fortress, finding Torquil and Oswyn and retrieving Ergo and Titch. Colwyn uses the fire to blast his way out of the Fortress, which collapses and disappears. Colwyn names Torquil as Lord Marshal, which Torquil accepts. As the heroes depart across a field, the narrator confirms that they will rule the world and their child shall rule the galaxy.

Cast

• Ken Marshall as Colwyn
• Lysette Anthony as Lyssa
• Freddie Jones as Ynyr
• Francesca Annis as The Widow of the Web
• Alun Armstrong as Torquil
• David Battley as Ergo
• Bernard Bresslaw as Rell (credited as Cyclops)
• Liam Neeson as Kegan
• Robbie Coltrane as Rhun
• John Welsh as Seer
• Graham McGrath as Titch
• Tony Church as Turold
• Bernard Archard as Eirig
• Belinda Mayne as Vella
• Dicken Ashworth as Bardolph
• Todd Carty as Oswyn
• Clare McIntyre as Merith
• Bronco McLoughlin as Nennog
• Andy Bradford as Darro
• Gerard Naprous as Quain
• Bill Weston as Menno

Production notes

• The film was one of the most expensive movies of its time.
• The voice of Princess Lyssa was re-dubbed by American actress Lindsay Crouse.
• The Fire Mares, steeds that travel so fast they leave a trail of flame and can defy gravity, are played by Clydesdale horses.
• Twenty-three sets were built for the film, covering ten sound stages at Pinewood Studios, London.
• The dub for the death screams of the Slayers and the demise of the Emerald Seer imposter was taken from the Mahar shrieks in At The Earth's Core.^{[citation needed]}
• Other filming locations were Lanzarote in the Canary Islands and Cortina D'Ampezzo, Campo Imperatore, Italy.
• Despite persistent rumors that the film was meant to tie-in with the game Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Gygax has said, "To the best of my knowledge and belief the producers of Krull never approached TSR for a license to enable their film to use the D&D game IP."

Reception

The movie was met with mostly mixed to negative reviews from critics. Krull holds a 35% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews. The film made over $16.5 million domestically, failing to bring back its reported budget of over $45-50 million.

Tie-ins

Main article: Krull (video game)

In 1983, several games were developed with the Krull license:

• A Parker Brothers board game and card game
• An arcade game by D. Gottlieb & Co., who also designed a Krull pinball game that was never put into production.
• A console game originally planned for the Atari 5200, but changed to the Atari 2600 because of poor sales of the former system.

Music

The film's score, composed by James Horner and performed by The London Symphony Orchestra and the Ambrosian Singers, has received a cult following on itself, being featured on CD in several releases by different labels through the years. It has been commended as part of the composer's best early efforts before his more famous post-1990 era works.

The score features traditional swashbuckling fanfares, an overtly rapturous love theme and other musical elements that were characteristic of fantasy/adventure films of the 80's, as well as incorporating avant-garde techniques with string instruments to represent some of the monstrous creatures in the story. Additionally, to accompany the main antagonists, the Beast and its army of Slayers, Horner utilized Holst-like rhythms and groaning and moaning vocals from the choir. Also of note is a recurring "siren call" performed by female voices that starts and bookends the score, and appears numerous times in the story to represent the legacy of the ancient world of Krull.

As usual, Horner's score is reminiscent of earlier works, particularly Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Some pieces of the music were reused for the area atmosphere nearby Space Mountain: From the Earth to the Moon (1995–2005) — now Space Mountain: Mission 2 — at Disneyland Paris.^{[citation needed]}

The score has been released numerous times on album. The first was a 45 minute condensed edition released by Southern Cross records in 1987, featuring most of the major action cues, three renditions of the love theme and the music from the End Credits, however, omitting music from the Main Title sequence. The same label later released a Special Edition in 1992 and 1994 (the latter a Gold disc) with a running time of over 78 minutes, expanding on all of the previously released tracks, featuring the Main Title music and other action cues.

In 1998, SuperTracks released the complete recorded score in a 2 CD set with extensive liner notes by David Hirsch in a notoriously designed booklet, however, this release, along with the '92 and '94 ones, have become rare and very expensive collectible items. 12 years later, La-La Land Records re-issued the SuperTracks album, with two bonus cues and new liner notes by Jeff Bond in a limited edition of 3,000 copies, which sold out within less than a year. Both the SuperTracks and La-La Land albums are highly regarded by fans as stellar products.

Adaptations

A novelization was written by Alan Dean Foster. A comic book adaptation was published by Marvel Comics, both as a Marvel Super Special with behind-the-scenes material from the film, and as a two-issue limited series.

Home media

The film was released on multiple formats: VHS, CED, Laserdisc and DVD. The film is available on DVD as a "Special Edition" in 2008. Also, the film is available for streaming through Starz and Netflix. No Blu-Ray version has been released.

External links

• Krull at the Internet Movie Database
• Krull at AllRovi
• Krull at Rotten Tomatoes
• Krull at Box Office Mojo
• Nick Maley talks about making the movie KRULL