The Dark Crystal
| Year: | 1982 |
| Director: | Jim Henson/Frank Oz |
| Writer: | Jim Henson/Frank Oz |
| Cast: | Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz |
Using the skills and techniques they'd perfected ever since the late 1960s in the Muppets, Oz, Henson and co could hardly make a bad movie if they tried.
They were a cultural force as strong as Kermit, Piggy, Bert and Ernie and every other character generations of kids loved, so a fantasy movie about mysterious creatures on a far off world, in a story that was treated seriously, was bound to be good.
The last two gelflings alive, Jen and Kira, join forces to return the shard of a magical crystal when the suns converge to put an end to 1000 years of chaos and restore balance to their planet, lest it fall under the rule of evil Skekses.
The plot borrows from the pantheon of mythology from throughout history and hobbles together a pretty generic hero's quest, and watching it now as an adult the characters really are made for kids, so watching it with a dispassionate eye means the charm of the craft is most of what impresses you.
But puppets have a way of making kids of us all, and under Henson and Oz's directorship (along with Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, and in a whole world made for puppets we'd never seen before, who can't helped but be transported back into their childhood by it?
They were a cultural force as strong as Kermit, Piggy, Bert and Ernie and every other character generations of kids loved, so a fantasy movie about mysterious creatures on a far off world, in a story that was treated seriously, was bound to be good.
The last two gelflings alive, Jen and Kira, join forces to return the shard of a magical crystal when the suns converge to put an end to 1000 years of chaos and restore balance to their planet, lest it fall under the rule of evil Skekses.
The plot borrows from the pantheon of mythology from throughout history and hobbles together a pretty generic hero's quest, and watching it now as an adult the characters really are made for kids, so watching it with a dispassionate eye means the charm of the craft is most of what impresses you.
But puppets have a way of making kids of us all, and under Henson and Oz's directorship (along with Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, and in a whole world made for puppets we'd never seen before, who can't helped but be transported back into their childhood by it?