Legend (1985)
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A pure being must journey to confront the Lord of Darkness to save a princess and prevent the world from being plunged into eternal night.
The story
The film revolves around Jack, a pure being who must stop the Lord of Darkness who plots to cover the world with eternal night. The conflict begins when the Lord of Darkness sends the goblin Blix to kill the unicorns in the forest near his castle and bring him their horns. Blix and his colleagues target Princess Lili, who is visiting her lover, Jack O' the Green. After a tragic accident involving a unicorn and the theft of its horn, winter descends upon the land. Jack must then embark on a quest to recover the horn and save the realm from the encroaching darkness.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
To cast the world into eternal night, the Lord of Darkness sends the goblin Blix to capture unicorn horns. Blix and his companions target Princess Lili during her visit to her lover, Jack O' the Green. After Lili touches a unicorn, Blix shoots it with a poison dart, and the goblins steal its horn, causing a magical winter to fall. Lili hides in a cottage and learns she was used as bait. Meanwhile, Jack, joined by a group including the elf Honeythorn Gump and others, seeks the mare to find the stolen horn. They are eventually captured by the swamp hag Meg Mucklebones before reaching the castle. Inside, Jack's group faces various obstacles and encounters the goblin Blunder. Darkness offers Lili a marriage proposal, which she accepts only if she kills the mare during a ritual. Jack and his allies discover that Darkness can be destroyed by daylight. They use mirrors to reflect sunlight into the chamber as the ritual begins. Jack wounds Darkness with the stallion's horn, and as the sun sets, the light blasts him toward the void. Jack severs his hand, banishing him forever. The stallion is revived, the winter ends, and Jack and Lili are reunited.
- First release year
- 1985
- Runtime (minutes)
- 89
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Ridley Scott
- Writers
- William Hjortsberg · writer
- Cast and characters
- Tom Cruise · Jack; Mia Sara · Lili; Tim Curry · Darkness; David Bennent; Alice Playten; Billy Barty; Cork Hubbert
- Genres
- epic dark fantasy adventure; fantasy adventure; romantic fantasy
- Themes
- Good vs. Evil; Sacrifice; Innocence
- Tone and mood
- Dark; Epic; Whimsical
- Premise and plot tags
- Quest; Fantasy; Mythology; Fairytale
- Source material / true-story basis
- Original screenplay
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 30 · scale: 100 · review count: 11
- Awards and nominations
- British Society of Cinematographers Award · Best Cinematography · 1985 · Win; Academy Award · Best Makeup · 1985 · Nomination; Saturn Award · Best Makeup · 1985 · Nomination; BAFTA Awards · Best Costume Design · 1985 · Nomination; BAFTA Awards · Best Makeup Artist · 1985 · Nomination; BAFTA Awards · Best Special Visual Effects · 1985 · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film's set burned down during production, requiring a rebuild.; Tim Curry's makeup took over five hours to apply.; The film features two different soundtracks for its US and European releases.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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