Tangerine Dream

I have loved the movie Legend for most of my life. I mean it has everything you could ever want in a film; a young wide-eyed Cruise with long hair, a short tunic, and the belief that he would someday conquer the world; sweet Mia Sara who as Sloan in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and in my mind many, many times taught me what it was to be a man; and Tim Curry playing Darkness, who is perhaps the most metal incarnation of a Satan figure ever captured on film, and it’s Tim Curry, so even underneath all of the makeup you can catch glimpses of Wadsworth and Dr. Frank-n-Furter. So, I finally got around to watching the director’s cut of Legend this weekend. It restores several scenes that were cut, and perhaps most importantly, it nixes the Tangerine Dream score for the original (Note: The original score was only used for the European release.). Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the semi-prog-synth journey that is Tangerine Dream, but the other score really makes Legend a totally different movie. It restores a classic fairy tale quality to it that’s just not there in the other version. The added scenes also fill in some huge plot holes, and the less-than-super-happy ending is far superior to the original rush job that they pulled. Now, I’m not going to turn my back on the version that I have loved all of these years, but I will say that any fan of Legend really needs to check out the new cut.

Alright, that brings us to the subject of today. While I was watching the new Legend, I tried to figure out what my favorite fantasy movie of that era was. There are several that I believe are closely linked in style, tone, and awesomeness, but I just can’t settle on one. I have created a list, and I would like your votes. Oh, apologies to the Twins and I’m sure many others, because The Last Unicorn doesn’t make my list. I’m sorry. It’s a girl movie. There, I said it. I feel as though a huge weight has been lifted.

Here’s the list:

Labyrinth
It’s got Bowie. It’s also got a young Jennifer Connelly, who like Mia Sara had a huge impact on my youth. It has some bold songs, great puppets, and Hoggle. Hoggle, y’all.

Legend (either version)
I know many of you probably haven’t seen the version I covered today, but the original still kicks ass.

Krull
The Glave, the fire steeds, the Cyclops. Krull is underrated and sadly most people I know haven’t seen it. It rips off Tolkien at every corner, and I’m pretty sure it was made for coke money, bit it’s still truly bold.

The Never Ending Story
Oh Bastian, just say her damn name. The Nothing is coming, and that can’t be good (or can it Obadiah?) In order to stop the Nothing and save Fantasia, the dorkiest hero ever put on film must join forces with Atreyu and a ragtag band of special FX. This is a classic, and the fact that you can tell it’s poorly dubbed because it was originally made by some Eastern Europeans makes it even cooler.

The Dark Crystal
Oh man. This movie is still awesome. I think it’s the most dramatic of the lot, and I think it’s trying to answer the larger questions. It also has some of the greatest puppets ever created. However, it’s so hypnotic at times that it can lull you to sleep.

That’s the list. I know there are more out there, and feel free to bitch about stuff I left off, but please vote on the list as given, it will really help me out.