Legend: very quickly
Aug. 30th, 2007 02:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreBecause I won't get to do the actual big post for a few days...
Legend is interesting because it's the forerunner for a few rather notable things. First of all, of course, it's one of Ridley Scott's earlier films and, even though it got severely watered down(I'm being nice...even though the movie we got is excellent, the difference between what Scott started with and what came out weas apparently enough to get him to swear off fantasy films forever because the studios at the time weren't willingly to invest in something of the scope he wanted for Legend) it has heavy influences on his later work, especially Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven, particularly in cinematography. Also, though much higher tech, a VERY large amount of the visuals and imagery in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is from Legend(when I first saw Fellowship of the Ring, there were several scenes that, in terms of visuals, almost seemed to be directly lifted from Legend. Don't get me wrong, this isn't remotely a slam against LOTR...half the things that make good movies good is taking what's come before and putting it to good use. And LOTR certainly isn't alone...there's a scene in Mirrormask where Helena transforms that is eerily similar to Lily's transformation in Legend, and the transformations share thematic and character progression similarities, too.
Then there's the final scene. Now, while I love Legend, it's not necessarily one of my absolute favorites...it's not in my top 10 movies but might hover around the top twenty. But the final scene? One of the best, most beautiful and romantic movie scenes ever, and there's barely any dialogue. In fact, the only dialogue is Jack's "I love you." It's about the beauty and innocence of youth and love and the young's idea of fairy tales, without letting you forget the darker reality. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a decent video of it on youtube, or I'd post it(all I found was one of those where someone pointed a video camera at their TV.) So instead, I bring you a video.
ETA: Also of note is that while Tom Cruise has a few other movies that I like, this is one of only 2 where I like Cruise himself. The other is The Last Samurai.
Legend is interesting because it's the forerunner for a few rather notable things. First of all, of course, it's one of Ridley Scott's earlier films and, even though it got severely watered down(I'm being nice...even though the movie we got is excellent, the difference between what Scott started with and what came out weas apparently enough to get him to swear off fantasy films forever because the studios at the time weren't willingly to invest in something of the scope he wanted for Legend) it has heavy influences on his later work, especially Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven, particularly in cinematography. Also, though much higher tech, a VERY large amount of the visuals and imagery in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is from Legend(when I first saw Fellowship of the Ring, there were several scenes that, in terms of visuals, almost seemed to be directly lifted from Legend. Don't get me wrong, this isn't remotely a slam against LOTR...half the things that make good movies good is taking what's come before and putting it to good use. And LOTR certainly isn't alone...there's a scene in Mirrormask where Helena transforms that is eerily similar to Lily's transformation in Legend, and the transformations share thematic and character progression similarities, too.
Then there's the final scene. Now, while I love Legend, it's not necessarily one of my absolute favorites...it's not in my top 10 movies but might hover around the top twenty. But the final scene? One of the best, most beautiful and romantic movie scenes ever, and there's barely any dialogue. In fact, the only dialogue is Jack's "I love you." It's about the beauty and innocence of youth and love and the young's idea of fairy tales, without letting you forget the darker reality. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a decent video of it on youtube, or I'd post it(all I found was one of those where someone pointed a video camera at their TV.) So instead, I bring you a video.
ETA: Also of note is that while Tom Cruise has a few other movies that I like, this is one of only 2 where I like Cruise himself. The other is The Last Samurai.
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Date: 2007-08-30 07:36 pm (UTC)Posting this, and the Labyrinth stuff(did you know there's a Manga based on Labyrinth?), made me remember that it's been a while since I tried to torture the danish editions out of my local DVD-pusher. And I know they excists! Needs to go and try... on... *thinks* Monday I guess^^
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Date: 2007-08-30 07:39 pm (UTC)and yes, you must have these on dvd...
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Date: 2007-08-30 07:47 pm (UTC)I will have these on DVD! Left my VHS(and Legend & Labyrinth) behind when I moved away from home. that was 3½ years ago...
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Date: 2007-08-31 12:29 pm (UTC)