“TROUBLE IN FANTASYLAND”

By Raymond Benson

The excellent boutique label Arrow Video has issued a superb 2-disk Limited Edition Blu-ray package of Ridley Scott’s 1985 film, Legend (released in the U.S. in 1986).

Like another recent terrific Arrow Video release, David Lynch’s Dune, Scott’s Legend was a troubled production that experienced studio interference and a problematic worldwide release, received mixed to negative reviews from critics and audiences alike, and was relegated to the barrel of “expensive Hollywood failures” for decades—and yet it has a cult following of devoted fans.

Perhaps the most notorious reputation Legend has is that it existed in different cuts. Scott’s original cut was roughly 125 minutes, but the studio felt the picture needed shortening. It was trimmed to 113 minutes, which was ultimately Scott’s preferred cut. The picture’s music was composed and conducted by the great Jerry Goldsmith, who had overlain the fantasy with a classically orchestral score. The studio still felt that the movie ran too long, so further cuts were demanded, much to Scott’s chagrin. This “European cut,” at around 95 minutes, was released in the UK in late 1985. Reception wasn’t great, so the studio delayed the North American release to make a drastic change. Over Scott’s objections, they replaced Goldsmith’s score with a newly-commissioned one by the progressive electronic band, Tangerine Dream. A few minutes more were cut, and the U.S. release, at roughly 90 minutes, was released in spring 1986 with the new score. This time the reception was even worse.

Ridley Scott always maintained that his original cut of the film—with Goldsmith’s score—was the way Legend should be seen. Thus, in 2002, Legend received a re-release of Scott’s Director’s Cut of 113 minutes with Goldsmith’s score restored. This version was re-appraised and earned a more positive rating from critics and viewers. Interestingly, Scott has more Director’s Cuts of his films that are different from their theatrical releases than any other filmmaker, as pointed out in one of the disk’s supplements!

Legend is hard-fantasy, but it owes more to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream or Disney’s Fantasia than it does to, say, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Yes, there are fairies, goblins, elves, and dwarves in both visions of a fantasyland, but Legend has a more classical, old-myth feel. While Scott’s Director’s Cut is indeed a vast improvement over the shorter versions (European and U.S.), the picture still has flaws that prevent it from being the masterwork that Scott perhaps hoped it would be. That said, there is much to admire in Legend.

Visually, Legend is scrumptious, gorgeous, and fascinating. The production designs by Assheton Gordon and especially the makeup designs by Rob Bottin are extraordinary. The pastoral atmosphere and the moods evoked by the picture are effective and magical.

The acting? A young Tom Cruise plays Jack, a sort of Jack-in-the-Green fellow who is at one with the forest and its creatures. He fancies Princess Lili (Mia Sara), who is precocious and sets all the conflict of the story in motion by a careless act. (Oddly, all references to Lili being a princess are deleted from the U.S. theatrical release.) Tim Curry is magnificent behind all the makeup as the Prince of Darkness, a truly delicious villain. David Bennent (of The Tin Drum fame) is believable as an elf named Gump, although his voice is dubbed by Alice Playton.

The story is straightforward. Darkness wants to eliminate all light in the world by destroying the two unicorns in the forest, so he sends a troupe of goblins out to do the dirty deed, just as Jack is introducing the animals to Lili. One unicorn horn is hacked off and stolen, and the world is plunged into a deep freeze. Lili is eventually captured by Darkness (he has the hots for her, too), so it’s up to Jack, the elves, and a pair of dwarves to rescue her, retrieve the unicorn horn, and stop Darkness from accomplishing his goal.

It all works well enough, although the voices used for the goblins are ridiculously comical and are a detriment to the action. Once the action moves to Darkness’ realm, the picture picks up and becomes quite suspenseful. In the end, though, Legend just doesn’t reach the lofty target to which it aspired. One of the problems is that is seemed not to know what audience for whom it was aimed. Children? Adults? Teenagers? The studio arbitrarily decided it was the latter, which was one of the reasons the Tangerine Dream score replaced Goldsmith’s.

And what of the scores? The Tangerine Dream score is actually quite good—the band had already done several movie scores and were quite adept at it. It works with the theatrical version well enough. Nevertheless, the Jerry Goldsmith is far superior and fits the movie much better. This is classical fantasy, so a classical score is more appropriate.

The new Arrow Video Limited Edition 2-Disk package contains the U.S. theatrical release (with the Tangerine Dream score) and Scott’s Director’s Cut (with Jerry Goldsmith’s score), both beautifully restored in 2K. They both have DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround audio, and optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired. The theatrical cut has an audio commentary by Paul M. Sammon (author of Ridley Scott: The Making of His Movies). The Director’s Cut features an audio commentary by Scott himself. There are isolated music and effects tracks for the theatrical release.

Supplements abound. New featurettes include a documentary on the film featuring interviews with several key crew members and cast member Annabelle Lanyon (who plays Oona the sprite); an excellent two-part documentary on the two scores; a featurette examining the various versions of the film; and a two-part featurette on the movie’s creatures. Vintage supplements include a 2003 documentary on Ridley Scott; a 2002 documentary on the making of the film; original promotional featurettes; deleted scenes; alternate scenes; storyboard galleries; two drafts of the screenplay (!) by William Hjortsberg; alternate footage from the overseas release; trailers, TV spots, and image galleries. The package also contains a wonderfully illustrated booklet with writing on the film by Nicholas Clement, Kat Ellinger, and Simon Ward, plus archive materials and more. There’s a two-sided poster with new artwork by Neil Davies and the original by John Alvin, a pack of glossy full-color photographs by Annie Leibovitz, and double-sided postcards that are lobby card reproductions. The jewel case comes with a reversible sleeve of both artworks.

Legend is likely of interest to fans of Ridley Scott, Tom Cruise, and the fantasy genre, but it is especially informative and revelatory in terms of Hollywood history and how studios and artists often clash in the realization of a marketable vision. Hats off to Arrow Video!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON