The Dark Crystal has become something of a cult classic over the years, up there with ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ and ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. Produced in 1982 it used ground breaking animatronics in a film that, although described as a family film, is quite dark, especially when you consider that the directors were Jim Henson, creator of ‘The Muppets’ and Frank Oz, famous for puppeteering and voicing Jedi Master Yoda. That being said of course, this was the decade that gave us ‘The Neverending Story’ and the ‘The Princess Bride’, so it is in good company, when it comes to dark fantasy films marketed at families.
The film has a run time of about ninety-three minutes, each of those minutes is action packed and exciting, however for the uninitiated amongst you, you may, in all probability, find yourselves wondering what the hell is going on for at least the first twenty, when you watch it for the first time. This is entirely normal and I say stick with it, you may be pleasantly surprised.
It’s the 80s, it’s a fantasy film, it goes without saying that the premise of the story will be cheesy and the film doesn’t disappoint. The story revolves around two orphaned Gelflings, sweet elf like creatures, Jen and Kira, the last of their kind, their species wiped out by the villainous Skeksis. The Skeksis, who are best described as a cross between a vulture and a lizard are the rulers of the mythical world of Thra. It is a corrupted and dying planet and Jen is tasked with healing the Dark Crystal and restoring the balance, assisted by Kira and her deceptively cute looking pet Fizzgig, who looks like he has just stepped out of an episode of The Muppets. An adorable fluff ball, provided you don’t make him angry.
As is to be expected in a Jim Henson production, the puppets and the costumes are superb. The creatures are well fleshed out with their own looks and language. The filmmakers also used a good balance of puppetry and performance by human actors to make the characters move as naturally as possible. The sets are incredibly detailed and colourful, from the Podling village, to the castle home of the Skeksis, in every scene each corner of the screen has something going on. If you enjoy fantasy films, you certainly won’t be bored.
The writing isn’t fantastic but the story is entertaining enough that you can probably forgive the shortcomings. It may simply be coincidence; but it seemed that bits of the Star Wars franchise appeared to have made their way into the script, not to mention the similarities of the swamp scenes of Thra and the planet of Dagobah in ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, which came out only two years earlier. Another similarity comes quite early on in the film in a scene between Jen and his master, a member of the urRu, a race of mystics. It is very reminiscent of the scenes between the young Luke Skywalker and Yoda.
Like the cheesy album you have hidden in your music collection, The Dark Crystal is a guilty pleasure, a psychedelic, fantasy caper and undeniably entertaining. Finally, after a cancelled sequel back in the mid-2010s, the Dark Crystal is making a comeback in a prequel television series entitled ‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’, now available on Netflix.
