Force Fed Films: "The Dark Crystal" (1982)

“The Dark Crystal” is one of the many movies that is a must see children’s film. And because this movie was made in the early 80’s, it is one of the many that I’ve missed out on. Thankfully Jim was gracious enough to force this movie onto me today. I was actually surprised to see that Jim Henson directed, produced, wrote and even played some of these characters. But after watching it, this all makes sense. You’ll catch what I mean after the jump.




Easily the most enjoyable part of the movie is the world that we are set in. In this mystical planet of Thra, a dark and evil time rules the world. This was all caused when the Urskeks broke a shard off the magical Dark Crystal. The terrible and crude Skeksis’ rule the world and bring only despair to the other living creatures of Thra. It is up to one of the last Gelflings, Jen, to stop the 1000 year streak of pain and misery to all that aren’t Skeksis. But his quest is not without its challenges. He has to face the most gruesome and wretched monsters such as the Garthim and of course the Skeksis. His quest is simple, find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal and return it to its rightful place, all before the three suns meet. If he succeeds, than the world is right again. If not, all hope is lost. Talk about unforgiving pressure.

Some of the creatures are just so damn cute.

The story just sets up a wonderful universe for everyone to enjoy, kids and adults. We run into all these different creatures, and introduced briefly into their history. I have always loved that about fantasy movies; getting thrown into a universe I’m new too and being introduced to all new societies and cultures. And because of this, the art had the full ability to be super wacky and over the top. But that is what made it so wonderful. I loved looking at the wonderful scenery and the creative characters.

Talking about the characters and creatures of this movie, I have to express my love for all the wacky critters I saw on screen. I did not really care for the Gelflings (even though they were the main characters). What really made me cringe like a PETA member in a slaughter house were the Skeksis. They were these weird lizard/vulture hybrids that were ugly as sin. But to top it all off, they were outfitted with Victorian Era clothing. I guess you can say it was ugly class, kind of like picking your nose with your pinky up. But this just shows how awesome the character designs were. Though my favourite critter was the Fizzgig, which was sort of like a dog but a lot cuter.

And others are hideously ugly, but in the good sense.

What sort of threw me off was how dark this movie was. As much as this seems like a kid’s movie, it really isn’t. There are scenes of mass genocide by the Skeksis, the end of the world and in-your-face murders happening. And those might not even be the darkest moment of the movie. I got shivers when I saw one of the Podlings getting its life essence sucked right out of it to make it into a slave. Its face shrivelled up and hair flaked off turning white in the process, talk about a disturbing idea.

Even though every aspect of the movie is phenomenal, from the characters, the story and the amazing puppets, I never seemed to enjoy this movie all that much. I’m not sure what it is. I never felt that charm I do with other 80’s family movies. I’m still scratching my head figuring out what I did not like about this movie, and I can’t think of one good reason. Yet, I’m not sure why I don’t find this movie absolutely amazing. Maybe I had to have seen this as a child so there is a bit of nostalgia with me when I see it again when I’m older. Or maybe I have a terrible sense of movies; the latter is more likely. I just didn’t enjoy this movie as much as Jim had when he described to me his love for “Dark Crystal”. I actually kind of feel disappointed that I didn’t enjoy it all that much. But then again I always have terrible b-list movies to bathe in.