[net.movies] The Dark Crystal, again

bukys (12/26/82)

"The Dark Crystal"

- has nice puppetry.  The major characters ("Gelflings") are an
unfortunate exception:  their faces are barely articulated.

- has visual beauty.  The minor characters and the scenery are
wonderfully alive.

- is a not a children's story, adult's story, or anybody's story.  The
scriptwriters have much to learn about fiction in general and fantasy
in particular.  *Choice* is the vital element of anything resembling a
battle of good and evil.  "The Dark Crystal" plows through its plot
without a single character making a decision.  It is completely
"event-driven", so to speak.  It may be that the technical people
forgot that effects should be subordinate to plot.

- is a "children's story", if by that you mean that children require
that the plot be transparent and without depth.  Everything that might
have been a surprise is given away twice, just in case you missed it
the first time.  A good children's story, on the other hand, opens up a
world-sized world, not a lunchpail-sized world (and without the
condescension of making the plot easy).

- is not "Tolkienesque".  Why is it that anything with a pointed ear
and no high technology is "Tolkienesque"?  Tolkien did not invent the
fantasy genre.  Please don't pick on him by claiming every piece of
fluff is on a par with his (sub)creation.  ~=  ;-}  ~=

All in all, nice to watch, but go to the cheap matinee.  I will be
waiting eagerly for a similar production of some *real* fantasy
fiction.

Liudvikas Bukys
...!seismo!rochester!bukys

lsk (12/28/82)

I agree -- the dark crystal is VISUALLY fascinating , but the plot is
TOTALLY lacking. 
About all I can say is that anyone who thinks the plot of the Dark Crystal
is good knows NOTHING about your basic sci-fi plot.

And, even with that, it is stated at the very beginning that the Gelfling
is fated to return the the shard to the crystal. And he does. And in a not
even very interesting way, either. Big deal. Definitely wait for it to come
to the cheap show places because the visuals are somewhat interesting.
But that's about it.
-Larry S. Kaufman
  Western Electric, Network Software Center