The subject of this week’s DVD Darkplace is a personal favourite from my childhood, Jim Henson’s Dark Crystal. Released in 1982, predating the more successful Labyrinth by four years, the movie flopped financially for a number of reasons, one being it had the same opening weekend as Spielberg’s E.T. However over the years the movie has gained a cult following and seems to leave an impression on anyone who sees it during their formative years.
Like a lot of family films The Dark Crystal took its story straight from the same well spring that Tolkien and the Stars Wars trilogy took theirs from. Jen is the last of his race and he must quest to find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal to defeat the evil Skeksis, save the world, and get the girl. It’s essentially Lord of the Rings crossed with the Muppet Show.
uUnlike a lot of family films, it doesn’t shy away from occasionally scaring the shit of the kids. The Skeksis, for a start, are hideous, vulture like creatures that torture and kill other cuter puppets for their own amusement. But they are nothing compared to their henchmen, the Garthim; huge half crab, half spider type monsters that even at the supposedly mature age of 22 still give me the creeps. I don’t know if they are entirely to blame for my arachnophobia but I’m sure they didn’t help.
Re-watching this movie you realise just how charming the world that Jim Henson and (conceptual designer) Brian Froud created is. The visuals are stunning and have the kind of imaginative quality that children latch onto and never let go of.
Obviously all this wouldn’t really mean anything if the story wasn’t any good. While of course the good vs. evil plotline is a staple of almost any movie ever, The Dark Crystal has more to it than that, introducing kids to ideas like duality and sacrifice. This movie makes children smarter. Fact.
Now with all this said it pains me to admit that it isn’t as good as I remember it, but then it was never going to be. While it’s still enjoyable as an adult, I’ve lost that innocence (massive cliché I know) that made this film, along with The Never Ending Story, Princess Bride, and The Labyrinth, such a big part of my childhood. This doesn’t really matter, because I’m sure this film still has the power to enthral and thrill kids even today. That’s the films real power. One thing’s for sure, if I ever have kids, Pixar can fuck off, Dark Crystal all the way.
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