Edmonds, Mike

The Dark Crystal

Jim Henson's fantasy epic The Dark Crystal doesn't take place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but like Star Wars it takes the audience to a place that exists only in the imagination and, for an hour and a half, on the screen. Recalling the worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, Henson tells the story of a race of grotesque birdlike lizards called the Skeksis, gnomish dragons who rule their fantastic planet with an iron claw. A prophecy tells of a Gelfling (a small elfin being) who will topple their empire, so in their reign of terror they have exterminated the race, or so they think. The orphan Jen, raised in solitude by a race of peace-loving wizards called the Mystics, embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal (which gives the Skeksis their power) and restore the balance of the universe. Henson and codirector Frank Oz have pushed puppetry into a new direction: traditional puppets, marionettes, giant bodysuits, and mechanical constructions are mixed seamlessly in a fantasy world of towering castles, simple huts, dank caves, a giant clockwork observatory, and a magnificent landscape that seem to have leaped off the pages of a storybook. Muppet fans will recognize many of the voice actors--a few characters sound awfully close to familiar comic creations--but otherwise it's a completely alien world made familiar by a mythic quest that resonates through stories over the ages. --Sean Axmaker

Legend (Ultimate Edition)

This strange, 1985 experiment by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) starred the up-and-coming Tom Cruise in a fairy-tale world of dwarfs and unicorns and demons. After the horn of a unicorn is broken, darkness and winter descend upon the world. Cruise's character, helped along by a magic sprite played by David Bennent (The Tin Drum), descends into hell to save paradise. This movie is almost a classic case of art direction gone amok. The somewhat amorphous Cruise doesn't lend much dramatic focus or artistic definition, but the drama between Tim Curry's satanic majesty and Mia Sara's character, who becomes a sort of princess of the netherworld, is pretty captivating. A mixed experience all around that makes one wish it had been more successful. --Tom Keogh

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Vista Series)

This zany, eye-popping, knee-slapping landmark in combining animation with live-action ingeniously makes that uneasy combination itself (and the history of Hollywood) its subject. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is based on classic L.A. private-eye movies (and, specifically, Chinatown), with detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) investigating a case involving adultery, blackmail, murder, and a fiendish plot to replace Los Angeles's once-famous Red Car public transportation system with the automobiles and freeways that would later make it the nation's smog capital. Of course, his sleuthing takes him back to the place he dreads: Toontown, the ghetto for cartoons that abuts Hollywood and that was the site of a tragic incident in Eddie's past. In addition to intermingling cartoon characters with live actors and locations, Roger Rabbit also brings together the greatest array of cartoon stars in the history of motion pictures, from a variety of studios (Disney, Warner Bros., MGM, Fleischer, Universal, and elsewhere): Betty Boop, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Woody Woodpecker, Droopy Dog, and more! And, of course, there's Maroon Cartoon's greatest star, Roger Rabbit (voice by Charles Fleischer), who suspects his ultracurvaceous wife, Jessica Rabbit (voice by Kathleen Turner: "I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way"), of infidelity. Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Contact), not since the early Looney Tunes' "You Oughtta Be in Pictures" has there been anything like Roger Rabbit. --Jim Emerson

It's 1947 Hollywood, and Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins), a down-on-his-luck detective, is hired to find proof that Marvin Acme, gag factory mogul and owner of Toontown, is playing hanky-panky with femme fatale Jessica Rabbit, wife of Maroon Cartoon superstar Roger Rabbit. When Acme is found murdered, all fingers point to Roger, and the sinister, power-hungry Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) is on a mission to bring Roger to justice. Roger begs the Toon-hating Valiant to find the real evildoer and the plot thickens as Eddie uncovers scandal after scandal and realizes the very existence of Toontown is at stake! WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT is deliciously outrageous fun the whole family will enjoy.

Legend

This strange, 1985 experiment by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) starred the up-and-coming Tom Cruise in a fairy-tale world of dwarfs and unicorns and demons. After the horn of a unicorn is broken, darkness and winter descend upon the world. Cruise's character, helped along by a magic sprite played by David Bennent (The Tin Drum), descends into hell to save paradise. This movie is almost a classic case of art direction gone amok. The somewhat amorphous Cruise doesn't lend much dramatic focus or artistic definition, but the drama between Tim Curry's satanic majesty and Mia Sara's character, who becomes a sort of princess of the netherworld, is pretty captivating. A mixed experience all around that makes one wish it had been more successful. --Tom Keogh

Time Bandits

Snow White

Mirror, mirror, on the wall who's the fairest storybook heroine of them all? Snow White! Sarah Patterson (The Company of Wolves) stars as the fabled slumbering beauty while Emmy winner* Diana Rigg ("The Avengers") serves up some "delicious comic villainy" (Variety) as the wicked stepmother who's consumed by vanity in this thrilling live-action adaptation of the classic Brothers Grimm tale. After her jealous stepmother (Rigg), the queen, tries to have her killed, Snow White (Patterson) runs away into the forest, where she finds refuge with seven kindly dwarves. But when thequeen discovers she's still alive, she decides to destroy her rival herself using clever disguises. Finally, a poisonous apple does the trickor so she thinks until the handsome prince arrives to save Snow White!

Sword of the Valiant - The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Fans of Sean Connery who are curious to see him explore roles outside of his usual heroic characters may enjoy his robust turn as the mythic Green Knight in this 1982 British-made fantasy. Based loosely on the classic epic poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," Connery is quite a sight as the glittering green figure, who challenges young Gawain (Miles O'Keefe of Tarzan the Ape Man infamy), a squire in King Arthur's court, to solve his riddle or lose his head. O'Keefe is a stiff Gawain, and the film suffers under its low budget and awkward comic moments, but Connery and the rest of the cast (which includes Trevor Howard as Arthur, John Rhys-Davies, Lila Kedrova, and Peter Cushing) are game and provide sufficient star power to keep fantasy-adventure fans distracted from the film's shortcomings. Writer-director Weeks also directed a version of this story in 1973, with Murray Head of Jesus Christ Superstar fame as Gawain. --Paul Gaita

Miles O'Keeffe (Tarzan, the Ape Man) and OscarÂ(r) winner* Sean Connery (First Knight) lead "an impressive cast" (Variety), including Peter Cushing, Trevor Howard and John Rhys-Davies, in this epic tale of swords and sorcery that will transport you and your family into realms of the fantastical and make you believe! Shrouded in magic and veiled in mystery, a phantom knight (Connery) thunders into King Arthur's fabled court. Speaking in rhymes and riddles, he goads the king's men into taking a dare. And when one of them, young and valiant Sir Gawain (O'Keeffe), bravely stands to defend the king's honor, he finds himself a pawn in the phantom knight's game a game that will lead him far beyond the kingdom of Camelot and ultimately take his life, if he cannot solve his opponent's riddle!

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

This zany, eye-popping, knee-slapping landmark in combining animation with live-action ingeniously makes that uneasy combination itself (and the history of Hollywood) its subject. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is based on classic L.A. private-eye movies (and, specifically, Chinatown), with detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) investigating a case involving adultery, blackmail, murder, and a fiendish plot to replace Los Angeles's once-famous Red Car public transportation system with the automobiles and freeways that would later make it the nation's smog capital. Of course, his sleuthing takes him back to the place he dreads: Toontown, the ghetto for cartoons that abuts Hollywood and that was the site of a tragic incident in Eddie's past. In addition to intermingling cartoon characters with live actors and locations, Roger Rabbit also brings together the greatest array of cartoon stars in the history of motion pictures, from a variety of studios (Disney, Warner Bros., MGM, Fleischer, Universal, and elsewhere): Betty Boop, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Woody Woodpecker, Droopy Dog, and more! And, of course, there's Maroon Cartoon's greatest star, Roger Rabbit (voice by Charles Fleischer), who suspects his ultracurvaceous wife, Jessica Rabbit (voice by Kathleen Turner: "I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way"), of infidelity. Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Contact), not since the early Looney Tunes' "You Oughtta Be in Pictures" has there been anything like Roger Rabbit. --Jim Emerson

The Chronicles of Narnia - The Silver Chair

On the run from bullies at school, Eustace and his friend Jill suddenly find themselves in the enchanted land of Narnia. Prince Rilian, son of the old and frail King Caspian, has disappeared mysteriously and Eustace and Jill are called upon to help. Aslan, the Great Lion king, sends the children on a quest through treacherous lands of witches and giants to locate Prince Rilian, heir to the Narnia throne, and bring him home. The Emerald Witch who rules the underworld will ensure that this is no easy feat.

Time Bandits (Criterion Collection Spine #37)

In Terry Gilliam's fantastic voyage through time and space, a young boy named Kevin (Craig Warnock) escapes his gadget-obsessed parents to join a band of time-traveling dwarves. Armed with a map stolen from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson), they plunder treasure from Napoleon (Ian Holm) and Agamemnon (Sean Connery)-but the Evil Genius (David Warner) is watching their every move! Featuring a darkly playful script by Gilliam and costar Michael Palin, Time Bandits is all at once giddy fairy tale, revisionist history lesson, and satire on technology gone awry.