The Dark Crystal - A forgotten classic

The Dark Crystal is the brainchild of Muppets-creator Jim Henson. Yes, he's best known for creating Kermit and Miss Piggy, but, judging by his impressive body of other work, there's more to him than just chasing chickens with meat cleavers.

The Dark Crystal is an amazing film that's never really achieved mainstream status. It wasn't helped when it was released in the cinema up against ET, so it could never compete with such hype. It's set on a far away planet where a pair of `gelflings' (think innocent fairy-type creatures) must repair the titular Dark Crystal and send an evil race of creatures to their doom.

The Dark Crystal is often compared to Labyrinth (and you can also buy the pair on a double-disc set), but, apart from both of them being fantasy films starring Jim Henson's puppets, I really think they're very different films. Labyrinth is more cheesy, with its dance numbers and comic relief. The Dark Crystal has none of that. It's played straight all the way. Don't expect any laughs here. In fact, there are some downright disturbing and creepy moments (drinking people's `essence' comes to mind).

I would say that the film is perfect in every way, but, despite its brilliant (and incredibly lifelike) puppets and sets, in my opinion it has one major drawback - the two central characters - the gelflings themselves. Every secondary creature is brilliantly created and comes across as real beings. We either love or hate them accordingly, able to forget that they aren't real. But not the gelflings. Not only do they look and move like Thunderbirds without any knee or elbow joints, but the vocal artists don't seem to be able to inject much life into them.

However, that's just my personal small gripe. I still think it's a classic. It's possibly best viewed by those who saw and loved it during its release in the eighties. I expect there are a fair amount of children who only want to watch CGI films and may see this as outdated. But, as a parent, I'd still put it on for them anyway - show them how `proper' films were made in our day!

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one