Out of all the Fantasy films I have ever seen, they pale in comparison to The Dark Crystal. Nearly everyone has one movie or story that moves them deeply and really means something to them and holds tight onto their heartstrings throughout their life. For me, this movie is The Dark Crystal. I can't remember a time when I did not know about The Dark Crystal, as I was a toddler when I first saw it. I cannot remember the first time I saw the movie, but it has always resonated inside of me as one of the most amazing stories I have ever seen in a movie, book or otherwise. Even at the young ages of 3 and 4 I adored this movie, in spite of things which might be considered too frightening for a toddler this movie always held me completely entranced. Unlike the majority of fantasy films created which borrow substance from ancient mythology, or great writers like Tolkein, The Dark Crystal alone created an entirely new world of fantasy for the movie to take place in. This is a fantasy film with no dragons, elves, dwarves, goblins or unicorns. Instead we have unique creations like the gelflings, skeksis, mystics, garthim and podlings. Ridiculously underrated, and underappreciated, this movie was a result of the amazing partnership of artist Brian Froud and the late Jim Henson. Henson created the story, and Froud brought the world to life. The story is your classic fight between good-verses-evil, with a slight twist. However the thing about The Dark Crystal that makes the story so powerful, is the amazing artistry behind it all and the complete immersive quality of the world it takes place in. The Dark Crystal, is a powerful magical device that the wise Urskeks use to make their world beautiful and perfect. A thousand years ago the crystal was cracked, and the Urskeks were split, turned into two separate races. The Mystics who are wise and gentle, and the Skeksis who are cruel and ambitious. It was prophesized that the crystal would be healed by the hand of a Gelfling, a race of peaceful elfin-creatures. And so the Skeksis decided to rid the world of Gelflings and engage in a genocidal hunt to murder them all. However, two gelfling survive, the hero Jen who is raised by the Mystics, and the heroine Kyra who is saved by the Pod People. Jen is told by his dying master that he must find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal and unite it with the whole crystal so that the world can be peaceful once more. Along the way, Jen meets Kyra who accompanies him on his quest to heal the Dark Crystal. Without a drop of CGI, Henson and Froud managed to create a new world entirely out of puppets, paintings and animatronics. The amount of work that was put into this movie is staggering. From the smallest rodent seen scurrying quickly through a scene, to the gorgeous grotesqueness of the skeksis, every creation in this movie is beautiful. You are never distracted by thinking, "Oh look at those puppets", simply because the environment is so complete and convincing. There is nothing "puppety" about this movie. It's movies like this that make me hang my head in shame when I see poorly done CGI that does not properly blend in with its real surroundings. It is a pity that it is more common in these days for people to use cheap CGI that looks unconvincing rather than taking the time and money to create amazing special effects through makeup, animatronics and puppetry that can be much more effective. It is a shame that Jim Henson never saw this amazing work of art given the appreciation it deserved. In my opinion, it is the best Fantasy Film ever created.
Review of The Dark Crystal
