Even worse then you remember. George Lucas, from his ‘where’d the Zeitgeist go’ period, stole only from the best coming up with this ‘original’ story: Tolkien’s Hobbits for the brave little man on a mission to save the world; Jehovah for that Moses in the rushes escapade; endangered Princess on the lam from Evil Queen straight out of SNOW WHITE; why he even steals from himself with facsimiles of C-3PO and R2-D2 transformed as teeny-tiny chattering comic helpmates. More STAR WARS fingerprints forced on director Ron Howard with those old-fashioned ‘wipe-edits.’ Too bad this does nothing to camouflage what’s missing in story, character or poorly executed set pieces. Or is that second unit stuff, with even the simplest cause-and-effect edits consistently blown? But there’s no mistaking the Howard touch in over-indulged reaction shots to cue audience response. Even that little baby gets the treatment. Meanwhile barely adequate special effects land only a half step up from Disney house-style of the period, and James Horner’s distinctive composing voice settles for copycat John Williams. A major disappointment at the time, the film is now getting a reboot as a streaming series Coming Soon to Disney+. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Strikingly bad acting, especially from the ‘little people.’ Though as our vain-glorious hero Val Kilmer may be equally bad, prancing about in an attempt at comic effect, but such a striking physical presence at the time, it hardly matters. Up there with Brad Pitt & Keanu Reeves, and, shockingly, barely four years older than either. He’s the only reason to watch.
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