starring Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell
directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz
94 minutes
Jen, a Gelfling, is tasked by his dying master, one of the last of the Mystics, to find the missing piece of the Dark Crystal, the shard. He travels to the home of Aughra. She gives him the shard but before she can tell him what to do with it her home is invaded by the Garthium, the giant beetle-like servants of the evil Skeksis, and she is taken prisoner.
Jen escapes from Aughra's home with the shard. He meets Kira, another Gelfling. They are equally surprised to meet one another. They both thought they were the last of their kind. Together they find the ruins of an ancient Gelfling settlement and an inscription which tells them what they must do. The Dark Crystal needs to be healed and it is a Gelfling who must do it.
Jen and Kira are accosted on their trip more than once by the Chamberlain, a Skeksis who was thrown out by his brethren. They have a limited amount of time to complete their task. If they do not heal the Dark Crystal by the time the three suns shine as one then the Skeksis will become immortal and rule supreme.
Thoughts
I saw this in the theater when it was first released. I remember enjoying it. I think I must have seen it since then but it has been more than 20 and possibly more than 30 years since I last watched it. I didn't remember all the details but I remembered most of the film including many of the key scenes.
I watched this movie now because I am thinking about giving the Netflix Dark Crystal series a try. I also watched it because I wanted to revisit it and see how it held up to my memories of it. On the whole I think it held up quite well. It is very impressive. The story is fairly straight forward. There isn't a lot of nuance to it. What really makes it worth seeing is the visual effects, which are all practical.
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