HTF Blu-ray Review: The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal

• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

• Theatrical Release Year: 1982

• US DVD Release Date: September 29, 2009

• Rated: PG

• Running Time: 93 minutes

• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic

• Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English, French, Portuguese), Dolby Digital 5.1 (Spanish)

• Subtitles: English, English (SDH), French, Spanish, Portuguese

Movie: 3.5 out of 5

In 1982, Jim Henson (with Muppets partner Frank Oz) directed what was at the time a groundbreaking film, a story told entirely through complex puppetry. As The Dark Crystal begins, we are told through narration that long ago the Crystal of Truth, which controls the forces of nature, was cracked, causing devastation throughout the land and splitting the race known as the urSkeks into two races, the evil lizard-like Skeksis and the good turtle-like Mystics. The Skeksis discover an ancient prophecy promising the restoration of the crystal by a Gelfling (the closest creature to a human) during the Great Conjunction (when the planet’s three suns are aligned), and exterminate all of the Gelflings, or so they believed.

As the Great Conjunction approaches, one of the last remaining Gelflings, Jen (performed by Jim Henson), is given the task of finding the missing shard and repairing the crystal by the Mystics, who raised and protected him. On his quest, he meets up with Aughra (performed by Frank Oz), an astrologer who happens to have the missing shard in her possession. With the shard in hand, Jen continues his quest to the Dark Crystal, and meets Kira, a female Gelfling. Meanwhile, the Mystics begin their agonizingly slow journey to the Dark Crystal. Eventually, Jen arrives to fulfill his destiny and restore both the Crystal and the land.

As a movie, The Dark Crystal is often more style than substance, a great feast for the eyes. What Henson and his creature shop were able to create are astonishing, even today. The storyline is rather dark and perhaps a bit too intellectual for a younger audience, and I was more appreciative of it on this recent viewing, my first time since its theatrical debut 27 years ago. My only complaint is the film’s pacing, which at times moves as slow as the Mystics themselves. When I first received this disc for review, I thought the 93 minute running time was a misprint, as I remembered this film running closer to 2 ½ hours. But alas, my teenage memory had more to do with the pacing than the actual running time.

Video: 4 out of 5

This is yet another first-rate 1080p transfer from Sony using the AVC codec and framed in the film’s original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Colors are well saturated, blacks are inky, and the detail is absolutely stunning. The print does have some occasional dirt and scratches, but these are minor and usually appear as part of the optical effects used in the film. Grain is apparent, but not distracting, providing a nice theatrical, film-like appearance.

Audio: 4 out of 5

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is a treat to listen to, immersing you into this strange world thanks to a very active surround mix. Dialogue is intelligible, and overall the track has exceptional fidelity for a mix that is almost 30 years old, with good use of LFE.

Special Features: 3.5 out of 5

Most of the special features from prior DVD releases have been ported over, along with a few Blu-ray exclusives.

Storyboard Picture-in-Picture Track: Storyboards, pre-production sketches, and concept artwork are displayed in a window in the lower right corner as you watch the movie.

The Book of Thra – The Dark Crystal Collector: While viewing the film in this mode, you can collect items to be read later from the main menu. All of the items are text-based, and rather general in nature.

ShekTek’s Crystal Challenge: While watching the film, questions will appear on the screen which can be answered by clicking on the correct answer with your remote. When the movie ends, your score will be revealed. When attempting to play this game, you must watch the entire film or exit the game prematurely. You cannot skip or scan through the film.

Commentary with Conceptual Designer Brian Froud: Froud discusses the early concepts of the movie, some of the mythological themes explored in the film, audience reactions to the film over the years, and memories of working with the late Jim Henson.

Original Skeksis Language – Test Scenes: In an introduction by screenwriter David Odell, he explains that, originally, all of the creatures in the film, except the Gelflings, spoke their own language, using pantomime to convey what they were saying. After test screenings where younger audience members had a hard time understanding what the characters were saying, Odell had to write English dialogue to match the mouth movements from the puppeteers. Seven scenes are included with the originally intended language intact. The quality of these scenes are very poor, obviously from an analogue tape source, but it is nice to see these included to get a sense of what Jim Henson had originally envisioned.

Deleted Funeral Scenes: The complete Emperor Funeral and Mystic Funeral scenes are presented, from the same analogue tape source as the Skeksis Language scenes.

The World of The Dark Crystal: The original, hour-long featurette on the making of the film from 1982.

Reflections of The Dark Crystal: Presented in two parts (Light on the Path of Creation and Shard of Illusion), these two featurettes, originally produced for the 25^thAnniversary DVD release, combines archival footage with more recent interviews with Brian Henson, Bran Froud, David Odell, Jane Gootnick, and David Goelz.

BD-Live: As with most Sony Blu-ray releases, this disc is Blu-ray enabled, providing access to Sony’s BD-Live portal. At press time, only the trailers for Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal were available for download in either standard or high definition.

Overall: 4 out of 5

The Dark Crystal has never looked or sounded better, and the inclusion of most, if not all, of the special features from the previous DVD releases make this a worthy upgrade.