Willow (1988)

[SamT]

Title: Willow (1988)

Tagline: Adventure doesn't come any bigger than this.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, Patricia Hayes, Billy Barty, Pat Roach, Gavan O'Herlihy, David J. Steinberg, Phil Fondacaro, Mark Northover, Tony Cox, Kevin Pollak, Rick Overton, Maria Holvoe, Julie Peters, Dawn Downing, Mark Vande Brake, Zulema Dene, Ruth Greenfield, Kate Greenfield, Kenny Baker, Ashley C. Williams, Michael Cotterill, Joanna Dickens, Jennifer Guy, Ron Tarr, Jack Purvis, Sallyanne Law, Robert Gillibrand, Fred Wood, Gerald Staddon, David Sibley, Craig Salisbury, Bob Ramsey, Nosher Powell, Greg Powell, Nathan Phillips, Stéphanie Lhorset, Arnold Lee, Cheryl Howard, Andrew Herd, Raymond Griffiths, Owain Griffiths, Rusty Goffe, John Ghavan, Valerie Gale, Margarita Farrell, Malcolm Dixon, Samantha Davis, Kim Davis, John Cumming, Gerry Crampton, Sadie Corre, Willie Coppen, Kenneth Coombs, Peter Burroughs, Hayley Burroughs, Alan Bennett, Michael Henbury Ballan, Edwin Alofs, Paul Markham

Release: 1988-05-20

Runtime: 126

Plot: The evil Queen Bavmorda hunts the newborn princess Elora Danan, a child prophesied to bring about her downfall. When the royal infant is found by Willow, a timid farmer and aspiring sorcerer, he's entrusted with delivering her from evil.

 

[SamT]

Yes you are not crazy, there was no Willow thread!

Rewatched this after a long time. Absolutely great music.

I had forgotten Sorsha was one of the bad guys. There is no good explanation on why she switches sides and leaves her evil ways.

 

[Joe Wong]

I had forgotten Sorsha was one of the bad guys. There is no good explanation on why she switches sides and leaves her evil ways.

Same reason Pussy Galore changed sides in Goldfinger?

A man’s charm goes a long way!

 

[SamT]

He showed no charm to her. He clearly later said he was under influence to her and said he hated her. For her to suddenly go after someone who isn't even trying or nice to her was very abrupt.

 

[Joe Wong]

He showed no charm to her. He clearly later said he was under influence to her and said he hated her. For her to suddenly go after someone who isn't even trying or nice to her was very abrupt.

But perhaps she found it charming? Or appealing?

Note that I agree with you in terms of the abrupt change. That's why I added the Goldfinger example with an emoji.

 

[Malcolm R]

Broads.

 

[benbess]

I missed this movie back in 1988, because the lukewarm reviews and the poster just didn't quite appeal to my jaded self of that time. Finally caught up with it last night with my wife, and we liked it, even though it was quite goofy at times, and there seemed to be narrative issues talked about above that weren't really figured out. Boy, it sure looked expensive. Back in 1988 $35 million or so was a lot, and Lucasfilm/ILM put its whole resources into this epic. Homages to Harryhausen, Adventures of Robin Hood, Lord of the Rings, etc., etc, abound, and are fun to recognize. We watched it to get ready to watch the new show. Good score by James Horner.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I missed this movie back in 1988, because the lukewarm reviews and the poster just didn't quite appeal to my jaded self of that time. Finally caught up with it last night with my wife, and we liked it, even though it was quite goofy at times, and there seemed to be narrative issues talked about above that weren't really figured out. Boy, it sure looked expensive. Back in 1988 $35 million or so was a lot, and Lucasfilm/ILM put its whole resources into this epic. Homages to Harryhausen, Adventures of Robin Hood, Lord of the Rings, etc., etc, abound, and are fun to recognize. We watched it to get ready to watch the new show. Good score by James Horner.

I've got to watch it again. At the time it came out it was not at all in my wheelhouse. Just not a genre I was into. Now, I watch pictures like this and often really enjoy them. Right now I am revisiting the films of Sidney Lumet and mixing in some of this fantasy stuff. Odd combination I know, but variety is the spice of life.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

For her to suddenly go after someone who isn't even trying or nice to her was very abrupt.

Come on, Sam, a woman changing her mind at the drop of a hat, this is totally believable.

 

[David_B_K]

Good score by James Horner.

The main heroic theme of the score was derived from the first movement of Schumman's Symphony # 3 "Rhenish". Always annoyed me.

 

[SamT]

Wow, you are right. But John Williams did that too. His masterpiece Oscar winner score for Star Wars has a bit by bit copy from Gustav Holst - The Planets. That has bothered me so much.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

"Willow" was one of those "thought it would be great but found the end result just meh" movies of the 80s - in the same league as stuff like "Goonies" and "Labyrinth".

Generally good movies, but given the talent, expected more.

Still feel the same about all 3. Watchable but inconsistent and just kinda meh.

Caveat: I was 18-21 when those movies hit screens. If I'd been 10 years younger, I would probably view them differently.

Not that I didn't appreciate/enjoy those sorts of movies at 18-21 - I did.

But I think those 3 worked better for younger kids than did the blockbusters of the era like "Back to the Future" or "Roger Rabbit".

 

[Joe Wong]

"Willow" was one of those "thought it would be great but found the end result just meh" movies of the 80s - in the same league as stuff like "Goonies" and "Labyrinth".

Generally good movies, but given the talent, expected more.

Still feel the same about all 3. Watchable but inconsistent and just kinda meh.

Caveat: I was 18-21 when those movies hit screens. If I'd been 10 years younger, I would probably view them differently.

Not that I didn't appreciate/enjoy those sorts of movies at 18-21 - I did.

But I think those 3 worked better for younger kids than did the blockbusters of the era like "Back to the Future" or "Roger Rabbit".

Another one in this class is Gremlins - fun and entertaining, but for me, not a full-blown comedy nor a full-blown horror film. I actually liked the sequel more - it was hilarious!

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Of the listed 80s fantasy movies, I'd definitely posit that Willow was probably the least compelling. Outside of Val Kilmer as Han Solo Madmartigan, there just wasn't much there. I think The Goonies, Gremlins, and Labyrinth were all noticeably more successfully at achieving their goals. I rewatched Willow (for the most part...there was some skipping ahead) during COVID, and it has not aged nearly as well as those other three films. The fact that it is sort of trodding the same path as LOTR doesn't help its case. While Howard is a very good director (now), he was pretty rough around the edges here.

 

[Joe Wong]

Of the listed 80s fantasy movies, I'd definitely posit that Willow was probably the least compelling. Outside of Val Kilmer as Han Solo Madmartigan, there just wasn't much there. I think The Goonies, Gremlins, and Labyrinth were all noticeably more successfully at achieving their goals. I rewatched Willow (for the most part...there was some skipping ahead) during COVID, and it has not aged nearly as well as those other three films. The fact that it is sort of trodding the same path as LOTR doesn't help its case. While Howard is a very good director (now), he was pretty rough around the edges here.

For me, I was underwhelmed by Willow because it had held such promise and potential. Made by Lucasfilm, directed by Ron Howard (I still think Splash is my favourite Ron Howard film!), and it looked fun! But the story was creaky and the first half was slow, while the action-packed 2nd half couldn't quite redeem it.

To be fair, I don't think there were many fantasy movies that was using the LOTR template (quests, party of adventurers, dragons, quests, elves, dwarves, wizards, quests, etc.) before Willow came along. So I give it points for trying, but the execution was lacking.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Another one in this class is Gremlins - fun and entertaining, but for me, not a full-blown comedy nor a full-blown horror film. I actually liked the sequel more - it was hilarious!

"Gremlins" was dark and cynical enough to work for older "kids". I was 17 in 1984 and liked it.

It was a movie that could appeal to pre-teens but it wasn't made for pre-teens - unlike the 3 I mentioned.

I also like the sequel better, though I didn't feel that way in 1990 - I was severely disappointed when I first saw "New Batch".

But that's a case where the sequel was so different from the original that I needed a couple viewings to accept it on its own merits.

Same as "Back to the Future 2" - it's a definite departure from the first one, and I hated it on initial viewing.

This doesn't mean I want sequels to essentially remake their predecessors, but some just go in such different directions that they can be off-putting... at initial glance, at least.

 

[Joe Wong]

"Gremlins" was dark and cynical enough to work for older "kids". I was 17 in 1984 and liked it.

It was a movie that could appeal to pre-teens but it wasn't made for pre-teens - unlike the 3 I mentioned.

I also like the sequel better, though I didn't feel that way in 1990 - I was severely disappointed when I first saw "New Batch".

But that's a case where the sequel was so different from the original that I needed a couple viewings to accept it on its own merits.

Same as "Back to the Future 2" - it's a definite departure from the first one, and I hated it on initial viewing.

This doesn't mean I want sequels to essentially remake their predecessors, but some just go in such different directions that they can be off-putting... at initial glance, at least.

I had a similar initial feeling for BTTF2… I loved the first half when they’re in the future… but the 2nd half was pretty dark! And the cliffhanger didn’t leave one with a “happy” or “giddy” feeling on leaving the cinema.

But I love what it tried to do, which was expand and introduce new time travel dilemmas, rather than repeat the original. And I think it’s underrated because of the more complex (and maybe more confusing) plot and the cliffhanging finish. But I really enjoyed the paradoxes and conundrums it introduced. BTTF3 (which I also really like!) is the follow-up that hews more closely to the original in terms of plot structure.

I loved Gremlins 2 because it went all out in its comedy… and it had a certain meta-ness (including making fun of the original) that was refreshing.

I’d rather sequels these days to advance the story rather than just be more of the same (Home Alone 2 being the classic example). Of course, it can’t veer too far or it will lose fans who liked what the original offered. So there’s a fine line where it needs to have something new, while maintaining some of the qualities that made the original popular.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I had a similar initial feeling for BTTF2… I loved the first half when they’re in the future… but the 2nd half was pretty dark! And the cliffhanger didn’t leave one with a “happy” or “giddy” feeling on leaving the cinema.

Oh man - I did NOT expect a "non-ending". I was so mad the stupid movie literally ended with a trailer for the next one!

"BTTF2" is still my least fave of the 3 but I definitely like it much more than I did in 1989.

 

[Bryan^H]

I probably would have loved Willow more if George Lucas tried harder to make it different than Star Wars. Character, and story structure were so similar.

Brownies - R2 D2, 3PO (two funny characters out of their element)
Madmatigan-Han Solo
Willow -Luke Skywalker
Sorsha, Bavmorda -Vader(heel turn), Emperor
Fin Raziel-Obi Wan
Arik-Lando
General Kael-Darth Vader(scary big guy)

Tir Asleen-Alderaan
Bar-Cantina
Castle Nokmaar-Death Star
Forest-Endor
Snow mountain-Hoth

 

[Tino]

I loved every corny derivative minute of it!