The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal
"When single shines the triple sun, What was sundered and undone Shall be whole, the two made one By Gelfling hand or else by none."
Genre: Dark fantasy Adventure Directed by: Jim Henson Frank Oz Produced by: Jim Henson Gary Kurtz Written by: Jim Henson (story) David Odell(screenplay) Starring: Stephen Garlick Lisa Maxwell Billie Whitelaw Percy Edwards Music by: Trevor Jones Distributed by: Universal Pictures Associated Film Distribution (United States) United International Pictures (United Kingdom) Release date: December 13, 1982 (New York City) December 17, 1982 (United States) February 17, 1983 (United Kingdom) Country: United States United Kingdom Budget: $25 million or £25 million Box office: $41.4 million Franchise: The Dark Crystal Prequel: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Sequel: The Power of the Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal is a 1982 dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company and distributed by Universal Pictures.

The film spawned a 2017 comic book sequel called The Power of the Dark Crystal, which is followed by a 2018 sequel, Beneath the Dark Crystal.

An Emmy Award-winning prequel television series, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, premiered on Netflix in 2019 and lasted for one season.

Why It Has Been Whole by Gelfling Hand

1. Just like how Disney did with The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Black Cauldron, and Return to Oz, Jim Henson did an excellent job of making this movie rather dark-toned while still being aimed at children.
   • While unusual for Henson to make it a mature-toned film since he's known for making lighthearted, family-friendly franchises such as The Muppets and Sesame Street, that move is still widely praised by fans of the dark fantasy genre and Henson's works.
2. Memorable characters such as Jen, Kira, the urRu, and the Skeksis, all of which have fairly interesting character designs that befit the film's aesthetic.
3. Speaking of the Skeksis, they're very terrifying, yet extremely convincing villains that are on par with Darkness from Legend.
   • Not to mention, they happen to be some of the most fan-favorite cinema villains of all time.
4. Great storyline and character development overall.
5. Wonderful music courtesy of Trevor Jones. As a matter of fact, he even wrote the baby Landstrider theme in honor of his newborn daughter.
6. Despite being mostly dark-toned, there's some lighthearted and touching moments here and there.
7. Amazing puppetry that has aged very well, as expected from a Jim Henson movie.
8. Great voice work.
9. Fantastic cinematography through and through.
10. Powerful, memorable quotes such as "We are beings of peace, not war" and "What was sundered and undone shall be whole - the two made one".
11. Good ending: After Jen puts the shard back into the crystal, the Podlings regained their vitality and the urRu merged with the Skeksis into urSkeks, who revive Kira (after she was initially killed by the High Preist) and rejuvenate Thra back to normal.
12. As mentioned above, the film spawned two comic book sequels and a prequel Netflix TV series, which makes for an already excellent franchise.

The Only Bad Quality

1. While not as bad as The Black Cauldron, the tone of the film would most likely alienate family audiences with dark, frightening, and disturbing moments such as the Skesis, a scene in which the Podlings have their vitality drained, and a few instances of death, which got it banned from Islamic countries (but probably for different reasons).

Trivia

• David Elsey, a special effects artist for the science fiction series Farscape (which Henson is involved with), paid homage to the film in the episode "Out of Their Minds", modelling the Halosian race to be inspired by the Skeksis.
• In Borderlands 3, the Skeksis are referenced with a weapon in the game named "SkekSil", after the Chamberlain.