I give this film a 7 out of 10.
'Ladyhawke' is a well written adventure with spectacular photography and inventive action scenes. We get to see the prowess of Rutger Hauer in his prime, the beauty of Michelle Pfeiffer (who hasn't aged since 'Grease 2'), and an engaging Matthew Broderick. There is fantasy and intensity in the telling of this fable, made by the director of Superman' and Lethal Weapon', successfully putting you under it's spell. Even so without any big time special effects.
However, it shares the same fate as Ridley Scott's spectacular 'Legend'. They were both fairy tale movies released in the United States in 1985, and both suffered from a non-traditional soundtrack. In the case of Ladyhawke, which is a period piece, pop music is added. It is a bold but curious decision to take a classic fairy tale and give it music with a modern beat. Was this the decision of the director and producer Richard Donner, to perhaps latch into the MTV craze, which was taking over the earth at the time? Ridley Scott admits when talking about 'Legend', that trashing an orchestral score for modern synthesisers for the US release was a mistake. And here the Alan Parsons pop tunes clash horribly with the more traditional music supplied by Andrew Powell. It also clashes with the swept away feeling of being in another place and time as the frankly dull synthesiser music sounds like somebody switched the radio on while you were watching the movie.
And so this movie as well as 'Legend' flopped in the box office. Perhaps they could have released the DVD with a alternate audio track that omits the Parsons music. It is curious in fact the Alan Parsons is not mentioned anywhere on the DVD box.
If you can forgive the flaws, you will be rewarded with a film that has more character and fun than the new `Star Wars' movies.
'Ladyhawke' is a well written adventure with spectacular photography and inventive action scenes. We get to see the prowess of Rutger Hauer in his prime, the beauty of Michelle Pfeiffer (who hasn't aged since 'Grease 2'), and an engaging Matthew Broderick. There is fantasy and intensity in the telling of this fable, made by the director of Superman' and Lethal Weapon', successfully putting you under it's spell. Even so without any big time special effects.
However, it shares the same fate as Ridley Scott's spectacular 'Legend'. They were both fairy tale movies released in the United States in 1985, and both suffered from a non-traditional soundtrack. In the case of Ladyhawke, which is a period piece, pop music is added. It is a bold but curious decision to take a classic fairy tale and give it music with a modern beat. Was this the decision of the director and producer Richard Donner, to perhaps latch into the MTV craze, which was taking over the earth at the time? Ridley Scott admits when talking about 'Legend', that trashing an orchestral score for modern synthesisers for the US release was a mistake. And here the Alan Parsons pop tunes clash horribly with the more traditional music supplied by Andrew Powell. It also clashes with the swept away feeling of being in another place and time as the frankly dull synthesiser music sounds like somebody switched the radio on while you were watching the movie.
And so this movie as well as 'Legend' flopped in the box office. Perhaps they could have released the DVD with a alternate audio track that omits the Parsons music. It is curious in fact the Alan Parsons is not mentioned anywhere on the DVD box.
If you can forgive the flaws, you will be rewarded with a film that has more character and fun than the new `Star Wars' movies.