Ladyhawke (1985)

A neat conceptual tale that is only ruined by a few bad 80's wardrobe choices. This movie is worth a watch.I loved every minute of it and every character.But I felt like it should have been bolder in it's rating, and allowed for a bit of nudity to fill the boredom in places.But still, another fantasy movie I find fantastic in it's direction and acting alone.

Richard Donner directs a masterpiece with actors Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer.Captain Etienne Navarre (Rutger Hauer) has been cursed to room the nights as a wolf while the woman he loves, Lady Isabeau (Michelle Pfeiffer), is cursed to roam the sky as a Hawk in the day. Each of them being Human when the other is not. Mix in the young thief, Philippe Gaston (Matthew Broderick), and you have a story of love and romance, of curses and revenge, set in medieval times.There are some spectacular visual images and sometimes the musical score just fits. This movie like Princess Bride is destined to be a classic that can be enjoyed by all ages.

If the musical soundtrack had been more fitting then I may have given this a score of 10. Well paced, acted, directed and written, the story is engrossing and very romantic. Michelle Pfeiffer is so very beautiful in this (in fact in anything) and has the acting chops too. Rutger Hauer is charismatic and believable as her romantic interest. Matthew Broderick is his usual reliable self as a young thief who gets caught up in their story. A shame his American accent jars a little when he really should have an English one. It is a magical fantasy, of course, and it works well even though the musical score does not really fit the mood of the piece. I think this film is underrated and should be down as a classic romance.

You know, growing up in the 80's with a real thirst for fantasy adventure was pretty tough. There were plenty of books to scratch the itch for sure, but TV? Feature films? Hmm, not so much. Having watched more than enough sub-standard sword and sandals fare ("Ator the fighting eagle", anyone? "Prisoners of the Lost Universe"?) I can honestly say "Ladyhawke" is the only film I saw from that period that has remained a firm favourite ever since. And yes, that includes "Highlander"!! The reasons are pretty obvious. The film is directed by someone who at least knows how to set up the camera - I can't pretend that Richard Donner is one of my favourite directors but he does a top job telling this story. The cast is where this film really excels, though. I'm still convinced that Rutger Hauer is one of the great lost leading men in Hollywood history and in this he's awesome. Michelle Pfeiffer is ridiculously beautiful and handles herself very well and Matthew Broderick is excellent as the glue that holds the film together, ace at the comedy and really selling the drama. Also, John Wood is a brilliantly unsettling villain and Leo Mckern, Alfred Molina and Ken Hutchison do great character actor work. The overwhelming feeling is of a film properly made, with a decent budget, quality cast and great locations. The story itself is nicely streamlined, with no unnecessary longueurs and fine pacing. And Finally Hauer might just be riding the greatest horse in cinema history! That's not a spoiler, right? The only real problem with the film is the score, which I admit is...terrible. Why Donner went with a horrible synth and drum machine score for a medieval fantasy love story is beyond me. And probably him, now. That aside, this film is properly brilliant. Really.