This is the novelization of the movie Krull (1983), by Alan Dean Foster. While I have read more than my share of novelizations, I have not read this one. I present it to you as an excuse to talk about the movie.
Whatever year Krull showed up on HBO – 84? 85? – it seemed to be on all the time. Every time I turned on HBO. I was six or seven and thought it was stupid. And loooooong. Over the years, though, I’ve come to embrace the idea of Krull.
The plot, in a nutshell: the Beast comes to planet Krull in the Black Fortress, part space ship, part teleporting…well, fortress. His Slayers reave the medieval tech level land with laser guns until they capture a princess the Beast means to marry. Her fiance goes on a quest to rescue her, gathers a bunch of folks to help – including Liam Neeson, Robbie Coltraine looking like a plumber, a child, an infirm old man, a guy who can change into animal and a cyclops whose prosthetic eye is…something to behold. The prince finds a magical weapon called the glaive, which is a five bladed throwing star thing, they find the fortress, the cyclops gets crushed to death by a door and, eventually, the princess is saved and the Beast destroyed.
I rewatched the movie the other night. It is gloriously weird. The fortress is like an acid trip – the princess spends a lot of time in a room that is a great stone eye. The mix of sci fi and fantasy works. There is incredible dangerous stunt work, good costuming, solid enough special effects, gorgeous set design and photography. This thing had a budget far larger than it should have and it used it well. You’ll never see a movie this odd get that kind of money ever again.
Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t good. It is overlong and trite. You can feel the director actively disliking his job. But it somehow manages to be thoroughly enjoyable. And you can see the shape of something truly great trapped inside. Perhaps most importantly, it captures the gonzo feel of D&D in a way that really surprised me (I am not alone in thinking this – during production, lots of people thought Krull was a licensed D&D movie). Well worth your time.
