The urRu and Skeksis weren’t of that world, they were, together, a small band of outcasts from another. The Gelflings had been essentially exterminated. The most numerous sentients were the Podlings, who were meant to be rather vegetal in nature.
I actually very much liked all this–that the world wasn’t “human.”
I didn’t mind so much that the world wasn’t human, but that it didn’t seem to be anything else, either. I could have handled a whole civilization of Gelflings, or whatever. I guess that the Podlings were supposed to fill that part, but they didn’t really seem up to it.
Oh, and the whole bit about Jen being the last Gelfling was really undermined by Kira. The Crystal must be repaired by Gelfling hands or none at all, fine. But wouldn’t it have been a lot easier for Kira to do it, with the wings and all? The only reason it had to be Jen was because he was the last one, except he wasn’t.
Humans?! It was set on an alien planet! Don’t you remember the triple moon eclipse? Humans in that movie would’ve made it MST3K fodder fer crissake!
I hate to bring this up.
Of course, Jen had to be the one to repair the Crystal. They couldn’t let Kira do it because she was a girl for heaven’s sake.
Boys don’t want to watch or read about girl protagonists. Kira can be as brave and as capable as all hell. But ultimately, she can’t be the hero.
Actually, no one said he was the last one. People assumed he was because they hadn’t seen any others. The only people who commented that Jen was the one who HAD to do it was the Master (who’d raised Jen, probably for that purpose) and Aughra, who hadn’t seen any others but to whom the Master sent Jen.
It had to be done by Gelfling hands, and could have been done by Kira as easily as Jen. I don’t recall anyone denying that. In fact, Kira’s role was (in my opinion as a child, and now) by far the more heroic one. She sacrificed her life to make sure the Crystal would be healed, rather than allow Jen to trade the Crystal for her safety. All Jen did was plug a tab into a slot.
As a child I had no trouble whatsoever considering Kira the hero of the story.
Rule #34 at its finest.
And don’t you remember the double sunset on Tatooine? That movie wasn’t exactly MST3K fodder.
No, but it was Rifftrax fodder…
When Jim Henson wanted David Bowie for Labyrinth, he sent him a copy of The Dark Crystal. Bowie was floored and agreed to do Labyrinth immediately.
Funny- seeing a young Brian Henson & younger Kevin Clash working puppets in DC and L makes me feel really old… :smack:
Just to chime in “me too” - in fact the Dark Crystal is probably my most favourite film of all time, if I had to pick one, I’ve watched it more than any other film. Maybe it’s the nostalgia (I first saw it when I was about 8) but the music of the film has never stopped having a powerful effect on me. Every time I watch it and hear the swelling orchestra I feel like a child again being pulled along by the amazing story.
It’s one of the few movies that lived up to my memory when I showed it to the kid.
We’re both fans.