Review for Willow

Anyone who has recently watched An Idiot Abroad with Karl Pilkington and Warwick Davis will no doubt remember the utter buffoon Karl commenting "I know he was in Star Wars and he was in Willow, not even sure who he was in that." That one line makes watching this film even better.

Willow is one of those films that has a nostalgic haze to it. Directed by Ron Howard and Produced by George Lucas, it is one of those films that almost gets everything right. Almost. Now there are those back then and now who will probably look at this film and say it is a Star Wars/ Time Bandits/ Lord of the Rings rip off, with no new ideas and the Oscar nominated special effects that stand out. But by dismissing it in this way means that you do not really appreciate the charm and enjoyment that you can getout of this film.

Willow is the story of a small child Elora who has been prophecised to bring the downfall of Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh). Found by Willow (Warwick Davis), who is a farmer and wannabe magician in a village of dwarf-like people called Nelwyns, he must help the child find a powerful sorcerer Fin Raziel (Patricia Hayes) and on the way enlists the help of a warrior Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) and two even smaller creatures called Brownies Franjean and Rool.

However, Bavmorda has sent her daughter Sorsha (Joanna Whalley) and Kael (Pat Roach) to find the child and this leads them to hunt through the many lands to kill the child and anyone who would protect it. Only Willow and his ragtag gang can protect her and bring peace to the land.

Of course, when you boil down the plot it does sound like almost every cliche that there has ever been, but then you could argue that there are no new stories and every story has been told many, many times. I often wonder if this film would be better received if Lucas had not been involved as even the poster art (produced by John Alvin) looks similar to those done for the Star Wars series. That being said, I had a blast watching this film again and watched it for the fun adventure that it was supposed to be. It is good that Lucas didn't feel the need to go tinkering with the special effects, which have dated, particularly some of the morphing and green screen shots, but by leaving it as it is, it gave the film a quaint nostalgia.

That being said, the sound and music by James Horner is wonderful and the picture is crisp and just what you would expect from Lucasfilms. It is surprising that it does hold up as many films when transferred to Blu-ray do look a little dated with a lot of the tricks laid bare and more obvious to spot.

The acting in Willow is fine, with Davis holding his own and Marsh playing a wonderful Evil Queen. Kilmer as Han Solo... I mean Madmartigan was great and his interaction with then soon to be wife Joanne Whalley was great and as for her costume... Wow!

Where this Blu-ray really comes into its own is in the special features. The commentary by Warwick Davis is fine, though as with most commentaries when there is only one person it can become boring at times with only Davis' perspective or stories about how the film was made. If he had been joined by Director Ron Howard or even just someone in charge of the Special Effects it may have been more interesting. Willow: An Unlikely Hero is a nice video diary of Davis while filming. From Morf to Morphing is a fascinating look at how ILM achieved the then amazing cgi effects and when you watch it you can see just how difficult it was to do something we probably take for granted in filmmaking nowadays.

Deleted Scenes with Ron Howard is a nice look and some of the scenes and Howard looks like he genuinely wants to discuss the scenes, how they were filmed and why they were cut. Some are a bit throwaway and you can tell they were cut for time, but some could easily have been slotted back in. The documentary Making of an Adventure is a great look at the making of the film as a whole and of you enjoy the film you will love this indepth look as much as I did.

Willow is a fun film for all the family. It is true that if you want an original story this is probably not the one for you, but if you are looking for a dose of fantasy, adventure and excitement with some pretty good effects then this is the film for you.