Ladyhawke (1985)
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Richard Donner
Written by Edward Khmara, David Peoples, Michael Thomas & Tom Mankiewicz, based on a story by Khmara
Starring Matthew Broderick, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rutger Hauer, Leo McKern, John Wood

Features:

• Flippable disc, pan-and-scan one side, widescreen the other
• Production notes, cast & crew info
• Theatrical trailer

Anamorphic: No

My Advice: Borrow It.

Phillipe (Broderick) is a thief who wants out of prison. He manages to escape from where no one else has, only to find himself running with some strange people. Namely, there's Captain Navarre (Hauer), who runs around with a rather large hawk on his arm. Then there's the mysterious Isabeau (Pfeiffer), who has a bigass wolf as her companion. What they want is an end to the curse, but Phillipe isn't pleased that they have to oppose the Bishop (Wood), the most powerful man around. And Phillipe positively can't stand the fact that they must have his help.

Okay, I have to admit something to you. I'm a sucker for fantasy films. How bad a sucker? I like Hawk the Slayer. Yeah--that bad. So you'll excuse me if I can somehow forgive this film for its horribly dated musical score and its moments involving almost lethal Velveeta factors. However, in the film's favor, it has Broderick being the comical Ferris Bueller a year early, Pfeiffer looking (and acting) wonderfully, and Hauer being his usual badass self. Who among us will save Rutger Hauer from C-movie direct-to-video hell? I wish someone would.

But enough lamenting. It's still a fun movie, with Richard Donner showing that his ability to do mainstream flicks well is not a recent development. It also gets points for having the sense to cast Leo McKern among the lot, and for featuring a very early-in-his-career Alfred Molina. Also of note is the gorgeous cinematography by three-time Oscar winner Vittorio Storaro.

The disc is annoying, partly because it's flippable, and God forgive me but I can never remember for a few seconds whether the side that says "Widescreen" should be up or down. Why anyone would want to watch the film pan-and-scan beats me. But regardless, the production notes do provide a sliver of information about how they were able to create the walled fortress city for the film, and give some interesting bio information about the players. And the included theatrical trailer shows that trailers giving away the endings of films is not a recent development either. Oh well. Considering the price tag for the film, I can't complain too much about the lack of features. Although you have to wonder--Hauer's not doing anything, he could have provided a commentary at least. Ah well. Maybe on the Ultimate Ubermensch Edition, or whatever they'll end up calling it.

Regardless, if you're a fan of fantasy, go ahead and pick up the disc--God knows it's cheap enough. But if you just sort of like the genre, you're best roguing it from a friend.