About the Movie
Ladyhawke stands as one of my favorite movies. I tend to go towards fantasy as a matter of course, but this movie has strong 'chick-flick' elements in it.

But I don't care. Matthew Broderick is delightful and a little silly as 'the Mouse,' showing in this film, exactly why he's endured as an actor for all these years. Rutger Hauer, an actor I've always liked, did a great job as well. His portrayal of the cursed and grieving Navarre is believable in its intensity. And of course, Michelle Pfiefer, while not a scene stealer, certainly is nice to watch.

The story itself is the classic tale of star-crossed lovers (right down to the enchantment that keeps them apart), but unlike Shakespeare's classic play, the lovers get to have each other in the end. This is a true epic fantasy, with a good many original elements.

The first thing most people mention when they see this movie is that the musical score is out of place. I have to admit that that analysis is right on. The musical scoring for this movie was done by 80's band "The Alan Parsons Project." While generally, I have liked their music, the disco-pop electronica that runs through a good portion of the movie and many of the action scenes is out of place and poorly chosen. In 1985, this was cutting edge stuff, but now nearly 20 years later, it is hopelessly dated and out of place for a pure medieval fantasy film. Fantasy movies should have a fantasy score.

It would be wonderful if a director's cut were released with a revamped musical score. Such a project would turn what is at this point a very fine movie (with hokey music) into a stronger and better lasting film.

But for all the downsides of the musical score, it's the story itself that steals the show. There's something attractive and heartwarming about it and its characters. As a result, they hold your attention easily and through them, the grand finale truly manages to make the viewer grin with satisfaction.

About the DVD:

This DVD release of Ladyhawke is nothing special as far as DVD releases go. It comes on a double sided DVD in both Letterbox and Fullscreen versions in a cardboard snap case. The movie is translated into French and Spanish, and comes with English, French, and Spanish subtitles. There are a few bonus features as well, but all of the textual variety. More on that below.

The video quality of this DVD is not much better than you'd find on a video cassette; something that's somewhat disappointing given the DVD format's high capacity for quality images. The heavy film grain that showed up in some scenes is not something I like to see on DVD. It's a real shame, because the lack of quality really shows on a high resolution screens. Likewise, the sound is about average as well.

This DVD does have a few bonus features that come in the format of a few screens of trivia about the making of the film and various aspects of the cast and production. All are interesting reading but aren't anything more than interesting trivia. The only actual video portion of the bonus features is the orginal theatrical trailer for the movie.

Bottom line here is that this is a mediocre DVD release. The bad film transfer really is noticable on high-res screens, and there really isn't much in terms of extra features and material. I give it 4 stars. A fine movie that worth seeing, on a mediocre and disappointing DVD release.

This movie includes love and loyalty, deceit and repentance (on the part of the lovers' former priest), drama, a good sword fight or two, a touch of magical mystery, and, dare I say it? -- True love.

The soundtrack was developed by Alan Parsons (of the Alan Parsons Project). It therefore has a a somewhat modern sound to it, but Parsons works his musical magic to make it work with the medieval time frame. I think it's a wonderful touch to the movie.

Whether you enjoy medieval stories or not, this movie is well worth watching. It will tug at your heart strings and get you cheering for the unlikely heroes.

Great stuff!

5 stars.

Alan Holyoak