Last Unicorn

 

 

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The Last Unicorn bears the distinction of being one of the few animated children's films that goes far, far beyond the scope of an animated children's film. Based on the best-selling classic by Peter S. Beagle, the animated adaptation has enthralled audiences of all ages for years. Now, on Blu-Ray, we have the definitive version of this landmark title.

A Unicorn begins to suspect that her kind have disappeared from the world after hearing two hunters speak on the subject. As she ponders the possibility, she is met by a roaming butterfly who sings in riddles and dodges her desperate questions before finally giving her a clue. The Unicorns had "passed down all the roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind and covered their foorprints," leaving no trace as to their whereabouts. Recognizing that her kind are in grave danger, she leaves the safety and security of her forest home to quest for her kin. She is captured by a menacing witch named Mommy Fortuna while sleeping and forced into a cage to delight villagers who pay to see Fortuna's "Creatures of Night, Brought to Light," a traveling carnival where regular animals have been cast with her spells to fool the people into seeing dangerous mythical beasts. The only real creatures in the show are the Unicorn herself, and a dangerous Harpy in an adjacent cage. As Mommy Fortuna finds it increasingly more difficult to keep the Harpy imprisoned, her bumbling assistant Schmendrick concocts a plan to free the Unicorn in the middle of the night using his magical skills which all fall flat. Finally the Unicorn is freed and begins setting loose the other animals wrongfully caged, including the dreaded Harpy. Once free, the Harpy rises into the air and begins a murderous vendetta against everyone in sight, battling the Unicorn several times before focusing her attentions on Mommy Fortuna who proudly declares "You never could have freed yourselves alone! I held you!" The Unicorn and Schmendrick escape, and become partners in her quest. Through previous dialog with Mommy Fortuna, the Unicorn learns that the Red Bull is actually a servant of the evil King Haggard who resides in a castle overlooking the sea. The two are confronted by outlaws in the forest and end up meeting Molly Grue, an old woman who also joins their quest after having waited a lifetime to see a Unicorn. As the trio near Haggard's castle, the Red Bull senses the presence of a Unicorn and attacks in the middle of the night as a ghostly being of pure flame and incredible destructive power. Schmendrick summons all of his magic in a desperate attempt to save the Unicorn, but unwittingly changes her into a young human girl. Now, confronted with the reality of her own mortality, the Unicorn begins to slowly go mad and forget herself, her quest, and her kind. With time running out, Schmendrick, Molly and the Unicorn manage to ingratiate themselves into King Haggard's staff, and quickly learn that the man is hiding a secret he will kill to protect, if necessary.

Though technically a children's film, The Last Unicorn's film adaptation is very heavy on dark themes of tragedy, terror, regret and despair. It is also a tale about love, hope, redemption and beauty. The book was smartly written by a very smart author, giving the film all the material it needs to succeed as a silver screen treatment. Veteran actors such as Mia Farrow, Alan Arkin, Jeff Bridges, Angela Lansbury and the great Christopher Lee all play their parts with a deep-seated conviction, and are all perfectly cast. Their characters are all flawed, and all feel the pain of regret and sorrow in some way. This is not a typical children's film heavy on humor and gags with a happy ending. Perhaps the greatest thing about the Last Unicorn is that it doesn't have a happy ending, but a bittersweet one instead. Even when salvation comes, everyone is changed because of it. To paraphrase Schmendrick in one subtle, but powerful moment..."Men don't always know when they're happy but...I think so." Although the animated film does tend to race through its running time rather quickly, it still manages to evoke a powerful response from the audience with characters who are genuinely lovable, and memorable. Even the evil King Haggard has one scene which explains his nefarious and psychotic behavior, and in that moment he becomes a character driven not by malevolence or sadism, but a simple, basic desire for happiness and comfort that fuels his selfish actions. This is a mature film, and in that respect, good for children who have been shoveled a constant load of kids movies with absolutely no point.

That being said, children under 6 shouldn't watch this film, no matter how appealing the movie may seem to young eyes. The animators have created some very scary characters for the film which all have the potential to plague a young child with horrible nightmares. Mommy Fortuna's twisted, snaggle-toothed visage and gigantic, piercing eyes are enough to cause a stir, but she is nothing compared to the Harpy. This particular Harpy is a twisted take on the commonly accepted half-human female, half-bird present in Greek mythology, resembling a three-breasted, gnarled old vulture with vicious eyes and a spine-chilling shriek. When the Harpy is set loose by the Unicorn, the terror builds to such palpable levels that it's all way too much for little children to bear. Even the Red Bull is a pretty powerful image for young eyes, though I suspect most kids will find it far more awe-inspiring than truly terrifying.

The Blu-Ray version of the film corrects several major oversights from the 25th Anniversary DVD release. First (and most importantly) there is no censoring of language anymore. The original theatrical track is present, and retains two instances of the word "damn" that were originally present. Visual censors have been removed as well, particularly on the Harpy. For a movie with such powerful thematic and dramatic elements to be censored was a crime in the first place. That being said, the Blu-Ray treatment is gorgeous. The opening scenes retain a lot of dirt, but that quickly clears up within the first few minutes and suddenly comes to life with crisp clarity and warm, saturated colors. In short, the Last Unicorn has never looked this good before. Not by a long shot. The soundtrack has been given a lossless HD 5.1 treatment, and although it won't blow the doors off of your house, it is noticeably better than any previous release so far. Care and attention has been put into this release, and it shows. As for extras, several of them have been recycled from the 25th Anniversary DVD, but the audio commentary track featuring Peter S. Beagle is worth the price of admission alone.

The Last Unicorn is a product of an era long since forgotten, where children's films could be unsettling and dark, and still be beautiful to behold. The film is a 92 minute morality lesson with a strong (if not quirky) visual style and all the classic fantasy literary themes one could ask for. Beware of who you're showing it to, but be proud that you've done so.

This is a very good film that has yet had a decent video release here in the US. This DVD release is a disaster.

This particular print has several major defects. First this movie suffers more than most when cutting it from widescreen to full screen. But the pan-and-scan job (the technique used to make a widescreen film fit on a regular television) was also totally botched leaving many scenes showing only half a face or character.

There is also many color problems. The print is biased to red. Dark scenes, of which there are many, show a red tint. Related to this is that the greens are subdued. Many objects that should be green show as blue.

The print is also grainy showing more video noise than normal.

The soundtrack is extremely harsh sounding making it dificult to listen to.

I'd recommend you seek out the widescreen version which has none of these problems.

This is by far one of the best animated films, not cartoons, i say films, i have ever seen. I have watched this movie since i was a child and i love it. The songs are memorable (courtesy of America) the animation is spectacular, and the story is rich and poignant. I recommend this to anyone who has a heart.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Not so bad
I watched this movie when I was a kid, and really it was not as scary as some people have said, as for the adult content and words, maybe paretns say spend more time with their... Read more

Published on May 11 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars The Last Unicorn
I have seen this movie over 100 times and I really believe it is one of the greatest films of our time. Read more

Published on July 9 2004 by Wendy

4.0 out of 5 stars good movie bad singing
It a good movie, with a good plot. The characters were good and well drawn. the only problem was the singing, now the songs were good. Read more

Published on Jun 28 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars An 80's Classic
Hunters traveling through a beautiful forest grow uneasy when one begins to talk of unicorns and magic. Read more

Published on Jun 18 2004 by Monty Moonlight

2.0 out of 5 stars Keep Your Memories
If you have pleasant memories of seeing this movie as a child, leave it that way. You will be sorely disappointed if you rent (let alone buy) this movie. Read more

Published on Jun 17 2004 by Emily J. Jensen

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite film of all-time
The Last Unicorn is my favorite film of all-time. It rocks! The VHS version is a lot better produced than the DVD, as one can see from the way reviews for the DVD have said... Read more

Published on Jun 15 2004 by C. Eberlein

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dramatic Fantasy From The Early 80's
The Last Unicorn, released in 1982, was drawn from the novel by Peter S. Beagle. I believe considerable license was taken. Read more

Published on Jun 15 2004 by Rudy Avila

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Story, Poor Reproduction
I had high hopes for this release; however I should have know that something was amiss by the cover. Read more

Published on Jun 14 2004 by Tekrat

3.0 out of 5 stars Unicorn
The Last Unicorn is a beautiful and moving story. It's not like most stories for young viewers because it has sad ending. Read more

Published on Jun 8 2004 by Kristina D. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Video and Audio Quality Issues???
I don't know what the previous reviewers are talking about -- I just received this DVD the other day, and am watching it as I write. Read more

Published on Jun 1 2004 by JBC

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