I adore the kooky monsters and Egg the alchemist who flings exploding gems. While the movie gains depth from Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) being a fallible hero, I think that gets stretched a little too far for the fight in Lo Pan's wedding chamber. Everyone drank Egg's potion before the fight. It enabled Wang Chi to fly around doing wuxia, going head-to-head with one of the thunder sorcerers. Yet Jack could knock himself out with a falling rock and couldn't push the armored guardian off himself? I'm quibbling, though. This is a good movie.
A stirring action-romance in a pseudo-historical French setting, with sewer escapes, a headstrong young thief, cursed lovers, Rutger Hauer's preposterous double crossbow and solid shots of landscapes, medieval interiors and the villain's opulent digs. The one negative is the idiotic 80s synthesizer soundtrack, which feels equally out of place for a hermit's redoubt, crossing treacherous ice or a duel in a church.
Once upon a time, in our Land of Khalifia, there lived a King and his Archmage.
Seeing that their birthdays were close together, the Archmage proposed a shared celebratory festival, reasoning that guests would be more grateful for one spectacular event than two lesser ones. The King agreed at once. After consulting the almanac for auspicious days, they fixed the date of the festival for the 24th of August, and invited noblemen, dignitaries, and a few select members of the landed gentry to eat, drink, and be merry.
