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Legend
US movie poster
Directed by	Ridley Scott
Produced by	Joseph P. Grace (U.S. version) Tim Hampton Arnon Milchan
Written by	William Hjortsberg
Starring	Tom Cruise Mia Sara Tim Curry David Bennent Alice Playten Billy Barty Cork Hubbert
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith (U.K. version, also Director's Cut) Tangerine Dream (U.S. version)
Cinematography	Alex Thomson
Editing by	Terry Rawlings
Distributed by	Universal Studios (U.S.); 20th Century Fox (outside the U.S.)
Release date(s)	October 4, 1985 April 18, 1986
Running time	89 min. (U.S. version); 94 min. (European version); 113 min. (Director's Cut)
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Legend is a 1985 fantasy film released by 20th Century Fox (in Europe) and Universal Pictures (in the U.S. and Canada), directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, Alice Playten, and Billy Barty. Though not a very notable success when first released, it has since become a cult classic.

The story is set "once, long ago" in a world of unicorns, princesses, fairies, and demons.

Hidden away in his dark lair, the evil Satan-like Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry) instructs his goblin servants to locate the two unicorns that roam in the nearby forest and remove their horns. If the unicorns die and their horns are removed, the Lord of Darkness can ensure that dawn never again breaks, and sunshine (his "destroyer") is gone forever.

In the forest, Jack O' The Green (Tom Cruise), a noble and good-hearted woodland dweller, meets with his love, Princess Lily (Mia Sara). Jack is one of the only individuals whose purity allows him to locate the magnificent unicorns. As he takes Lily to see the creatures, the pair are followed by armed goblins. The unicorns appear, and Lily ignores Jack's pleas to not touch them. As Lily approaches the unicorns, the goblins attack. The unicorns are tracked and hunted until the unharmed one is captured and the injured one has its horn removed.

Unaware of the full implications of the first unicorn's death, an upset Jack chastises Lily for ignoring his warnings. Lily throws her ring into a nearby pond and claims that whomever recovers the ring shall be her suitor. The unicorn's death begins to throw the world into turmoil, with a fierce snowstorm raging. The pond begins to freeze and Jack is unable to locate the ring. During the storm, the goblins discover Lily and take her, as well as the surviving unicorn, to the Lord of Darkness.

Meanwhile, Jack meets several new woodland friends (a fairy, an elf, and two dwarves) who help him prepare for rescuing Lily and the unicorn. He is fitted with armor and given a sword. Jack and his comrades overcome many obstacles to reach the Lord of Darkness' lair, where they see the great and evil Lord trying to seduce Lily with his charm and power. Lily seems to be able to resist the seductions of the Lord of Darkness. He grows frustrated and starts to become angry, but then Lily suddenly asks for the privilege of killing the surviving unicorn - something that stuns Jack, and the Lord of Darkness laughs because the irony of her request is the ultimate triumph for him.

Jack and his friends discover that sunlight will destroy the Lord, because he only likes the dark and is vulnerable to the light. They gather large dishes and use them as reflective shields, positioned around the castle in an effort to reflect sunlight deep inside the lair. The Lord brings Lily to the unicorn, and Jack's friends encourage Jack to shoot Lily with an arrow to prevent the animal's death. Jack ignores their pleas, trusting his love. Lily cuts the unicorn free instead. Jack appears and faces off against the Lord, but he is undersized and outmatched. As defeat looms, the last shield is set in place and sunlight bursts into the lair, striking the Lord and sending him into oblivion.

Jack and Lily return to the forest, where he dives into the now-normal pond and recovers the ring. They take the male unicorn's horn back to where his body lies in the forest. The female unicorn watches with concern as Lily heals him by returning the horn to its place, bringing the male unicorn back to life. The two unicorns joyfully run off together into the forest from where they came.

The film was written by William Hjortsberg and produced by Arnon Milchan, but the behind-the-scenes story of the making of the film is in itself a legend. The film was shot at Pinewood Studios using the 007 Stage, named after, and used for many James Bond films. Part-way through the filming the stage burned completely to the ground forcing the producers to finish the movie on hastily completed sets. The film then failed in test screenings: test audiences complained about Jerry Goldsmith's score and of how teenage audiences might accept the film. Both Universal and Scott decided to cut the film drastically for domestic release, from nearly two hours in length to 89 minutes. They also replaced Goldsmith's score with music by Tangerine Dream, Yes leader Jon Anderson, and Bryan Ferry. Scott allowed Goldsmith's score, regarded by some music critics as Goldsmith's greatest film work, to remain on European prints.

In the years that followed, Goldsmith's score (which was released as a soundtrack CD) would become very popular and acclaimed. Ironically, this CD release has made the Tangerine Dream soundtrack a rarity; used copies have commanded as much as $40 from retailers^{[citation needed]}. Finally, in 2002, Universal released a 113-minute "director's cut" on DVD restoring previously cut scenes, and Goldsmith's original score. On a collector's edition 2-dvd set, both the 113-minute version with Goldsmith's score and the 89 minute print with the Tangerine Dream score are featured, each on their own disc, with the 89 minute version having the music score available as an isolated sound track, showing the film with the music but without dialog, so it can be used as background art.

Worldwide release dates:

• Brazil: September 7, 1985
• Argentina: September 18, 1985
• Australia: September 24, 1985
• Mexico: September 25, 1985
• U.K.: October 4, 1985
• France: October 13, 1985
• West Germany: October 15, 1985
• Italy: October 22, 1985
• Spain: November 6, 1985
• Austria: November 12, 1985
• Finland: November 24, 1985
• Sweden: November 26, 1985
• Denmark: December 8, 1985
• Norway: December 16, 1985
• Japan: December 20, 1985

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Legend (film)

• Legend at the Internet Movie Database
• Legend at Rotten Tomatoes