List Price: $14.94You Pay Only: $9.99 You Save: $4.95 (33%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Sony
EAN: 9780767821650
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0767821653
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 1
Release Date: October 05, 1999
Running Time: 94 minutes
Sales Rank: 2375
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: December 17, 1982
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
The Dark Crystal is a masterful live - action fantasy starring some of Jim Henson s most imaginative creatures ever! Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz and produced by Gary Kurtz the Dark Crystal brilliantly weaves a timeless myth of Good and Evil!In another time The Dark Crystal - a source of Balance and Truth in the Universe - was shattered dividing the world into two factions: the wicked Skeksis and the peaceful Mystics. Now as the convergence of the three suns approaches the Crystal must be healed or darkness will reign forevermore!It s up to Jen - the last of his race - to fulfill the prophecy that a Gelfling will return the missing shard to the Crystal and destroy the Skeksis evil Empire. But will young Jen s courage be any match for the unknown dangers that await him?System Requirements:Directed By: Frank Oz and Jim Hensen. Running Time: 94 Min. Color. This film is presented in 'Widescreen' format. Copyright 1999 Columbia TriStar Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: PG UPC: 043396028494 Manufacturer No: 02849
Amazon.com:
Jim Henson's fantasy epic The Dark Crystal doesn't take place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but like Star Wars it takes the audience to a place that exists only in the imagination and, for an hour and a half, on the screen. Recalling the worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, Henson tells the story of a race of grotesque birdlike lizards called the Skeksis, gnomish dragons who rule their fantastic planet with an iron claw. A prophecy tells of a Gelfling (a small elfin being) who will topple their empire, so in their reign of terror they have exterminated the race, or so they think. The orphan Jen, raised in solitude by a race of peace-loving wizards called the Mystics, embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal (which gives the Skeksis their power) and restore the balance of the universe. Henson and codirector Frank Oz have pushed puppetry into a new direction: traditional puppets, marionettes, giant bodysuits, and mechanical constructions are mixed seamlessly in a fantasy world of towering castles, simple huts, dank caves, a giant clockwork observatory, and a magnificent landscape that seem to have leaped off the pages of a storybook. Muppet fans will recognize many of the voice actors--a few characters sound awfully close to familiar comic creations--but otherwise it's a completely alien world made familiar by a mythic quest that resonates through stories over the ages. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Would have worked better as a cartoon
The Dark Cyrstal opens up with a fairly good start. By the serious and profound voice of the narrator you'll be thinking that this is going to be good. But as the film rolls on its many flaws and weaknesses begin to show through.
Jim Henson is talented and it's amazing the different kinds of puppetry and animatronics he blends together to create this other world, but I'm sorry to say it just isn't good enough. The mystics movements are so slow that it's a wonder they make it to the Skeksis castle even by the end of the film! I know they're old but come on! Then theirs our hero the gelfling. It's impossible for him to evoke any sympathy or emotion from the viewer because since he's a puppet he's not capable of facial expressions! The only way we know that he is sad or happy is by his voice. The puppet even with that still seems lifeless.
Another problem is the story. Though we are told that the Skesis are corrupt wizards and the mystics good wizards, we NEVER see ANY wizardry from either of them whatsoever. If you are hoping for a great wizard finale, look elsewhere. They don't ever cast any spells; they don't ever have magic objects with them or concoct amazing potions; they're just there really.
Again with the puppetry. There is a scene where the Skesis' Garthim come barging into the ugly wise old woman's laboratory to get the gelfling. This was intented to be an exciting sequence. The gelfling just misses a Garthim's clutches before he gets on the old hag's rotating ... Read More
Rating:  - Great classic
After watching this movie many times I wanted to have it on DVD. I was debating if I should get this version or the Limited Edition, but I read through another review that the limited edition didn't offer many extras, and for the price isn't worth it. This DVD is great, and at a cheap price, a must have for fans of this classic movie. Also there is a sequel coming out in a few years so it's a great time to refresh yourself on the world of the Dark Crystal.
Rating: - LOTR fan? Watch this movie
This movie is one of my all time favorites. Henson's masterpiece. It's inventive, its interesting, engaging and the world is quite wonderful. There are lessons learned and many parallels between the world Henson created and our own. It's a wonderful fantasty film that really breathes a life all its own. It's also a film that can be enjoyed by all, adults and children.
Rating: - oppressive and unrewarding
It's hard for me to see how this movie is worth anybody's time these days.
"The Dark Crystal" may have been big news back when it came out (in 1982), but it's hard to see what it has to offer anybody in the age of CGI and complete digitization. It hasn't held up well.
Set in another world, the story concerns the quest of an innocent elf-like creature who must return a crystal shard to its proper resting place in order to save the land. There are no humans in this movie, only Muppet-like creatures. (In case you don't know, this film is considered the masterwork of the two masterminds behind the Muppets, Jim Henson and Frank Oz.)
Unfortunately for today's viewers, the technology available for breathing life into movie creatures has so comprehensively improved since this film was shot that the "Dark Crystal" cannot avoid showing its age at every turn. Fatally, for a fantasy, it's simply impossible to lose yourself in the world the film attempts to create, since in nearly every shot you cannot get it out of your head that you are essentially looking at a bunch of puppets, or, occasionally, some guy in a mechanized costume.
As for the story, I found it predictable and marvel at those who claim it is "imaginative." I award very low marks on originality: nearly every story element had been done to death long before this movie saw the light of day.
So who would like this movie? Children, I guess, -- or perhaps somebody who seems to have ... Read More
Rating: - Another world, another time, in the age of wonder...
So begins Jim Henson's masterpiece The Dark Crystal, an amazing fantasy film that primarily uses puppets as its main characters.
The film concerns Jen, a Gelfling, who must save his planet by restoring the legendary Dark Crystal, which must be done before the three suns of his planet meet in the Great Conjunction. If he fails chaos and destruction shall reign eternal. He begins his mission after his mentor, the wisest of the Mystics, dies. To a young Gelfling like Jen, the world seems an enormous and strange place. He encounters numerous dangers but finally reaches the home of the ancient being known as Aughra. Aughra gives Jen the crystal shard that he seeks, but the forces of evil invade her home and Jen has to flee before she can tell him anymore about his task. Meanwhile the cruel Skeksis are hunting Jen, for it is prophesized that a Gelfling will bring about their doom. But Jen finds an ally in Kira, the only other living Gelfling to survive the Skeksis' slaughter of their race years before. Jen and Kira, along with her furry and ferocious pet Fizzgig, set out for the castle of the Skeksis. But can they survive the dangers of the journey and restore balance to their world?
Henson's film (I should also mention that it was co-directed by puppeteer Frank Oz) is a stunning achievement in pre-digital special effects and features a profound philosophical/spiritual undercurrent that has fascinated viewers for over 25 years. The film is exciting, stimulating and perhaps at times ... Read More
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