Review of Ladyhawke (1985) by Christopher F — 16 Mar 2012
After being unceremoniously dumped by the Salkind producers off the Superman series, director Richard Donner plodded along until he and Omen producer Harvey Bernhard optioned this atmospheric and enchanting fantasy adventure.
It's got brilliant locations, a good cast and excellent cinematography. Set somewhere in 12th Century Europe, young pickpocket Philippe Gaston (Matthew Broderick), known as 'The Mouse', escapes from the fortified city of Aquila through the sewers.
The Bishop of Aquila (John Wood) sends the Captain of the Guard Marquet (Ken Hutchison) to find Philippe, by the time they do, Philippe is taken by the mysterious warrior Etienne of Navarre (Rutger Hauer), who has a majestic hawk with him.
But, not all is what it seems, Philippe notices that Etienne disappears at night, and a beautiful young woman, Isabeau d'Anjou (Michelle Pfeiffer) appears, and so does a black wolf. The Bishop then sends trapper Cezar (Alfred Molina) to find them.
Meanwhile, Etienne and Philippe have found refuge with Father Imperius (Leo McKern), but Etienne needs to get into Aquila to break a curse. It's a very magical fantasy, similar to other 80's fantasies like Legend and Labyrinth, but this has brilliant cinematography by Vittorio Storaro and an unconventional score produced by Alan Parsons.
1985 was a very good year for Richard Donner, with this and The Goonies out in the same year.
This review of Ladyhawke (1985) was written by Christopher F on 16 Mar 2012.
Ladyhawke has generally received positive reviews.
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