KRULL

PLOT SUMMARY

The Black Fortress of the Beast has descended on the world of Krull, settling in a meadow. Out from that forbidding stone edifice ride Slayers to ravage the world. The two rival kingdoms must unify to have a chance; they will seal the pact with the marriage of Prince Colwyn to Princess Lyssa. But just before the ceremony is complete, Slayers break through the Castle doors with energy weapons. In the stiff fight that follows, both kings die and Colwyn is gravely wounded. Lyssa is carried off.

Some time later, an old man named Ynyr comes to find Colwyn in the great hall. He applies a healing salve, but Colwyn is disabled by grief. Ynyr turns to leave, saying he came to find a king and found a boy instead. Colwyn rallies, asking where Lyssa can be found. "In the Black Fortress," says Ynyr. "There you will face not only Slayers, but the Beast himself. You will need more than men with swords. You will need the Glave."

The two set out. The Glave is a mystical weapon hidden atop a high mountain. Colwyn climbs that mountain alone. He finds the Glave in a lake of fire and reaches in to claim it — something only the man worthy of its power can do. He returns to Ynyr and they continue their quest, meeting a wizard and a band of robbers — all of whom join them. Ynyr consults a seer who tries to locate the Black Fortress, which moves at every dawn, but the power of the Beast prevents him. They must go to the Emerald Temple; there the power of the Beast cannot reach. It lies where three trees grow as one in the middle of a swamp. The seer, an old man, agrees to go with them. They make a long journey on foot through the swamp, losing a man to quicksand. Then the Beast sends a changeling in the semblance of the Seer. It kills the real Seer while the others fight off a band of Slayers. But the Cyclops, who now has also joined their band, sees the Seer's body rise from the quicksand. He runs back and manages to spear the changeling just as it tries to strangle Colwyn. How will they now find the Black Fortress? Our only chance is the Widow of the Web, says Ynyr. Soon they are on horseback again.

At intervals we see glimpses of Lyssa. The Beast intends that she be its bride. It offers her power. She wants love. "Love is fleeting," says the Beast. "Power is eternal." It produces a sham-Colwyn, shows her images of Colwyn courting another woman, but Lyssa is not fooled. Moving to the last resort of tyrants, The Beast gives her an ultimatum: Consent to be my queen, and I will call off the Slayers. Again Lyssa is not fooled.

Colwyn's party approaches the lair of the Widow. Ynyr must go on alone. He reaches the Widow in the center of her Web, calling her true name: Lyssa. They were once lovers. She tells him the Black Fortress will be in the Iron Desert on the morrow. Breaking the hourglass that holds the sands of her life, she gives Ynyr enough sand to return to his companions. He passes on her message and dies.

But the Iron Desert is a thousand leagues away. "Fire mares can travel a thousand leagues in a day," the Cyclops advises. Luckily, some are nearby. They are rounded up and saddled. The group rides them to the Black Fortress just before dawn. They climb the rocky sides under fire from slayers, until the Cyclops arrives to save the day.1 He leads the way inside, blocking the door from closing with main strength. Once inside they get split up by various hazards. Colwyn reaches the central chamber and uses the Glave to break in. There he finds Lyssa. The Glave wounds the beast but remains trapped in its body. Only the kingly fire Colwyn wields finishes it off. As the Fortress begins to come apart around them, the survivors make it out and watch as fragments of it fall up into space until the world is clean again.

Capsule review: Decent acting, original concepts, gorgeous cinematography, good set design, and decent suspense and action make this film enjoyable.