Product: The Last Unicorn [VHS] (1982)
Rating: 4.0
I liked it
The Last Unicorn is a flick I like, along with its songs. I also liked many of the statements, like, "There are no happy endings, because nothing ends." And I was absolutely AMAZED at Christopher Lee's performance! Such vibrancy! He's old in the Star Wars and LOTR flicks, and I didn't know it because I had never seen (or in this case, heard) him in earlier years. Totally stunning, you should see it for Lee's dialogue alone! (He's King Haggard.)As for the elements some might not like: There are three examples of minor profanity (though one does get very loud). There is a tree that gets overfriendly, but it's more along the lines of "potty humor" that kids seem to love, and is too silly to take seriously. There's also an undead alcoholic and a beatnik butterfly that makes references to "mary jane."None of this bothered me: I was just happy NOT to have another movie where the problems get solved with a lot of violence and explosions and the heroes smile after wasting a bunch of people. I'd think many children are exposed to more profanity at home and school than in this flick, too.This is one of the videos I will play for the children I babysit. Despite some telling me this is a "girly movie" (is that "even worse than a chick flick"?), I have found that plenty of boys can love this movie, too. They don't have any problem with its more romantic and poetic elements.Should your children see this and enjoy it, then introduce them to the book. It starts off the same way as the movie and remains fairly true to it, but of course is much more complex (no surprise, since the screenplay was done by the author of the book-and yes, I'm aware it's the movie that stays true to the book). The book is not only better, but can really help to build reading skills, too (though it's not a book for children still struggling with "Dick and Jane"). You can find amazon reviews for the book, btw, and can probably find a copy at your local library.