Product: The Last Unicorn [VHS] (1982)
Rating: 3.0
An 80's Classic
Hunters traveling through a beautiful forest grow uneasy when one begins to talk of unicorns and magic. Little do they know that one such creature is listening in on their conversation. Upon hearing that she is the last of the unicorns, she grows worried and lonely. When a butterfly flutters into her midst and confirms her fears, she risks her immortality by leaving her home and questing to find others of her species, and to discover the evil that is the mysterious "Red Bull." Along her way she is captured by an evil witch called Mommy Fortuna, who makes the unicorn a part of her traveling magic show. But traveling with the old witch is a good-hearted, would-be wizard named Schmendrick who soon frees her. Together, they continue on the search for the lost unicorns. Joined by Molly Grue, a female member of a group of bandits, the heroes soon find the seaside castle of King Haggard who supposedly controls the Red Bull. After transforming the last unicorn into a beautiful young human girl they call Lady Amalthea in an effort to hide her identity from the Red Bull, the trio attempts to investigate the castle. Within, they discover an old king who is obsessed with finding true happiness by way of possession, and a young prince searching for true love. They take up residence at the castle and begin to learn the secrets of King Haggard, his Red Bull, and the missing unicorns, but Lady Amalthea is quickly forgetting her identity and her mission, and the young prince falls more in love with her each day. If the location of the missing unicorns isn't discovered in time and the Red Bull isn't defeated, Amalthea will be a human forever and unicorns will be gone from the world!The Last Unicorn is an American animated classic from the early 1980s. It features an all-star cast, haunting music, and animation from the renowned team of Rankin & Bass. The story is an original, emotional, and magical fairytale that speaks to all ages. However, this film is definitely not for everyone. It clearly finds its strongest fan-base among the Tolkien crowd. Fans of the Rankin/Bass Tolkien films will have the best idea of what to expect, though (if memory serves me) the animation is a tad better here. Rankin/Bass is famous for their marvelous Holiday offerings, however, stop-motion animation was always their strongpoint over the traditional style, so one shouldn't expect anything overwhelming as far as that goes. Still, some of the art and color is delightful, and the unicorn herself is quite lovely, especially as the beautiful Lady Amalthea. There are some moments when the story moves better than others, particularly during the first half, as the second half slows down quite a bit. Still, it's a satisfying watch for one who makes the effort to stick with it. The music and songs are dated, but rather haunting for probably that very reason, and the cast is impressive, featuring such stars as Christopher Lee, Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow, and Jeff Bridges. The DVD is a bit disappointing, being bare bones and a pretty awful transfer, but at least the film IS available on DVD format. Overall, I'd have to say that everyone should watch it at least once to give it a fair try. In general, I prefer Disney to most other forms of animation, but it's always nice to throw something different into the broth and shake things up. The Last Unicorn is a solid piece of animated story-telling, especially compared to a lot of the other fluff that's out there.