Rating: ****
Director: Jim Henson, Frank Oz
Music: Trevor Jones
A spectacular fantasy piece full of amazing sets and state of the art puppetry courtesy of Jim Henson and Company. A dark and spooky tale of a broken crystal, an apocalyptic prophecy, two ancient and dying races, and the young Gelfling who holds the fate of the world in his hands. Young Jen is the last remaining Gelfing on a faraway planet who is raised by the kind and wise Mystics. His race was annihilated by the cruel and evil Skeksis who were trying to nullify a prophecy stating that a single Gelfling would ruin them. With the great conjunction at hand, Jen must attempt to heal the Dark Crystal in order to save his planet from annihilation and he meets many friends during his journey that help him out. Dark and savage, and downright scary at times, this is definitely not kid's stuff. If there's a weak link at all in the film, it's that the main character, Jen, has an irritating voice and is not all that engaging (well, he is a muppet, afterall).