Fantasy Films 101.10 1988's "Willow"
It's the one you love, but won't admit you've seen. It stars a high-flying fighter pilot, a Pink Floyd groupie, a Benny Hill girl and one of the Ewoks. And it's the product of the man who is arguably the most popular sci-fi/fantasy film director of all time. This week: 1988's Willow.
Riding high on the success of his Star Wars trilogy and the Indiana Jones films, yet reeling from the complete failure of Howard the Duck and Captain Eo, George Lucas was in one of those strange situations when he unleashed Willow upon the public. Labyrinth had been a modest fantasy success a few years earlier, but the decade was winding down, and the market for fantasy films was waning as sci-fi began to experience a resurgence. Could he light the fire once again?
Some would say "yes," and I would be one of those someones. I vividly recall going to the theater to see Willow with my mother and younger brother, and then clamoring to see the film again and again every time I saw it listed in TV Guide. It wasn't as if it was the best film I'd ever seen, but it was a great way to blow two hours. And as I think I'll demonstrate, it's also a great way to spend two (or three, or four) hours with your gaming group.
It all starts with a birth, a baby child named Elora Danan (played by twins Ruth &anp; Kate Greenfield) who's born in fulfillment of a prophecy in Nockmaar castle; a prophecy that she will overthrow the queen in power, Queen Bavmorda. Needless to say, the Queen is not pleased, and when the baby is snuck out of the castle by a midwife, she sends her death dogs and guards [led by her daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley, who also played a groupie in Pink Floyd--The Wall)] out to hunt it down. Narrowly escaping, the midwife sets the baby in a basket and floats it down the river... moments before being torn to shreds by the dogs. Yummy.
It's not long before the baby is discovered by some Nelwyns (a fancy name for halflings), who try to decide whether to ignore it or take it in. There are lots of them running around, but the only one who really matters is Wicket... I mean, Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis, best known for his roles as an Ewok and a disturbed Leprechaun). There's this whole sub-plot about Willow's farm being foreclosed, yada yada, but it's about as interesting as an intergalactic trade war.
Willow has other problems, though. He's desperately trying to become a wizard's apprentice to the High Aldwin (Billy Barty). Not only does he fail to impress the master wizard (sort of), but he's unwittingly unleashed hell upon the village, as a death dog rips through while hunting for Elora. Fessing up, Willow presents the human (daikini) baby before the High Council... and is ordered to return it to the daikini crossroads, beyond the boundaries of the village.
Once he arrives at the crossroads, he's supposed to just leave the baby with the first human he sees. Unfortunately, the first human he sees happens to be Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), a criminal who's currently locked up in a cage hung above the crossroads; other soldiers pass by, but they're too busy to bother stopping for a little "peck" like Willow. And so, reluctantly, Willow passes the baby off to Madmartigan... who promptly loses her when some brownies steal her away. He pursues them, winds up meeting Cherlindrea, the Queen of the Fairies, and is told exactly why Elora Danan is so important--she is basically the future queen and ruler of all kingdoms on earth.
And it's up to Willow to protect her and take her to Tir Asleen, finding his way by consulting a druid named Fin Raziel first. Stopping for directions in a roadside tavern, he runs into Madmartigan again, and after some squabbling and a narrow escape they agree to work together, at least for the moment. Oh, and Madmartigan falls in love with the red-headed Sorsha. The group (Willow, Madmartigan, Elora, and a couple of annoying brownies) eventually reach the shores of a magical lake, on which lives Ms. Raziel (looking not at all like she did back in 1969 as a performer on The Benny Hill Show, since she's not in animal form).
They do, indeed, find the druid, but they are also captured by Sorsha. During the journey back to the castle, Raziel teaches Willow about magic while Sorsha and Madmartigan gradually fall deeper in love (it's not as sappy as it sounds). This provides the film with two running gags--Madmartigan's insatiable lust for Sorsha (including a mixup with a pouchful of Dust of Broken Hearts) and Willow's continual inability to transform the polymorphed Raziel into her human form.
After another getaway (using a shield as a toboggan), Madmartigan and Willow and Elora wind up in the company of the "good guys." Pursued by Sorsha and her men, Madmartigan manages to pull a reverse abduction, riding off with Sorsha as his prisoner (so they can finish falling in love, natch). Sorsha escapes, returns in time for a nifty little battle involving a two-headed hydra and a handful of trolls, and agrees to help Madmartigan and Willow get back Elora, who is kidnapped yet again in the midst of the fracas.
Joined by the "good guy" soldiers again, the group camps outside Bavmorda's castle, where most of them are turned into pigs. Luckily, by this time Willow has mastered the arts of magic, and he and Raziel manage to retransform everyone in time for the final battle. Then it's just a matter of storming the castle, a showdown of magic at the top of the tower, and a happy ending for all concerned, as Elora is saved, Bavmorda is defeated, and Willow returns triumphantly to his village.
It might sound a little thin in plot, but it makes up for it by being a delightful little story that's got everything you need for a great adventure.
- A young hero. Willow Ufgood, halfling and wanna-be sorcerer.
- A damsel in distress. Elora Danan, who also happens to be prophesied to become the queen of the land.
- A motley band of companions. There's Madmartigan the warrior, a bunch of brownies and forest folk, Fin Raziel the druid, some mercenaries who drift in and out of the story, and a turncoat redhead.
- An ancient magic. The magic here, it turns out, is inside everyone and everything. This story just oozes magic. Willow learns to master it, Raziel casts spells, the brownies have magic dust, Willow has magic acorns...
- Wicked evil bad guys. There's the baby-killing Bavmorda, the ugly little devil dogs, and oodles of black-armored minions to slay.
- Unbeatable odds. The guy responsible for saving the world is a halfling apprentice? You've gotta be kidding me. But if he can master his own powers, he can do great things. Including the impossible.
The film focuses a lot on subplots which don't always play well in role-playing settings: Willow's foreclosure problem, for instance, and Madmartigan's love interest in Sorsha. It's pretty easy to put those aside and just focus on the key factors, however:
- A baby is born who is prophesied to overthrow or otherwise upset the established power. If found, she will be sacrificed or otherwise killed. It's going to be up to the players to keep her safe, and to deliver her to a safe location where she will be cared for.
- War. Part of the reason the powers-that-be are concerned is that they're stretched pretty thin as it is, waging war against a neighboring kingdom. Maybe that prophecy is about a baby who will turn the tide. Or maybe there's some demonic pact going on, and whoever sacrifices the child with the special birthmark will win the war.
- Help is found in unlikely places. The criminal becomes a hero. The enemy soldier turns against her mother. The brownies first steal the baby, then help protect it. And the soldiers who ignore you at one end of the road are your greatest allies at the other end. It's all about agendas, and learning that everyone's ends are served by helping out in the same task--protecting the child and defeating the wicked evil bad guys.
Willow spans several days or weeks (depending on how you tell time in the film), and it can certainly be the anchor of a campaign if you're starved for ideas. But it's just as easy to pull this off as a one-nighter if you simply drop the baby in the laps of the players and make them run for it. The "safe haven" could be as close as the wizard's tower at the other end of the deadly forest, or it could be clear across the Desert of Death. The story's so traditional and simple that it's easy to mold it to whatever you have in mind, and that's why it ranks up there among the best of all time in my book.
We're closing in on the end here, and next week we smack head on into 1989, the last year I'll be covering in totem. There are two great options to choose from, so I'll need your votes on which one to close this out with -- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen or Erik the Viking?
- Login to post comments
Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I've probably seen "Willow" almost fifty times. Oh sure it's not the "greatest" film ever created, but it sure beats a lot of the crap that Hollywood is currently churning out. ;)
As noted also a wonderful fantasy trip and useful for inspiration.
Willow rocks ass! It is for sure one of the best Gamer Movies ever. But here's a tip- the books written by Lucas and Chris Claremont SUCK ASS!! Shadow Moon, Shadow Dawn, and Shadow Star.. are ABYSMALLY TERRIBLE!! Avoid them like the black plague if you value your mind. Trust me. Claremont wrote for X-Men, and it shows.. the guy has no sense of hyperbole at all. The story starts out extreme.. and gets more extreme... and more, and more. And more. And it never lets up for a second. He has no sense of pace. No sense of contrast. He just threw in every "neat" thing he could think of one after the other. Every time "Willow" (they changed his name.. oh yeah, and killed off EVERYONE in the story except him and teenage brat Elora, in the first few pages). Anyway, every time Thorn (aka Willow) has to cast magic, it's the most taxing, draining, impossible thing he's ever done. And the next time he does it? The previous time "was as nothing" compared to this new all consuming expenditure of energy.. etc etc. Blah blah. Apparently Nelwyn's magical ability grows exponentially every time they use it. Claremont piles so much eye-garbage on it's like being held underwater and never let up. There's no lull.. it's just higher, higher, higher.. more intense, more incredible, more impossible, page after page after page of trash piling up until you can't see, can't breathe, can't.... *gasp* tired of listening to me? Then you have one tenth of the idea what it's like to read the books. Do yourself a favor and don't search for 4 months to find them, then buy all three at once, just to find they make you physically ill to read. I'm not kidding.. they made me sick to my stomach.
okay. don't listen to Nev the Deranged. the Shadow War trilogy is amazing. SOME of us have enough brain cells to handle a book with more than the most basic plot. SOME of us also mannage to enjoy the kind of book that sucks you right in. mebbe Nev can't handle it, i don't know. but it's an amazing trilogy, i own all three books and i'd say anyone should read them.
...anyone with more capacity and stamina than Nev anyway.
sorsha is the coolest in willow she kicks boody
If you love the fantasy movies. Also check out Ladyhawke. That is also one of my favs.
Gonna have to agree with rana 'bout the books. They are truely a continuation of a masterpiece. Also have to agree with lee, Ladyhawke is a really good movie, but the music sucks bigtime =)
Personally,I'm just amazed by all the fantasy stuff. Everything from Willow to Labyrinth and Lord of the Rings. Books,movies,shows,everything. It's all amazing!
You know who was cool? Kael..he was badass. He reminded me of a character from Greyhawk campaign setting and D&D cartoon..Warduke, Warlord..something like that.
That was Warlord and beside the sword of frost he was light years from being as cool as Kael, man what a cool vilain.
I have to say that while I liked the special effects, the music, and the pretty pictures, I couldn't help but see Willow as a Frankenstein's patchwork of other, better movies. With C-3P0 and R2 playing brownies, Han Solo playing Madmartigan, Bavmorda playing the Emperor, and Sortia playing a female Vader (complete with an homage in her helmet) Luke Skywalker playing Willow, and Elora playing the Death Star plans - it just felt like the first draft of Star Wars. The style of language was identical as well - strangely odd. I remember being tossed from the story when Madmartigan's former commander (?) mentioned "Hell" quite flippantly. Perhaps it's nitpicky, but would these people share our own mythology? I didn't mind it in StarWars, but for some reason it just stuck out more in this one, possibly because I associate stories in this setting with real gods that I assume would belong to a different pantheon.
Actually, I don't mind the stock motley band of adventurers idea - though there are other ways to do fantasy (look at some of Guy Gavriel Kay's books). What I HATED though was the Deus Ex Machina ending - some kind of lightning bolt coming down and striking Bavmorda at the end of the movie, seemingly coincidental with Willow's ruse, rather than caused by it. There is an instant of disconnection between the hero's actions and the plot resolution, and this is a problem. Also, it isn't established in the narrative why Bavmorda can't just toss Elora from the window.
Besides this, I wasn't too keen on the way magic was portrayed in the story. It seemed too random - without rules. The wand would animate some things, while transmuting others - seemingly only to showcase special effects and to insert action or comedy scenes that were barely tied to the overall story. The "love powder" that hit the Brownie was strong enough to cause an interspecies lust for a cat, but as I recall (I may be mistaken), Madmartigan cast his eyes upon one or more men before he finally saw Sorchia, and he didn't fall in love with them.
On top of everything, I never really got a sense of the scale or the geography. There was no sense of place in the journey - more noticeable now that films like LOTR are out. Where did that army come from? Where is their land? How does Bavmorda threaten them? - where is her army? What is at stake?
For some reason, I kind of like watching it, though I imagine that now I'll watch movies with wonderful cheese like Hawk the Slayer, or incredible movies like The Lord of the Rings and Excaliber. Sadly, the fantasy genre is typically not done very well, and, while it was expensive to produce, Willow I think is one of those stories.
Nephandus I have some reactions to your last post:
1 - "it just felt like the first draft of Star Wars." Well both were done by George Lucas no?
2 - About Hell.
The part that bugs me isn't that we hear the word hell, if you consider that the story probably doesn't take place in English... And even if the story is told in English for other reasons than "universal translator" plot device, the word hell has a meaning of its own. It doesn't refer to the christian hell per say but to the place where the damned souls go (something many mythologies share).
3 - Bavmorda's demise... coincidental with Willow's ruse, rather than caused by it.
Actually, if she hadn't lost her temper and gone for the wand she would have found the baby and easily taken her. Not seeing Elona was the last thing that made her loose her cool and got her zapped.
4 - On love powder.
Well, maybe Mardigan is straight... Anyhow, in French I specifically remember that the cat is a she cat because the brownie says "Vous etes si belle, etc". Maybe the fairie dust gives you the ability to detect the gender to which you are attracted, or maybe Brownies aren't has exclusive and selective in their sexual preferences, remember he that perticular Brownie had recuring dreams about rats...
4 - Magic seemed too random - without rules.
Well you have played RPG's for way too long my friend. Who's to say that magic needs to be with rules? Maybe that is because of it's randomness and lack of rules that it is so dangerous and rare...
5 - scale or the geography
Well you got me there. The movie's geography seems to be as well done as that of Heroes of Might and magic doesn't it. Snow, wasteland, forests and dryland all withing a few days walk... my god there in Costa Rica!
6 - Sadly, the fantasy genre is typically not done very well, and, while it was expensive to produce, Willow I think is one of those stories.
Well I have to stop you there. Of course the Fantasy genre is filled with B movies just as SciFi and Horror are. But, with LOTR I guess we have seen that the genre can be financially viable if done well. Also, I remember that when Willow came out it was amazing, I mean the only movies that were close to being as good as it were the first Conan and Lady Hawk. Excalibure was the only fantasy movie that was any real good back then.
15 years after Willow, we have added a few good fantasy movies to the list, although if you take out the Manga there only remains: LOTR, Hidden Dragon and Crouching Tiger, Dark Crystal, the 13th Warrior and not much else.
Still we can hope that not all movies will be as corny as Scorpion King. Maybe we'll get lucky and get Lodoss War and Ninja Scrolls on film. If we are luckier still we won't get Dungeons and Dragons 2... oh just thinking about it makes me wanna be sick.
See you at the movies december 18th :)
1 – Indeed, they both were by George Lucas. This is still no reason for such an incredibly derivative set of portrayals.
2 – “The part that bugs me isn't that we hear the word “hell”, if you consider that the story probably doesn't take place in English... […] It doesn't refer to the christian hell per say but to the place where the damned souls go (something many mythologies share).”
Well, if we have some kind of auto-translator running, does that mean they should change the names of their capital city to, say, Paris? Should Bavmorda rule from Germany? Should the good wizard be imprisoned on Manitoulin Island? Should Madmartigan’s name be changed to Martin?
In context, it was a throwaway line – having little to do with burning souls and mythology, and more to do with very familiar English colloquialisms. You’re from Quebec. Wouldn’t you think it strange if Madmartigan started talking about his “blond” and swearing “Tabernac!” On Xena and Herc, it was it’s own style – everyone spoke like that. In the Dungeons and Dragons movie, Roger Ebert commented on the strangeness of Wayons’ contemporary black urban patois “Imagine arch, elevated Medievalese alternating with contemporary slang. The disconnects are so strange that with a little more effort, they could have become a style.”
3 – “Bavmorda's demise-Actually, if she hadn't lost her temper and gone for the wand she would have found the baby and easily taken her. Not seeing Elona was the last thing that made her lose her cool and got her zapped.”
Well, if the story established up front that Willow knew that making Bavmorda lose her cool would make lightning literally shoot down from the heavens to turn her into scarlet ether, then we’d have something. But the movie on the screen just didn’t have that. We have Willow’s hide the baby game – clever enough, and it did indeed fool Bavmorda, at least for a second. But fooling people does not make lightning shoot from the heavens to smite them.
4 - On love powder.
“Well, maybe Mardigan is straight etc.”
Maybe all those things, but my point is that in a story – you need to establish them rather than making the audience wonder why they worked differently this time.
4 - Magic seemed too random - without rules.
“Well you have played RPG's for way too long my friend. Who's to say that magic needs to be with rules? Maybe that is because of it's randomness and lack of rules that it is so dangerous and rare...”
My criticism has nothing to do with RPGs, and everything to do with good storytelling. I’ll paraphrase a good point from Roger Ebert. “In a movie in which nothing is impossible, it becomes difficult to care about anything.” It is very important in fantasy, horror, and other speculative fiction to lay out the ground rules on how the imaginative elements work. Otherwise – you can just pull them out of a hat in the final moments – how convenient. It ruins the suspense for the movie, when you know they will just resolve the conflict with something out of left field. And that’s just what they did all throughout the move.
5 - scale or the geography
Well you got me there. The movie's geography seems to be as well done as that of Heroes of Might and magic doesn't it. Snow, wasteland, forests and dryland all withing a few days walk... my god there in Costa Rica!
I’m not talking about topographical features, location shooting, and matte paintings. I’m talking about a sense of place that is integrated into the story. Once they left the little villiage. Where did that army come from? Where was Bavmorda’s army? What was that small castle doing sitting empty, waiting for Madmartigan? Was that a villiage where they found Madmartigan, again, or was it just a tavern in the middle of a forest?
Hum...
First of all, wow Nephandus you know how we swear and refer to our ladies.
2 - But, on Hell, If they had made up a word. Unless they had called the "Plane of ever burning torment" or something as explicit, they would have had to explain it.
Please don't compare Willow to Dungeons and Dragons, please.
5 - I hear you about the locations. They were all cool but it seemed they weren't tied together.
3 - Actually, it's more the spilling of the blood and the raising of the wand near the altar that got her zapped (to my thinking). I mean the banishing of a soul from reality must be high magic and must be risky. So running across the place of power and tiping the blood while casting another spell can't be all that safe. All I'm saying is that YES it is anticlimatic, yes it is Deus Ex Machina, but it still made some sense to me.
3 - Love powder and Brownies... well this was there for the kids, just like all the cute kiddie stuff in all George Lucas' movies (Ewoks, Brownies, Young Anakin, Jar Jar). Yes it doesn't make much sense and hasn't much to do with the main plot, except to bring Sorsha to the good side...
I agree that compared to the extended verion of Lord of the Rings, Willow is a lemon. But back then, it was one of the top five fantasy movies of all time. It probably still makes the top ten list, I mean the genre isn't filled with many master pieces after all.
i would like to know if you know about a 1st edition mission called DUCK TOWER eveyplace were i go no one know about it and i can't find it any were os can you help me iam just a young gamer
"Well, if we have some kind of auto-translator running, does that mean they should change the names of their capital city to, say, Paris? Should Bavmorda rule from Germany? Should the good wizard be imprisoned on Manitoulin Island? Should Madmartigan’s name be changed to Martin?"
When Crime and Punishment was translated to English, were the locations changed to New York City and Alcatraz? I'm thinking not. One can translate the concepts and the words without changing *where* the story takes place, or what the characters are called.
All in all, WILLOW ROCKS THE HOUSE DOWN! You guys are awesome who acknowledge the greatness of Willow. You guys aren't cool who don't and call it lame and whatever...boo to you! You guys don't know what you are missing. Willow should be named th greatest movie ever made....it is in my books!
Decaf Sydni, Decaf from now on OK?
While Willow is arguably very entertaining, I wouldn't call it the best movie of the 20th century.
does anybody know if any companies like TSR, or whoever, came out with a rules book for RPGing Willow? let me know
purplevermin13@aol.com