^ Nice.
Because I'm still recovering from a cold, I stayed home today. Shortly after everyone left for church, I went ahead to put in The Last Unicorn, a movie I haven't seen since I was little.
First of all, I knew this movie existed despite not having watched it in years, because I still had memories of the magician, this woman with wild hair, another with pretty white hair, the titular unicorn, and a giant red bull. So while watching the film, I started to slowly remember scenes and felt a sense of nostalgia. It was a bit different than from what I remembered, but let's face it, point-of-views change overtime.
Well, the colors and animation is really pretty to look at, I must say. A lot better than the quality on the VHS (thank goodness for remastering). The characters are fun, mostly the magician, and the scenes flow rather well together. As I watched, however, I noticed quite a lot of things I never did catch as a child.
For one thing, I knew there was a little bit of language in the movie, but they removed it in the DVD. Even as a young girl, I could catch the word "damn", I just wasn't aware they got rid of it in future releases until after I looked it up. I was disappointed they did that.
Another is the harpy has noticeable nipples. Seriously. In a G-rated film. Granted, it was the 80s, but still, they were right THERE, sagging everywhere. And when the harpy killed Momma Fortuna (an old witch with a strange hat I briefly remember from my childhood memories), you saw a glimpse of her mangled corpse in the corner before she munched on something else.
Then there's that... tree... oh good Lord, the TREE. I had forgotten about the tree until I was watching the movie. The moment they tied up the magician to the tree, I knew it was going to turn into some big-breasted... pink thing and smother him in her chest after stroking him with weird boa-things. It was CREEPY. It was only that one scene, but all I could think of was WOW. How was it that did not remain in my subconscious all these years?
Anyway, the woman, Molly, is a rather good character, she's more attractive than I remembered her to be. I never knew she yelled at the unicorn about not appearing to her while she was a virgin until recently. It was from that moment on it rekindled my love for unicorns. I'm not sure if I ever believed in unicorns, but it was that scene that brought a small hope of belief they are out there. It helped the unicorn in the movie is really beautiful.
The Red Bull is monstrous, but it didn't frighten me like it did when I was younger. Haggard didn't phase me at all, though I noticed he didn't seem to play a big part in the movie like he should have, and I never knew there was one other character until Lir came in. The talking skeleton I never knew existed was enjoyable, and the red eyes reminded me of Gollum, which helped me remember this was animated by the same people who would later go on and do The Hobbit. Him screaming "UNICOOOOOOORRRRRN" will now forever remain in my memories, with or without the red eyes.
The ending with the unicorns coming out of the sea was how it was in my memories, so it was pleasant to see it again. I never knew, though, it was a rather sad moment when the unicorn, who was a temporary human by this time, became a unicorn again and remained as one, but knew in her heart she felt human emotions and would always remember them. It's the most bittersweet ending I've seen in some time.
Despite all of that, though, I never realized there was a soundtrack throughout the whole movie. And it's. Very. Distracting. I do not want someone singing throughout the course of the movie, the visuals speak for itself. The songs were unnecessary except for the beginning and the ending. THAT'S IT. There was no build-up to these songs, they just appeared out of NOWHERE. And Mia Farrow just... I'm not sure if she was ever a singer when she was younger, but she sounded strained when she was singing, except during the duet, it was pretty then. BUT STILL, the songs weren't needed.
Other than that, I like the film. It's a bit weird at times, but it's fantasy, what do you expect? I suggest checking it out. You may feel differently about the movie, who knows, but it's something worth living through. And yes, I realize this isn't "rate the last movie you saw", but I just had to let it out.