The Dark Crystal - Experiencing the World of Thra on the Big Screen, and Reflections on it's 35th Anniversary

 
"Another world, another time, in the age of wonder." The opening words for a movie that has turned 35. I had the privilege tonight of being able to experience this movie on the big screen for the first time. I have a list of movies that I grew up watching at home that I would love to experience on the big screen, like Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, and The Dark Crystal. Getting to experience this world on the big screen for the very first time was definitely a treat, and one I was very thankful for,. A film on this scale isn’t just meant to be experienced at home, but on the biggest screen possible with state of the art sound to transport you to the world of Thra.

I first experienced The Dark Crystal back in 2000, when I was 15 years old, I had seen Labyrinth many times beforehand and came across the trailer for The Dark Crystal on my DVD copy of Labyrinth. Eventually I went to my local video store and rented a VHS copy (for those that don’t know, VHS is a video cassette, which was the format before DVD). I was mesmerized by what I had experienced, I even re-watched it the next day, because of how interesting it was and also I wanted to catch certain things that I didn’t catch when I first watched it, this was a movie that had grabbed my attention in so many different ways. I received a DVD copy of it that Christmas, and this was one of my early DVDs that I got.

This movie is more than just seeing a story unfold, it is about experiencing a different world, a world that is so different and just so unique that I want to experience this 90 minute film again and again for that reason. The scope of this world is just incredible and just how unique it really is, even 35 years later, just all the details that went into the movie to make the world of Thra feel like a real planet that is inhabited, details that give this world a history that make it feel like it’s been inhabited for centuries. It almost feels like Jim Henson built a space ship and went to this planet to film it.

The details that went into making these puppets and the performers that came together to bring these puppets to life, it’s just truly mesmerizing. Tonight during the first scenes from the movie when the Skekis draw power from the Dark Crystal, there are a couple of close shots of them where it looks like you can see their eyes twitch or them breathing. That could be the fact that they recently remastered in 4K and some of these details are actually starting to stand out, which shows how much effort was put into this film, but of course maybe it was seen in early VHS releases and I just never noticed it till now, regardless that is incredible to see those kind of details.

I actually remember after getting the DVD for Christmas, I watched the documentary that was included on it, and I was just blown away by how intense the movie making experience really way, and just how much effort really went in to create this film. Ever since, I collected a couple of the books about the making of it, including The Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History, which I highly recommend getting if you are a fan of this movie, or even just a fan of this kind of filmmaking in general. You get to see how much went into making this movie. 

If you think about it, all the effort that went into making this film possible makes it more worthy to be experienced on the big screen, which is why I made the effort to find the biggest screen possible, even going to a theater that was a little further from me. If you still want to experience this movie on the big screen, I still think there is a chance, as there are a couple of additional showings on March 3 and March 6. You can check the showtimes at your local theater to see if they have it on those dates. If you are a fan, I strongly recommend making the effort to see this movie on the big screen, it is worth it. 

After 35 years, this is a movie that is still being discovered and still being experienced, and honestly, within the last couple of years, it’s popularity has grown tremendously. Jim Henson put a lot of effort into brining the world of Thra to life, to make it feel like a real world that he personally went to in order to film his story, that many artists and storytellers are going to this world that was created and developing their own stories from this world. You can find a lot of different things, from novels to comic book series to a board game. This includes a 12 issue comic book series called Power of the Dark Crystal, which is based on the script of the unproduced sequel that was worked on a decade ago but never made it passed pre-production. I have very much enjoyed this series and I am getting very antsy to read the last issue when it comes out in two weeks. Even last year, we got treated with a teaser from Netflix about an upcoming prequel series, which like many I am super pumped to see get released and anticipate to hear when it will be released. This film holds a very special place for me and I am very excited to see all these new stories coming out from the world of Thra. Hopefully one day we will see a new film on the big screen about this world.