Liam Neeson’s Unconventional Role in the Cult Classic Krull
Liam Neeson is one of only a few actors who have mastered just about every genre of movie there is. From hard-hitting action-thrillers like Taken to surprisingly hilarious comedies like The Naked Gun, the 73-year-old actor has tried his hand at a variety of different roles across his decades-long career. However, the actor wasn’t widely known until his Academy Award-nominated performance in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Holocaust film Schindler’s List. His many earlier films are a treasure trove of surprising minor roles in films that never enjoyed their time in the spotlight.
Ten years before playing Oskar Schindler, Liam Neeson had a supporting role in one of the most underrated fantasy films of all time. The 1983 film Krull flew under the radar upon its release and subsequently disappeared from the public consciousness. Forty-two years later, Krull is still one of the strangest entries in Neeson’s early film career. The weird and sometimes off-putting cult classic is certainly worth a watch for fans of the actor, or someone looking for a different kind of fantasy film.
A Strange Blend of Fantasy and Sci-Fi
Krull mixes fantasy and sci-fi elements in one of the strangest sci-fi adventures ever. The film takes place on the planet Krull, an alien world inhabited by fantasy creatures and humans alike. Everything changes for the inhabitants of Krull when the villainous Beast invades with a massive army of Slayers, kidnapping Princess Lyssa on the day of her wedding to Prince Colwyn. Together with a ragtag group of heroes, Colwyn mounts an effort to infiltrate the Beast’s massive spaceship, the Black Fortress, to save his bride and save the people of Krull from subjugation under Slayer rule.
Liam Neeson stars in Krull as Kegan, an axe-wielding member of a troop of bandits who eventually joins Prince Colywn’s quest to save the princess and defeat the Beast. Kegan is a very different kind of character from the ones that audiences are used to seeing Neeson portray. Whereas the actor is better known today for playing quieter, more intimidating roles, Kegan is a baudy ladies’ man who is no stranger to a campy joke. Despite his many character flaws, Kegan fights to the very end to help save the world from the villainous Beast and his army.
Why Krull Flopped
Forty-three years after its release, Krull is far from the popularity of other sci-fi adventure films, even including other underrated cult classics like The Dark Crystal and Willow. The film has mostly faded from the cultural zeitgeist, but still retains a small cult following of fans who enjoy the stranger aspects of its fantasy world. The mesh between Krull‘s sci-fi and fantasy elements makes for a strange crossover, with cyclopes fighting alien invaders and knights waging war against a spaceship in the form of a mountainous fortress. Nevertheless, the bizarre antics and charm of the fantasy film (aided by Liam Neeson’s underrated performance as Kegan) appeal to enough people for Krull to survive as the most unknown of cult classics.
It should be no surprise that Krull was a massive box office flop. The film returned a meager $17 million box office haul for its $30 million investment, barely earning back half of its already minuscule budget. This may be partially due to a shifting paradigm for sci-fi films, with movies like Star Wars showcasing the wide scope and scale possible in the genre, even with a smaller budget (Episode IV‘s budget was about half the size of Krull‘s). With Krull hitting theaters six years after the original Star Wars, audiences may not have found anything interesting or unique enough about its premise to warrant showing up to see it on the big screen.
Krull‘s box office foibles weren’t helped by its critical reception. It wasn’t the best-reviewed fantasy film, earning relatively negative reactions from critics upon its release. The last four decades have not seen a critical reassessment, with Krull currently sitting at an unenviable 35% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Among the most common criticisms facing the film is its lack of originality; despite blending both fantasy and sci-fi tropes, Krull fails to do anything particularly innovative in either genre.
While Krull is far from a critical darling, the film has its supporters. Audiences are generally easier on the film’s missteps, giving it significantly higher scores than critics. The Rotten Tomatoes audience approval rating sits at 52%, seventeen percentage points higher than the critic score. Users on IMDb rate the film at 6.1/10 stars, suggesting that, while Krull is still far from being considered a masterpiece, it has been better received among general audiences than critics.
Is There a Chance for a Krull Remake or Sequel?
While Krull has achieved cult classic status, it doesn’t seem likely that the forgotten film will get a revival anytime soon. The 1983 fantasy adventure doesn’t have much to warrant a remake or legacy sequel; not only is there no source material done a disservice by a subpar adaptation, but there are also very few stars who went on to bigger and better things. The only two cast members who went on to be well-known today are Liam Neeson and Robby Coltraine. As such, there would be little to help a Krull sequel to stand out amidst the many other massive fantasy and sci-fi franchises that continue to dominate Hollywood today.
Nevertheless, hardcore fans devoted to the cult classic fantasy film have some other extracurricular material to enjoy in place of a Krull sequel or remake. Alan Dean Foster penned a novelization of the 1983 movie, which includes some added details that may not have been clear on the screen. Additionally, Marvel Comics has published several issues of a limited series based on the events of Krull, which include some scenes that didn’t make it into the final cut of the film. Neither of these projects may be the continuation of the story as some fans might have hoped for, but they provide supplemental material that could enhance the viewing experience.
Anyone who missed out on Krull during its initial run can still find the film relatively easily today. The cult classic fantasy adventure is available to stream for free on Tubi and The Roku Channel. Additionally, services like Prime Video and YouTube Movies offer rental and purchase options for those devoted fans who want to rewatch Krull over and over again.
Krull may not have been the hit that some had hoped it would be in the late ’80s, but it has just enough of a cult following to keep its memory alive today, over forty years later. The film features a truly unexpected performance from Liam Neeson a decade before he hit his big break, making Krull a kind of bizarre time capsule of the actor’s early career.
