Willow (1988)

A reluctant dwarf must play a critical role in protecting a special baby from an evil queen.

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers:

George Lucas (story by), Bob Dolman (screenplay by)

Stars:

Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Warwick Davis

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Val Kilmer	...	Madmartigan
Joanne Whalley	...	Sorsha
Warwick Davis	...	Willow Ufgood
Jean Marsh	...	Queen Bavmorda
Patricia Hayes	...	Fin Raziel
Billy Barty	...	High Aldwin
Pat Roach	...	Gen. Kael
Gavan O'Herlihy	...	Airk Thaughbaer
David Steinberg	...	Meegosh
Phil Fondacaro	...	Vohnkar
Tony Cox	...	Vohnkar Warrior
Robert Gillibrand	...	Vohnkar Warrior
Mark Northover	...	Burglekutt
Kevin Pollak	...	Rool
Rick Overton	...	Franjean

Storyline

A baby girl is discovered in a river by Ranon and Mims, the children of Willow Ufgood, a dwarf farmer and magician and the baby girl is taken into the care of Willow's family. But when a terrifying dog-like creature attacks Willow's village, whilst tracking down the baby. Willow consults the village council and the wizard The High Aldwin. The High Aldwin gives Willow a task and Willow leaves the village and embarks on the task to give the baby girl to a responsible person. But Willow soon learns the baby is Elora Danan, the baby girl destined to bring about the downfall of the evil sorceress Queen Bavmorda. Joined by his allies: swordsman Madmartigan, sorceress Fin Raziel and the Brownies Franjean and Rool, Willow takes it upon himself to protect Elora from Queen Bavmorda, who intends to kill Elora and prevent Elora from fulfilling her destiny. And Willow and his allies are pursued by Queen Bavmorda's daughter Sorsha and the evil commander of Queen Bavmorda's army General Kael, whom ...

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Plot Keywords:

evil woman | tough girl | tough guy | falling downhill | good man | 

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Taglines:

A world where heroes come in all sizes and adventure is the greatest magic of all

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [Belgium] 20th Century Fox [Spain]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 May 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Willow

Filming Locations:

Cannon Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,300,169, 20 May 1988, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$57,269,863

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lucasfilm, Imagine Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Xena: Warrior Princess: Cradle of Hope (1995) bares a similar plot to Willow (1988). In that episode of Xena: Warrior Princess (1995), Xena (Lucy Lawless) and Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) find a newborn baby in a basket on a river and they become the baby's protectors, when they learn that the baby was prophesied to sit on the throne of King Gregor (Edward Newborn) and the King's advisor Nemos (Simon Prast), whom secretly plots to overthrow the King, sets out to prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled.

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Goofs

In the opening scene, immediately following Elora's birth, Sorsha is speaking with a woman who sounds suspiciously like Bavmorda, and states, "She bears the mark." However, Sorsha leaves the cell saying, "I must tell my mother," which would imply that Bavmorda was not present in the cell. Further, the only two remaining people in the cell when Sorsha leaves (aside from the infant) are Elora's mother and the midwife, neither of whose voices sounds remotely like the woman's voice heard earlier. This would suggest that in an earlier version of the script, Bavmorda was intended to be in the cell when the child was born, but the scene was changed later and the dialogue not re-recorded.

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Quotes

Madmartigan: I love you, Sorsha!
Sorsha: Stop saying that!

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Crazy Credits

Although he played the title role, Warwick Davis took just third billing. Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley took first and second billing respectively.

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Alternate Versions

The UK version edits the second sword thrust into General Kael when Madmartigan steps on the sword and drives it through him. It only shows Madmartigan step on the sword, then cuts to Kael falling. A scene during the battle between Bavmorda and Fin Raziel was deleted which actually showed where the scratches on Fin's face came from.

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Connections

Referenced in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

User Reviews

A Morphing Delight

I'm typing this being dictated to by my 11 year old son, in whose opinion this is the best movie he has ever seen. He's outgrown the Disney variety and various animations but he's still not ready for hardcore action movies so what is there for him to enjoy - well as a mom, I can tell you, very little. That's where the fantasy movies are so great. They have mystery, action, a little romance but the greatest value comes from the good moral story of good wins over evil, truth over deceit and small truimphs over powerful.

The most amazing fact is that at the time of first seeing this movie, it is 16 years old - Thank you George Lucas, thank you Ron Howard and thank you for a wonderful cast who have brought this eternal story to eternal life and I'm not joking either. I think we are on viewing #25 already and still going strong.

Movies are about people sharing a story but magic certainly helps get the message across...