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Willow

Play trailer Poster for Willow PG Released May 20, 1988 2h 6m Fantasy Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
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53% Tomatometer 59 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
Enter the world of "Willow." Journey to the far corners of your imagination, to a land of myth and magic, where dream and reality live side by side ... to a place that never existed, a time that never was. It is a world where a young man named Willow lives out an adventure that explodes beyond the boundaries of his own hopes and fears.
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Willow

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Critics Consensus

State-of-the-art special effects and an appealing performance from Warwick Davis can't quite save Willow from its slow pace and generic story.

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Critics Reviews

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Gene Siskel Chicago Tribune There isn't a single major character in the film who is engaging. Rated: 2/4 Dec 6, 2018 Full Review Sheila Benson Los Angeles Times If it evaporates from memory with the airiness of a bubble bath, at least it leaves a friendly glow and a sense of a magical world lovingly evoked. Dec 6, 2018 Full Review Ian Nathan Empire Magazine Willow is not without its charms -- the effects are more than special, the set-pieces suitably epic -- but it just doesn't fulfill the promise of certain other fantasy films. Rated: 3/5 Dec 6, 2018 Full Review Josh Winning Radio Times The creaky monster effects are a delight, and James Horner's rousing score elevates the story to epic heights, ensuring that Willow delivers a stirring jolt of old-school escapism. Rated: 3/5 Nov 28, 2022 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) [Willow] is a good movie for kids. [Full review in Spanish] Jun 21, 2022 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review In the wake of series like The Lord of the Rings and the later Harry Potter entries, Willow cannot help but feel catered to children with little awareness of how much it borrows from other sources. Rated: 2.5/4 Feb 18, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jay W "Willow" follows a lot of the basic high fantasy tropes. There are wizards, elves, a dark lord and a prophecy about a chosen one destined to defeat the dark lord. What helps "Willow" stand out is that the "chosen one" is still a baby. With the dark lord knowing the prophecy, she pulls a Ramses and decrees to search all babies for the chosen one. Through means of trying to hide the baby, she ends up in the hands of Willow. So, the focus of the story is not on "The chosen one" but instead the random person who happened to stumble into the situation. That is an interesting twist. Willow, himself is never mentioned in the prophecy, he just is the one taking care of the chosen baby. But man, this movie makes a lot of strange decisions. It can become very clear that this was written by George Lucas. The story begins by putting a fellowship of characters together, only to have the group break up about two scenes later. It is difficult to grasp how the rules of this world work. There is one scene where the evil wizard just turns everyone into pigs, why couldn't she just use that power to begin with? There is a plot point where a love potion is used on a character, and they do the good old Bond style of: kiss her until she likes it. There are a lot of obnoxious side characters and they get far too much screen time. The story takes back seat for a long stretch of the movie and it chooses the oddest things to focus on. There are bonus points of originality, but boy is it ever strange. I can see it being some people's favorite movie, but for me it is too unfocused, confusing and filled with annoying characters. There is a little magic, but it falls short of coming together. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/01/24 Full Review Emilliano Jr S A beloved 80's classic which fascinates us until today. It's like Harry Potter & LOTR in one. Teary eyed after watching it again for more than 30 years. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/25/24 Full Review Birithivy Y Willow - 9/10. I remember watching this in English class way back in middle school. Honestly, my english teacher was a gym teacher at heart, so he thought that by playing movies all the time it would help teach us. Maybe the logic wasn’t there, but I surely appreciated all the great movies he showed us that year. Willow is a wonderful and unique tale. With a surprisingly mega wattage combo of Ron Howard as the director and George Lucas as the writer, we get an interesting and super original epic fantasy film. The one thing that I really remember about this movie was that the set design, costumes, and music were all pitch perfect. Again, there’s so much ideas and untapped stories in Hollywood that there are possibly many other original ideas that could be on the same level as Willow. The film acts almost like a fable or fairy tale at times too, which lends it a classic feel. I kinda wish Lucas continued giving his story ideas to others, because in the 80’s alone he allowed other people to continue his Star Wars movies, and gave Spielberg Indiana Jones, and gave Howard Willow. That right there could’ve gone wayward if Lucas wanted to do the direction as well, but he was smart by allowing others to interpret his works. Cause though some people might have forgotten about this film, it still has a following because it was done in such a cool and memorable way. Great film, and one that feels like a storybook being made into a film as well! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/22/24 Full Review Micah H Although plagued by horrible tone inconsistency, Willow is still a decent movie with more pros than cons. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/15/24 Full Review RM R One of my favorites from when I was a kid. I still love it today. Great cast, setting and music. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/09/24 Full Review Joseph K The greatest movie. This is Lucas' celtic version of Lord of the Rings with the ring removed and the good celtic people fighting the evil germanic people. This movie teaches kids to believe in themselves. All of the actors and actresses are superb. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/11/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Enter the world of "Willow." Journey to the far corners of your imagination, to a land of myth and magic, where dream and reality live side by side ... to a place that never existed, a time that never was. It is a world where a young man named Willow lives out an adventure that explodes beyond the boundaries of his own hopes and fears.
Director
Ron Howard
Producer
Nigel Wooll
Screenwriter
Bob Dolman, George Lucas
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
Imagine Entertainment, Lucasfilm Ltd., Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Rating
PG
Genre
Fantasy, Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 20, 1988, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 5, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA)
$55.6M
Runtime
2h 6m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, Stereo, Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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