The most underrated character in this movie is the old midwife right at the beginning. All alone, unarmed, surrounded by an army of vicious thugs and a horrible murderous witch queen, this unnamed and never mentioned old lady just cannot bear the thought of a newborn being butchered. Against all odds, she smuggles the child out of the hellhole and when the time comes she sacrifices her life for perfectly altruistic reasons. No glory, no riches, no ego driven feeling...she just does what is right even though it means her death...all alone under a pack of hounds. She's the bravest hero in the film.
@@AngelusBradyHell is REAL. Repent of your sins and turn to God. He loves you. Believe in his Son Jesus and you'll be saved. TH-cam: 30 Days Touring HELL
Love this movie, easily the greatest of the sword and sorcery films of the 80s most people forget about it and only remember Conan or beastmaster(both fun films) but Willow is the best of them all A lot of people have an issue with how quickly sorsha switches sides, but there’s a whole cut subplot where you find out the evil queen had enchanted sorshas dad who I think was king of tir asleen and then betrayed him and turned him and everyone else to stone and made sorsha forget about it, so when sorsha is at tir asleen before she switched sides she saw her dad and remembered Her dad is the old king guy at the end standing beside her
Plus - it’s Val Kilmer, I would’ve switched sides the minute I laid eyes on him. Val Kilmer: You’re beautiful Me: “Mother? What mother? I don’t have a mother…”
I never knew that about the cutscene. That makes her character make so much more sense. It was always a pain point for me for the film even though it's always been a favorite!
@@northernpunx1978 I have a soft spot for all the terrible sword and sorcery movies from back then, like krul and the sword and the sorcerer but I can't pretend they were good, even conan and beastmaster are pretty rough in parts, like in conan them fighting the giant snake and beastmaster might be my favorite guilty pleasure movie but the dialogue and action scenes can be pretty bad, like watching a highschool play in parts
We nearly named our youngest Elora for much of the same reason. Went with Phillipa (Pippa) Danger. Poor kid, couldn’t get away from her parents millennialness.
_Willow_ proved in 1988 that Ron Howard - of all people, weirdly - could have made an exceptional _Lord Of The Rings_ adaptation at any point. Apparently, that was the original plan but the Tolkien estate denied Lucas the rights.
And Warwick Davis would have made a fantastic Bilbo/Frodo, if we, like Lucas, were still going with the animated LOTR’s idea that the Hobbits were midgets.
I also watched this movie numerous times when I was younger. For an 80s movie, this was really well done and my first foray into fantasy. Well, this or Legend. Sure, measured against films made in the late 90s on it falls short, but viewed for what it was at the time, I’d say it’s worth a watch or two.
Worth checking out: Warwick Davis' 2011 Ricky Gervais-produced BBC mockumentary series _Life's Too Short._ Davis plays an exaggerated "failed career" version of himself. Hilarious show, tons of _Willow_ references. Cool thing is that a _Willow_ series is currently in production for 2022.
I adored this film when it came out. We all wanted a D&D-like movie, and this kinda fit the bill. I played the hell out of the arcade game, and remember when I finally beat it. As always: finish Carpenter's Apocalypse Trilogy: 2) Prince of Darkness and 3) In the Mouth of Madness.
WOO! I’m so excited you guys are watching this movie! My name is Sorsha and my Dad chose it from this movie, watching this was always so cool for me as someone who lives in the states; I’d never heard my name before without someone referring to me. No keychains but a cool character and an awesome movie!! I hope you guys like this. Watching now!! ♥️♥️ Edit: Anyone else named after a character from this movie?
Willow, The Goonies & Labyrinth were the holy trinity for me growing up. Willow especially holds a special place in my heart and I still adore it to this day!
This is a solid film with a really good story that is well told. It has action, adventure, monsters, magic, sword fights, and it is scary at times. The effects are a bit dated now, but great for the time. Ladyhawke is also a solid fantasy film and you two should check it out.
FUN FACT: Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley(sorsha) fell in love on the set, and had 3 children. -- they all make an appearance in last year's Documentary "Val (2021)"
With the names, it's Madmartigan and Airk - which is a far cry from being a "normal" Eric :P And from what I've heard, Willow is now the High Aldwin of the village - and fun fact, Warwick Davis was all of *seventeen* when he played this part, so he did a *phenomenal* job given that particular bit.
Warwick Davis was only 17 during filming so that probably also played a part in his acting abilities at the time. Although I assume that Willow is supposed to be significantly older or he must have become a father before he was a teenager.
Here's a little trivia. The skulled villain Kael was named after a famous NY critic Pauline Kael, who had criticized some of Lucas' films. And the two headed creature was called the Sisk-bert named after the popular TV critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert who were the two most famous film critics because of their hit syndicated review series.
Interesting thing with all these childhood movies...the nostalgia aspect seems to be so important. As adult, i see its flaws but i still love it. But it can be difficult for the person watching it for the first time as an adult to appreciate it. I have to check...but hope The Dark Crystal is on one of your lists
I recall a story by Warwick Davis where he was hanging out with Ron Howard and mentioned a film he was thinking of auditioning for, involving a killer leprechaun. Ron said it sounded like a terrible idea and that he shouldn't audition. Thankfully Warwick ignored Ron's advice and working on Leprechaun was a fun distraction from difficult times. He and his wife were trying to start a family with several failures in a row. They now have two children and Leprechaun is a cult franchise classic.
I just finished the Audible book for Warwick Davis & it was so good. It told stories from all his movies and how he got into the business. I loved the stories from the Willow set and how great Val was to him. Warwick was actually way younger than his character was.
YES! Never clicked on a video faster! I wasn’t allowed to watch it when I was little because my parents thought it was too dark. Secretly watched it, and yeah, Bavmorda was terrifying to me. But love it still.
I saw this in the theater when I was 8. I remember the queen being especially scary and menacing. Willow might have sparked my fascination with magic in movies. Great reaction!
The movie had more scenes that were cut out to bring down the time. There was a whole fish boy bit in the lake when Willow goes to see Razel for the first time. Sorsha had more back story with her father being the King of Tir Asleen, whom she sees and talks to for the first time in a block of stone. She realizes she's been lied to opening her up to a relationship with Madmartigan. When Willow says goodbye to everyone and they put him on the pony, Sorsha's father is the elderly man with the white beard standing next to her. Too bad his scene was cut and we never knew who he really was. Still, this is one of my ultimate favorite films.
This is such a classic. This is a childhood film and I just adore it. He was 17 when he filmed this and yes it’s debut film if you don’t count his role as an Ewok. But, I’m so excited for the television series. It’s a universe we need to revisit.
There's a novelization of this based on the earlier scripts that includes even more worldbuilding that gives a lot more context and late-stage characterization to Sorsha
I loved this movie as a kid. I saw it in theaters (I was 8) The music is just so enchanting!!! And Willow and his wife are total #relationship goals!!!
Oh man. I love this movie. I watched it so many times as a kid and played the Nintendo game. Another George Lucas gem. George wrote this specifically for Warwick after he played the Ewok in RotJ. General Kale is my favorite. And his death scene is fantastic.
Kale was played by Pat Roach who was in raiders of the lost ark. He played the soldier who fights indy at the plane and the sword master who indy shoots.
I never had a doubt about Tom's picks! 🤭 Willow is badass and this is fantasy at its best for me over LOTR or star wars and the others mentioned. Cheers guys 🤩😘🤟🏽
Weird trivia. Willow was directed by Ron Howard who starred in the show Happy Days. The actor in Willow who plays Airk Thaugbaer was also on Happy Days playing Ron Howard's older brother Chuck. So Ron Howard cast his fictional brother in Willow. Lol.
I've seen this movie numerous times and while maybe most have noticed it. I just realized the prophecy was a little misunderstood. They make it seem like the baby was destined to grow up and kill the queen, when in fact the baby brought this perfect group of people that in trying to rescue her end up killing the queen. So, while she didn't defeat her directly, she inadvertently was the cause of her downfall. I have always adored this movie and Warwick Davis is a legend. He's been in too many projects to count and so many of them you don't even know it's him. It was years before I knew he played Leprechaun. I'm just glad he got his moment to shine as himself and be the star for once. I'm also a HUGE fan of Peter Dinklage and if I ever seen these two in the same movie, I think my head would explode. lol
This is my sister's favorite movies as well! There is a Willow TV series in development in Disney+ with Warwick Davis playing the title character. And RIP, to James Horner. He did music for this and: TITANIC ALIENS AVATAR JUMANJI APOLLO 13 An American Tail An American Tail 2 KRULL Casper The Rocketeer A Beautiful Mind Something Wicked This Way Comes Battle Beyond The Stars Humanoids From The Deep Ransom The Land Before Time Sneakers Commando 48 HRS Another 48 HRS Gorky Park Bicentennial Man BRAVEHEART The Missing Thunderheart Patriot Games Clear And Present Danger Wolfen The Hand Uncommon Valor Cocoon Field Of Dreams Honey I Shrunk The kids We're Back! A Dinosaurs Story Glory Unlawful Entry The Pagemaster Legends Of The Fall Balto The Perfect Storm Mighty Joe Young How The Grinch Stole Christmas Enemy At The Gates Troy The Mask Of Zorro Southpaw The Amazing SPIDER MAN And THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN.
@@robertmolton6761 Well I hope you have toilet paper/wipes ready, because the series is already filmed (well mostly) and will start airing sometime in 2022. I believe Warwick Davis is the only returning character though sadly. Obviously, it'd be hard to bring back Val Kilmer due his health issues (though rumor is he does make a cameo, but it's just rumor at this point) and they had contacted the actress who played Sorsha but I'm not sure why she didn't come back. Think of the TV series more as a reboot than a sequel - though it is continued on from the movie of course it has an all-new cast other than Davis himself.
@@ThreadBomb I mean, a ton of classic music and especially movie themes etc take cues etc from other pieces. But I wouldn't doubt it's basically the same as Schumann's piece.
Born in 89 and I grew up with this movie. It still puts a smile on my face, and is the closest to the Lord of the Rings type of material I can find, movie-wise. Has that great balance between fun/light and heavy that LotR does.
One of my best mates acted in this, he got paid a couple of grand for a weeks work or something if i remember right, he had an equity card, hes only in a couple of scenes, handing an apple over on a market stall, and in a crowd scene in the village. He was also in snow white and the 7 dwarfs panto in sheffield every christmas with Marti Caine, sadly he drank himself to death in the mid 90s (R.I.P Jools)
If you told me a few days ago that I'd be staying up into the middle of the night watching "British Anthony Green" and his friend reacting to movies I wouldn't have believed it. The breakdown, ratings and all the faces you guys make are great.
One of my absolute Favorite childhood movies! My sisters & I have been saying, ‘I stole the baby’ all our lives lol Thank you so much for this great reaction guys!
A bit of trivia: Sorsha didn't give up her position of power, turn her back on everything she believed in, and betray her mother just because she fell in love with a guy she just met. She had a whole character arc that changed her view of the world. There are deleted scenes of Sorsha learning everything her mother had told her about her father was a lie. During the battle of Tir Asleen, Sorsha found her father incased alive inside magic crystal, put there by Queen Bavmorda. You can see him briefly with a long white beard wearing a crown in the ending scene where Willow is given the magic book. He is standing beside Sorsha, the baby, and Madmartigan.
this was played on tv when i was a child. i couldn't understand english very well then but i was so intrigued by how many little people playing major roles were that i just watched it until the end. the magic and action somehow made it an enjoyable watch even without understanding the dialogue or what was going on. tthis channel has some really good nostalgic selections.
Saw this in the theater originally when it came out. Would have been all of 12 years old when it came out. Everyone in my family still watches this regularly to this day. It’s always been a favorite for us.
From the creator of Star Wars and the director of the Cocoon takes you, to the greatest adventures of all time. Man i love Willow. Ron Howard and George Lucas did a great movie together and James Horner music score is beautiful.
I was a film extra on this film in 1987. Crossroads scene & a ambush battle scene with about a hundred of us. I read the battle scene was cut from the film, thankfully I have photos to prove it happened not that it matters now. It was about three years before I ever watched it on VHS lol
And Alan Arkin. There's a funny story where he prank called Alan's answering machine pretending to be him and then the real Alan was super confused cuz he didn't remember leaving a message. Fooled the original!
@@lkf8799 That's awesome! Speaking of Arkin (seriously...who does an Arkin impression?) dig the movie Wait Until Dark. Arkin plays a Hannibal Lecter-level villain, which is very weird of course. Tis a great flick! No spoiler, but...it's the movie that the term "jump scare" is coined from.
@@lkf8799 The trailers not bad. Stephen King said it's the scariest movie ever made. Apparently unknown Arkin got hired (against actual stars at the time) because no one wanted to terrify Audrey Hepburn on screen and be hated for it.
Wait Until Dark is a wonderful movie. The casting of Richard Crenna and Alan Arkin is very much against type. I love how they got to stretch their acting chops!
Watched this movie hundred's of times with my parent's growing up. XD Not gonna lie, the brownies were always my favorite characters. I hope that you can watched "Legend" (1985) with legend Tim Curry and Tom Cruise. Another childhood favorite is "LadyHawke" which came out in the same year with Michelle Pfieffer, Rutger Hauer and Matthew Broderick.
Willow is kind of special to me because it's one of maybe ten movies that I got to see on the big screen before I was old enough to drive myself. Going to the movies wasn't something we did a lot because my dad always thought it was too expensive, and he wound up being the one who had to take me to see Willow. He hated every minute of it because it involved spending money and watching a movie of a genre that he finds weird, boring, and stupid. Still, he sat through it, and I salute him for enduring it for my sake.
Erik, Mardigan's former friend was played by the guy who was Richie Cunningham's older brother on Happy Days-The one who went upstairs, and we never saw him again
I was ten years old when this came out and it's always been one of my favorite films. The scene where the army is turned into pigs scared the heck out of me back then.
Sorsha did have a whole sub plot involving her finding her father, but they had to cut it for time. There were some deleted scenes added recently to TH-cam with Ron Howard talking about them.
1. Fun movie! 2. That two headed critter is all kinds of cool!😎 3. When the evil queen goes down I think, "Couldn't happen to a nicer guy"👿 4. Thanks for doing this. I've been trying to get others to do this one. My chance to do that is; (Trivia time) because Warwick Davis' first gig was the lead Ewok "Return of the Jedi" when he was only 13 years old. 5. Val Kilmer will be 62 in December. Another movie with him in it not mentioned so far is: "The Doors" where he plays Jim Morrison and does all the singing in the movie. His(and my) love interest is Meg Ryan.😍 6. GOOF: Kaya is seen in the ending celebration then shows up with the children and acts like it's the first time she sees him. 7. Is there anything Ron Howard can't do?
The music for this film is sooo good. Also the chemistry between MadMartigan and Sorcha - Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley got married shortly after. Last but not least, amazing landscapes as this film was shot in New Zealand, 13 years prior to LoTR
Historic Note : The actor who played the High Elwin of the village was the last living Munchkin from The Wizard Of Oz (1939) The other one was the little woman who played the Psychic House Cleanser in Poltergeist.
Warwick Davis was only 17 when he landed the lead role in Willow. Also where lead actors Joanne Whalley and Val Kilmer fell in love (later married). The animal morphing scene 21:50 I think is the first CGI on silver screen.
Willow is definitely my favourite fantasy movie of the 1980s. It certainly has elements from both Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and some of the characters are similar to characters from both movies like Willow is a cross between Frodo and Luke Skywalker and Madmartigan is a cross between Aragorn and Han Solo for example. Bavmorda is a brilliant villain in this movie and she is sort of like a Disney Villain as she is powerful like Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty and wants a princess killed so she can remain in power like the Evil Queen from Snow White. Her attire is quite similar to those villains as well now that I think of it except for the mummy wrappings underneath her robes that remind me of Mumm-ra from Thundercats lol.
I used to call those things pig dogs and they scared the crap out of me as a kid. But I watched this movie SOOOO many times growing up. My younger brother was obsessed for a while as well.
When I was a kid in the 80s we watched this at a Brownies sleep over. We were sleeping on the gymnasium floor of the Salvation Army in sleeping bags, watched this and then nite nite kiddies. lol I was like 8-9 years old.
One of my faves.. basically Lord of the Rings in 2 hours instead of 9. Just the other day I was thinking about how Warwick is the only little person I know of who was ever in a leading role.
![Willow (1988) Movie Reaction [First Time Watching]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w1exhkCH7Js/mqdefault.jpg)
The most underrated character in this movie is the old midwife right at the beginning. All alone, unarmed, surrounded by an army of vicious thugs and a horrible murderous witch queen, this unnamed and never mentioned old lady just cannot bear the thought of a newborn being butchered. Against all odds, she smuggles the child out of the hellhole and when the time comes she sacrifices her life for perfectly altruistic reasons. No glory, no riches, no ego driven feeling...she just does what is right even though it means her death...all alone under a pack of hounds. She's the bravest hero in the film.
This movie is full of tough old broads, ha ha. Seriously though, she's brave as hell.
Her name is Ethna.
Hell is REAL. Repent of your sins and turn to God. He loves you. Believe in his Son Jesus and you'll be saved. TH-cam: 30 Days Touring HELL
@@AuspexAOHell is REAL. Repent of your sins and turn to God. He loves you. Believe in his Son Jesus and you'll be saved. TH-cam: 30 Days Touring HELL
@@AngelusBradyHell is REAL. Repent of your sins and turn to God. He loves you. Believe in his Son Jesus and you'll be saved. TH-cam: 30 Days Touring HELL
One main thing I love about this movie is its original take on fantasy. Imagine how far you could go while expanding on its lore.
Love this movie, easily the greatest of the sword and sorcery films of the 80s most people forget about it and only remember Conan or beastmaster(both fun films) but Willow is the best of them all
A lot of people have an issue with how quickly sorsha switches sides, but there’s a whole cut subplot where you find out the evil queen had enchanted sorshas dad who I think was king of tir asleen and then betrayed him and turned him and everyone else to stone and made sorsha forget about it, so when sorsha is at tir asleen before she switched sides she saw her dad and remembered
Her dad is the old king guy at the end standing beside her
Plus - it’s Val Kilmer, I would’ve switched sides the minute I laid eyes on him.
Val Kilmer: You’re beautiful
Me: “Mother? What mother? I don’t have a mother…”
I never knew that about the cutscene. That makes her character make so much more sense. It was always a pain point for me for the film even though it's always been a favorite!
Excalibur is much better IMO
@@northernpunx1978 I have a soft spot for all the terrible sword and sorcery movies from back then, like krul and the sword and the sorcerer but I can't pretend they were good,
even conan and beastmaster are pretty rough in parts, like in conan them fighting the giant snake and beastmaster might be my favorite guilty pleasure movie but the dialogue and action scenes can be pretty bad, like watching a highschool play in parts
@@dbly50
It's okay to be wrong about "The Sword and the Sorcerer" that shit is badass!!
This is a kids movie.
I grew up on fantasy movies. Willow, Legend, The Dark Crystal, and The Last Unicorn. Glad to see you watching this!
Add Labyrinth and you got my childhood fantasy favorites.
adding on Neverending Story, Secret of Nimh and Dragon Slayer.
All the movies mentioned in this thread. Yesssss!!!!!
tossing in a dash of Krull. Love all these movies mentioned
@@Austral13 oh Krull! forgot about that one XD
This movie is an absolute staple of my childhood. So much so that I named my daughter Elora 😅
We nearly named our youngest Elora for much of the same reason. Went with Phillipa (Pippa) Danger.
Poor kid, couldn’t get away from her parents millennialness.
That is so awesome I love it ❤️❤️
I was named after Airk (but named Eric)
It's a cool name!
Oh my God we're so much alike! I named my first son Burglekutt, and my daughter bavmorda!!!!
Willow is one of the GOAT fantasy adventures!!! Val Kilmer at his BEST - Warwick Davis standout role. .EVERYONE killed it. This movie is rad.
Keep in mind: Before Willow, the Evil Queen's daughter was known as Joanne Whalley. After Willow, she was known as Joanne Whalley Kilmer.
"You ARE great!", Joanne, probably.
Of course, like most celebrity relationships, it didn't end well.
@@ComeOnIsSuchAJoy yeah:(
_Willow_ proved in 1988 that Ron Howard - of all people, weirdly - could have made an exceptional _Lord Of The Rings_ adaptation at any point. Apparently, that was the original plan but the Tolkien estate denied Lucas the rights.
And Warwick Davis would have made a fantastic Bilbo/Frodo, if we, like Lucas, were still going with the animated LOTR’s idea that the Hobbits were midgets.
Thank god it wasn't. The LOTR was made by the right man at the right time.
@@JohnnyZenith Most Definitely, Willow is great at being Willow, though.
The LOTR films came out at the right time thankfully where technology could properly portray Middle Earth and the epic scale that story deserved.
I also watched this movie numerous times when I was younger. For an 80s movie, this was really well done and my first foray into fantasy. Well, this or Legend. Sure, measured against films made in the late 90s on it falls short, but viewed for what it was at the time, I’d say it’s worth a watch or two.
I love Legend
Willow does not "fall short" on anything.
@@tsogobauggi8721 This 100%, not sure what drugs Amanda is on lol.
Worth checking out: Warwick Davis' 2011 Ricky Gervais-produced BBC mockumentary series _Life's Too Short._ Davis plays an exaggerated "failed career" version of himself. Hilarious show, tons of _Willow_ references.
Cool thing is that a _Willow_ series is currently in production for 2022.
It's a Disney+ series.
Life’s Too Short was hysterical!!!
I adored this film when it came out. We all wanted a D&D-like movie, and this kinda fit the bill. I played the hell out of the arcade game, and remember when I finally beat it. As always: finish Carpenter's Apocalypse Trilogy: 2) Prince of Darkness and 3) In the Mouth of Madness.
Oh Hell yes.
WOO! I’m so excited you guys are watching this movie! My name is Sorsha and my Dad chose it from this movie, watching this was always so cool for me as someone who lives in the states; I’d never heard my name before without someone referring to me. No keychains but a cool character and an awesome movie!! I hope you guys like this. Watching now!! ♥️♥️
Edit: Anyone else named after a character from this movie?
Willow, The Goonies & Labyrinth were the holy trinity for me growing up. Willow especially holds a special place in my heart and I still adore it to this day!
Labyrinth is my number one but I LOVED Willow, Legend, Princess Bride and Dark Crystal despite being a 90s kid. They just always appealed more to me.
I've said it once I'll say it again, the Baby is one of the most emotive and expressive I've ever seen
I used to watch this movie all the time as a kid and it’s been a huge inspiration and influence on my medieval fantasy visual aesthetic.
This is a solid film with a really good story that is well told. It has action, adventure, monsters, magic, sword fights, and it is scary at times. The effects are a bit dated now, but great for the time. Ladyhawke is also a solid fantasy film and you two should check it out.
I second the Ladyhawke suggestion! One of my favorites, 80s synth music and all.
Imagine that, the effects of a movie that came out in 1988 are dated in 2022....
FUN FACT: Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley(sorsha) fell in love on the set, and had 3 children.
-- they all make an appearance in last year's Documentary "Val (2021)"
With the names, it's Madmartigan and Airk - which is a far cry from being a "normal" Eric :P
And from what I've heard, Willow is now the High Aldwin of the village - and fun fact, Warwick Davis was all of *seventeen* when he played this part, so he did a *phenomenal* job given that particular bit.
Warwick Davis was only 17 during filming so that probably also played a part in his acting abilities at the time. Although I assume that Willow is supposed to be significantly older or he must have become a father before he was a teenager.
Yeah he was meant to be 10 years older.
It's amazing performance considering how young he was!
Considering his only experience before this was playing an Ewok, and that this is largely a family film, I'd say he was solid.
Good grief! I always figured he 28-30.
I didn't know he was 17 wow!
Here's a little trivia. The skulled villain Kael was named after a famous NY critic Pauline Kael, who had criticized some of Lucas' films. And the two headed creature was called the Sisk-bert named after the popular TV critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert who were the two most famous film critics because of their hit syndicated review series.
Interesting thing with all these childhood movies...the nostalgia aspect seems to be so important. As adult, i see its flaws but i still love it. But it can be difficult for the person watching it for the first time as an adult to appreciate it. I have to check...but hope The Dark Crystal is on one of your lists
I recall a story by Warwick Davis where he was hanging out with Ron Howard and mentioned a film he was thinking of auditioning for, involving a killer leprechaun. Ron said it sounded like a terrible idea and that he shouldn't audition. Thankfully Warwick ignored Ron's advice and working on Leprechaun was a fun distraction from difficult times. He and his wife were trying to start a family with several failures in a row. They now have two children and Leprechaun is a cult franchise classic.
I just finished the Audible book for Warwick Davis & it was so good. It told stories from all his movies and how he got into the business. I loved the stories from the Willow set and how great Val was to him. Warwick was actually way younger than his character was.
He was 17 when he filmed this...
@@barefootanimist Yup 😀
I remember thinking Joanne Whalley was gorgeous in this movie. It's confirmed.
I still have a thing for red heads because of this movie.
She is one of the reasons why I like redheads. :)
YES! Never clicked on a video faster!
I wasn’t allowed to watch it when I was little because my parents thought it was too dark. Secretly watched it, and yeah, Bavmorda was terrifying to me. But love it still.
I saw this in the theater when I was 8. I remember the queen being especially scary and menacing. Willow might have sparked my fascination with magic in movies.
Great reaction!
The movie had more scenes that were cut out to bring down the time. There was a whole fish boy bit in the lake when Willow goes to see Razel for the first time. Sorsha had more back story with her father being the King of Tir Asleen, whom she sees and talks to for the first time in a block of stone. She realizes she's been lied to opening her up to a relationship with Madmartigan. When Willow says goodbye to everyone and they put him on the pony, Sorsha's father is the elderly man with the white beard standing next to her. Too bad his scene was cut and we never knew who he really was. Still, this is one of my ultimate favorite films.
Used to crush on Val Kilmer. Also this was great when I was kid, cuz there were so little good fantasy films.
This movie is famous for being one of the first to use computer morphing technology for the special effects.
It blows my mind that Warwick Davis was only 16 when he filmed this
It's going back to the village!
...Forget the bird, follow the river.
I really liked Airk (Eric), the actor who played him, Gavan O'Herlihy, died in 2021 x
"Why do you have a skull as a helmet?" The better question is, why don't you have a skull as a helmet?
This is such a classic. This is a childhood film and I just adore it. He was 17 when he filmed this and yes it’s debut film if you don’t count his role as an Ewok. But, I’m so excited for the television series. It’s a universe we need to revisit.
There's a novelization of this based on the earlier scripts that includes even more worldbuilding that gives a lot more context and late-stage characterization to Sorsha
Willow was one of the few films that got me to read the book written after the film, which is a reverse where most movies were adapted from the book.
I loved this movie as a kid. I saw it in theaters (I was 8) The music is just so enchanting!!! And Willow and his wife are total #relationship goals!!!
Oh man. I love this movie. I watched it so many times as a kid and played the Nintendo game. Another George Lucas gem. George wrote this specifically for Warwick after he played the Ewok in RotJ. General Kale is my favorite. And his death scene is fantastic.
Kale was played by Pat Roach who was in raiders of the lost ark. He played the soldier who fights indy at the plane and the sword master who indy shoots.
That's cool. I never thought to look him up before.
General Kael's name was a reference to Pauline Kael, a movie critic who was extremely harsh and virtually never gave anything positive reviews.
Very nostalgic this one for me - glad you got some fun out of it! As others have said - Time Bandits (1981) is a must
I never had a doubt about Tom's picks! 🤭 Willow is badass and this is fantasy at its best for me over LOTR or star wars and the others mentioned. Cheers guys 🤩😘🤟🏽
Weird trivia. Willow was directed by Ron Howard who starred in the show Happy Days. The actor in Willow who plays Airk Thaugbaer was also on Happy Days playing Ron Howard's older brother Chuck. So Ron Howard cast his fictional brother in Willow. Lol.
The tiny dudes banter always cracks me up.
I've seen this movie numerous times and while maybe most have noticed it. I just realized the prophecy was a little misunderstood. They make it seem like the baby was destined to grow up and kill the queen, when in fact the baby brought this perfect group of people that in trying to rescue her end up killing the queen. So, while she didn't defeat her directly, she inadvertently was the cause of her downfall.
I have always adored this movie and Warwick Davis is a legend. He's been in too many projects to count and so many of them you don't even know it's him. It was years before I knew he played Leprechaun. I'm just glad he got his moment to shine as himself and be the star for once. I'm also a HUGE fan of Peter Dinklage and if I ever seen these two in the same movie, I think my head would explode. lol
This is my sister's favorite movies as well! There is a Willow TV series in development in Disney+ with Warwick Davis playing the title character. And RIP, to James Horner. He did music for this and:
TITANIC
ALIENS
AVATAR
JUMANJI
APOLLO 13
An American Tail
An American Tail 2
KRULL
Casper
The Rocketeer
A Beautiful Mind
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Battle Beyond The Stars
Humanoids From The Deep
Ransom
The Land Before Time
Sneakers
Commando
48 HRS
Another 48 HRS
Gorky Park
Bicentennial Man
BRAVEHEART
The Missing
Thunderheart
Patriot Games
Clear And Present Danger
Wolfen
The Hand
Uncommon Valor
Cocoon
Field Of Dreams
Honey I Shrunk The kids
We're Back! A Dinosaurs Story
Glory
Unlawful Entry
The Pagemaster
Legends Of The Fall
Balto
The Perfect Storm
Mighty Joe Young
How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Enemy At The Gates
Troy
The Mask Of Zorro
Southpaw
The Amazing SPIDER MAN
And
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN.
If we get a Willow series, I will 💩 myself. Now you got my hopes up! Done right, that would be amazing.
@@robertmolton6761 Well I hope you have toilet paper/wipes ready, because the series is already filmed (well mostly) and will start airing sometime in 2022. I believe Warwick Davis is the only returning character though sadly. Obviously, it'd be hard to bring back Val Kilmer due his health issues (though rumor is he does make a cameo, but it's just rumor at this point) and they had contacted the actress who played Sorsha but I'm not sure why she didn't come back. Think of the TV series more as a reboot than a sequel - though it is continued on from the movie of course it has an all-new cast other than Davis himself.
Also a bit of a plagiarist. The big swashbuckling theme from Willow is lifted directly from Schumann's 3rd symphony.
@@LordLOC Appreciate the info.👍
@@ThreadBomb I mean, a ton of classic music and especially movie themes etc take cues etc from other pieces. But I wouldn't doubt it's basically the same as Schumann's piece.
Born in 89 and I grew up with this movie. It still puts a smile on my face, and is the closest to the Lord of the Rings type of material I can find, movie-wise. Has that great balance between fun/light and heavy that LotR does.
One of my best mates acted in this, he got paid a couple of grand for a weeks work or something if i remember right, he had an equity card, hes only in a couple of scenes, handing an apple over on a market stall, and in a crowd scene in the village. He was also in snow white and the 7 dwarfs panto in sheffield every christmas with Marti Caine, sadly he drank himself to death in the mid 90s (R.I.P Jools)
If you told me a few days ago that I'd be staying up into the middle of the night watching "British Anthony Green" and his friend reacting to movies I wouldn't have believed it. The breakdown, ratings and all the faces you guys make are great.
Great film, a real great classic 🙂🙂
I loved Billy Barty (High Aldwin) in He-Man Masters of the Universe
One of my absolute Favorite childhood movies! My sisters & I have been saying, ‘I stole the baby’ all our lives lol Thank you so much for this great reaction guys!
Ha ha, my brothers and I always say "Out of waaaaay, Peck!" (the soldier says it to Willow when he's riding by and it always cracked us up).
A bit of trivia: Sorsha didn't give up her position of power, turn her back on everything she believed in, and betray her mother just because she fell in love with a guy she just met. She had a whole character arc that changed her view of the world. There are deleted scenes of Sorsha learning everything her mother had told her about her father was a lie. During the battle of Tir Asleen, Sorsha found her father incased alive inside magic crystal, put there by Queen Bavmorda. You can see him briefly with a long white beard wearing a crown in the ending scene where Willow is given the magic book. He is standing beside Sorsha, the baby, and Madmartigan.
I watched this when I was younger and I remember finding the trolls really disgusting and being creeped out by what willow did to one of them.
this was played on tv when i was a child. i couldn't understand english very well then but i was so intrigued by how many little people playing major roles were that i just watched it until the end. the magic and action somehow made it an enjoyable watch even without understanding the dialogue or what was going on. tthis channel has some really good nostalgic selections.
Val Kilmer in this era was super special. I always loved his character’s name in this, Madmartigan forever!! 🙌🥰
Saw this in the theater originally when it came out. Would have been all of 12 years old when it came out. Everyone in my family still watches this regularly to this day. It’s always been a favorite for us.
If I remember correctly, the filmmakers were trying to make "The Hobbit," but when licensing fell through, they made this instead.
I never noticed Willow did chantless magic at the end with the apple-dove. He is OP AF
I was about 6 when i first watched this film in 2005 and it's been my absolute favorite fantasy film ever since
Willow makes a good double feature with Terry Gilliam's film Time Bandits.
From the creator of Star Wars and the director of the Cocoon takes you, to the greatest adventures of all time. Man i love Willow. Ron Howard and George Lucas did a great movie together and James Horner music score is beautiful.
Such a classic! General Kael is with out a doubt the most badass looking villain.
I was a film extra on this film in 1987. Crossroads scene & a ambush battle scene with about a hundred of us. I read the battle scene was cut from the film, thankfully I have photos to prove it happened not that it matters now. It was about three years before I ever watched it on VHS lol
One of the brownies is Kevin Pollak, a Usual Suspect. He's also the high master of both William Shatner and Chris Walken impressions.
And Alan Arkin. There's a funny story where he prank called Alan's answering machine pretending to be him and then the real Alan was super confused cuz he didn't remember leaving a message. Fooled the original!
@@lkf8799 That's awesome! Speaking of Arkin (seriously...who does an Arkin impression?) dig the movie Wait Until Dark. Arkin plays a Hannibal Lecter-level villain, which is very weird of course. Tis a great flick! No spoiler, but...it's the movie that the term "jump scare" is coined from.
@@gggooding Cool! I haven't seen it. Thanks for the recommendation.
@@lkf8799 The trailers not bad. Stephen King said it's the scariest movie ever made. Apparently unknown Arkin got hired (against actual stars at the time) because no one wanted to terrify Audrey Hepburn on screen and be hated for it.
Wait Until Dark is a wonderful movie. The casting of Richard Crenna and Alan Arkin is very much against type. I love how they got to stretch their acting chops!
James Horner's soundtrack is absolutely epic !
Watched this movie hundred's of times with my parent's growing up. XD Not gonna lie, the brownies were always my favorite characters.
I hope that you can watched "Legend" (1985) with legend Tim Curry and Tom Cruise. Another childhood favorite is "LadyHawke" which came out in the same year with Michelle Pfieffer, Rutger Hauer and Matthew Broderick.
Willow is kind of special to me because it's one of maybe ten movies that I got to see on the big screen before I was old enough to drive myself. Going to the movies wasn't something we did a lot because my dad always thought it was too expensive, and he wound up being the one who had to take me to see Willow. He hated every minute of it because it involved spending money and watching a movie of a genre that he finds weird, boring, and stupid. Still, he sat through it, and I salute him for enduring it for my sake.
I remember my mom got me this and I didn't think I was gonna like it. I've watched it over and over as a kid.
Looks like Queen Bavmorda made her saving throw vs. Petrification. Nice.
Erik, Mardigan's former friend was played by the guy who was Richie Cunningham's older brother on Happy Days-The one who went upstairs, and we never saw him again
Oh man. This was my shh. People snooze on this one. I'm glad you guys chose to check it out.
I was ten years old when this came out and it's always been one of my favorite films. The scene where the army is turned into pigs scared the heck out of me back then.
One of the first CGI attempts and practical effects...great movie!
Willow was the first ever movie to use the morphing effect too. Pretty revolutionary stuff for its day.
Sorsha did have a whole sub plot involving her finding her father, but they had to cut it for time. There were some deleted scenes added recently to TH-cam with Ron Howard talking about them.
1. Fun movie!
2. That two headed critter is all kinds of cool!😎
3. When the evil queen goes down I think, "Couldn't happen to a nicer guy"👿
4. Thanks for doing this. I've been trying to get others to do this one. My chance
to do that is; (Trivia time) because Warwick Davis' first gig was the lead Ewok "Return of the Jedi"
when he was only 13 years old.
5. Val Kilmer will be 62 in December. Another movie with him in it not mentioned so far is:
"The Doors" where he plays Jim Morrison and does all the singing in the movie. His(and my) love interest
is Meg Ryan.😍
6. GOOF: Kaya is seen in the ending celebration then shows up with the children and acts like it's the first
time she sees him.
7. Is there anything Ron Howard can't do?
great movie + reaction!
fun fact: Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley (Shorsha) got married after filming this movie :)
They were married for 8 years between 1988-1996 and have 2 children
Willow was a great film, thanks for the nostalgic trip.
The music for this film is sooo good. Also the chemistry between MadMartigan and Sorcha - Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley got married shortly after. Last but not least, amazing landscapes as this film was shot in New Zealand, 13 years prior to LoTR
Historic Note : The actor who played the High Elwin of the village was the last living Munchkin from The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
The other one was the little woman who played the Psychic House Cleanser in Poltergeist.
Now you have to watch TIME BANDITS (1981). It stars James Bond, R2D2, Bilbo, and the Monty Python guys
Warwick Davis was only 17 when he landed the lead role in Willow. Also where lead actors Joanne Whalley and Val Kilmer fell in love (later married). The animal morphing scene 21:50 I think is the first CGI on silver screen.
The guy who played Erik was Thug #1 in Death Wish 3! A CLASSIC!!
Warwick Davis, Willow, is famous for playing the Leperchaun on the Leperchaun movies too.
You might like either (both?) "Ladyhawke" and "Krull"; both of which I think are great little 80s fantasy movies.
Krull - that's the name of that one movie I have sometimes tried to remember during the years.
Love this film, one of my childhood favourites. It used to freak me out when Bavmorda turned them into pigs.
Willow is definitely my favourite fantasy movie of the 1980s. It certainly has elements from both Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and some of the characters are similar to characters from both movies like Willow is a cross between Frodo and Luke Skywalker and Madmartigan is a cross between Aragorn and Han Solo for example.
Bavmorda is a brilliant villain in this movie and she is sort of like a Disney Villain as she is powerful like Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty and wants a princess killed so she can remain in power like the Evil Queen from Snow White. Her attire is quite similar to those villains as well now that I think of it except for the mummy wrappings underneath her robes that remind me of Mumm-ra from Thundercats lol.
"You have Madmartigan. And then you have Erik."
It does sound like Erik, but it's actually Airk, if that makes you feel any better.
Aw, I love the brownies.
"So, which way do we go?"
"THAT WAAAAAY!!!"
Oh, that little sweet spot of film in the late 80's. Right on the cusp of the 90's.
24:35 RIP Gavin O'Herilhy (1951 - 2021)
Madmartigan is just a great character. A perfect blend of Han Solo and Aragorn.
Welp, ended up renting Willow after watching this! Haha! 😂 Such a classic for me as well. Great video! Glad Sean enjoyed! 🥴
Warwick Davis was only 18 when he made this movie. It's a fun kids' film though and the soundtrack is flawless.
Legend (1985) with Tom Cruise, is great
I used to call those things pig dogs and they scared the crap out of me as a kid. But I watched this movie SOOOO many times growing up. My younger brother was obsessed for a while as well.
Warwick Davis who plays the main character in this film was also in Ray and some of the Harry Potter movies.
Val Kilmer andbJoanne Walley met and fell in love while filming this movie.
When I was a kid in the 80s we watched this at a Brownies sleep over. We were sleeping on the gymnasium floor of the Salvation Army in sleeping bags, watched this and then nite nite kiddies. lol I was like 8-9 years old.
One of my faves.. basically Lord of the Rings in 2 hours instead of 9. Just the other day I was thinking about how Warwick is the only little person I know of who was ever in a leading role.
One of my favorite fantasy films. I would love to see a reaction to Dragonslayer as well.