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The three of us are children of the 80s and like many of our generation, we love to revel in nostalgia. For us, this has meant revisiting some of our favourite fantasy films of that decade: Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, The Princess Bride… and now Ladyhawke.
Ladyhawke was released in 1985 to fairly average reviews. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfieffer in a medieval fantasy setting. This world is not too dissimilar to history and is limited in its fantasy elements, but they are still integral to the narrative. A forbidden love story, the two lovers, Navarre and Isabeau, are doomed never to touch – with one human by day and wolf by night, the other a hawk by day, a human by night.
Is this film the greatest tragicomedy of the 80s, or a trope-filled mess featuring only a single female character? Can it possibly stand the test of time? We asked: how important are secondary worlds to fantasy? Does this film subvert or pander to stereotypes? Is it all just a little bit silly? Listen on to find out…
Mentioned in this episode:
- The Princess Bride
- The Dark Crystal
- Legend
- Willow
- Terminator
- Krull
- The Three Musketeers
- Lady Jane
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
- Tangerine Dream
