Movies

The Avocado Movie Club #31: Legend (1985)

Welcome to the Movie Club! Today’s movie is Ridley Scott’s dark fantasy film, Legend!

Surprising lack of cool international posters. This Spanish poster (or maybe VHS cover?) was the most unique one.

Legend stars Tom Cruise as Jack, a forest child who is in love with Lili, a princess. After The Darkness, played by Tim Curry, attempts to plunge the world into an eternal night by sending his minions to kill a unicorn and steal its horn, Jack sets out on a quest to retrieve its horn and save the land. 

Legend first premiered on August 26, 1985 in Italy at the Venice Film Festival, followed by a staggered release in Europe and other parts of the world throughout the rest of the year, with its US release coming much later on April 18, 1986.1 It received very mixed reviews from critics, earning only a 43% on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences were not too keen on it either as it earned only $23.5 million against its budget of $25 million, but overtime it has become something of a cult classic.23

Trivia:45 

  • There are many different versions of this movie. The main ones are a European version that runs for 95 minutes and uses a Jerry Goldsmith score, the American version that is 89 minutes long and has a score from Tangerine Dream, and in classic Ridley Scott fashion, there is also a Director’s Cut that runs for 114 minutes and uses the original Goldsmith score. 
  • It was filmed largely on sets at Pinewood Studios, on what was referred to as the 007 sound stage due to it being used for many James Bond films. The forest set ended up catching fire early on in the film’s production though, on March 26, 1984, but thankfully there were no injuries.
  • Tom Cruise performed his own stunts for the diving scene, which was shot at Silver Springs in Florida. Scott claims that he was swimming in crocodile infested waters. 

What did you think? Share your thoughts below! 

Up Next: Our next movie will be Lina Wertmüller’s Seven Beauties! We will meet to discuss it on September 19 at 12PM EST. Check out where it’s playing below (options are very limited, and I couldn’t find a trailer on YouTube!): 

USA

  • Stream: Hoopla, Kanopy, Kino Film Collection
  • Rent or Buy: Amazon, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Google Play, YouTube

Canada

  • Stream: Nada!
  • Rent or Buy: Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube

UK

  • Stream: Nada!
  • Rent or Buy: Nada!
  1. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089469/releaseinfo/ ↩︎
  2. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012164-legend ↩︎
  3. https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Legend-(1986)#tab=summary ↩︎
  4. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089469/alternateversions/ ↩︎
  5. https://english.elpais.com/culture/2025-07-12/the-story-behind-tom-cruises-only-major-flop-fires-crocodiles-and-a-flailing-ridley-scott.html ↩︎