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Foundational Cinema

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Star Knight (1985)


Ironical and dis-mythical fantasy packs acceptable production design, primitive special effects , and evocative as well as colorful cinematography . When a dazzling craft illuminates the sky above a medieval European village, the townspeople fear mayhem while the ruling party prepares for battle with the mysterious “dragon in the sky.” After Princess Alba (Maria Lamor) is discovered missing, being abducted by an alien aircraft ; the quest for power and the young girl’s affections drive Klever (Harvey Keitel) to free her from the strange cosmic knight , IX ,(Miguel Bose , though Imanol Arias turned down the role) . Count of Rue (José Vivó) asks for help his magician alchemist (Klaus Kinski) and the Green Knight (Jose Maria Pou) to find the beautiful princess . But is that her desire? . Worldly boundaries are crossed in this spoofy Sci-Fi .

This ironic Sci-Fi contains lots of humor with tongue-in-cheek , entertainment and amusement , though falls flat for its continuous absurdity and ridiculousness . It is a slightly funny film with entertaining events , giggles , and a love story between a princess and an extraterrestrial . This is a Gothic sci-fi tale of power, greed and the universal language of love . Spanish exploitation of American fantasy , realized by time of Close Encounters of the Third Kind , ET and other films in which extraterrestrial visits and UFOs were common themes ; and here adding the legend of Saint George , ¨Jorge¨ , and the Dragon . The film moves in fits and starts most of which would be desirable, with more traps the viewer resists any kind, and some moments of enjoyment and others quite a few embarrassing . Adequate production design by Felix Murcia and naive but effective special effects by Reyes Abades , many of them made by old computer generator . Very good cast but frankly wasted , it stars two myths of modern cinema , Harvey Keitel and Klaus Kinski, in addition , the great Fernando Rey as an inquisitive priest , but all of them turned into caricatured figures . Atmospheric musical score by Jose Nieto , Vicente Aranda’s ordinary musician , he composes a stirring soundtrack by means of synthesizer . Jose Nieto is a magnificent composer and deemed to be one of the best Spanish musicians . Furthermore , a colorful and evocative cinematography by Jose Luis Alcaine who was first cinematographer to use fluorescent tube as “key” lightning and deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameraman . Alcaine frequently works with Pedro Almodóvar , Bigas Luna and Vicente Aranda , as he has photographed ¨The skin I live in¨ , The bad education¨ , ¨Volver¨ , ¨Women in the verge of a nervous breakdown¨, among others .

The motion picture was middlingly written and directed Fernando Colomo . Fernando Colomo was born in Madrid and is a talented and versatile writer/director who has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as comedy, drama and one science fiction movie , this 1985 El caballero del Dragón, in a career that spans over 30 years . Especially known for directing comedies such as 1987 La Vida Alegre , 1988 Miss Caribe , 1989 Bajarse al Moro , 1993 Rosa Rosae , 1994 Alegre Ma Non Troppo , 1995 Efecto Mariposa . And in the 2000s directed Al Sur Granada (2003) , El Próximo Oriente (2006), Rivales (2008) and La Banda Picasso (2012) .