review for Willow on AllMovie

Complete with biblical rubric, medieval sorcery, and mystical creatures, director Ron Howard's Willow is the stuff of good fantasy adventure. In a nicely mannered performance, Val Kilmer plays well off of Warwick Davis as Willow, the sorcerer-to-be. The film is a well-conceived and well-executed quest fairy tale borrowing heavily from Gulliver's Travels, not to mention the story of Moses. Although seemingly a children's film, it is not without its share of violence, gore, and ghastly monsters, all provided by executive producer George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic special-effects department. With this film, Howard proved his adroitness at fantastic adventure; furthermore, the film's cult following cultivated a generation of Magic, The Gathering players worldwide.