This is such a well crafted beautiful tale. The curse that separates our characters is heartbreaking. You feel for them. Love keeps them at one another's side even after it is the key factor in what tore them apart. The cast is fantastic and it's a very beautifully shot film. What really makes this film so great is the story. It's grounded in reality with just a touch of the fantastical to make it interesting. This is more of a reality-based fantasy, more so than a Dungeon & Dragons type fantasy. So don't expect Elves, Orcs, Dragons, Trolls or other fantasy creatures. Truthfully, this would be a great date movie. It has a little something for everyone. Even as great as this film is there are a few little things that keep it from a higher rating for me. They aren't major issues, but they are things that have always bugged me. The score is great at times but feels weirdly out of place in others. It's not very balanced. This film deserved a much more epic soundtrack. Secondly, it's just a smidge too long, there's maybe ten min or so that could be cut out and I don't think it would affect things very much. If you've never seen this one and love 80's fantasy with a great story, this one is for you. In many ways, I think it's a bit of a forgotten gem. Hopefully, more people will discover and enjoy this. It certainly deserves the attention. My Rating: 8/10

for me, one of the lovely memory. the metamorphosis and the similarities with Romanian fairy tales. the actors giving the right expected characters. the beauty of Michelle Pheipher as dove. Rutger Hauer as the brave man, looking the love of his life. and, not the last, magnificent Gaston of Matthew Broderick. the fight between good and evil. in delicate, touching, convincing colors. the Medieval air for a story out of time. a film for dreamers. and lovers. and the searchers of the flavor of childhood memories. maybe, a small gem. or, just a lovely memory from an unique golden age because the tension, the humor, the deep emotion, maybe the tears are the embroidery who reflects the spirit of this beautiful/maybe not great, film.

This is a pretty good medieval fantasy film concerning humans that are cursed to be shape-shifters - One a hawk by day, the other a wolf by night. It's an interesting tale.I have to agree with one thing some of the other reviewers of Ladyhawke had to say: "Rescore the film". Honestly the film is good (although not perfect) but it is some of the film's soundtrack that is bad for the film. Some of the music sounds like a cheap 80's comedy kids flick or some weird science fiction film. In my opinion, if the entire soundtrack was medieval sounding then it would suit the film. A film's score is highly important to bringing about a feel or ambiance to the scene.Outside of some of the film's soundtrack - the great costuming and sets will definitely have you feeling like you are watching something play out in front of you that is from the 12th century.If you like this movie, you might like other similar films: "Willow", "Labyrinth", "Legend" or "The Neverending Story".8/10

I am afraid there isn't very much to say on this particular movie in terms of critical acclaim. "Ladyhawke" (1985) fills a gap in my memory as possession (VHS cassette) that I highly valued because this was beautiful movie even for the criteria of long gone 1980s. Yes, the cast was marvelous - Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Broderick performed at the prime of their artistic potential. Their films from the 80s remain classic in the History of Hollywood Cinema (every which one of them, I wouldn't enumerate them). Yes, Richard "Lethalweapon" Donner remains iconic figure in Hollywood film making. Yes, music score from Alan Parsons was excellent electronic achievement. In that way of thinking it is not strange that there is little philosophy here to add and send it on a mail list.But something that was bugging me lately (that is, not only for this Movie but numerous others) comprise the lack of validity for the screenplay. Scenario doesn't come just as a story devoid of time and place. Unfortunately, this is how many of contemporary movies are being shot - you have got yourself a fantastic script; director of photography gets filming locations that fulfill the criteria of the budget and visionary from the side of producers; finally the film director stitches all that notches in coherent tale. Is that all really or there is something else. What about the Turkish reading of the whole responsible staff? I doubt whether even a dozen people concerning about working title should ever worry about this. After all they work with ready recipes and don't re-tell Grimms' Fairy Tales. This is where I want to put my emphasis.Now everybody knows who Grimm Brothers are or at least have heard about their stories for children c. 1812. Everything else in order, "Ladyhawke" (1985) comes as a fairy tale exactly from this imaginary domain (but not exclusively mentioned in the screenplay). For instance, another similar (Gothic) movie produced at about the same time and place furnishes much more details on the underlying historical period - cf., "The Name of the Rose" (1986) based on Umberto Eco's novel. All that said, it remains the much more simplified task to try to decode the whereabouts of "Ladyhawke".I did some Turkish (uninitiated) reading on Europe's Medieval History. Particularly interesting key-point with regard to the tract of land in Northern Italy where our story is supposed to evolve proved to be Lotharingia - firstly a Kingdom in Charlemagne's Empire, then abolished by Neurasia (today France) and Austrasia (today Germany) to an extent that it remained only as a Duchy of Lotharingia in Otto the Great Empire (First Reich). Today this territory corresponds to an extended Netherlands (plus Cologne municipality with Aachen where originally Charlemagne resided and was crowned by the Pope). Those are history facts that any European should know if we consider some common future on this continent. Then we should arrive at the direct consequences of two World Wars in 20th century which are banal enough to reiterate here.I want to finish my commentary with some scattered notes that I collected during my Turkish reading. These European territories which lie in North-West corner (sic!) of the continental plate were once upon a time covered with thick forests. Not joking neither telling Grimms' Fairy Tales. There were only Kings, Bishops, Knights, Ladies and Sorcerers. Nothing essentially from Church or Economy systems that we perceive now-a-days existed straightforward. Everything from material and cultural heritage is many times restored to hide the traces of obliteration. See the Romanesque Cathedral at end of "Ladyhawke" where final combat with the Evil Bishop partakes. Judge Yourself!