Krull is a film that desperately wants to play in the Star Wars sandbox. Consider: An evil dark lord oppresses the people with an army of armor-clad warriors; said dark lord possesses mystical powers; a wise old man comes out of solitude to instruct the young hero; the young hero obtains an ancient weapon of great power; the young hero and his group of rogues assault the evil fortress by exploiting an overlooked weakness; even the steel swords the fighters duel with spark and hiss when they connect, as though they were lightsabers. And you get the idea.

The problem with Krull is that it never seems quite sure whether it wants to be a fantasy film or a science fiction film. By straddling both sides, it never convincingly or comfortably inhabits either genre. That's not to say that the two genres can't be combined effectively, this just isn't the way to do it.

I have to admit that when Krull first came out, I was fairly taken with it. Of course, I was about 12 or 13 at the time. I suppose the film is still appealing in a certain goofy way, but it doesn't hold up as well as some other films of that time. There are simply too many jarring inconsistencies in tone to successfully maintain a suspension of disbelief.

The story is this: The Beast has come to the planet Krull in his fortress. As a security measure, the fortress teleports itself to a new location at every sunrise, so it is never in the same place twice (which makes one wonder why the fortress had to fly to the planet in the first place if it has the ability to teleport). The Beast has dispatched his Slayers, which look a lot like Stormtroopers, to capture the princess Lyssa (Lysette Anthony). It seems she is to become the Beast's bride.

The Slayers arrive just in time to interrupt a wedding between Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall) and Lyssa. They succeed in killing nearly everyone, wounding Colwyn and escaping with Lyssa.

Ynyr (Freddie Jones), the Wise One, comes down from the hills to heal Colwyn and lead him to the Glaive, an ancient weapon that supposedly has the power to destroy the Beast. Ynyr also claims to know how to find the location of the Beast's fortress. During their quest, Colwyn and Ynyr team up with a wizard with a talent for turning himself into animals, a cyclops doomed to see the day of his own death and a group of rag-tag thieves who really turn out to be noble warriors.

There are some interesting ideas in Krull. For instance, I liked the fate of the cyclops character. Also, the Fire Mares were a unique idea -- these are horses that run so fast that they can actually fly (and flames spout from their hooves). And anyone who doesn't think the Glaive is a cool (if impractical) weapon just has no imagination in their heart. It's just too bad that these good ideas couldn't have been surrounded by a better story.

Also working against the film is the production design, which is as inconsistent as the plot. There are some decent sets and locations (the interior of the Fortress is interesting), but most of the movie appears to have been filmed in a city park or on a set composed of poorly made plaster rocks. The wardrobe department seems to have raided the closets of Buck Rogers and Conan the Barbarian.

The actors are all earnest in their roles, which helps to keep the film from being a total disaster. That they seem to believe in it helps to sell it some. Peter Yates' direction is solid, but uninspired. It suits the material and nothing more.

A great film of this sort should make me feel like a kid again as I watch it. Instead, Krull inspires regret that a sense of naiveté, required to enjoy this film, has been outgrown. It's not the same thing, not the same at all.