Ladyhawke (1985) Richard Donner   Directed by Richard Donner (Superman), Ladyhawk features an original script by Ed Khmara (Merlin). Set in medieval France, the story con. cerns the petty thief Philippe Gadstone (Matthew Broderick). Recently escaped from prison, Philippe is rescued from the royal guard by stoic knight-errant Navarre (Rutger Hauer), who carries a hawk on his arm. Navarre permits Philippe to travel with him, but odd things start happening to Philippe while in this knight's company. For one thing, Navarre disappears at night, as does his hawk. And while Navarre is absent, Philippe encounters a beautiful young woman named Isabeau (Michelle Pfeiffer) and keeps sighting a large, but seemingly benign wolf. The truth is eventually revealed to Philippe by Navarre's one friend, a reclusive monk named Father Imperious (Leo McKern). The story goes that in loving Isabeau, Navarre aroused the jealous wrath of the Bishop of Aquila (John Wood). Outwardly a man of the cloth but secretly a practitioner of the black arts, the Bishop cursed the lovers so that Navarre would walk the earth as a man by day but as a wolf by night. Conversely, Isabeau is doomed to the form of the hawk by day but a woman by night. There is hope of the curse being broken, but only if Philippe can help Navarre confront the Bishop-that is, if Philippe can be persuaded to return to the city from which he has just barely escaped. As a film, Ladyhawk has a lot going for it, including an appealing cast, with Broderick playing one of his most likable characters. A young Pfeiffer makes a delicate and sensuous Isabeau, and Rutger Hauer's rugged good looks and genteel manner make him the prefect image of a noble knight. Although English stage veterans are relegated to the supporting roles, John Wood and Leo McKern are so great that they are always worth watching, no matter what role they are playing. Ladyhawk is a great-looking film, too, photographed by Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) in gorgeous Italian locations. Some of the costumes and props look a little too new (the swords shine with a chrome-like veneer, and the knight's costumes look too much like the work of sewing machines and modern fabrics), but generally the look of the film is convincing. One would think that a film with so much going for it could not be derailed by one ill-considered element. But sadly, this is exactly what happened with Ladyhawk. Director Donner had the idea of "going contemporary" with the film's score, which is composed by Andrew Powell (the Alan Parsons Project). So Ladyhawk, a medieval romantic fantasy, unfortunately features a pop music score. Navarre swings his sword and does battle to the sound of rock drums, and when the viewer should be wrapped up in such nail-biting action scenes, the score instead inspires laughter. Hopefully, one day Donner will restore (or, more accurately, "rescore") this film with another composer. In all fairness, Ladyhawk is not unwatchable, but just as pop music laid waste to too many fantasy films in the 1980s (as in The NeverEnding Story, The Princess Bride, and Legend), Ladyhawk, too, remains an unfortunate victim of such tastelessness. —Paul Andrew MacLean

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