A thousand years ago, two new races appeared on the planet Thra when a shard was broken off the Crystal of Truth. They are the Skeksis, a cruel race who extend their lives with the continued corruption of the Crystal, and the UrRu or the Mystics, who live peacefully in the Valley of Stones. Their leader, the Master UrSu (voice of Sean Barrett), has raised a young Gelfling named Jen (voice of Stephen Garlick) whose clan were slaughtered by the Skeksis.
As the Great Conjunction of Thra’s three suns approaches, UrSu, dying, instructs Jen how to fulfil a prophecy and heal the Crystal by obtaining the broken shard from Aughra (voice of Billy Whitelaw). If Jen fails, the Skeksis will rule the planet forever. As UrSu dies, the Skeksis emperor skekSo (Jerry Nelson and Jim Henson) also dies, leaving the throne empty. The Chamberlin, skekSil (Barry Dennen) and the Garthim Master, skekUng (Michael Kilgrariff) challenge each other in a trial by stone and skekSil is defeated. He is stripped of his finery and banished in naked shame as skekUng is proclaimed Emperor. When the Skeksis learn of Jen’s existence, they send an army of giant crabs called Garthim to capture him. SkekSil follows in secret.
Jem meets Aughra and enters her orrery, which she uses for predictions, and she explains about the Great Conjunction. She has Jen pick the correct shard. But the Garthim arrive and destroy the orrery, taking Aughra prisoner while Jen escapes. When they hear the call of the crystal, the Mystics leave their valley to journey to the Castle of the Crystal. Fleeing through a swamp, Jen meets Kira (Lisa Maxwell), another Gelfling. Accidentally sharing memories in Dreamfast, they spend the night with the Podlings who raised Kira. When the Garthim raid, they flee with Kira’s pet Fizzgig (Percy Edwards). SkekSil keeps the Garthim from catching them.
They find a ruined Gelfling civilization and ancient writing describing the Prophecy. They are interrupted by skekSil, who warns them that the Prophecy was the cause of the Gelfling genocide and tries to trick them into coming with him to the castle. But they escape on tall, running Landstriders to reach the castle. They try to free to Podlings from the Garthim and use the catacombs to gain access.
They are interrupted by skekSil, who tries to seize them. Jen stabs him with the shard and he buries Jen in a cave-in and takes Kira prisoner. He is rewarded by the Skeksis by being reinstated as Chamberlain and he gives Kira to the scientist skekTek to have her life essence drained away so the Skeksis can drink it and regain their youth. Aughra is also imprisoned in the scientist’s lab and tells Kira to call the captive animals, who break free and bust them out as shekTek falls to his death. His distant Mystic counterpart urTih vanishes at the same time. Aughra frees herself, Kira leaves, and Jen arrives.
The three suns begin to align and the Gelflings reunite at the Crystal Chamber and the Skeksis gather for the ritual that will ensure their immortality. The Garthim attack the Gelflings and Jen leaps onto the Crystal but drops the shard. Kira takes it and throws it back to Jen and is stabbed to death by the Ritual-Master skekZok. Devastated, Jen plunges the shard into the Dark Crystal. The Garthim disintegrate and the Podlings regain their essence. The Dark Stone covering the castle crumbles and reveals a crystalline structure. The urRu arrive and merge with the Skeksis into the angelic urSkeks. Their leader explains that they had accidentally shattered the Crystal a thousand years ago and they are now restored. They revive Kira and ascend to a higher level, leaving the Crystal of Truth to Jen and Kira. The planet recovers.
The film was directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, produced by ITC Entertainment and the Jim Henson Company. The animatronics and puppetry were ground-breaking. The bizarre creatures came from fantasy illustrator Brian Froud. The screenplay was by David Odell from the Muppet Show, and the film score was by Trevor Jones. It met with mixed reviews and was thought too dark compared to Henson’s previous work but is now highly regarded and has a cult following. The first concept was written by him as he was snowed in at an airport. Henson always believed it was healthy for children to be frightened, as in the original Grimm’s fairy tales.
The film was banned as sacrilegious by several Islamic countries and destroyed by censors there. The Garthim were clearly based on lobsters and the costumes were so heavy that the puppeteers had to be hung up on racks every five minutes to rest. The American Film Institute nominated the film for its Top Ten Fantasy list and it won a Saturn for Best Fantasy Film. It’s a bit hard to follow, as you can imagine, but I recommend just relaxing and watching the beautiful creatures. You’ve never seen anything like them.