History Film / Ladyhawke

*** Tht said, in the novelization, he apologizes to a guard he had demoted and reinstates him - he didn't believe the gard when he described Navarre.

* BalefulPolymorph: The curse turns Isabeau into a hawk by day; Navarre, a wolf by night. While they are humans the rest of the time, they are never in their proper forms at the same time. (Except for a scant few seconds, but that was mostly dramatic effect.)

* DespairEventHorizon: Navarre is right on the edge of it when he thinks Isabeau is dead. This terrifies the Bishop, who realizes that his foe has [[TheUnfettered no further reason to restrain himself]].

* TheDreaded: Imperious describes the Bishop as "An evil man, a powerful man, hated and feared; rejected even by Rome itself."
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler:A rather twisted version, as the Bishop dies with the last words on his lips, "Isabeau..."]]

* FeeFiFauxPas: Be careful who you offer to buy a drink for when celebrating your prison break. They might be soldiers in disguise.

* GreenEyedMonster: The Bishop was so overcome with jealousy that he turned to the infernal to satisfy it. [[spoiler: And when even that fails, he simply tries to kill the object of his envy]]. Even Navarre has moments where he almost seems to ''hate'' Philippe for the time he gets to spend with Isabeau. (Philippe is able to defuse it by saying she only talked about Navarre.)

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Philippe and Imperius become a pair.

** The wolf hunter who dies falling headfirst into a jaw trap. It's not a quick death, either.
** [[spoiler: Marquet, who pushed one of his own men onto Navarre's sword for referring to Navarre as 'Captain', ultimately dies by falling onto Navarre's sword.]]

* HunterTrapper: The wolf hunter is a legitimate huntsman on Bishop's payroll.

* LiminalTime: At the exact moment of dawn and dusk, the two lovers are in a transitional state where they both have their original form and faculties. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long enough for them to be able to do anything, not even hold hands.
* LivingMacGuffin: The bishop really wants Isabeau back.

* ShapeshiftingHealsWounds: Left ambiguous, but it seems that non-lethal injuries don't transfer from the animal to the human bodies, and/or that the body not in use will heal while 'idle'. When Isabeau is shot as a hawk, for example, the injury transfers to her human self because the bolt is still in her breast, but after it is removed during the night, her hawk form shows no injuries the next morning.

In the medieval French town of Aquila, a young thief named Philippe the Mouse (Broderick) escapes prison by sneaking through the sewers. Said prison and the lands around it are controlled by a [[CorruptChurch corrupt Bishop]] (Wood), and he is none too pleased to hear of Philippe's escape (the prison is supposed to be inescapable, after all). The Bishop dispatches his guard and Philippe is nearly recaptured, but he is unexpectedly rescued by the mysterious Etienne of Navarre (Hauer), who is accompanied everywhere by a fierce and beautiful hawk.

Navarre, as it turns out, has a score of his own to settle with the Bishop. Not only was he the former Captain of the guard, he and the Bishop once loved the same woman, Isabeau d'Anjou (Pfeiffer). When she rejected the Bishop and chose Navarre, he cursed them: by day Navarre is human and Isabeau a hawk; by night, Isabeau is human and Navarre a wolf. Navarre plans to use Philippe's knowledge of the sewers in order to ambush the Bishop and slay him, but his obsession might lead to tragedy. For the disgraced monk Imperius knows a way to break the curse, but it will only be possible while the Bishop is alive...

* AnimalEyes: Used in the lovers' face-to-face transformation scene.

* ArtisticLicenseSpace: There is a scene under a full moon. Two days later, there is what seems to be a solar eclipse (which requires a new moon). Possibly {{Hand Wave}}d as a result of divine intervention, and explains why Navarre would be skeptical of Imperius prediction, thinking he's gone mad.

* BlackKnight: Etienne Navarre is a literal one, clad in black armor, as he's been cast out from service to Aquila and has no lord or master. Subverted in that he's TheHero and a noble man.

* BookEnds: The movie begins with Philippe escaping the dungeons of Aquila through the moat. By the climax, he's returned to that same moat to sneak ''into'' the cathedral. Even Philippe is [[LampshadeHanging aware]] of how the whole thing has come full circle.

* ChewToy: Mouse spends a lot of time in peril, and even gets mauled by Navarre in wolf form while saving his life.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Navarre wears all black clothing, rides a black horse, turns into a black wolf, and has a brooding manner, but he is an honorable, victimized man.
* DarkestHour: Happens when Navarre is sure Isabeau is dead and Marquet manages to disarm him, closing with a sword to finish him off.

* TheDragon: The Captain of the Guard, Marquet, for the Bishop.

* CurseThatCures: Left ambiguous, but it seems that non-lethal injuries don't transfer from the animal to the human bodies, and/or that the body not in use will heal while 'idle'. When Isabeau is shot as a hawk, for example, the injury transfers to her human self because the bolt is still in her breast, but after it is removed during the night, her hawk form shows no injuries the next morning.

* TranquilFury: When Navarre goes after the bishop in the final, he just calmly and methodically cuts down every guard on his path, without any emotions or remorse, [[TheSlowWalk just walking forward]], and yet being fuelled by pure rage.

* TotalEclipseOfThePlot: [[spoiler: Isabeau and Navarre finally meet during an eclipse]].

* BalefulPolymorph: The curse turns Isabeau into a hawk by day; Navarre, a wolf by night. While they are humans the rest of the time, they are never in their proper forms at the same time.

* HollywoodHealing: The hawk gets shot. Isabeau spends one night getting medical treatment, and the following morning the hawk can fly again as if nothing happened to it. Imperius' poultice must be very effective.

* HumiliationConga: [[spoiler: The ending, for the Bishop. His trusted Captain of the Guard is killed, the curse is broken and Isabeau personally comes to mock him. Everyone knows now what he did. Then he gets killed]].

* {{Flynning}}: The sword technique is rough around the edges, featuring big windups, wide misses, and loud clanging. Despite this, it is high quality by eighties standards, especially with energetic grappling and some neat moves that stand out. For example, at the end where [[spoiler: Navarre rolls towards Marquet to avoid the ''coup de grace'', immediately rolls back on top of the blade to strip it from his enemy's grasp, and then uses it to inflict inertial impalement]].

* FirstNameBasis: Isabeau d'Anjou's full name is only said once. The rest of the movie, she's just Isabeau.

** Phillippe and Imperious both cry when the curse is broken, the former kissing the latter on the head.

* ManlyTears: Tears stream down Philippe's cheeks as he watches Navarre and Isabeau look upon each other during the dual transformation scene. One can surmise it is at this point, Philippe is ''fully committed'' to helping them.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: There is a scene under a full moon. Two days later, there is what seems to be a solar eclipse (which requires a new moon). Possibly {{Hand Wave}}d as a result of divine intervention, and explains why Navarre would be skeptical of Imperius prediction, thinking he's gone mad.

* FamousLastWords:
-->'''[[spoiler: Bishop:]]''' ... then no man shall! ''(cue ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice)'' ... Isabeau!

* TheQueensLatin: If we infer from the names we can guess the film is set in France, yet everyone speaks with Received Pronunciation, or... [[OohMeAccentsSlipping tries to]]. Since characters in medieval France wouldn't speak anything even remotely resembling modern English, it's probably best to just file it under TranslationConvention. (Then again, neither would those speaking "English" in that day and age. England and France were more alike than not during those days, one country occupying the other so much there wasn't much demarcation between the two.)

* AnachronismStew: Navarre claims his [[{{BFS}} massive two-handed sword]] has [[AncestralWeapon been in his family for five generations]]. With the film being set around the 13th Century, this means the sword would have been forged in either the second half of the 11th or first half of the 12th Centuries. However, the design is of a type that wouldn't appear until the ''16th''.

A 1985 fantasy/adventure film directed by Creator/RichardDonner, with a cast featuring both a number of veteran actors (such as John Wood, Creator/RutgerHauer, and Leo [=McKern=]) and young actors who would go on to become household names (Creator/MatthewBroderick and Creator/MichellePfeiffer).

Navarre, as it turns out, has a score of his own to settle with the Bishop. Not only was he the former Captain of the guard, he and the Bishop once loved the same woman, Isabeau d'Anjou (Pfeiffer).
When she rejected the Bishop and chose Navarre, he cursed them: by day Navarre is human and Isabeau a hawk; by night, Isabeau is human and Navarre a wolf. Navarre plans to use Philippe's knowledge of the sewers in order to ambush the Bishop and slay him, but his obsession might lead to tragedy. For the disgraced monk Imperius knows a way to break the curse, but it will only be possible while the Bishop is alive...

* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: When Navarre and Marquet fight each other on in the church on horseback, they're both wearing helmets. Marquet rips off his helmet when unhorsed and actually throws it at Navarre, but misses and breaks the rose window of the church. Navarre initially leaves his on even after Marquet drags him off his horse, but then rips it off in order to see better when he notices the eclipse beginning.

* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: When Navarre and Marquet fight each other on in the church on horseback, they're both wearing helmets. Marquet rips off his helmet when unhorsed and actually throws it at Navarre, but misses and breaks the rose window of the church. Navarre initially leaves his on even after Marquet drags him off his horse, but then rips it off in order to see better when he sees the eclipse beginning.

* LightIsNotGood[=/=]DarkIsNotEvil: The Bishop and the corrupt Captain Marquet wear white and gold, and the Captain rides a white horse. Navarre, TheHero, wears black and red, rides a black horse, and becomes a black wolf.

* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: According to Imperius's description of the curse, neither Navarre nor Isabeau are aware of their human selves while in animal form; Navarre in particular is quite vicious. However, even in animal form, each of the pair is quick to attack anyone who threatens the other.
** There are hints their animal forms are having some influence on their personalities. Navarre is impatient and quick to violence, while even [[ProperLady Isabeau]] has a moment where she chases a rabbit as if she could capture it with her bare hands.

* ItsPersonal: Navarre wants to kill the Bishop for costing him his career and the woman he loves. He wants his revenge so desperately that he ignores warnings that it will cost him his once chance to break the curse and be with Isabeau.

* EvilSorcerer: The Bishop cast a curse on the lovers so he must be one.