Ladyhawke is a 1985 medieval fantasy film directed and produced by Richard Donner and starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer.

[3] In medieval Italy, Phillipe Gaston, a thief known as "The Mouse", is captured and sentenced to death, but escapes from the Bishop of Aquila's dungeons through the sewers.

Traveling slowly due to injuries of his own, Navarre orders Phillipe to go on ahead of him and take the hawk to the castle of an old monk named Imperius.

After Imperius treats her wounds, he explains to Phillipe that the woman is Isabeau of Anjou, who once refused the Bishop's unwelcome advances.

After learning from a drunken Imperius that Navarre and Isabeau were married, the Bishop called down a satanic curse upon them, dooming them to be "always together, yet eternally apart".

The bishop's guards attack the castle shortly before daybreak, but the sunrise turns Isabeau back into a hawk, allowing her to fly to safety.

[7] Writer Edward Khmara stated "The story of two lovers kept apart by taking human form only at opposite times of day was an inspiration that occurred to me while jogging on the roof of the Hollywood YMCA.

The studio contention that 'Ladyhawke' is based on an old legend is, in fact, a violation of Writers Guild rules, since it denies me full rights of authorship.

Richard Donner stated that he was listening to The Alan Parsons Project (on which Powell collaborated) while scouting for locations, and became unable to separate his visual ideas from the music.

At the time, it was part of a trend among 1980s fantasy films of abandoning the lush orchestral scores of composers such as John Williams, James Horner, and Jerry Goldsmith in favor of a modern pop/rock sound.

On February 10, 2015, a two-disc set was released by La-La Land Records; it includes previously unreleased music and bonus tracks and was limited to 3,000 units.

The site's consensus states: "There's pacing problems, but Ladyhawke has an undeniable romantic sweep that's stronger than most fantasy epics of its ilk.

The New York Times singled out Matthew Broderick's skill in coming "very close to transforming contemporary wisecracks – particularly, his asides to God – into a more ageless kind of comedy", and said of Michelle Pfeiffer that her "presence, both ethereal and erotic, is so vivid that even when she's represented as a hawk, she still seems to be on the screen".

[25] Colin Greenland reviewed Ladyhawke for Imagine magazine, and stated that "a singular tale of witchcraft, love and courage, with a fascinating idea that it almost makes the most of".

[29] It won a Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, and was nominated in the categories of Best Actress (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Best Music (Andrew Powell).