1981 Directed by Matthew Robbins
The sorcerer and his apprentice Galen are on a mission to kill an evil dragon to save the King’s daughter from being sacrificed according to a pact that the King himself made with the dragon to protect his kingdom.
Le Dragon du lac de feu, El dragón del lago de fuego, Убиецът на дракони, Drakobijce, Helten fra fortidens mørke, Der Drachentöter, Η Επιδρομή του Δράκου, El verdugo de dragones, Lohikäärmeentappaja, דרגונסלייר, A sárkányölő, Il drago del lago di fuoco, ドラゴンスレイヤー, 용과 마법 구슬, Te Vuur En Te Zwaard, Pogromca smoków, O Dragão e o Feiticeiro, Победитель дракона, Drakdödaren, 屠龙记
This is everything I want in a high fantasy story: a strong woman who isn't negated or overshadowed, a bit of magic, storytelling that doesn't flinch from the grim parts, a depiction of royalty that is unflattering, and a cool fucking dragon. There's a trans reading of Valerian to be done, but a mild one, and really, it's not that complex. She is raised as a boy when she isn't. It's relatable. She has a relatively easy transition (being, well, a cis woman in disguise), but the idea that admitting you're not a boy could get you killed is just too familiar.
The king made a pact with a monster. Twice a year he offers a virgin from his kingdom as tribute to a dragon and in return the dragon leaves their villages and crops unburned. It's a co-existence that has protected the people for some time but when the King's daughter is next in line for sacrifice he tasks a sorcerer's apprentice and a few friends with slaying the dragon and saving his daughter's life.
I don't get around to watching vintage fantasy movies often enough so I figured now was a good time to pop one in and give it a go. The 1980s were a great time for the genre on a grand scale, but more so in the…
So, I've been busy rereading Stephen King's The Stand, which feels kind of appropriate, given everything going on in the world right now. I didn't even plan it that way. I started reading it before things got all crazy. Anyway, I forgot I was supposed to be watching all these 80s fantasy films. So, here's another one.
Dragonslayer is another one of those films that I saw as a kid but then completely forgot about by the time I hit my teens. This is my first rewatch since the mid-80s and, after seeing it again, I can't figure out why. It's such a weird goddamn film, you think it would have made more of an impression on me. I mean,…
Cinematic Time Capsule
1981 Marathon - Film #78
”All this magic.
What has it accomplished?”
Well Dungeon my Dragons… It’s the Dragonslayer!
I’ve always had the greatest admiration for the black arts of practical effects, and once we finally make it to the dragon, it’s an incredibly awesome sight. 🐲
The problem is that this gorgeous dragon is all dressed up with nowhere to go…
All these incredible effects are completely let down by bland filmmaking and unlikable characters.
You can tell they were looking for the next Luke Skywalker, but unfortunately they ended up with nothing more than a boy who’s in way over his head…
"I thought I was a sorcerer.... I’m not.
I thought I had power... I don’t."
![nathaxnne <3 [hiatus]](https://a.ltrbxd.com/resized/avatar/upload/1/9/5/2/4/3/shard/avtr-0-80-0-80-crop.jpg?v=2d9f35eba8){kind=small}
u can keep all of ur kindly paternalistic sighing dragons speechifying about the passing of a more noble age of magick u can keep all of yr scheming hoarding plotting wheedling dragons in fact i am forever done like before it even started with all of these talking dragons give me vermithrax or give me death rather give me vermithrax and give me death. vermithrax is the greatest dragon who has ever lived and she is having a bad day and a bad day for vermithrax is super bad news for u losers bc a day for vermithrax lasts like a few quadrillion of your human years the old ways always seem like they are dying to the people who…
Watched the Paramount UHD 4K Blu-ray.
Discard your DVD's as this film was practically made to be experienced at the largest screen possible and with the benefits of HDR with enhanced sharpness, the right color grading, perfect contrast with deep shadows as this film has a lot of dark scenes (and an even darker tone). Probably darker than Ridley Scott's "Legend (1985)".
It's so good that the incredible work of ILM, Phil Tippett, Dennis Muren and Chris Walas reaches new more convincing heights on home media.
The only way how this movie should be experienced from now on.
A mighty dragon called Vermithrax Pejorative is terrorizing a nearby kingdom. The king made a pact with the dragon to sacrifice a…
DRAGONSLAYER fucking rules.
Pure spinner rack pulp fantasy without an ounce of shame. Efficiently brought to the screen by Writer/Director Matthew Robbins, a friend of Spielberg and Lucas, who snuck this one through the side doors thanks to every studio desperately wanting a Star Wars. Robbins promised Disney/Paramount a Fantasy version, and to their horror, he delivered a languidly paced romp about religious corruption, false idealism, and a princess getting her foot eaten off on-screen by a dragon puppet. Robbins is underrated as a filmmaker because he never had a big hit. BILLIE JEAN rocks, BINGO rules, and CORVETTE SUMMER is a blast. There's a reason Guillermo Del Toro collaborated on so many scripts with him.
If your jaw doesn't drop when Vermithrax shows up on-screen, you're dead inside.
Now that was very enjoyable! In the last couple of years, a lot of these fantasy movies have been big epics, but this felt pretty no-frills in comparison.
The effects might not look particularly impressive by today's standards, but I thought they were extremely creative nonetheless. I read how this was the first movie to use the go-motion technique and it's really well done.
Caitlin Clarke was convincing as male Valerian (though I had my doubts.)
File under: movies I wish I had seen as a kid.
Peter MacNicol sets out on your typical unlikely hero's quest to become a Dragonslayer.
"If he's ready to lay a dragon in its grave, he's nothing to fear from me."
Well the dragon parts were badass, but I would of rather had Willow or a young Luke Skywalker as the meek protagonist for this quest with a hand full of swords and sorcery.
(Quick Hits) ... Spoilers
- At first it appears his master Ulrich will be the one for this quest, until he is unexpectedly killed while attempting to prove his power
- The arrangement the King somehow made with the dragon, involves periodically sacrificing virgins through a lottery ... in exchange for the dragon not destroying the kingdom…
"Dragonslayer" is a 1981 sword and sorcery fantasy film directed by Matthew Robbins. As the genre was immensely popular at the time, "Dragonslayer" marked the effort Disney and Paramount getting into the action. This would be the groupings second joint venture after Robert Altman's "Popeye", in which the two major studios split the aspects of domestic United States distribution and international. Working for Disney especially in the creation of the film is the factor that they had the infamous special effects group Industrial Light and Magic, who were behind a multitude of innovations in the industry and brought such workings to life such as the "Star Wars" (1977) saga. That is where this film's strong suit is, as the film's…
The 80s were such a weird time for Disney, weren't they? I mean, technically, you can say this is a Buena Vista production, but Walt Disney production is the one listed as a co-producer of this one. Either way, if this one became available on Disney+, would they erase such a pivotal role or would they add CGI hair to Caitlin Clarke's entire nude body?
While that shall remain a mystery, what's not a secret is that this a very good, kinda matured fantasy movie tackling these running theme we've become familiar with wizards battling the evil bad dragon terrorizing everything and everyone. They pull some nice punches and the unexpected violence and death count on this movie makes for…
Not the most exciting thing ever conceived...there's an awful lot of not-particularly-inspired campy humor and ossified hero's journey stuff, which is can be rough even when your journeying hero isn't played by Peter MacNicol. But as far as your cinematic quests to kill dragons go, at the very least it clocks in at under nine hours and isn't a mess of CGI garbage. Speaking of dragons, the FX realization of the Vermithrax Pejorative (such an awesomely dorky name) is nothing short of an analog FX coup. Go-motion might be the most unwisely discarded technique ever.
