Dragonslayer

Dragonslayer (1981)

A King has made a pact with a dragon where he sacrfices virgins to it, and the dragon leaves his kingdom alone. An old wizard, and his keen young apprentice volunteer to kill the dragon and attempt to save the next virgin in line - the Kings own daughter


I've been a fan of this movie since I was a kid, but hadn't seen it in years until a few days ago. And itwas even better than I remember.

The plot, while good, is fairly generic for the fantasy genre. It's full of the heroes, damsels, and wizards just as you would expect. The pacing is a little slow, though not badly so. But None of these detract from the things that make the film work.

Peter MacNicol makes his film debut in this, and a very impressive debut it was. The man who made a career playing weasels, scheisters and lackies does a fine job as the films protagonist, Galen, a sorceror's apprentice that has lost his magic. He's very convincing, and very likable.

The films message of the end of sorcery and the begining of Christianity was interesting, and I think added avery poinent touch to the film. While not a christian myself, I love the imagery and really like the idea that dragons and magic did exist, but people moved on to a different belief.

But the real treat in this movie, the main reason why any movie fan should see it is the Dragon.

Vermithrax Pejorative is absolutely gorgeous! I was blown away as a child, and still am by the effects work done on her. The quintessential movie dragon still has not been topped in nearly 30 years or with the aid of computers. Whatever problems theplot may have are more than made up for as soon as she's on screen. The baby dragons are also very well done as are the other effects. But nothing has touched the effects on Vermithrax, and I don't know if any dragon ever will. though with the hobbit coming out in a couple of years and being directed by the amazing Gillermo Del Torro, we'll see.

Just for fun, here's the Vermithrax Pejorative fighting the Rancor from Return of the Jedi