DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Dragonslayer (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

Semi-obscure flop? I'm not sure about the box office numbers, but I do remember this movie actually getting generally favorable reviews when it came out. That was a long time ago, so maybe I'm recalling incorrectly.

I can understand your P.O.V, however, because I feel the same way about STAR WARS. I watched the trailers for the S.E versions of STAR WARS when they were first re-released theatrically, and I decided right at that moment that I would not spend money to see the things. I haven't watched them since he made them into Special Editions.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

According to Box Office Mojo, Dragonslayer made less than $2.5 mil when it came out. Add in that it's over 20 years old, has a 6.5 and less than 1,500 votes on the IMDB and you have a title that probably won't sell in big enough numbers to justify much expenditure.

 

[Mark-W]

Semi-obscure flop? I'm not sure about the box office numbers, but I do remember this movie actually getting generally favorable reviews when it came out. That was a long time ago, so maybe I'm recalling incorrectly.

Edwin-

How do "favorable reviews" suggest that the film was not a flop? One is a perception of a film, and the other is the money said film generates at the box office.

I seem to recall lots of films panned in the reviews making lots of money, and vice versa. How a film is regarded by the critics doesn't seem to be an good indicator for a film's box office success.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Folks, stop yer complainin'. DeepDiscounttDVD.com has the LOWEST price on this at $9.36. I just picked it up -- along with West Hot American Summer, both for under twenty bucks.

 

[Kevin M]

I say "Semi-obscure.." because (much like John Carpenter's The Thing & Big Trouble In Little China) it didn't attain it's rather large cult fan base until it hit the dollar shows (remember those? ) and home video and cable.
I say "Flop" because...well...sadly it was.


P.S. That last post of mine came off as kind of harsh towards Dan, I'm not trying to go off on you Dan, really. I just think it is a lost cause...no matter how beloved the film is and trust me, it is loved by me...hell when I was a teen I saw it at least 10 or 11 times in those Dollar Theaters I mentioned.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

I've added this one to my Christmas wish list. I must admit, I'm on the fence about digitally touching up the effects. As much as I would like to see what could be done with 'em, I'd know deep down they just aren't the originals.

I think this movie will qualify for a remake someday. Hell, they should have done one instead of Reign of Fire.

 

[Frank@N]

Did anyone get a good B&M price for Dragonslayer?

I stopped by Kmart, but they didn't have it.

Disappointed because the Big K was getting recent Paramount titles on time and were selling for less than $10 (IQ, Nobody's, Regarding, Leap).

Maybe in a few weeks...think those same titles popped up at Walmart a few weeks later at a similar prices.

 

[Kevin M]

A remake......why?

It's not like it has dated (aside from some of the effects) badly over the years or that it just just screams 80's!!!.


BTW I can't wait to hear how Alex North's fantastic score sounds in 5.1!

 

[David Lambert]

Only watched 20 minutes of it so far, because I spent the rest of the night watching Indy!

So far a fantastic disc, well worth the $14.99 I paid for it at Best Buy. No regrets here, and will watch it in its entirety tomorrow night.


THANKS, MARTIN!!!

 

[JonZ]

I love this movie and always have since I first saw it in the theaters back in the early 80s. For years I thought the dragon in this film was the best damn monster ever put to film.

I think this DVD looks great, just lovely.

The FX,matte-shots,the "force fields",etc are noticeable,but not distracting.In fact its part of the charm of the film. Some are more noticeable on DVD, while other FX look less noticeable than they did on VHS. I never owned the LD(It was on my list but never got around to getting it)


IMHO - the Dragon here is MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN ANYTHING LUCAS HAS DONE IN THE PREQUELS SO FAR.

Although Im definitely not spoiled when it comes to DVD and home theater, I wish we got a making of - This is exactly the type of film that usually has really great making of documentaries-that way we could have seen the effort that went into getting this film done.

Im usually very harsh with Paramount,theyre my least favorite studio - but they did a great job here

 

[Steve Christou]

The picture quality is good not great, the film is meant to be gloomy to begin with, the only bit of sunshine is at the very end before the credits. I liked it a lot.
The sound is great, didn't think this 22 year old film would have so much clarity in its soundfield, they really did a good job with the sound. Not sure but they may have enhanced and 'added' some sound effects to the dvd version.

The British version was always cut, there was a scene near the end where the baby dragons are eating the Princess, one of them chewing away at her foot until it comes right off, into its mouth, you never see that in the UK edition, first time I've seen that, it's a bit gory for a family film.

 

[JonZ]

The US version always had that scene.

 

[Kevin M]

The US version always had that scene.

Ah yes, you know us americans...we loves da ultra-violence!

 

[Mark-W]

Is anyone else having a hard time finding this title in stores?

I ordered one copy from DeepDiscountDVD.com because, well, their price of under $10 is fantastic, but I also wanted to buy another copy for my little gremlin named "impatience," and I called Borders Books, Fry's, and Best Buy, and NONE of them had it...some showed a copy in their system, but they could not find it in the store itself.

And even my copy ordered on line said "back ordered" through yesturdays.

hmmmm..
How is a title supposed to sell when one cannot find it to buy it?

Mark

 

[Chuck Stephens]

I hear ya Mark. I ordered my copy last week from deepdiscountdvd and it's still listing it as backordered. When I picked up Indy on tuesday the local best buy had about 5 copies of dragonslayer at 14.99. I'm tempted to go see tomorrow if they still have any left but I think I may pass and just wait for my copy from DDD.

 

[Fredric]

Mine shipped yesterday from DDD.

 

[JonZ]

Mark, I had a hard time here in upstate NY.

Didnt have it anywhere - Media Play, Best Buy or Circuit City.

I went into a Halloween store in the mall for some stuff for a Scarecrow competetion here at work and remembered there was a FYE.So I said what the hell and looked. They had 3 and the girl told me they actually had them out a week early. It cost more but at least I had it.

Ive been noticing this more and more with smaller titles.Best Buy doesnt get them in until a few weeks later and Ive been going to Circuit City more and more lately.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Like The Goonies, the big chains don't understand why the core market for DVD, US, would want a film we grew up with over Black Knight, Full Throttle, or any of the other "recent hits" they order 600 copies of.

Didn't trust them, so I ordered mine. Will be here today

Take care,
Chuck

 

[Carlo_M]

Mine just shipped from DDD (had ordered it a week before street date). So it looks like DDD is getting their new batch of this movie.

 

[Mark_TS]

beware-DDD are sending out false "we mailed it" confirmations.
This is the second time for me.
They emailed me over a week ago that it had been sent, so i kept looking for it the past couple days-then I get another email last night-"we thought you'd like to know"

I called them and they said they have a 'computer glitch'-whatever that means