Newcomers to Dragonslayer may question the overall attraction and affection for this film. I get that. But the dragon, all the special effects work to realize the full fire-breathing creature, are worth the price of admission alone. This 4K is only the second time I’ve seen Dragonslayer having not caught it at all in the 80s (I first saw it within the last 10 years). Not having that critical introduction around the time of its release does take away some of the adoration I might otherwise have had. The kind of adoration I have for films like Conan the Barbarian, Krull, heck, even Beastmaster. But Dragonslayer has an enduring charm that should come across to newcomers and will certainly grow in additional viewings as it has for me.
The Production: 4/5
“No. In fact, if it weren’t for sorcerers, there wouldn’t be any dragons. Once, the skies were dotted with them. Magnificent horned backs, leathern wings… soaring… and their hot-breathed wind. Oh, I know this creature of yours… Vermithrax Pejorative. Look at these scales, these ridges. When a dragon gets this old, it knows nothing but pain, constant pain. It grows decrepit… crippled… pitiful. Spiteful!”
Galen (Peter MacNicol), a young, inexperienced sorcerer’s apprentice chooses to help a band of townsfolk kill a menacing dragon. Their king made a pact with the dragon where young virgin girls are selected, by way of a lottery, and sacrificed to the fire-breathing creature. Valerian (Caitlin Clarke) believes sorcery is their kingdom’s only hope to kill the dragon, but Valerian may not be quite what he says he is. Valerian holds a secret that will change how Galen feels toward them. The task of slaying the dragon will be treacherous, and Galen is filled with doubt and will experience failure, but he will also be brave enough to take on the deadly dragon anyway.
Dragonslayer is an unexpected treasure. A co-production between Paramount and Disney, it’s remarkably not preoccupied with the familiar trappings of medieval tales spun in that era. It seeks authenticity even while it explores sorcerers and magic and, of course, the ghastly dragon. It chooses to be a dark, almost grounded fantasy with blood and genuine scares. Director Matthew Robbins establishes a world with its own mythology without becoming bogged down in explaining it. We are given exactly what we need to understand for the characters to make sense and the story to be compelling. Along with creative directorial choices, low, but effective lighting, strong cinematography, wonderful sets, and of course the legendary dragon named Vermithrax Pejorative, the film is a standout from the era.
And the dragon is staggeringly good. Realized and rendered by the creative genius of Industrial Light and Magic, Vermithrax Pejorative is a blisteringly menacing presence, realized through a combination of arm puppetry, Go Motion puppetry (where the creature moves with the exposure of the film) and mid- and full-sized creations delivering a dragon that’s as good, better even, than any dragon we’ve seen before or since. There’s something brilliant about how this dragon was created, filmed, and edited that gives us a mysterious and frightening monster.
Dragonslayer has an interesting cast, too. The studio mandated the cast include Americans, in lead roles, too, which led to the casting of Peter MacNicol as the sorcerer’s apprentice, Galen, and Caitlin Clarke as Valerian. Treasured screen actor Ralph Richardson appears as the sorcerer Ulrich, Tyrian, one of the human antagonists is played by John Hallam, and a young Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars franchise) has a small role as an unfortunate holy man, Brother Jacopus. Much has been written about the choice of MacNicol as Galen, some asserting he was miscast, but he does will in the role as written. MacNicol himself may not be a fan of his performance, but he carries the character from inexperienced and cocky to brave and experienced capably. Caitlin Clarke does well in the role as the person who spent her life pretending to be a boy to avoid the lottery, but some of her dialogue is disappointingly weak. Ralph Richardson as Ulrich is one of the film’s highlights. He has a strong presence and delivers a performance of wit and unpredictability.
Director Matthew Robbins creates a foreboding sense of space and location and cleverly holds back on the full dragon reveal and action until later in the film. Working from a screenplay he wrote with Hal Barwood, Robbins displays a keen directorial eye with good movement, framing, pacing, and performance. When outside the studio, the location shoots were mostly in Wales and a little in Scotland and Cinematographer Derek Vanlint (DP on Alien) captures the landscapes wonderfully. Even in interiors, where Vanlint favors heavy shadow and low light, he offers a refined sense of the sequence.
Dragonslayer’s screenplay was pursued by two studios at the onset of the 1980s as the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying craze was underway. It resulted in an unusual co-production between Paramount, who handled US distribution, and Disney who handled worldwide. Despite the impressive elements and strengths showcased by ILM and their Academy Award-nominated special effects, Dragonslayer was a box-office failure. The film, however, has a beloved fan base, and for good reason. And that eager collection of fans has reason to celebrate this wonderful UHD release.
Video: 5/5
3D Rating: NA
You know immediately that the visual presentation of this film, finally in a version worthy of its production, will be something special when you see the red Dragonslayer title card against the pitch-black background. While the full opening scene is lit darkly, mostly relying on the flames from candles and torches in the frame to do the work, it creates a suitable sense of mystery and period to establish the film’s visual vernacular.
With this 4K release, featuring Dolby Vision, we’re seeing every bit of detail this film has to offer from its 35mm origins. The special effects work is impressively showcased, and as you might expect, the limitations of the composited effects and greenscreen echoes are laid barer than you’d ever have noticed on home video. Some digital clean-up has been done to accommodate what we’re now able to see in this 4K version (reflection in the lake of fire of the dragon replacing noticeable matte lines, for example). Purists may rebuff this, but it appears to have been measured and done with love and care.
Audio: 5/5
Paramount offers a Dolby Atmos track for this 1981 film and it is impressive. In the accompanying documentary special feature, director Matthew Robbins talks of the ‘sound design’ that went into the audio for this film, and how all the sound effects, audio, and music were specifically calibrated to create the right levels so the audio dance would sonically make sense. Here, it appears a similar level of care has gone into the Atmos track and where and how each sound and sound effect should appear and at what level. What we get is an immensely active track featuring wonderful height placement, swooping, moving sounds creating an enveloping sense, surrounds that tightly wrap around the viewer and create something special. Even the best equipped theater back in 1981 would be hard pressed to create something quite so involving, but it is such a pleasure to experience. Low frequency effects in the subwoofer pounce and thunderously clap for the dragon and his fire breathing explosions, and there’s a palpable sense of thrill and danger born from what this audio delivers.
Alex North’s atonal (and Oscar nominated) score, which includes some unused portions of his score for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, is a full-orchestra wonder. Filled with imaginatively dissonant and creatively impressive orchestrations, it may not be an easily hummable score, but what it delivers for the images on screen is exactly what’s needed, a sense of time, place, adventure, danger, and skilled expressions of the symphony.
Sound effects are marvelous in how they are placed in the overheads. Consider the dripping sounds in the caves as Galen first searches to engage the dragon. There’s such wonderful movement of the audio in something so subtle as those drips and a good example of how expert this Atmos track is. It would have been nice to have the option to hear this film in a way that more closely resembled the theatrical experience, if for no other reason than to highlight just how magnificent the Atmos track is for a film now 40+ years old.
Special Features: 4/5
The special features available on this 4K disc are both new and high quality. A making of documentary broken into six segments that runs over an hour is terrific. Director Matthew Robbins features heavily offering comments of depth and potent details from the origins, casting, and making of the picture. The examination of how the dragon was realized, including the detailed explanation of Go Motion, is fascinating.
- Commentary by Director Matthew Robbins and Guest Guillermo del Toro: del Toro serves as interviewer as the commentary track begins but settles into sharing details along with director Matthew Robbins and offers effusive praise for multiple elements of the production and its impact on him. A fun, engaging listen almost wall-to-wall with a flow of detail. Some of what you’ll hear is repeated in the documentary special feature.
- The Slayer of All Dragons: Step back in time with director/co-writer Matthew Robbins, dragon supervisor Phil Tippett, and ILM’s visual effects master Dennis Muren as they revisit Dragonslayer. Their stories and memories take viewers deep into the dragon’s fiery lair as they recount the challenging journey from concept to screen.
- Welcome to Cragganmore: A look back at the impact of Star Wars and its visual effects on Hollywood, the origin of Dragonslayer and its screenplay, and the film’s casting.
- A Long Way to Urland: Pre-production begins in England as the film takes shape. The young filmmakers seek gritty medieval realism through the production design, cinematography, and costumes.
- Vermithrax Pejorative: The filmmakers take on the daunting task of bringing a dragon to life like never before, utilizing every ounce of movie magic available including Phil Tippett’s breakthrough go-motion animation, cutting-edge practical animatronics, visual effects, and compositing.
- Into the Late of Fire: Production woes at every turn, horrific baby dragons, and the challenge of creating Vermithrax’s iconic lair plague the filmmakers. Phil Tippett offers a mini masterclass on crafting powerful creature performance through detailed animation.
- The Final Battle: The team faces the unique challenges of the film’s stage-bound climax, filmed entirely against a blue screen. Director Matthew Robbins looks back on the incredible work done in the final stages of film editing, the beautifully dense sound design, and Alex North’s amazing score, which utilized pieces from his legendary unused 2001: A Space Odyssey score.
- Original Screen Tests
- Original Theatrical Trailer
Overall: 4.5/5
Newcomers to Dragonslayer may question the overall attraction and affection for this film. I get that. But the dragon, all the special effects work to realize the full fire-breathing creature, are worth the price of admission alone. This 4K is only the second time I’ve seen Dragonslayer having not caught it at all in the 80s (I first saw it within the last 10 years). Not having that critical introduction around the time of its release does take away some of the adoration I might otherwise have had. The kind of adoration I have for films like Conan the Barbarian, Krull, heck, even Beastmaster. But Dragonslayer has an enduring charm that should come across to newcomers and will certainly grow in additional viewings as it has for me.
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Anyhow, it's a movie I'd enjoyed ever since it's theatrical run. My 4K disc is arriving in the next couple of days.Oops, thank you for your fine review.
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Oh, it sure did. I've updated my production score to reflect my actual reactionI guess the movie didn't float your boat.
I guess I should have known since you recommended this 4K release.Oh, it sure did. I've updated my production score to reflect my actual reaction
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The droll humor of Ralph Richardson is most welcome. The silly, borderline-slapstick "humor" with the Peter McNicol character had the potential to ruin the carefully-crafted atmosphere ("What's the matter, Hobbs, load too heavy?" etc.) Fortunately, the apparent efforts to Disney-fy the film enough to make it more palatable for family audiences are finally outweighed by the brilliance of the other characters, the moody cinematography and music score, and, of course, the magnificent dragon, which to this day remains second-to-none.
I noticed one slight mistake in the commentary, where Robbins mentions the film being mixed at Skywalker Sound, when the end credits indicate it was actually mixed at Zoetrope (which would make more sense since it was Walter Murch who oversaw the final mix).
What is YSH?
I'm too old in dealing with acronyms, especially after frying some brain cells hooking up a new receiver today.
Try installing a new video card in a desktop, only to have the manufacturer supplied driver not work, and then after hours on the phone you just give up and install the latest driver from the chipset manufacturer instead, and everything works.
These days, plugging in an electric cord is a chore for me.
Malcolm R
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I'm guessing Young Sherlock Holmes.
Which receiver did you buy? I may be looking to upgrade.
It's still a dark scene, but it's much better than previous video editions. You can see the dragon well defined and tell what's happening in this one.
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