Le Dragon du lac de feu

After the death of his wizard master, young Galen wants to kill a giant dragon that terrorises people all over Urland. To secure a peaceful living, people have to sacrifice virgins to the horrible fire-spitting beast. How can Galen, who still isn't even a real wizard, beat the dragon?

This movie coming from Walt Disney, I was worried it might be too lighthearted to be a really good fantasy film. Luckily, I was wrong! There are surprise deaths of cast members and even some scenes of gore, helping to create just the right kind of atmosphere. The special effects here are really excellent and hold up very well to today's CGI spectacles. Also, the Dragon looks absolutely incredible. The movie probably would have benefited from a more remarkable musical score, the kind of which a Basil Poledouris might have composed. Still, this is a must-see fantasy film, almost in the league of "The Lord of the Rings".

This film blends witchcraft and wizardry , adventures , battles and is extremely fun and amusing . A sorcerer's apprentice (Peter MacNichol) is sent to kill a dragon which has been devouring girls from a nearby kingdom . An older magician (Ralph Richardson) is the mentor of the rockie sorcerer . The young boy dreams becoming a valiant sorcerer and join forces with a girl (Caitlin Clarke) to vanquish a horrible dragon . The young wizarding apprentice suddenly finds himself the only person who save the kingdom from a free-breathing dragon .

This fantasy movie packs action , witchery and and sorcery with impressive battles . Likable performance by a young Peter MacNichol , though is the first film released under the Disney name to have full frontal male nudity , as when Peter MacNicol jumps into the water, his legs swing wide giving the audience a quick shot of his genitals . Funny acting by the veteran Ralph Richardson and enjoyable support cast . The story has many familiar dragon motifs found throughout Western culture , in particular Saint George and the Dragon, in which maiden sacrifices were made to appease a harassing dragon. Saint George's tale also includes a sacrificial lottery resulting in the surprise condemnation of a princess , Saint George is also frequently depicted with a magic blessed lance or a sword . Smart screenplay by Hal Barwood dealing with fantasy medieval , dragons , necromancy , fantastic kingdoms and many other things . Entertaining and fun movie with acceptable special effects bringing the dragon to life . Work on dragons made by CG sometimes seem authentic , but is also noted its computer realization . First film to use go-motion, a variant of stop-motion animation in which parts of the dragon were mechanized and the movement programmed by computer . During shooting, the computer moves the model while the camera is shooting, resulting in motion blur, which makes the animation more convincing . The only thing that let it down from this perspective , was that some of the parts in between the dragons fighting were a little dull . Colorful cinematography , shot on location in Wales , though the final scene was shot in Skye, Scotland and many town locals were employed in the film as village extras. Thrilling as well as spectacular musical score by the classic Alex North , some of the score by Alex North was "recycled" from music he'd originally composed for 2001: A Space Odyssey that went unused . This co-production between Walt Disney Pictures and Paramount was efficiently directed by Matthew Robbins and it was more mature and realistic than most Disney films of the time .

The picture belongs to Fantasy/Dragon sub-genre ; other important films dealing with Dragons are the following : ¨Dragonheart¨ by Rob Cohen with Dennis Quaid , Dina Meyer , Jason Isaacs and Julie Christie ; ¨Dragonheart , a new beginning¨ with Chris Marterson , Figueroa and Harry Von Gorkum ; ¨Dragom Storm¨ (2004) by Stephen Furst with Maxwell Caufield , Angel Boris , Tony Amendola and John Rhys Davies ; and other latter day movies and belonging to this Dragons sub-genre are ¨Reign of fire¨ (2002) by Rob Bowman with Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey , Izabella Scorupco , and Gerard Butler ; ¨Eragon¨ (2006) by Stephen Fangmeier with Edward Speleers , Robert Carlyle , Sienna Gullory and John Malkovich .

Dragonslayer was in my opinion a very good movie. Without being too camp, it manages to be very entertaining, and along with NeverEnding Story, Princess Bride and Legend this is one of the better fantasy films I have seen. The film benefits from some very stylish costumes and sets, and the breathtaking scenery helps as well. The music score is highly atmospheric, and filled with beautiful and haunting themes. The film has a good plot with some nice twists, themes and turns, a decent script and good characters. I will admit one or two of the supporting characters are thinly sketched compared to the wizard Ulrich, and there are parts when the film suffered from pacing problems. But overall I really enjoyed Dragonslayer. I forgot to mention the acting. Peter MacNicol is a likable enough lead with his spontaneous boyish charm, Caitlin Clarke and Chloe Salamon are stunning as the female leads, and Ralph Richardson without a doubt steals the movie as Ulrich. Also, how can I forget the dragon? Plain and simple, best designed dragon in any fantasy film, the movements, the design, the creepiness everything, flawless. Even better than Draco in Dragonheart, despite Sean Connery's majestic voicing. All in all, a couple of minor flaws, but it is most enjoyable, and one of the better fantasy films out there. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This movie benefits from an interesting plot, a wonderful female character played by Caitlin Clarke, and good plot twists. I'm not a big fan of the male lead; his looks are a little average and uninteresting to me. The only other drawback are the ugly hats characters wear in this film. However, what makes this movie unique are its visuals, which through creativity and hard work, outshines many fantasy movies of the 90's and early 2000's.

This film proves that it doesn't need 21st century technology to make a beautiful and visually complex piece. As I watched the dragon, it was easy to tell that it was not real; it had flaws in its appearance and its movements were not perfect. But that did not detract at all from the film, because what made the dragon impressive was the artistic elements of its design; its many layers of thin, translucent membrane, its finely chiseled and formed teeth, and the almost charcoal-like, tough scales on its hide. In many modern fantasy movies, the creatures and dragons are uninspired, dull, and drab, despite the computer engineering behind them. In the 80's, directors had to be creative to produce their desired effect, and this creativity went a long way in producing visuals that both wowed audiences with their appearance and the thought of the work that went into making them.

I'm not sure there's more than one compelling reason to see this film, but what a reason! As an SF/fantasy buff, I've seen my share of dragons on film, but there has never been one like Vermithrax Perjorative. The old beast simply looks, moves, sounds, acts, almost smells as one would imagine a dragon would. The filmmakers paid painstaking attention to detail in creating VP. Other film dragons look like animated clay figures, or lizards with wings glued on, or CGI effects (impressive, but still obviously computer-generated). This one looks like the cinematographer actually caught a dragon on film. The rest of the film is entertaining enough - not exactly Wellesian drama, but captivating nonetheless. Sir Ralph is marvelous, even in his twilight. And the fact that the dragon doesn't show until the end serves to heighten the suspense, ala Jaws or Alien. But, oh that dragon!! Well worth the price of admission. Can't wait to see it on DVD.