O Dragão e o Feiticeiro

With the name Disney attached to a sword and sorcery/fantasy romp, many genre purists might be filled with immediate consternation as they visualise in horror the possible 'cute' connotations.

Fortuitously, the understandable apprehension that this may well induce actually proves to be entirely unfounded however, as this movie is about as far from Pete's Dragon or any other Disney fare as is humanly imaginable!

What we do have here, is an excellent movie with top notch production values, awesome special effects, a fine cast, and a very dark story.

The dragon itself is without doubt the best ever committed to celluloid (a much better design than the CGI one in Dragonheart) and proves to be hugely menacing and destructive as it incinerates everything in it's path.

The actors to, all put in excellent performances and it's particularly great to see such a fine piece of casting in the form of the late great Sir Ralph Richardson as the wizard Ulrich. In fact for such a role there has surely never been a more appropriate choice of actor other than of course, Peter Jackson casting Sir Ian McKellen to play Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

For fans of sword & sorcery and fantasy movies in general, this really is an absolute must see!

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.

Fantasy movies such as this are non-existent these days. Gimme back the days of The Dark Crystal, Jim Henson and the Gremlins. For a family movie this is also very straight-faced too. There is not much humor in it, but that only adds to the overall weird tone.

The story is of a wizard apprentice called Galen (a very young Peter MacNicol) who goes on a quest to slaughter a Dragon terrorizing the people of Urland (Ireland maybe?). There are long moments of quiet and a strange atmosphere brewing around the whole movie. It looks and feels quite unique.

No doubt this is owed a lot to the fabulous widescreen compositions, visual effects that range from not bad to surprisingly good and stunning scenery and locations. Indeed the mood of this film is something I've never come across in a fantasy film. Plus for a film that is rated a simple PG, there was quite a lot of graphic gore, violence and even slight nudity. Surprising, but it adds to the boldness of the production. You would never get a family movie like this these days. I will take Dragonslayer over Harry Potter anytime.

Filmed in Panavision, the 2.35:1 anamorphic picture looks really great in most scenes but in others there is a small problem with the black levels. The soundtrack has been remastered in Dolby 5.1 and it is surely loud and forceful. Unfortunately there are ZERO extras. Which is a shame, because for a film like this, I really want more.

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".

Dragonslayer is a great fantasy film. The special effects hold up fairly well even today. The dragon is just a model and it looks fantastic. I was only 9 years old when I saw this film and it has stuck with me ever since. There are great performances and the direction is tight. The set design is also done well. Dragonslayer has a great atmosphere and you won't forget the image of the dragon rising from the water behind our hero anytime soon.