Le chevalier du dragon

Whatever you think of Star Knight – good or bad – the one thing that cannot be denied is this is a very strange movie. Its combination of a medieval yarn with science fiction is somewhat odd and surely must be a result of the writers simply combining two popular genres of the day - the fantasy action flick with Spielbergian sci-fi. It's a concoction that needless to say doesn't work all that well. Set in medieval Europe, the story revolves around the appearance of a 'dragon'. Turns out it's actually a spaceship but the locals of course never understand this. On board the ship is a spacesuit clad alien, who is the star knight of the title. It's a very silly story to be honest.

Other than the strange narrative, the second aspect that marks this one out is its very interesting cast. Well, it's interesting on paper at least. Specifically the combination of Klaus Kinski with Harvey Keitel is something that should catch the interest of most cult movie fans (although I don't actually remember them both appearing on screen at the same time though). Kinski plays an alchemist and is unfortunately dubbed, while Keitel is a knight and amusingly is not dubbed, seeing as his New York accent could not be more inappropriate for a medieval character. The 80's was a bit of a graveyard for a lot of film stars who rose to prominence in the 70's and this film indicates the strange places Keitel went in this decade before his re-emergence in the early 90's.

Despite all of the factors above, Star Knight is unfortunately a pretty weak effort. Its eccentricities never make up for the general lameness of events depicted. It seems to in fact, be a comedy as well but not a very funny one to be honest. Production values aren't bad though with handsome period detail and alright special effects of the spaceship. But despite this and its original aspects, it's still not terribly good fun.

Ironical and dis-mythical fantasy packs acceptable production design, primitive special effects , and evocative as well as colorful cinematography . When a dazzling craft illuminates the sky above a medieval European village, the townspeople fear mayhem while the ruling party prepares for battle with the mysterious "dragon in the sky." After Princess Alba (Maria Lamor) is discovered missing, being abducted by an alien aircraft ; the quest for power and the young girl's affections drive Klever (Harvey Keitel) to free her from the strange cosmic knight , IX ,(Miguel Bose , though Imanol Arias turned down the role) . Count of Rue (José Vivó) asks for help his magician alchemist (Klaus Kinski) and the Green Knight (Jose Maria Pou) to find the beautiful princess . But is that her desire? . Worldly boundaries are crossed in this spoofy Sci-Fi .

This ironic Sci-Fi contains lots of humor with tongue-in-cheek , entertainment and amusement , though falls flat for its continuous absurdity and ridiculousness . It is a slightly funny film with entertaining events , giggles , and a love story between a princess and an extraterrestrial . This is a Gothic sci-fi tale of power, greed and the universal language of love . Spanish exploitation of American fantasy , realized by time of Close Encounters of the Third Kind , ET and other films in which extraterrestrial visits and UFOs were common themes ; and here adding the legend of Saint George , ¨Jorge¨ , and the Dragon . The film moves in fits and starts most of which would be desirable, with more traps the viewer resists any kind, and some moments of enjoyment and others quite a few embarrassing . Adequate production design by Felix Murcia and naive but effective special effects by Reyes Abades , many of them made by old computer generator . Very good cast but frankly wasted , it stars two myths of modern cinema , Harvey Keitel and Klaus Kinski, in addition , the great Fernando Rey as an inquisitive priest , but all of them turned into caricatured figures . Atmospheric musical score by Jose Nieto , Vicente Aranda's ordinary musician , he composes a stirring soundtrack by means of synthesizer . Jose Nieto is a magnificent composer and deemed to be one of the best Spanish musicians . Furthermore , a colorful and evocative cinematography by Jose Luis Alcaine who was first cinematographer to use fluorescent tube as "key" lightning and deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameraman . Alcaine frequently works with Pedro Almodóvar , Bigas Luna and Vicente Aranda , as he has photographed ¨The skin I live in¨ , The bad education¨ , ¨Volver¨ , ¨Women in the verge of a nervous breakdown¨, among others .

The motion picture was middlingly written and directed Fernando Colomo . Fernando Colomo was born in Madrid and is a talented and versatile writer/director who has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as comedy, drama and one science fiction movie , this 1985 El caballero del Dragón, in a career that spans over 30 years . Especially known for directing comedies such as 1987 La Vida Alegre , 1988 Miss Caribe , 1989 Bajarse al Moro , 1993 Rosa Rosae , 1994 Alegre Ma Non Troppo , 1995 Efecto Mariposa . And in the 2000s directed Al Sur Granada (2003) , El Próximo Oriente (2006), Rivales (2008) and La Banda Picasso (2012) .

I was reading what the guy above said about it and no i have no clue how Harvey got suckered into doing this film. it is raw comedy for him. Typical princess meets the man of her dreams and can't have him film with Harvey as the knight who loves her and her money and is gonna kill the one she loves to impress the dad and princess, marry her, and thus be rich. Only problem is, he can't...and the idiocy of his fighting with a man who cannot be beaten...he is in an IRON suit which a bunch of swords cannot penetrate, is a riot! This must have been done during the BAD years when he had to buy baby formula and stuff. But see it just for the HUMOR and likeness to those crazy 60's sci-fi flicks like "It Came From Outer Space".

If you are a fan of Klaus Kinski as I am then you must own this movie. Watch it once, check it off your list, then never watch it again. What a waste of celluloid, time, and effort. Quite simply this is an enormously huge waste of time. Think of all of the hungry children the budget of this film could have fed.......

I found this gem in a sale bin of old VHS tapes about ten years ago.... I put it on not knowing what to expect... and I couldn't stop it! Mr.Keitel must have tried to buy up all the copies of this film.. because it's impossible to find anyone that has seen it before. It's absurb to point of being a Monty Python film... I can imagine that the producers started off wanting to make a serious film and half way through said.. "hey.. you know it's pretty funny.. I think we should go that way!" There must have been some great coke on set for this baby in the eighties... if you can find it, I highly suggest it over a bottle or two of your favourite bevy.

I saw "The Little Shop of Horrors" when I was a kid on late night television.. and never forgot that as being such an amazing 'cartoon' of a film... I wasn't surprised when it had a second life... not to mention John Water's "Hairspray".. it's kind of like that great old movie "The Producers"... you just can't make a movie bad enough that it won't be entertaining... to someone!

Harvey Keitel?... Klaus Kinsky?... how can you go wrong?