''Dragonslayer'' is a 1981 American dark fantasy film directed by Matthew Robbins, from a screenplay he co-wrote with

Hal Barwood Hal Barwood is an American screenwriter, film producer, film director, game designer, game producer, and novelist. Early life Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, his father ran a local movie theater in the town, this being one of his inspirations ...

. It stars Peter MacNicol, Ralph Richardson,

John Hallam John William Francis Hallam (28 October 1941 – 14 November 2006) was a British character actor, who frequently played hard men or military types. Early life John Hallam was born, the son of a superintendent at London Docklands, in 19 ...

, and Caitlin Clarke. It is a co-production between Paramount Pictures and

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

, where Paramount handled

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

distribution and Disney's

Buena Vista International Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It h ...

handled international distribution. The story is set in a fictional

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

kingdom, where a young wizard experiences danger and opposition as he hunts the dragon, Vermithrax Pejorative. It was the second joint production between Paramount and

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, after ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.special effects were created at

Industrial Light and Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...

, the first use of ILM outside of a Lucasfilm production.

Phil Tippett Phil Tippett (born September 27, 1951) is an American movie director and Oscar and Emmy Award-winning visual effects supervisor and producer, who specializes in creature design, stop-motion and computerized character animation. Over his career, h ...

had co-developed an animation technique there for ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a stor ...

'' (1980) called

go motion Go motion is a variation of stop motion animation which incorporates motion blur into each frame involving motion. It was co-developed by Industrial Light & Magic and Phil Tippett. Stop motion animation can create a disorienting, and distinctive ...

, a variation on

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

. This led to the film's nomination for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, but it lost to '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'', the only other Visual Effects nominee that year, whose special effects were also provided by ILM. Including the hydraulic model, the dragon consists of 16 puppets dedicated to flying, crawling, or fire breathing. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, which went to ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...

''. It was nominated for a

Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. Originally the award covered both ...

, again given to ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''. On October 21, 2003, ''Dragonslayer'' was released on DVD in the U.S. by

Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...

Plot

Urland, a sixth-century post-Roman kingdom situated near the River Ur,Fingeroth, Danny, 1981, The Making of Dragonslayer in Dragonslayer - The Official Marvel Comics Adaptation of the Spectacular Paramount/Disney Motion Picture, Marvel Super Special, 1, 20, Marvel Comics Group, 1981 is being terrorized by Vermithrax Pejorative, a 400-year-old dragon. To appease the creature, King Casiodorus offers it

virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

girls selected by lottery twice a year. An expedition led by a young man called Valerian seeks help from the last sorcerer, Ulrich of Cragganmore. The expedition is followed by Tyrian, the brutal and cynical Captain of Casiodorus's Royal Guard. He and his lieutenant Jerbul openly intimidate the wizard, doubtful of his abilities. Ulrich invites Tyrian to stab him to prove his magical powers. Tyrian does so and Ulrich dies instantly, to the horror of his young

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

Galen Bradwarden and his elderly servant Hodge, who cremates Ulrich's body and places the ashes in a leather pouch. Hodge informs Galen that Ulrich wanted his ashes spread over a lake of burning water. Galen is selected by the wizard's magical amulet as its next owner; encouraged, he journeys to Urland. On the way, he discovers Valerian is a young woman, who is disguised to avoid being selected in the lottery. In an effort to discourage the expedition, Tyrian kills Hodge. Just before dying, he hands Galen the pouch of ashes. Arriving in Urland, Galen inspects the dragon's lair and magically seals – he thinks – its entrance with a rock slide. Tyrian apprehends Galen and takes him to Castle Morgenthorme, from which King Casiodorus governs Urland. Casiodorus guesses that Galen is not a real wizard and complains that his attack may have angered the dragon instead of killing it, as his brother and predecessor once did. The king confiscates the amulet and imprisons Galen. His daughter, Princess Elspeth, visits Galen and is shocked when he informs her of rumors that the lottery is rigged; it excludes her name and those who are rich enough to bribe the king into disqualifying their children. Her father is unable to lie convincingly when she confronts him over this. Meanwhile, the dragon frees itself from its prison and causes an earthquake. Galen narrowly escapes from his prison, but without the amulet. The village priest, Brother Jacopus, leads his congregation to confront the dragon, denouncing it as the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

, but the dragon incinerates him and then heads for the village of Swanscombe, burning all in its path. When the lottery begins anew, Elspeth rigs the draw so that only her name can be chosen. Consequently, King Casiodorus returns the amulet to Galen so that he might save Elspeth. Galen uses the amulet to enchant a heavy spear that had been forged by Valerian's father (which he had dubbed ''Sicarius Dracorum'', or "Dragonslayer") with the ability to pierce the dragon's armored hide. Valerian gathers some molted dragon scales to create a shield for Galen. Valerian laments now that her cross-dressing disguise is blown, she'll be eligible for the lottery since she is still a virgin, and that Galen has fallen in love with Princess Elspeth. Galen admits he has fallen in love, but it's Valerian, not Elspeth, he's in love with. The couple kisses, thus realizing their romantic feelings for each other. Attempting to rescue Elspeth, Galen fights Tyrian and kills him emerging victorious. The Princess, however, is determined to make amends for all the girls whose names have been chosen in the past; she descends into the dragon's cave and to her death. Galen follows her and finds a brood of young dragons feasting on her corpse. He kills them and finds Vermithrax resting by an underground lake of fire. He manages to wound the dragon, but the spear is broken. Only Valerian's shield saves him from incineration. After his failure to kill Vermithrax, Valerian convinces Galen to leave Swanscombe with her. As both prepare to depart, the amulet gives Galen a vision explaining his teacher's final wish to use Galen to deliver him to Urland. Ulrich had asked that his ashes be spread over "burning water", which is in the dragon's cave. Galen realizes that the wizard had planned his own death and cremation, realizing he was too old and frail to make the journey. Galen returns to the cave. When he spreads the ashes over the fiery lake, the wizard is resurrected within the flames. Ulrich reveals that his time is short, and that Galen must destroy the amulet "when the time is right". The wizard then transports himself to a mountaintop, where he summons a storm and confronts Vermithrax. After a brief battle, the monster snatches the old man and flies away with him. Cued by Ulrich, Galen crushes the amulet with a rock. The wizard's body explodes and kills the dragon, whose corpse falls out of the sky. In the aftermath, villagers inspecting the wreckage credit God with the victory. The king arrives and drives a sword into the dragon's broken carcass to claim the glory for himself. As Galen and Valerian leave Urland together, he confesses that he misses both Ulrich and the amulet. He says, "I just wish we had a horse." Suddenly, a white horse appears, insinuating that the power of the amulet is now within Galen himself. The couple mounts the horse and rides away.

Cast

* Peter MacNicol as Galen Bradwarden * Caitlin Clarke as Valerian * Ralph Richardson as Ulrich of Cragganmore *

as Tyrian * Peter Eyre as King Casiodorus Ulfilas *

Albert Salmi Albert Salmi (March 11, 1928 – April 22, 1990) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Best known for his work as a character actor, he appeared in over 150 film and television productions. Early life Salmi was born and raised ...

as Greil (dubbed by

Norman Rodway Norman John Frank Rodway (7 February 1929 – 13 March 2001) was an Anglo-Irish actor. Early life Rodway was born at the family home, Elsinore (named after the castle where Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' is set), on Coliemore Road, Dalkey, Dublin ...

) *

Sydney Bromley Sidney Charles Bromley (24 July 1909 – 14 August 1987GRO Register of Deaths: AUG 1987 18 2293 WORTHING - Sydney Charles Bromley DoB = 24 Jul 1909 aged 78), credited as Sydney Bromley, was an English character actor. He appeared in more than si ...

as Hodge * Chloe Salaman as Princess Elspeth Ulfilas * Emrys James as Simon (Valerian's Father) * Roger Kemp as Horsrick, Casiodorus's Chamberlain *

Ian McDiarmid Ian McDiarmid (; born 11 August 1944) is a Scottish actor and director of stage and screen, best known for portraying the Sith Lord Emperor Sheev Palpatine / Darth Sidious in the ''Star Wars'' multimedia franchise. Making his stage debut in '' ...

as Brother Jacopus

Production

Conception

According to

, he and Matthew Robbins got the inspiration for ''Dragonslayer'' from ''

The Sorcerer's Apprentice "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (german: "Der Zauberlehrling", link=no, italic=no) is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in 14 stanzas. Story The poem begins as an old sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving ...

'' sequence in '' Fantasia''. They later came up with a story after researching St. George and the Dragon. Barwood and Robbins rejected the traditional conceptions of the medieval world in order to give the film more realism: "our film has no knights in shining armor, no pennants streaming in the breeze, no delicate ladies with diaphanous veils waving from turreted castles, no courtly love, no holy grail. Instead, they set out to create a very strange world with a lot of weird values and customs, steeped in superstition, where the clothes and manners of the people were rough, their homes and villages primitive and their countryside almost primeval, so that the idea of magic would be a natural part of their existence." For this reason, they chose to set the film after the end of Roman rule in Britain, prior to the arrival of Christianity. Barwood and Robins began to hastily work on the story outline on June 25, 1979 and completed in early August. They received numerous refusals from various film studios, due to their inexperience in budget negotiations. The screenplay was eventually accepted by Paramount Pictures and

, becoming the two studios' second joint effort after ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar. Twenty-five percent of the film's budget went into the dragon's special effects. Graphic artist David Bunnett was assigned to design the look, and was fed ideas on the movement mechanics, and then rendered the concepts on paper. It was decided early to emphasize flying, because the most important sequence is the final battle. Bunnett gave it a degree of personality, deliberately trying to avoid the creature from '' Alien'', which he believed was "too hideous to look at". After Bunnett handed his storyboard panels to the film crew, the dragon design used a wide variety of techniques. The final creature is a composite of several different models.

ILM Ilm or ILM may refer to: Acronyms * Identity Lifecycle Manager, a Microsoft Server Product * '' I Love Money,'' a TV show on VH1 * Independent Loading Mechanism, a mounting system for CPU sockets * Industrial Light & Magic, an American motion ...

finalized the design, and sculpted a reference model which Danny Lee of Disney Studios closely followed in constructing the larger dragon props for close-up shots. Two months later, Lee's team finished a sixteen-foot head and neck assembly, a twenty-foot tail, thighs, legs, claws capable of grabbing a man, and a wing section. The parts were flown to Pinewood Studios outside London in the cargo hold of a Boeing 747.

Brian Johnson Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...

was hired to supervise the special effects, and began planning on- and off-set effects with various specialists.

Dennis Muren Dennis Muren, A.S.C (born November 1, 1946) is an American film visual effects artist and supervisor. He has worked on the films of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron, among others, and has won nine Oscars in total: eight for Be ...

, the effects cameraman, stated, "We knew the dragon had a lot more importance to this film than some of the incidental things that appeared in only a few shots in '' Star Wars'' or ''

''. The dragon had to be presented in a way that the audience would be absolutely stunned." After the completion of principal shooting, a special effects team of eighty people at ILM studios in northern California worked eight months in producing 160 composite shots of the dragon. Chris Walas sculpted and operated the dragon head used for close-up shots. The head measured eight feet in length. The model was animated by a combination of radio controls, cable controls, air bladders, levers, and by handthus giving the illusion of a fully coordinated face with a wide range of expression. Real World War II era flamethrowers were used for the dragon's fire breathing effects. The animals used for the dragon's vocalizations included lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, alligators, pigs, camels, and elephants. Phil Tippett built a model for the dragon's walking scenes. He did not want to use standard stop motion animation techniques, and had his team build a dragon model which would move during each exposure, rather than in between, as was once the standard. This process, named "go motion" by Tippett, recorded the creature's movements in motion as a real animal would move, and removed the jerkiness common in prior stop motion films.

Ken Ralston Kenneth Ralston (born 1954) is an American visual effects artist, currently the Visual Effect Supervisor and Creative Head at Sony Pictures Imageworks. Ralston began his career at the commercial animation and visual effects company, Cascade Pictur ...

was assigned to the flying scenes. He built a model with an articulated aluminum skeleton for a wide range of motion. Ralston shot films of birds flying in order to incorporate their movements into the model. As with the walking dragon, the flying model was filmed using go-motion techniques. The camera was programmed to tilt and move at various angles in order to convey the sensation of flight.

Casting

Peter MacNicol first met Robbins in the office of casting director, Debby Brown, who'd seen MacNicol's work as Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. She'd left a note backstage for him, encouraging him to move to New York saying, "he would do well there". He took her advice. On his first day in New York MacNicol stopped by Brown's office to tell her he was now a Manhattan resident. While there, he heard the loud voices of actors coming from Brown's audition room. He asked Brown if there was anything right for him in the project. She responded with a smile, "Well...actually, there is." An hour later, MacNicol was the front runner for the role of Galen. He was flown to England along with Caitlin Clarke for a screen test. Within a day or two, Paramount and Disney had said yes, and he was renting a flat in Chelsea. MacNicol had grown up riding horses—his first paid job was on a ranch near Arlington, Texas—so the young actor knew how to ride, even jump hurdles without a saddle but during his pre-filming he needed to learn to ride the type of trooper-style saddle they were using in the movie. And because he'd have to ride on camera during action sequences his riding skills had to be stress-tested. "They took away my stirrups, they took away my reins and whipped the horse, and then they told me to windmill my arms and turn a complete circle in the saddle. Then they took away the saddle!" The young actor had already worked for two years in classical repertory theater, and was highly trained in voice production. Nevertheless, a voice coach was hired to achieve the mid-Atlantic sound the role required. Having studied stage combat at the University of Minnesota (two years of classes in tumbling, foil, saber rapier and dagger) he was eager to do as much of the fighting as they'd allow. The role also required some juggling and magic tricks. For this he was mentored by British prestidigitator Harold Taylor, who had previously performed for the British royal family. Caitlin Clarke was initially hesitant to involve herself in the film, as she was preparing to audition for a play in Chicago. Her agent insisted, though, and after doing an audition tape, was called back for more tests. Clarke failed them, but managed to pass after doing another test at Robbins's insistence. She got along well with Ralph Richardson, and stated that he taught her more in one rehearsal than she had learned in years of acting classes.

Set design

Elliot Scott Elliot Scott (19 July 1915 – 29 October 1993) was an English art director. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction. Selected filmography Scott was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Art Dire ...

was hired to design the sets of the film's sixth-century world. He temporarily converted the 13th-century Dolwyddelan Castle into Ulrich's ramshackle sixth-century fortress, to the surprise of the locals. He built the entire village of Swanscombe on a farm outside London. Although Scott extensively researched medieval architecture in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and his own library, he took some artistic liberties in creating the thatched roof houses, the granary, Simon's house, and smithy and Casiodorus's castle, because he was unable to find enough information on their exact look. He built the interior of the dragon's lair, using of polystyrene and 40 tons of Welsh slate and shale. The shots of the Welsh and Scottish landscapes were extended through the use of over three dozen matte paintings. Nearly all of the outdoor scenes were shot in

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

. The final scene was shot in Skye,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Costumes

The costumes were designed by Anthony Mendelson, who consulted the British Museum, the London Library, and his own reference files to evoke the designs of the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. They are roughly stitched and use colors which would have been possible with the vegetable dyes of the time. The costumes of Casiodorus and his court were designed of fine silk, as opposed to the coarsely woven clothes of the Urlanders.

Music

The film's Academy Award-nominated score was composed by

Alex North Alex North (born Isadore Soifer, December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (one of the first jazz-based film scores), '' Viva Zapata!'', '' S ...

. The score's linear conception was developed through transparently layered; polyphonic orchestral texture dominated by a medieval-style modal harmony. The score was largely based on five major thematic concepts: # the suffering of the Urlanders; # a "magic" motif; # the amulet; # the sacrificial virgins; # the relationship between Galen and Valerian. North had six weeks to compose the score, which featured music rejected from his score for Stanley Kubrick's ''2001: A Space Odyssey''. The opening sequence of ''Dragonslayer'' features a reworking of his original music for the opening of ''2001''s "Dawn of Man" sequence—which in that final film is played without music—and a waltz representing the dragon in flight which had been a variation of the cue "Space Station Docking", which in the final cut of ''2001'' was replaced by ''

The Blue Danube "The Blue Danube" is the common English title of "An der schönen blauen Donau", Op. 314 (German for "By the Beautiful Blue Danube"), a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. Originally performed on 15 Februa ...

''. North was disappointed by the resulting dragon scenes, as they do not use the entirety of the pieces he composed for them. He later stated that he had written "a very lovely waltz for when the dragon first appears, with just a slight indication that this may not be a bad dragon". The waltz was scrapped in favor of tracks used earlier in the movie. The score was widely praised. Pauline Kael wrote in the ''New Yorker'' that the score was a "beauty", and that "at times, the music and the fiery dragon seem one". Royal S. Brown of ''Fanfare Magazine'' praised the soundtrack as "one of the best scores of 1981". On April 22, 2010, a limited-edition soundtrack CD was released on La-La Land Records.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed just over $14 million in the US with an estimated budget of $18 million. It later became a cult film.

Critical response

At the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an 83% score based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's critic consensus reads, "An atypically dark Disney adventure, ''Dragonslayer'' puts a realistic spin — and some impressive special effects — on a familiar tale." At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The book ''Flights of Fancy: The Great Fantasy Film'' says: "''Dragonslayer'' is a compelling and often brilliant fantasy film .. butit seeks, as well, to impose modern sensibilities on its medieval characters and plot—twentieth-century political, sociological, and religious sensibilities which only serve to dilute its particular strengths." Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert both gave the film three stars out of four in their respective print reviews. Siskel, Gene (June 30, 1981). "Dragonslayer". ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

''. Section 2, p. 2. Siskel praised the "dazzling special effects" and the "convincing portrait by Ralph Richardson of the aged magician Ulrich", and Ebert called the scenes involving the dragon "first-rate". Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' called Vermithrax "the greatest dragon yet", and praised the film for its effective evocation of the Dark Ages.

David Denby David Denby (born 1943) is an American journalist. He served as film critic for ''The New Yorker'' until December 2014. Early life and education Denby grew up in New York City. He received a B. A. from Columbia University in 1965, and a master' ...

of '' New York'' praised ''Dragonslayer''s special effects and lauded the film as being much better than ''

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

'' and '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. David Sterritt of ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

'' praised the sets and pacing of the film, and criticized it for lack of originality, stressing that MacNicol's and Richardson's characters bore too many similarities to the heroes of '' Star Wars''. A similar critique was given by John Coleman of the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'', who called the film a "turgid sword-and-sorcery fable, with Ralph Richardson in a backdated kind of ''Star Wars'' of Alec Guinness role". Tim Pulleine of the ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with ...

'' criticized the film's lack of narrative drive and clarity to supplement the special effects. Upon the film's first television broadcast,

Gannett News Service Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Nonetheless, he warned: "In movie theaters, that came across wonderfully; on a little TV screen, this may be strictly for specialized tastes." Alex Keneas of '' Newsday'' criticized the focus on superstition, and for being "bereft of any sense of medieval time, place and society".

Larry DiTillio Lawrence G. DiTillio (February 15, 1948 – March 16, 2019) was an American film, TV series, and tabletop role-playing game writer. His creations include ''He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword'' and the award-winning ''Masks of Nyarlathote ...

reviewed ''Dragonslayer'' for ''

Different Worlds ''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987. Scope ''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Rune ...

'' magazine and stated that "Much imagination went into the re-creation of this world and fans will revel in it when they see it." Christopher John reviewed ''Dragonslayer'' in '' Ares Magazine'' #10 and commented that "Though the dialogue is occasionally stiff, there is a believable reality. When the people and setting of a fantasy are as carefully wrought as they are here, it is easy to get an audience to accept as small and wonderful a thing as a dragon."

Vermithrax Pejorative

Guillermo del Toro has stated that along with

Maleficent Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who appears as the main antagonist in Walt Disney Productions' 16th animated feature film, ''Sleeping Beauty'' (1959). She is represented as an evil fairy and the self-proclaimed " Mistress of All Evil ...

in ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

'', Vermithrax is his favorite cinematic dragon. He further stated that: "One of the best and one of the strongest landmarks f dragon moviesthat almost nobody can overcome is ''Dragonslayer''. The design of Vermithrax Pejorative is perhaps one of the most perfect creature designs ever made." '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' author

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

once ranked the film the fifth best fantasy film of all time, and called Vermithrax "the best dragon ever put on film

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

the coolest dragon name". Vermithrax is mentioned as an

Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...

in a list of dragons' names in the fourth episode of that book series adaptation, '' Game of Thrones''. Fantasy author Alex Bledsoe stated: "...everyone has a 'first dragon', the one that awoke their sense of wonder about the creatures. For many it's

Anne McCaffrey Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 19 ...

's elaborate world of Pern, where genetically-engineered intelligent dragons bond with their riders; for others it's Smaug in ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...

'', guarding his hoard deep in a cave. But for me, it was the awesome Vermithrax from the 1981 film, ''Dragonslayer''." During filming of ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who ...

'', in which

, who portrays minor character Brother Jacopus in ''Dragonslayer'', stars as the film's main antagonist, Emperor Palpatine, the

crew jokingly placed a model of Vermithrax in the arms of the Rancor model and took a picture. The picture was included in the book ''Star Wars: Chronicles''. A creature based on the appearance of this dragon appears in one of

Jabba the Hutt Jabba Desilijic Tiure, more commonly known as Jabba the Hutt, is a fictional character and minor antagonist in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Created by George Lucas, Jabba is voiced by Larry Ward with several puppeteers inside a one-ton puppet po ...

's creature pens in ''Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy''.

Related media

Novelization

A novelization '' Dragonslayer'' was written by Wayland Drew that delves deeper into the background of many of the characters. Expansions upon the film's plot include details such as these: * Galen has (or at least had) an elder sister named Apulia. * As an infant, Galen was handed to Ulrich by his parents due to their fear of his magical abilities. Ulrich took him as an apprentice, but was concerned with the lad's lack of focus, which usually resulted in the unintentional creation of bizarre, dream-inspired creatures. * The other Sorcerers of Cragganmore are mentioned; Ulrich was the apprentice of Belisarius, who was the apprentice of Pleximus. * A vision glimpsed by Ulrich in his

scrying Scrying, also known by various names such as "seeing" or "peeping", is the practice of looking into a suitable medium in the hope of detecting significant messages or visions. The objective might be personal guidance, prophecy, revelation, or in ...

bowl implies that sorcerers could have been responsible for the creation of dragons, and that whoever this sorcerer was, he had far more power than Ulrich. This is only briefly alluded to in the film. It is further mentioned that the sorcerer who created dragons also fashioned the magical amulet which Galen wears through most of the story. * Urland's neighbor-kingdoms of Anwick, Cantware, and Heronsford are mentioned. * The revelation that Vermithrax, while physically androgynous, nevertheless required copulation with another dragon for fertilization. * Swanscombe's neighbor-villages of Nudd, Turnratchit, and Veryemere are mentioned. * It is revealed that the lottery's standards for eligibility fluctuated, and several married women and mothers were sacrificed too, Valerian's mother being among them. Her death was the price Simon had to pay in order to fashion Sicarius Dracorum, which was done with the assistance of Ulrich himself. * Two major rivers besides Ur are mentioned: Swanscombe and Varn. * Simon is revealed to be a master blacksmith who fashioned highly prized weapons and armor. It was the toll of seeing so many use his arms and armor only to be killed by the dragon that convinced him to stop forging arms and armor. * King Casiodorus is revealed to be of Roman heritage, and is portrayed as contemptuous toward his largely Saxon subjects, whom he views as superstitious and backward. * Ulrich is revealed to have extensive research and history of dragons. When he reviews his library to determine which dragon it is that is terrorizing Urland, he discovers (to his horror) that it is Vermithrax, unlike the movie which has him knowing all along. * When Ulrich is asking about other wizards which might still be alive to assist Valerian, he mentions Prospero, from Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Valerian gives a (brief) update of Prospero's fate which corresponds to the Shakespearean storyline.

Marvel Comics adaptation

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

published three formats of Dragonslayer adaptations in 1981. All were by the same team. These were a magazine-size issue, a two-issue standard comic size adaptation, and a paperback format (Marvel Illustrated) of the two comic books in 160 pages, due to the smaller pages.Writer

Dennis O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...

and artists

Marie Severin Marie Severin (; August 21, 1929 – August 29, 2018) was an American comics artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics. She is an inductee of the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame and the Harvey Awards ...

and

John Tartaglione John Tartaglione (January 14, 1921 – November 12, 2003),''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 a.k.a. John Tartag and other pseudonyms, was an American comic book artist best known as a 1950s romance-comics artist; a Marvel Co ...

in ''

Marvel Super Special ''Marvel Comics Super Special'' was a 41-issue series of one-shot comic-magazines published by Marvel Comics from 1977 to 1986. They were cover-priced $1.50 to $2.50, while regular color comics were priced 30 cents to 60 cents, Beginning with issue ...

'' #20.

SPI board game

Simulations Publications, Inc. produced the board game of the same name, designed by Brad Hessel and Redmond A. Simonsen.''Dragonslayer''
at Board Game Geek

Soundtrack

Australian label Southern Cross initially released an unauthorized soundtrack album in 1983 on LP (a boxed audiophile pressing, at 45 rpm), and in 1990 on CD. That album appeared on iTunes for a limited time. The first official and improved CD release came in 2010 by U.S. label La-La Land Records. The new album featured newly mastered audio from the original LCR (Left-Center-Right)-mix and included previously unreleased source music and alternative takes.

References

External links

* * * {{Matthew Robbins 1981 films American fantasy adventure films 1980s English-language films 1980s fantasy adventure films Films about dragons Films about wizards Films adapted into comics Films directed by Matthew Robbins Films scored by Alex North Films set in castles Films set in the 6th century Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films using stop-motion animation Films with screenplays by Matthew Robbins American sword and sorcery films Walt Disney Pictures films Paramount Pictures films 1980s American films