Still my favorite fantasy movie (of the D&D subtype) of all time, and that's including LOTR. I love them hobbits as much as the next geek, and while the epic scale of the thing is impressive, I really love Dragonslayer's inconsequential-corner-of-the-world setting. And what a setting: The time of magic and fantastic beasts is at an end, soon to be replaced by some newfangled religion called "Christianity". Everyone can feel the change in the air, from sorcerer Ulrich (Ralph Richardson) to the peasants to the dragon herself. (Naturally, only the local ruler is clueless.) When a group of peasants led by Valerian (the late Caitlin Clarke) ask Ulrich to kill the dragon that's terrorized their village for years, the last living sorcerer and the last living dragon are pit against each other. And in this medieval backwater, hidden away from any cultural or political center, the old world of magic takes its last breath, only witnessed by a few.
Arguably, the movie doesn't have to do anything more than provide a dragon and a hero to slay it, but smartly, it takes this scenario and adds some depth and twists to it. Nearly every character has more than one side. There's the protagonist, Galen (Peter MacNicol, an interesting choice that works), a socerer's apprentice-turned-warrior, who, amusingly, steps into his hero role with glee and a sense of entitlement. (Ironically, his true role is revealed to be much more passive.) Valerian is a girl who has been disguised as a boy for her entire life (to protect her from the virgin-eating dragon); interestingly, she becomes a stronger, more willful character once she drops the charade and embraces her femininity. The Princess (Chloe Salaman) is a sheltered girl who grows a political conscience. Tyrian (John Hallam), the nominal bad guy, is a warrior with the soul of a bureaucrat. Nobody, not even the dragon, Vermithrax Pejorative (the best dragon on film, a marvelous achievement from ILM; it wasn't until this viewing that I could tell that a form of stop-motion was used) is a clear-cut villain.
But all of this doesn't hint at how fast-paced, witty, and light-on-its-feet Robbins has made his movie. Often, a scene will kill two narrative birds with one stone (as when the Princess confronts her father about the lottery while he's examining Galen's magic amulet) and there are a number of dry humorous bits (Ulrich's entrance upon meeting Valerian and company; the way the soldiers start to run away one by one during the last sacrifice to the dragon). And Ralph Richardson is a hoot.
The end of the movie, which until this point has been all fog, smoke and darkness, is the only time we see clear sky and full daylight. It rings of a happy ending, light defeating darkness, but there's an irony there as well, as Galen and Valerian are given two choices as to what the new world will be. The darkness was dangerous, but it is missed.
Where we saw it: dvd | We deign to rate it: 85 outta 100I can't say that it's better than LoTR (I mean, c'mon), but I have a soft spot for this one, too. I seem to remember that the stop-motion in this one was a breakthrough, too, that somehow incorporated motion blur and thus avoided the stroboscope effect that you always had in the Harryhausen days. I very much agree with your appreciation of the "corner of the world" aspect.
Posted by: Larry O'Brien at February 16, 2005 02:54 PM