In sixth century Britain, the Kingdom of Urland is terrorized by the ageing dragon Vermithrax Pejorative. To appease the dragon, the king long ago ordered that twice a year a young virgin girl, chosen by a rigged lottery that protects the daughters of the rich and powerful, be sacrificed to the beast. In order to free themselves of the dragon and the crooked lottery, a group of villagers seek out Ulrich of Cragganmore (Ralph Richardson), one of the last wizards, to slay the monster. But when Ulrich is killed by the king's men before he can depart, his young and inexperienced apprentice, Galen (a miscast Peter MacNicol), takes up his master's task.
Includes Spoilers!
Dragonslayer was one of Disney's many attempts during the late 70s and early 80s to branch out and reach an older audience by releasing more mature live action films like The Black Hole, The Watcher in the Woods, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Thanks to being a co-production with Paramount, it was spared the constant executive meddling and frequent reshoots that plague those other films, but at the same time never really had the full support of either studio upon release and ended up flopping at the box office. I suspect this was partly because neither studio knew how exactly to market a film like this.
This is a very grim and gritty film, often as bleak as those desolate Welsh landscapes, and far from the fun fantasy romp for all the family that the studios were no doubt expecting. There are some moments of levity, mostly Galen trying to impress people with the magic he hasn't really mastered, but they are few and far between. Despite the presence of wizards and dragons, this is one of those fantasy films that strives to appear grounded and even takes place in a semi-realistic time period. This is a post-Roman Britain where the old pagan beliefs are slowly dying out and Christianity is on the rise. It is a world in transition from magic and superstition to religious fanaticism.
What made this so difficult to market is exactly what I like about it. I love the relentlessly foreboding atmosphere, the often shocking brutality, the historical realism, and the willingness to defy genre convention wherever it can. I wouldn't go as far as to call it deconstructionist, it isn't really all that interested in taking apart the fantasy genre to see how it all ticks, but it had a good understanding of the many familiar tropes and how to subvert them. The old mentor figure dies early on, but not so the young hero can rise up to take his place. Nah, it was all just part of his plan to avoid a long walk. At the same time a kind hearted and noble princess is placed in danger and needs to be rescued, but the hero fails miserably and she ends up as baby food, dying a cruel and pointless death like all the other poor girls murdered to satisfy the hunger of a dragon and the selfishness of the wealthy.
One of the things I really miss about 80s fantasy movies is how tactile they were. They had a visual texture lacking in recent movies, which often rely too heavily on virtual sets to save on location shooting. In films like this shots are allowed to linger so we can soak up all that very real scenery. Dragonslayer is of course gritty in a way that is both intentional aesthetic and obvious budget limitation. The bulk of the money clearly went into making that dragon. Oh, but what a dragon it is. There will never be a cinematic dragon as bitter, twisted or as vicious as Vermithrax Pejorative, a true triumph of creature design. She is why everyone from Guillermo del Toro to George R.R. Martin sing this movie's praises and why so many of Martin's dragons sound like something you get from a pharmacist. Industrial Light and Magic handled the special effects and the technical wizards there used every trick they had available at the time to bring this beast to ferocious life.
The film will be long remembered for its monster, but less so for its human characters. The most interesting and fun character is Ulrich. He's an old wizard with genuine power who still puts on a bit of a show for visitors, but his heart clearly isn't in it anymore. Like all wizards, he's cryptic and elusive, not sharing his plans with anyone, but possibly because he's also just too old and senile now to remember everything. The only other interesting character is Valerian, the girl raised as a boy to escape the lottery, but she just ends being the jealous love interest, throwing strops because she saw Galen look at the princess that one time. Like so many films of this kind, this romantic subplot doesn't happen because the two characters gradually grow closer and get to know each other better, it happens because he's a boy and she's a girl and what else are they supposed to do? Be friends?
Galen himself is one of the film's biggest failings. I just couldn't really bring myself to like or root for him. I might've if there'd been more scene at the castle to give us a better sense of the relationship between him and his master as well as Hodge, his early death might've then carried a bit more weight. Galen is overconfident to the point of arrogance, believing that because he can now do some magic he's capable of fighting a dragon. What is motivating him isn't all that clear. Is he trying to make a name for himself? Avenge his master? Or does he just want to do the right thing? By the end I still wasn't sure. The film also lets him off too easily for his major fuck ups, like causing the rockslide and proclaiming the dragon dead when it clearly wasn't. And as I already said, the romance with Valerian is really bad done and MacNicol and Caitlin Clarke have little in the way of chemistry.
The other big weakness is the climatic showdown between Ulrich and Vermithrax. I think it's fair to say that the film peaks with Galen's first confrontation with Vermithrax in her lair. There's one or two iffy FX shots, but overall it is a fantastic sequence. The final battle, on the other hand, takes places on an obvious fake mountaintop where Richardson, recently reborn as Ulrich the White and feeling peckish, waves his arms around conjuring up weather effects to throw at the swooping Vermithrax while MacNicol and Clarke struggle over who gets to smash the amulet. This wants to be an epic magical battle between wizard and dragon, but the FX tech just isn't quite there yet. I wish it had been better because I love the concept of the last wizard sacrificing himself to destroy the last dragon and thus bringing the age of magic to an end.
The final battle was lacking, but the aftermath scene goes some way to making up for it. The monster has been slain, but that doesn't mean the villagers have been saved. They're probably more doomed now than they were before. Kings and wizards failed them, so they've given themselves over to the preaching of Holy Man Palpatine, who was no more effective against the dragon than Galen's rockslide, and ended up getting himself barbecued. And yet his roasting didn't stop him from acquiring new converts, who preached the same from a much safer distance from danger, and then waited for the problem to sort itself out before giving the lord all the credit for delivering them from evil. And then there's the pathetic figure of King Casiodorus. He failed to save his only daughter, couldn't use stolen magic to turn lead into gold, and now can't extort his wealthier subjects to keep their names out of the lottery. He makes for a sad sight, dressed in his Sunday best to plunge his sword into the rotting husk that was once Vermithrax Pejorative so he can proclaim himself dragon slayer.
Myths and Legends
--Urland is said to be near the River Ure, which would put it in North Yorkshire.
--As part of the co-production deal, Paramount handled North American distribution and Disney international. This is why fans in the US can get a 4K restoration while here in the UK there isn't even a Blu-ray release.
--Much of Alex North's score reused elements from his rejected score for 2001: A Space Odyssey.
--Director Matthew Robbins took a page out of his buddy Steven Spielberg's book and kept Vermithrax off screen for as long as possible, only letting us catch small glimpses of this ageing monstrosity before she's revealed in all her glory.
--The baby dragons are not nearly as impressive as their mother.
--Galen's spear could slice through an anvil, but not Tyrian's sword?
--First film for Peter MacNicol and Caitlin Clarke. Clarke tragically died young of ovarian cancer in 2004.
--Majority of the film was shot in North Wales apart from the final scene, which was shot in Skye in Scotland. Dolwyddelan Castle was used for Cragganmore.
Hodge: "Ah, so it's a test you're looking for. We don't do tests!"
Tyrian: "No, of course not. They never do tests. Not many real deeds either. Oh, conversation with your grandmother's shade in a darkened room, the odd love potion or two, but comes a doubter, why, then it's the wrong day, the planets are not in line, the entrails are not favourable, 'we don't do tests!'"
Casiodorus Rex: "Stop! Don't... harm him. You, please. You know, I've always had the greatest admiration for the black arts, you chaps with your... mysterious spells. I didn't think it would be necessary. Vermithrax is an old dragon, and... that, I thought, was the beauty of my plan. Time, we waited out, and live to see the end of it. I WILL see the end of it."
Tyrian: "I knew I'd find you here. Well, I'm not as sentimental as his majesty. The kingdom, everyone of us, needs this sacrifice. If you intend to interfere, you'll have to kill me."
Galen: "I've plenty of reasons to kill you that have nothing to do with this sacrifice."
Valerian: "It's a shield. I made it. Might keep the fire off of you, might not. You know, you're an idiot. You're going to die tonight. You'll be ripped, limb from limb. This is the last time I'll ever speak to you!"
Galen: "My lord Ulrich is no longer. All that you asked of him, you may now expect of me. The dangers he would face, I will now conquer. The task he would undertake, I will now fulfil. I'm Galen Brandwarden, inheritor of Ulrich's craft and knowledge, and I am the sorcerer you seek."
Valerian: "Is..."
Hodge: "Yes, this is Cragganmore and yes, this is the house of Ulrich, and no, he won't see you."
Valerian: "But..."
Hodge: "I know, you've come a long way, your business is urgent. It doesn't matter! He sees no one."
Tyrian: "Most impressive."
Dragonslayer could've been one of the greatest fantasy films of the 1980s, and certainly has cinema's best dragon, but is ultimately held back by a weak lead and a lacklustre finale. ⭐⭐⭐
Mark Greig has been writing for Doux Reviews since 2011 More Mark Greig
You keep covering stuff that brings back such memories, Mark!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time since I saw this one. I didn't see in 81, but later on when it hit HBO or Cinemax, so later 80s or early 90s at the latest. It's a great movie for D&D nerds like me, and I do recall the dragon and scenery being excellent indeed.
I felt bad for the princess. Her changing all the lottery tickets to be only her was extremely brave, and she paid the price for it as Galen was indeed, not exactly the most inspiring main character I've ever seen.
Once again, I feel your review is spot-on. A decent movie with some cool ideas, that could have been even better.
Mark, thanks for an interesting read. This is another movie I never saw, probably because there's a dragon and/or a wizard in it. I don't know why the out and out fantasy stuff loses me, but it does. I always liked Peter MacNicol, though, and never knew he started out in a movie like this one.
ReplyDeletePeter MacNicol as Renfield was the best thing about 'Dracula, Dead and Loving it'. He was hilarious there, although the movie isn't as good as 'Young Frankenstein', few movies are, and it's not as bad as some like to say.
ReplyDelete