Der Drachentöter

This film blends witchcraft and wizardry , adventures , battles and is extremely fun and amusing . A sorcerer's apprentice (Peter MacNichol) is sent to kill a dragon which has been devouring girls from a nearby kingdom . An older magician (Ralph Richardson) is the mentor of the rockie sorcerer . The young boy dreams becoming a valiant sorcerer and join forces with a girl (Caitlin Clarke) to vanquish a horrible dragon . The young wizarding apprentice suddenly finds himself the only person who save the kingdom from a free-breathing dragon .

This fantasy movie packs action , witchery and and sorcery with impressive battles . Likable performance by a young Peter MacNichol , though is the first film released under the Disney name to have full frontal male nudity , as when Peter MacNicol jumps into the water, his legs swing wide giving the audience a quick shot of his genitals . Funny acting by the veteran Ralph Richardson and enjoyable support cast . The story has many familiar dragon motifs found throughout Western culture , in particular Saint George and the Dragon, in which maiden sacrifices were made to appease a harassing dragon. Saint George's tale also includes a sacrificial lottery resulting in the surprise condemnation of a princess , Saint George is also frequently depicted with a magic blessed lance or a sword . Smart screenplay by Hal Barwood dealing with fantasy medieval , dragons , necromancy , fantastic kingdoms and many other things . Entertaining and fun movie with acceptable special effects bringing the dragon to life . Work on dragons made by CG sometimes seem authentic , but is also noted its computer realization . First film to use go-motion, a variant of stop-motion animation in which parts of the dragon were mechanized and the movement programmed by computer . During shooting, the computer moves the model while the camera is shooting, resulting in motion blur, which makes the animation more convincing . The only thing that let it down from this perspective , was that some of the parts in between the dragons fighting were a little dull . Colorful cinematography , shot on location in Wales , though the final scene was shot in Skye, Scotland and many town locals were employed in the film as village extras. Thrilling as well as spectacular musical score by the classic Alex North , some of the score by Alex North was "recycled" from music he'd originally composed for 2001: A Space Odyssey that went unused . This co-production between Walt Disney Pictures and Paramount was efficiently directed by Matthew Robbins and it was more mature and realistic than most Disney films of the time .

The picture belongs to Fantasy/Dragon sub-genre ; other important films dealing with Dragons are the following : ¨Dragonheart¨ by Rob Cohen with Dennis Quaid , Dina Meyer , Jason Isaacs and Julie Christie ; ¨Dragonheart , a new beginning¨ with Chris Marterson , Figueroa and Harry Von Gorkum ; ¨Dragom Storm¨ (2004) by Stephen Furst with Maxwell Caufield , Angel Boris , Tony Amendola and John Rhys Davies ; and other latter day movies and belonging to this Dragons sub-genre are ¨Reign of fire¨ (2002) by Rob Bowman with Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey , Izabella Scorupco , and Gerard Butler ; ¨Eragon¨ (2006) by Stephen Fangmeier with Edward Speleers , Robert Carlyle , Sienna Gullory and John Malkovich .

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 came out when "Dungeons & Dragons" was getting to be a big thing where I live, so there was a lot of interest. It was even adapted into a book by Wayland Drew (in a rare instance when a movie preceded a book).

Two things I like mainly. First, of course: Vermithrax. I rather hope that Dragonslayer is never remade, for there's no way the digital animation done these days could do this magnificent creature justice. New isn't always better.

It's also nice to see a film which doesn't stereotype Pagans and magicians as evil. In fact, the film treads the whole good-evil line rather lightly; Ulrich displays a certain respect for Vermithrax, even while planning the dragon's demise.

I find it easy to be swept up in the lovely mystery of Dragonslayer: a mystical film from 1981 (a more mystical age).

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.

Infinitely superior fantasy movie from those days where the cinema was the real cinema, Dragonslayer has a very clever plot using all elements and formula to reach a success, an Old Sorcerer played by Ralph Richardson has a fabulous and convincing acting, the young hero has a natural charisma, the villain is bad than ever, the girl is beauty and one most funny character is Sydney Bromley as an old gentle Hodge who is unfortunately was killed in the travel, by the way all cast is marvelous and finally the Dragon is unique well made using the tools and techniques allowed on those time, the atmosphere of fear is terrific, the final battle is great example to new ones!! fantastic fantasy!!!

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First watch: 2011 / How many: 3 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.5