Dragonslayer (movie review)

• Title: Dragonslayer
• Year: 1981
• Rating: PG
• Director: Matthew Robbins
  
• Cast: Peter MacNicol, Caitlin Clarke, Ralph Richardson, John Hallam, Peter Eyre, Sydney Bromley

Apprentice wizard Galen Bradwarden takes on the quest of his dead master to free a fantasy Dark Age kingdom from the predation of an ancient dragon.

Rewind . . .

. . . to six year old me getting a prime lesson in Dragons and Wizards and other tropes fundamental to the fantasy genre in the flickering dark of the theater. To say Dragonslayer is the quintessential dragon movie is perhaps to overstate the obvious — every dragon movie since has either had to play follow-the-leader, or aim to skewer convention through satire, genre-busting, or ever-increasing levels of CGI freneticism. But none have captured the classic formula of man vs. dragon as well as this 1981 film, which was conceived just as the special effects that would make it possible were coming into being . . . and before they would come to dominate the nature of cinema itself. Dragonslayer came along at the exact perfect time, and it just so happens I was around the perfect age to fall in love with it in 1981.

The story is a simple one, but one told with a pitch-perfect visual and dramatic touch. The magnificent wizard Ulrich who is petitioned to slay the dragon, who seems rather shabby and threadbare even in his best clothes, is played with doddering charm by Ralph Richardson. His murder as part of a ‘test’ sets the story in motion as the wizard’s quest then falls upon his callow apprentice, Galen (Peter MacNicol). Galen, with the aid of a powerful talisman belonging to his master, seemingly succeeds in burying the dragon’s den under a landslide, and the young man becomes even more insufferable as a result. But Galen is an interloper in this Kingdom, and the dragon is not dead . . .

One of the most interesting aspects of the story is the society that has grown up around the dragon. Vermithrax isn’t some abstract threat, nor something people are determined to rid themselves of. In fact, for years the people of Urland have lived in an uneasy accommodation with the beast, feeding it virgins selected by lottery to keep it from pillaging.  Galen’s blundering attack on the dragon upsets the status quo that put this machinery in place, and so we have something a bit more nuanced and realistic than the traditional quest fantasy in which the King petitions the Hero for aid and sends him on a quest.

And there is also a rather brutal edge to this film, that just may have shocked a few parents that saw the Disney logo on the poster. There are some scenes of genuine dread, scenes that may not be as bloody as the fare offered today, but go further in evoking the horror of the situation. One in particular sticks with me — a young woman chained to a post in front of the dragon’s den, frantically trying to free her bloodied hands from shackles while the landscape around her rumbles as the dragon draws closer. There’s no special effects payoff here, no big CGI head pops out to snap her up — instead we get the camera pulling away from the girl and the sound of a vast inhalation, before her scream and roaring flame ends the scene. Simple, effective, and evocative work.

Fast Forward . . .

. . . to a time when fantasy is the new black, and both massive epics and lousy b-movie efforts vie for the public’s dollars, and color their impressions of the genre as a whole. Dragons all seem rather cliche, now, and it would certainly be hard to imagine a film coming along in which dragons — or, that is, just one dragon — is the selling point. No, today’s audiences demand lots of dragons, skyfulls in fact, and perhaps a few helicopters as well. In some ways, the basic story — no matter how well told — isn’t enough anymore, it won’t get butts in seats in 2010 in the way it might have in 1980.

Upon rewatching Dragonslayer for the first time in a decade, at least, I was struck by a lot of things. First, the movie looks great. Scotland and Wales are impressively bleak and rugged, a great counterpoint to the theme of the film. The Dark Age style is a smart choice as well, and that grittier, darker look adds a certain realism to the story and the dragon itself that would be lacking if the movie had taken a stereotypical Medieval/Knights-in-Shining-Armor approach. The special effects have held up better than I expected, and the smart way the dragon is gradually revealed and used within the frame shows a real understanding of both the demands of the effects, and of the story. This is a well-made movie at every level.

This fantasy Dark Ages also incorporates the theme of transition from an age of magic and superstition to a modern and Christian one. This was wholly lost on me as a kid I’m sure, but it resonates nicely with the film and gives it an added dimension of believability. This is not some static fantasy never-never land, it is more like a forgotten piece of our own history — a dim remembrance of a time of legends. Everything from the worn-down tower of Ulrich to Galen’s manner of dispatching the dragon feeds into this theme, and in the end we see that it is the King and the Church that will get all the credit for this victory while the magic that made it possible slips beyond memory.

What perhaps struck me most of all was that this is a mature movie, serious not in the sense of the cheesy earnestness seen in some fantasy films, but in its basic approach to storytelling and human behavior. And, in an era where every genre protagonist is the Chosen One and boy wizards inevitably become the BEST EVAR, it’s refreshing to see a protagonist actually grow up and not achieve the things he wanted. Galen begins as an arrogant showboat and matures into someone that is capable of taking love, duty, and sacrifice seriously. He does not defeat the dragon because he is stronger than it, nor does he become a wizard like his former master — in fact whatever power Galen had was on loan. But that’s fine, because Galen has learned who he really is and is content to go start a life with the woman he loves. Contrasted with the shallow wish fulfillment of much of the current crop of fantasy, in which special children assert their exceptionalism and always get what they want, Dragonslayer proves itself both the better fantasy, and a more realistic reflection of the world itself. It says, in effect, that even if you do slay the dragon don’t be surprised when the King comes along to grab all the credit.

• Nostalgia Rating: Wyrm-sized
• Rewatch Potential: Greater than most
• Wilhelm Scream?: No
• Unexpected Cameo: Senator Palpatine trying to use the Force on a Dragon, Medieval style.
• Verdict: A movie that has held up remarkably well over time — and still the best film dealing with dragons ever made.

What I Learned: That Latin is the language of magic, and that the best way to transport a wizard is to cremate him.

Top Marks: Vermithrax. Industrial Light and Magic had done Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but this was a little different. Everything from the design of the dragon to the careful way it’s shot absolutely maximizes what was possible at the time. As a result we have a monster that does not disappoint when it is finally revealed, and an effect that still works nearly 30 years later and feels like it has more screen presence and gravity than something done in a computer.

If (When) It’s Remade: A look into the future tells me that we’ll be seeing more violence, but a lot less dread — a CGI-crapfest that will be indistinguishable from the inevitable officially-licensed video game simultaneously released alongside it.

Final Thoughts: I love it that this was the sort of thing I watched when I was six.

This review is part of an ongoing series entitled Movies of a Misspent Youth, that looks at all the great fantasy, science fiction, and horror films available to the generation of kids growing up in the boom years of the 1980s. For more in this series, please visit my Film & TV page.