Dragonslayer on DVD

Dragonslayer is, bar none, one of the best fantasy films ever made. It features a great story, a wonderful script that tells it intelligently, first rate performances and 1980’s state-of-the-art special effects.

For what more could a fantasy film ask?

Well, a deluxe DVD perhaps, with commentaries and the like, and one that’s mastered from a restored version of the film. But if you can’t have that, a decent straightforward anamorphic widescreen version will do.

And that’s what we have with this Paramount DVD: a non-special edition that’s fine, but which leaves us wanting more.

Dragonslayer is the story of Galen (Peter MacNicol), apprentice to the great-but-aged sorcerer Ulrich (the late, great Ralph Richardson, who brings a graceful tired majesty to his performance). Galen takes it upon himself to help rid a kingdom of an equally great-but-aged dragon (brought to fearsome life by George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic's Oscar-nominated effects).

The king of the land (Peter Eyre) has made a horrible arrangement with the dragon: sacrifice virgins to it and the dragon leaves the land alone. So they hold lotteries to choose who dies for the greater good, lotteries that somehow manage to not include the daughters of the rich and powerful.

Galen’s task is made more difficult by the king’s "enforcer" (John Hallam), a man who’ll stop at nothing in the pursuit of his duties to king and country - and the king himself, who lives in fear of the dragon’s anger being unleashed if attempts on his life are unsuccessful.

The screenplay successfully blends straightforward fantasy with subplots involving the waning influence of magic and the growing influence of Christianity (as the age of sorcerers ends, the age of religion begins), the politics of the kingdom, and the growing romance between Galen and the liberated woman Valerian, weaving a highly entertaining whole populated by three dimensional characters (even the bad guys have logical reasons for what they do, and some of the supporting characters display surprising strengths). And watch for Ian McDiarmid - Star Wars Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine - in a small supporting role.

And then there’s the dragon - created, before computer generated imagery, by a combination of full size props and miniature models brought to life by ILM’s “go motion” adaptation of classic “stop motion” animation made so famous by the great Ray Harryhausen (and others). This dragon, Vermithrax Pejoritive, is a fearsome creature, clumsy on the ground but magnificently graceful in flight.

The effects look a little dated today, but only a little, and the high resolution of the DVD medium does let a few matte lines show through, but they aren’t nearly enough to spoil the fun or destroy the sense of wonder.

Dragonslayer is serious fantasy, but it never takes itself too seriously. It treats the genre with respect, but doesn’t beat you over the head with it. And while it’s a serious tale, it includes some wonderful lighter moments. For example, when Galen “magically” appears in a puff of smoke, an exasperated nobleman pleads “Please, no more smoke!” and when Ulrich returns, his first question to Galen is whether or not he brought something to eat - not “How’s the dragon?”.

It’s a wonderful movie, one of the best of the genre, and it’s just as entertaining today as it was then.

The DVD is very straightforward. It’s presented in anamorphic widescreen, 16x9 TV compatible, which is exactly the way it should be. The picture quality is very good, though alas it isn’t excellent. Colors are terrific, as is the film-like depth of the image, which is great considering the gorgeous locations at which this film was shot and the wonderful overall look of the film. Alas, there’s excessive grain in places; the movie really could benefit from a good restoration - though since it wasn’t much of a box office success we may never see such treatment.

Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and it’s okay. There isn’t as much surround as we expected, though this isn’t the fault of the DVD, of course, and the overall sound quality is more “good” than “great” - there’s little subwoofer use (and what better occasion for some good rumbling than a large and ferocious dragon?) and nothing really jumps out at you.

Still, this is definitely the best video release of Dragonslayer yet. We’d seen it on letterboxed laserdisc before, on 4x3 TV’s, and noticed that the anamorphic version as viewed on a widescreen TV revealed things in some shots that we’d never seen before.

Extras? Forget it. There’s nothing, not even a trailer! This is a darn shame; we’d have loved a commentary track or “Making of” feature, but such wasn’t to be. We can only hope for an improved, restored “Special Edition” of this fine film someday, though we won’t hold our breaths.

Still, we’re pleased that fantasy film fans can now add Dragonslayer to their DVD libraries - and we highly recommend that they do just that.

Dragonslayer, from Paramount Home Entertainment
109 min. anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1, 16x9 TV compatible), Dolby Digital 5.1
Starring Peter MacNicol, Caitlin Clarke, Ralph Richardson
Produced by Hal Barwood
Written by Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins, directed by Matthew Robbins

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