Dragonslayer

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

A little watched disney fantasy from the 80s. So little known it is almost impossible to get in Australia unless you Import like I did. There's not even a trailer on the web I could find, this fan-made one is the best I could do.

There's a reason it's not very well known too. It has a lot of problems. It's a very clunky film. Matthew Robbins has written some great stuff before and since and directed one of my all time favourites *batteries not included. He still seems to be working things out here though.

It's also Peter MacNicol's first film, and it's fun to see the guy from Ally McBeal (or X the Eliminator for all you Harvey Birdman fans) learning magic and fighting a dragon.

A lot of the effects are very rough, some really bad composites but all the animation on the dragon is stunning and it's the reason to watch the film. Most people agree it's the best non-cg dragon put to film. The way it uses its wings to crawl through the caves is creepy and looks great.

The rest of the film is not so good. Alex North's score is utterly bizarre, completely atonal and nashing, not at all a fantasy film score. The tone is very dark, but the scenes and dialogue is all very disconnected. If you ever find a copy of it, watch it for the dragon in the last half, the rest is a little dreary.