Dragonslayer
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| Dragonslayer | |
|---|---|
 Original 1981 theatrical poster |
|
| Directed by | Matthew Robbins |
| Produced by | Hal Barwood Howard W. Koch |
| Written by | Hal Barwood Matthew Robbins |
| Starring | Peter MacNicol Caitlin Clarke Ralph Richardson John Hallam Peter Eyre Chloe Salaman |
| Music by | Alex North |
| Cinematography | Derek Vanlint |
| Editing by | Tony Lawson |
| Distributed by | - USA - Paramount - non-USA - Disney |
| Release date(s) | June 26, 1981 |
| Running time | 108 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18,000,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
Dragonslayer is a 1981 fantasy movie set in medieval Britain. It follows a young wizard-in-training as he attempts to defeat a dragon.
A co-production between The Walt Disney Company and Paramount Pictures, Dragonslayer was more mature and realistic than other Disney films of the period. Because of audience expectations for a more child-friendly film from Disney, the movie's violence and adult themes were somewhat controversial at the time (it was rated PG in the U.S.; TV showings after 1997 have carried a TV-14 rating). It was a failure at the box office, with an estimated budget of USD$18 million and a gross of approximately $6 million in the U.S., but it later became a minor cult classic on home video. This was perhaps one of the reasons that Disney created Touchstone Pictures.
The film was directed by Matthew Robins (see also "Batteries Not Included") from a screenplay he wrote with Hal Barwood. It starred Peter MacNicol, Ralph Richardson, John Hallum and Caitlin Clarke.
Dragonslayer also featured a relatively unknown actor Ian McDiarmid as a minor character named Brother Jacobus. McDiarmid's next film role after Dragonslayer would be that of the frightening villain Palpatine in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, a role which he would reprise for The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.
The special effects were created at Industrial Light and Magic, where Phil Tippett co-developed an animation technique called go motion for the film. Go motion is a variation on stop-motion animation, and its use in Dragonslayer led to the film's nomination for the Academy Award for Visual Effects, which it lost to Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Original Music Score; Chariots of Fire took the award.
The film was also nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Again, it lost to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
In October 2003, Dragonslayer was released on DVD in the U.S. by Paramount Home Video. This release had no special features.
[edit] Shooting Locations in North Wales
Nearly all of the outdoor scenes were shot in North Wales, the final scene was shot in Skye Scotland.
The filming crew were based in Betws y Coed, North Wales, the artists were stabled futher down the Conwy valley.
Dolwyddelan Castle was used for all outdoor shots of Ulrich's Castle. This includes the arrival of the delegation from Urland, the arrival of guards from Ulrland, Ulrich's first death scene and funeral burning.
Approximately 400 yrds from Dolwyddelan castle a waterfall was used for the pulling from the abyss of a magical spear that Galen Bradwarden used to kill Urland's viceroy (John Hallum, of "The Mallens" fame).
Galen also used this spear to stab Vermithrax Pejorative when escaping from the dragon's lair. The external shots of the dragon's lair were taken on Tryfan in the Ogwen Valley.
The lair was shot looking upwards from the road, towards the broken face on Tryfan, Nant Ffrancon. The love scenes where Galen Bradwarden Peter MacNicol and Caitlin Clarke take place amongst the same boulder field beneath Tryfan.
Shots of "Galen and Hodge" on trek to Urland were shot in Capel Curig, North Wales.
The troop crossing over to Urland was shot above Ogwen Cottage, Nant Ffrancon , North Wales.
Ulrich escaping impronment from Urland Caslte on horse, high above Llyn Crafnant, North Wales.
The scene where Galen sees an apparition in the lake was taken at the bottom end of Llyn Crafnant, North Wales.
The bleak rocky outcrop where Caitlin Clarke's character gathers Dragon scales is Castell y Gwynt, above Pen-y-Gwryd. North Wales.
The carriage of the first victim and Princess Elspeth to the Dragon's lair were shot on Gelli behind the main shop in Capel Curig.
Vermithrax crashes into Llyn Llydaw, below Snowdon, North Wales.
[edit] Plot
The setting is the Middle Ages. A village called Urland is being held hostage by a dragon named Vermithrax Pejorative (which means "the Worm from Thrace which makes things worse") and sends a delegation to find a sorcerer to help them. The delegation travels a hundred miles before they find Ulrich, who may be the only remaining wizard alive (just as Vermithrax seems to be the only dragon left alive). The wizard foresaw their arrival and agrees to help, but then dies in an attempt to prove his magical powers to a brutish knight from Urland named Tyrian. The wizard's servants then burn his body and place the ashes in a leather pouch.
Ulrich's inexperienced apprentice, Galen Bradwarden (MacNicol), decides to take the job himself when the wizard's magical amulet begins to obey his Latin incantations. This allows Galen to cast spells just as a true wizard might do, so he conceals it beneath his tunic and catches up to the delegation. He soon discovers that the village, desperate to assuage the monster, has begun a lottery that all of the town's virgins are required to enter, with the girl whose name is chosen being sacrificed to the dragon. The poorer villagers suspect that the daughters of wealthy or powerful people are secretly kept out of the lottery.
As the delegation returns with the apprentice, Galen rashly seizes upon a chance to seal the dragon inside its lair. He drops a large boulder over the entrance with the magic amulet. The attempt backfires when his spell causes a full avalanche instead (presumably due to Galen's inexperience with magic in general, or an imperfect understanding of Latin). The avalanche nearly kills him and the delegation, but the lair is buried beneath the rubble just as he had hoped.
Later, when Galen attempts to impress the town's ruler with a demonstration of his powers, his spells misfire. After seeing Galen's incompetence, King Casiodorus guesses that he is not a real wizard and complains that his attack may have angered the dragon instead of killing it. The king then takes the amulet and has Galen locked away, but his fears are soon realized when the dragon burns through the rubble and emerges from its lair with a vengeance. An earthquake ensues, and the king's daughter Elspeth (who feels her name was wrongly kept from the lottery) releases Galen in the confusion. Galen escapes on horseback, but without the amulet.
When Galen returns to the village, he finds that Vermithrax has already begun to retaliate by setting it on fire. A blacksmith and his daughter (who had been disguising herself as a boy to avoid entering the lottery) conceal him from the king's soldiers. Galen still wants to kill the dragon, but must steal back the amulet from the king to do it. When the lottery begins anew, Princess Elspeth rigs the drawing so that only her name can be chosen. She does this because the king had secretly protected her from entering it like all the other daughters had been forced to do. (The sacrifical virgins being chosen by lot, and the involvement of a princess in the lottery, bears some resemblance to the legend of St. George and the Dragon.)
After the lottery, Galen is caught searching the king's quarters for the amulet. But instead of imprisoning him again, the king returns it to Galen so that he might save Elspeth. Then, with the blacksmith's help, Galen uses the amulet to forge a weapon strong enough to pierce the dragon's armored hide. Meanwhile, the blacksmith's daughter gathers pieces of dragon hide and uses them to make Galen a shield. She thinks his plan is suicide, and confesses that she has feelings for him, which he returns in kind.
When his attempt to kill Vermithrax fails, Galen sets out to leave the village with Valerian, the blacksmith's daughter. But as they board a small boat together, the amulet gives him a vision that explains his teacher's final wishes. Ulrich had asked that his ashes be spread over the "lake of fire", and Galen realizes that the wizard had planned the whole thing, possibly even his own death. He was too frail to make the journey to kill Vermithrax himself, but had his servants make the trip for him by carrying his ashes. (It is unclear why Ulrich explained this to Hodge, one of his servants, but failed to explain his intentions to Galen. It may be that he did not trust his apprentice with the mission, or simply did not have time before Tyrian killed him) When Galen does this and speaks an incantation, the wizard is resurrected from the flames of the burning lake.
Before Ulrich engages the dragon in combat, he gives Galen a message: when he knows the time is right, he must destroy the amulet and Ulrich with it. Then the wizard disappears and the battle begins. The relationship between the wizard and the amulet is unclear, but when Ulrich falls in battle and is scooped up by Vermithrax, Galen realizes that now is the time to destroy the amulet--and his only hope of ever gaining real magical power without Ulrich's training. Reluctantly, Galen crushes the amulet with a large rock while Ulrich is in the dragon's grip. At the same moment, the wizard literally explodes and takes the dragon with him. Afterward, the villagers credit God with the victory, while the king arrives and drives a sword into the dragon's body to claim the glory for himself. No one thanks Galen or praises the late wizard's sacrifice.
As Galen and Valerian leave Urland together, he confesses that he misses both Ulrich and the amulet. But then he says, out loud, "I just wish we had a horse." As if on cue, a horse appears, suggesting that Galen may have inherited the wizard's powers after all.
Dragonslayer is set apart from other fantasy films by its historical accuracy in costume and set design, as well as by a script and performances that attempt to accurately portray Britain at the turning point between paganism and Christianity. Sir Ralph Richardson's portrayal of the wizard Ulrich has become one of his most famous roles. Also, the moral complications of the film, along with its realistic depiction of political and societal pressures, give it a greater sophistication than most movies of its genre.
