"Dragonslayer" is a film that was a huge box office disappointment for Paramount and Disney and the film lost millions. It's a real shame, as the movie was ahead of its time and was excellent in many ways....and too few saw it on the big screen, though I did....and decided to try watching it again tonight.
The story is extremely simple. A kingdom has made a truce with a dragon. In exchange for not killing everyone, the kingdom has a lottery...and periodically virgins are given to the dragon to appease it. But a group of commoners from the kingdom don't want to continue in this tradition and they approach a sorcerer (Ralph Richardson) to kill the monster. He agrees...but, oddly, seems to have himself killed before he can set off on this journey. Now, his young and rather inept apprentice (Peter MacNicol) takes it upon himself to try to destroy the dragon.
While many folks today might watch the film and think the special effects are quaint or silly, for 1981 it was a heck of an amazing film technically speaking. The dragons were the most realistic seen on films at that time. Additionally, excellent music and dark, forbidding cinematography all work together to make a rather amazing story. Well done in nearly every way and a good film to enjoy with the family, though some might blanch at showing younger kids a brief nude scene early in the picture.
