1981's "Dragonslayer" is one of the best cinematic fantasies and yet watching it you have no trouble understanding why it failed upon release. This is one dark and often grim work.

This was another Disney production (well, co-production here) in the early 80s when the company was experimenting with more adult and mature films (see also the duo of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and "Watcher in the Woods), most of which didn't do so well on release. But this one, this went further than most. This was before the PG-13 rating was created, so some parents saw a PG-rated fantasy with the Disney logo on it and thought, "That sounds like a fun outing for the kids!" And what they got instead was a dark, often grim and frequently subversive adult-level film involving multiple stabbings, nudity, a priest getting barbecued by dragon flame and someone getting eaten in messy fashion by baby dragons. You understand then why the film holds up as well as it does today and why its box office was a dismal disappointment.

The movie would be worth seeing just for the dragon effects (Vermithax Pejorative is hailed by many as the best movie dragon of all time for a reason), but it's really impressive how much this film subverts the typical fantasy archetypes. Not only did the filmmakers deliberately stay away from the fairy tale "look", but the plot goes in many unexpected tangents. For example, the hero goes to save a princess and...it doesn't go so well. Plus you get political intrigue such as a contrast of appeasement versus conflict (the king prefers the whole "give young women as sacrifices to the dragon" bit after his brother/predecessor tried to slay it and never came back) and the tragic air of the old age of magic fading away as Christianity becomes dominant.

Added note, despite the subversive nature of the film, the "Star Wars" influence is blatantly obvious, especially in the main characters. Caitlin Clarke's spirited tomboy heroine is Leia. Sir Ralph Richardson's wise yet eccentric wizard is Obi-Wan. And Peter McNicol's wide-eyed and occasionally whiny hero is so obviously Luke Skywalker that you have to wonder if they tried to get Mark Hamill to play him. And that's before you realize the luckless priest is none other than Ian McDiarmid a couple years before he first put on a black robe and starting cackling and playing with lightening.

Submitted June 23, 2023 at 07:16PM by Mst3Kgf https://ift.tt/AuVNX2t