Dragonslayer 1981 Uncut+OST multi-lang Honeyko Restored XviD 100% Anamorphic

Dragonslayer, 1981 ...thriller, suspense, adventure, horror, romance,

fantasy, drama, dragon, medieval weaponry, kings, wizards, classical music



-- Still the best dragon movie of them all: The monster in this film

isn't the misunderstood, anthropomorphic, sympathetic creature you've

come to expect from more recent rubbish like "Dragonheart", let alone one

which will let you saddle it up ("Eragon", "Dungeons and Dragons"). No,

this film's dragon is a menacing, malevolent lizard with a taste for the

flesh of sacrificed virgins, and whatever else might get in its way.



Video Source ..........: Region 1 widescreen NTSC

Video Codec ...........: XviD, CQ 2.75, LEM filter, Didees SixOfNine-HVS

Frame Size ............: 720x368, 867x3680 Anamorphic DAR (2.35)

FPS ...................: 23.976 original, 3579Kbps



Audio 5.1 and 2.0: English: unaltered AC3 from NTSC DVD.

Audio 2.0: German: retimed AC3 from "tinny" (23.976 sped up to 25fps) PAL.

...PAL DVD audio tracks from "cut" versions exist, but not here.



Scenes frequently cut: The bathing scene, and the priest getting fried.

WARNING: PAL DVDs are "tinny", letterboxed, and may have cut version.



Subtitles - Bulgarian Danish Dutch English+Hearing-Impaired Finnish-Suomi

French German Italian Norwegian Polish Portuguese Slovenian Spanish Swedish



Alex North soundtrack: 320Kbps lame MP3.





==//==





A monster movie where the monster is well worth the big wait;

***** ...6 Jan 2005 Amazon review By Lawrance M. Bernabo



Ultimately, "Dragonslayer" succeeds where the vast majority of monster movies fail, which is the point at which you get to see the creature and it is a big disappointment. Very few movies had really great monsters when I was growing up and you get to the point where you just expect them to be bad. Even when the make up is pretty good, say Boris Karloff in the original version of "The Mummy" or Oliver Reed in "The Curse of the Werewolf," you get shorted on how often the monster actually gets to be on screen. "Dragonslayer" ups the ante because there is a big build up to the point when you finally get to see the dragon. But for my money it is well worth the wait because the folks at Industrial Light & Magic deliver even though we are talking 1981 special effects.



The story in "Dragonslayer" combines a couple of recognizable plot lines from the fantasy genre. First there is the hapless young apprentice, Galen (Peter MacNicol), trying to learn his craft from a great wizard, Ulrich (Ralph Richardson). I am certainly reminded of Mickey Mouse from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in "Fantasia," except that Galen is a lot more earnest. Second, there is the fact that Casiodorus Rex (Peter Eyre), the ruler of the land, has been sacrificing virgins to keep the local dragon from leveling the countryside. Young Valerian (Caitlin Clarke) arrives to beseech Ulrich, the last wizard around, to kill the dragon, which is probably the last of its kind as well.



The only problem is that Ulrich has died, which means that young Galen has to become a dragonslayer. Galen wants to do the great deed for the right reasons, but there is also the Princess Elspeth (Chloe Salaman) to consider, along with all the other young virgins forced to participate in the grim lottery. Casiodorus is not thrilled by the prospect of the fate of his kingdom resting on the shoulders of Galen, so he tries to thwart the young man's plans. However, there is somebody who thinks that the rules of the game in Urland have to be changed.



Beyond the Oscar nominated special effects (and musical score by Alex North) what makes "Dragonslayer" work is that it takes place in a grungy medieval world where everybody is dirty and outright despair seems like an appropriate response to each sunrise. In such a world sacrificing a virgin once a year seems rather reasonable, and an act of heroism seems improbable, especially when your hopes rest on the baby-faced Galen. The atmosphere and the special effects fit together just perfectly, and Ralph Richardson's performance as the sorcerer gives the film its memorable performance.



The casting of MacNichol is seen as problematic by some, especially those familiar with his stellar comedy work on "Chicago Hope" and "Ally McBeal," but I think he works well in this particular context. The idea here is that the hero is not somebody who wants to be a great fighter with a sword but a sorcerer using potions and magicks. MacNichol looks like somebody who would be more comfortable with a staff than a sword, so that when he actually has to pick up a spear and shield to fight the dragon he looks really uncomfortable. Then he sees the dragon and he looks scared. We see the dragon, so we completely understand.



Although a lot of the elements are familiar to everyone weaned on Tolkien and excited by the original "Star Wars" films, there are some attempts to be different. I especially liked the fate of the Princess and the ending has a sense of fatalism we rarely get in a fantasy film, with or without a monster. Unfortunately, the DVD version of "Dragonslayer" has absolutely nothing in terms of bonus features (not even the trailer), but at least the film is presented in anamorphic widescreen so you can enjoy all of the Scottish landscape. More importantly, there is the CGI dragon that mandates this one getting five stars because that dragon is that good. When a movie delivers the goods with the monster the way "Dragonslayer" does, attention must be paid.