Dragonslayer Movie Review

An excellent medieval fantasy about a sorcerer's apprentice who suddenly finds himself called upon to save his country from a fire-breathing, virgin-eating dragon named Vermithrax. Unlike many fantasy movies, Dragonslayer never gets too cute. There are no comic-relief goblins or baby unicorns, but there are some very nasty baby dragons, a corrupt king, and heroes who are as human as they are valorous. Caitlin Clarke is especially good as the heroine and Ralph Richardson is wonderful as the wizard. The special effects are quite impressive, even by today's standards; Vermithrax was an early triumph of computer-aided animation, and still looks remarkably real.

1981 (PG) 110m/C Peter MacNicol, Caitlin Clarke, Ralph Richardson, John Hallam, Albert Salmi, Chloe Salaman, Peter Eyre; D: Matthew Robbins; W: Matthew Robbins, Hal Barwood; M: Alex North. Nominations: Academy Awards ‘81: Best Original Score. VHS, Beta, LV PAR, COL