MAKSQUIBS CINEMATHEQUE: DRAGONSLAYER (1981)

LABELS

There are (currently) eight different LABELS to look for on MAKSQUIBS.

CONTEST - Win a review of any available DVD or 'Streamer' of your choice* if you're the first to answer a Q attached to one of the write-ups. Please refrain from either Googling or searching for an answer via IMdB or other web movie services! These contests are plenty easy to solve just be using your little grey cells.

RECOMMENDED - Meaning Strongly Recommended. A film that's good enough or historically important enough to demand viewing. WARNING: A few real stinkers are important enough to rate this label. And, on the other hand, lots of pretty good or pretty valuable films, don't quite measure up to our RECOMMENDED level. (See also UNIQUE, below.)

FAMILY FRIENDLY - CAREFUL!! Not necessarily a KIDDIE pic, but a film that school kids may get into if the subject interests. You'll find foreign & silent pics in here as the need to read the sub-titles & inter-titles to follow the narrative and get all the jokes does wonders for ADD types.

LINK - To quickly find any Write-Up that includes an InterNet Link of interest for that specific film.

UNIQUE - Films that may not fit into the usual critical categories of Good, Bad or Indifferent, (certainly not indifferent!), but are worth watching because there just ain't nothing like 'em. Sui generis pics. (Phooey generis if they don't work for you.)

READ ALL ABOUT IT - While there's a book or two (or ten dozen) closely related to just about any film you might think of, here's a specific book you might not have known about (or thought of) that opens a window on the chosen title.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY - A place to vent those out-of-left-field thoughts.

POSTER - Hmm, I bet you can figure this one out.

(Hint: most of the posters will enlarge if you click on them.)

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT - sort of like those EAT THIS, NOT THAT diet books only with film instead of food as the topic. Sometimes, the substitute pick isn't the obvious 'better' choice, but one of those 'flawed-but-interesting' films that often get left behind.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID - some easy to miss element worth noting.

SILENT FILM - hey, figure it out (LOL)

. . . and DOUBLE-BILL - a suggested second feature.

To bring up the complete list in any of these categories, simply click on one of the LABELS when you come across one and everything with that designation will come up when the page reloads. Just scroll down. There's also a LABELS list near the bottom of all the pages.

Please let me know if there are any other LABELS you'd like to see.

AND YOU'RE DOING ALL THIS BECAUSE . . . ?

Like just about everyone with an interest in the movies, I'm watching more films on DVD and going out to movie houses a lot less. Convenience trumps the better experience.
Of course, you lose audience interaction and the poor film now has to compete with all the comforts of home.
It's a bit like seeing Rembrandts & Titians in a book reproduction, or from posters with iffy color values, no texture or weight to the surface and the wrong dimensions . . . all while snacking on chips & soda. (Oops! You get that at your local cinema,too.)
The ease of instant movie gratification risks turning an art form (well, sometimes) into little more than low-grade eye-candy & mindfodder. So, maybe it's worthwhile to write a bit down on what we're all viewing, just to keep fully engaged.

DVDs: the latest opiate of the people meets the internet, where everyone's a critic.
God help us.

Now Over 5500 Reviews and (near) Daily Updates!

WELCOME! Use the search engines on this site (or your own off-site engine of choice) to gain easy access to the complete MAKSQUIBS Archive; more than 5500 posts and counting. (New posts added every day or so.)

You can check on all our titles by typing the Title, Director, Actor or 'Keyword' you're looking for in the Search Engine of your choice (include the phrase MAKSQUIBS) or just use the BLOGSPOT.com Search Box at the top left corner of the page.

Feel free to place comments directly on any of the film posts and to test your film knowledge with the CONTESTS scattered here & there. (Hey! No Googling allowed. They're pretty easy.)

Send E-mails to MAKSQUIBS@yahoo.com . (Let us know if the TRANSLATE WIDGET works!) Or use the Profile Page or Comments link for contact.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

DRAGONSLAYER (1981)

Producer/writer Hal Barwood & writer/director Matthew Robbins, present at creation as part of the Spielberg/Lucas/USC circle, left spotty records on their own after early success that probably peaked with this fantastic (in both senses of the word) Medieval fable. A terrifying & enchanting Sorcerer’s Apprentice tale, it was probably doomed commercially when Paramount publicists saw visions of STAR WARS dancing in their heads (note copycat poster & cast that visually matches Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher & Alec Guinness to Peter MacNicol*, Caitlin Clarke & Ralph Richardson). In hindsight, that echo you hear is more LORD OF THE RINGS/GAME OF THRONES, and not in a bad way. Odd this box-office disappointment never developed a cult following. Richardson, who merely tops-and-tails the film, but seems present all the way, is the aging Sorcerer, called upon to slay the eponymous flying, fire-breathing beast. But, judging himself too old to complete the journey, let alone the task, sends apprentice MacNicol, who channels his ‘late’ master as long as he controls the glowing amulet he inherited. Along the way, virgins sacrificed yearly to appease the dragon; the young male courier entrusted with the commission revealed as a damsel in disguise (Clarke); a virgin Princess learns the King has exempted her from the sacrifice lottery and heads to the slaughter. Meanwhile, our Dragon is raising a family. Yikes! With superb art direction, a nightmare-inducing practical marvel of a dragon and crystal clear narrative, only Robbins’ action chops prove a bit shy. He does better whenever something out of the ordinary or magical is called for. Like whenever Richardson is on screen. (10/31/23

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: MacNicol (in his film debut as is Clarke) is quite good, but facially, a disconcerting cross between STAR WAR’s Mark Hamill and sweaty exercise guru Richard Simmons.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Those GoT dragons never did much for me. For a comparison with this dragon, check out the scary beauty who shows at the end of Disney’s SLEEPING BEAUTY/’59. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2014/12/sleeping-beauty-1959.html

MAKSQUIBS CINEMATHEQUE

Translate

ERNST LUBITSCH

LABELS

Blog Archive

AND YOU'RE DOING ALL THIS BECAUSE . . . ?

. . . a brief note on abbreviations . . .

About Me

Now Over 5500 Reviews and (near) Daily Updates!

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

DRAGONSLAYER (1981)

No comments:

Labels

A last thought before we go.

DROP ME A LINE