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Valerian gathers some molted dragon scales to create a shield for Galen. Galen uses the amulet to enchant a heavy spear (forged by Valerian's father and dubbed Sicarius Dracorum, or "Dragonslayer") with the ability to pierce the dragon's armored hide. Desperate, King Casiodorus returns the amulet to Galen so that he might save Elspeth. When the lottery begins anew to placate it, Elspeth rigs the draw so that only her name can be chosen. The dragon incinerates him and then heads for the village of Swanscombe, burning all in its path. The village priest, Brother Jacopus, leads his congregation to confront the dragon, denouncing it as the Devil. Galen narrowly escapes from his prison, but without the amulet. Meanwhile, the dragon frees itself from its prison, causing an earthquake. Her father is unable to lie convincingly when she confronts him over this. His daughter, Princess Elspeth, visits Galen and is shocked when he informs her of rumors that the lottery is rigged it excludes her name and those others whose families are rich enough to bribe the king into disqualifying their children. The king confiscates the amulet and imprisons Galen. Casiodorus disputes that Galen is a real wizard and complains that his attack may have angered the dragon instead of killing it, as his brother and predecessor once did. Tyrian apprehends Galen and takes him to Castle Morgenthorme, from which King Casiodorus governs Urland. Just before dying, Hodge hands Galen Ulrich's ashes and informs Galen that Ulrich wanted them spread over a lake of burning water.Īrriving in Urland, Galen inspects the dragon's lair and magically seals its entrance with a rockslide. In an effort to discourage the expedition, Tyrian kills Hodge. On the way, he discovers Valerian is a young woman, who is disguised to avoid being selected in the lottery. Galen is selected by the wizard's magical amulet as its next owner encouraged, he journeys to Urland. Tyrian does so and Ulrich dies instantly, to the horror of his young apprentice Galen Bradwarden and his elderly servant Hodge, who cremates Ulrich's body and places the ashes in a leather pouch. Ulrich invites Tyrian to stab him to prove his magical powers. His lieutenant Jerbul and he openly intimidate the wizard, doubtful of his abilities. The expedition is followed by Tyrian, the brutal and cynical captain of Casiodorus's Royal Guard. An expedition led by a young man called Valerian seeks help from the last sorcerer, Ulrich of Cragganmore. To appease the creature, King Casiodorus offers it virgin girls selected by lottery twice a year. Urland, a sixth-century post-Roman kingdom situated near the River Ur, is being terrorized by Vermithrax Pejorative, a 400-year-old dragon. The film was re-released in remastered format on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on March 21, 2023, in the U.S. On October 21, 2003, Dragonslayer was released on DVD in the U.S. It was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, again given to Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, which went to Chariots of Fire. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, but it performed poorly at the box office, grossing $14.1 million worldwide against a production budget of $18 million. Including the hydraulic 40-foot (12 m) model, the dragon consists of 16 puppets dedicated to flying, crawling, or breathing fire. This led to the film's nomination for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, but it lost to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the only other visual effects nominee that year, whose special effects were also provided by ILM. Phil Tippett had co-developed an animation technique there for The Empire Strikes Back (1980) called go motion, a variation on stop motion. The special effects were created at Industrial Light and Magic, the first use of ILM outside of a Lucasfilm production. Because the audience expected the Disney name to be solely children's entertainment, the film's violence, adult themes and brief nudity were somewhat controversial, though Disney did not hold the US distribution rights. It is the second joint production between Paramount and Disney, after Popeye (1980), and is more mature than most contemporary Disney films. The story is set in a fictional medieval kingdom where a young wizard encounters challenges as he hunts a dragon, Vermithrax Pejorative. It was a co-production between Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions, where Paramount handled North American distribution and Disney's Buena Vista International handled international distribution. It stars Peter MacNicol, Ralph Richardson, John Hallam, and Caitlin Clarke. Dragonslayer is a 1981 American dark fantasy film directed by Matthew Robbins from a screenplay he co-wrote with Hal Barwood.
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