Word: dragons
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...movie gets underway, we realize that we have actually missed most of man's grimmest hour. Christianity has penetrated deep into the British backwoods, while the monster population has taken a perilous tailspin. Only one winged geezer remains, living quietly for the most part with a litter of dragon cubs. Understandably, even one fire-breathing creature has the locals a little unnerved, especially since once a month, their ruler picks a young maiden to be fed to the beast. Thus the search for a savior begins, setting up the required battle of good versus evil...
This movie has two big things going for it-the dragon and the man who masterminds its slaying. The former, when he finally heaves into view, is one of the few feature creatures who actually live up to the descriptions offered by terrified witnesses during the buildup. He has scale as well as scales, snorts realistic fire and generally represents an artful blending of mechanical and special-effects work. He lurks in a grand, spooky lair...
...might as well be commenting on the film. With his own splendid appearances confined to the beginning and the end and with the dragon turning up only intermittently, much of the story revolves around a sorcerer's apprentice who is making his first stab at monster stabbing. As Galen, Peter MacNicol has some funny, puzzled bits when his new-found magical powers either fail him entirely or run out of control. But on the whole, he is this year's leading nominee for the Dean Jones blandness award. Caitlin Clarke as a girl in boy's clothing...
...lovely and spirited prin cess of this mythical realm. It must be said that the uninspired stretches throw the film's magical moments into high relief. The final confrontation between Richardson and the rude beast, a confrontation in which Galen finally rises from apprentice to journeyman in the dragon-slaying game, is grippingly orchestrated. The sequence is as well made and exciting as anything one is likely to encounter in a summer already crowded with good work by those modern Merlins, the special-effects technicians...
...list goes on, into the obscure nether-world of comicdom where mere Comic Peasants are hopelessly lost: Swamp Thing, Weird War Tales, Dragon Lord, Moon Knight, Kazar the Savage, Scalphunter, Ms. Marvel, Phoenix, the Black Panther, Captain Canuck (published by "Comely Comix" in Manitoba, Canada), and Doctor Strange--doing combat in "Reality...