Talk:Dragonslayer (1981 film)

Locations
For the sake of completeness it might be worth expanding on "Skye,Scotland". The final sequence was actually shot at Sligachan in the heart of the Cuillin mountain range on the Isle of Skye. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.26.101.109 (talk) 23:43, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

Britain?
Are we sure this is set in Medieval Britain, rather than a fictitious country that resembles Medieval Britian (not that there even was a country called Britain in the Middle Ages (or now technically).

-- Sigurd

"set in a realistically portrayed medieval Britain. It follows a young wizard-in-training as he attempts to defeat a dragon."

I think this pretty much speaks for itself. --Kizor 02:12, 11 January 2006 (UTC)
 * So there was never a medieval Britain? Jarwulf 02:49, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

I was sad to here of Caitlin Clark's death, I had occasion to meet and chat a tiny bit during the making of Dragonslayer whilst shooting in North Wales, she was always gentle and kind even to the unimportant people like me. I was one of the dogs bodies but fortunately I had some climbing skills and so was "roped" (pardon the pun) into assisting with the rope safety on the scsnes where the spear was dragged from the watery gorge.(Gowron 21:40, 13 February 2007 (UTC))
 * I've just done some extensive cleanup on the article, removing opinion, original research and redundant elements, adding links and casting info. In the process, I changed the opening cited by Sigurd.  The film never mentions Britain, the action takes place in "Urland", a fictional country.  Obviously this is meant in some way to resemble Medieval England, but the landscape obviously resembles North Wales, and several of its inhabitants have Canadian or American accents (although various Welsh and English accents are heard as well).  In other words, it's a fictional story in a fictional place inspired by Medieval Britain. Kizor's restating the opening sentence doesn't make it any more accurate than it was when Sigurd challenged it. 12.22.250.4 22:19, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

The back of the DVD cover says "sixth-century British countryside." But I thought that the country was called England then, and that Great Britain was a modern name. Hollielol (talk) 15:59, 3 January 2009 (UTC)
 * What does it say exactly on the DVD? The film is definitely set in "Urland". Mezigue (talk) 18:20, 3 January 2009 (UTC)
 * In the sixth century there was no England yet. Britannia (from which we get the word Britain) was the name for the entire island, but there were many small kingdoms dotted around it. Urland is supposed to be one of them (though it's fictional). --Bazzalisk (talk) 08:23, 9 May 2011 (UTC)

"Dragonlance"
During my extensive cleanup (see above), I expunged the word "dragonlance" everywhere it appears, replacing it with "heavy spear", "spear" or "Dragonslayer". "Dragonlance" is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast and did not exist prior to the development of the Dragonlance setting for Dungeons and Dragons. In other words, it's not a real word, there is no such real-world thing called a "dragonlance". Dragonslayer is a heavy spear or lance, but I avoided the term "lance" because it has the connotation of being a cavalry weapon, which Dragonslayer is not. 12.22.250.4 22:39, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Pictures
Just bear with me for a while as I get these picture together,they will improve. I took the photos in 1980 and separated them into a good pile and a "not so good" pile, as luck would have it all I can find (as of Feb 2007) is my "not so good" pile. As I find more I'll put them here. Apologies in advance. (Gowron 13:51, 18 February 2007 (UTC))

Also, does anybody know the rules regarding just two frames from the movie, my bet is that its not allowed. However if it is permitted, it will show feature of North Wales. Thanks in advance. (Gowron 12:16, 19 February 2007 (UTC))

I think it should be noted somewhere in this article (preferably in the special effects section?) that Dragonslayer was Industrial Light and Magic's first "outside project." All the films that featured ILM's special effects prior to Dragonslayer were Lucas/Spielberg productions. This bit of trivia was shared by an announcer on the Bravo network when they broadcast the film.
 * Trivia is trivia, and there is no place for it here. However, that bit of info sounds important to me and can probably be worked into the article, but you'll need a better attribution than "an announcer on Bravo", preferably something in print that can be formally quoted. 12.22.250.4 22:23, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

real ages

 * Although they played teenagers, MacNicol was 27 and Clarke was 29 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.53.145.205 (talk) 12:20, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

censored dialog
The TV and home-video versions omit a line of dialog. When Valerian remarks that she's still eligible for the lottery, as she's a virgin, Galen remarks "Well, that can be changed". The deletion is visible as a subtle jump.

Addendum (11-25-2014): I watched the film twice recently, and did not see the jump I thought I saw. But I'm certain I remember the wisecrack when I saw the film in a theater. Can anyone shed light on this?

PS: In German, "ur" is a prefix meaning primal or original. WilliamSommerwerck (talk) 14:18, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

dragon's name
The dragon is called Vermithrax Pejorative. As the dragon cannot speak or write, we have to assume that it's not her name, and must be the species designation. Of course, scientific taxonomy did not exist at that time. But the faux Latin is clever, "vermithrax" suggesting vermin and anthrax. WilliamSommerwerck (talk) 00:36, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Ah, the original research rearing its ugly head. Wikipedia isn't a game of "let's assume". "Vermithrax" isn't "faux Latin" and has nothing to do with vermin or anthrax, it's a Latin/Greek hybridization; it loosely translates as "Thracian worm".  Ulrich is the character that announces the name, and it's not inconceivable that as a wizard he might actually know the dragon's personal name.  He doesn't say, "It's of the species...," he says "It's name is...," and he indicates that he knows the creature.  Taxonomy has been practiced since at least 1500 BCE, according to archaeological evidence, but there is no indication that that is what Ulrich is doing by announcing a name for the creature.  We aren't given any indication in dialog that this is anything other than the name of this particular creature.  12.233.147.42 (talk) 02:36, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Dragonslayers which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 17:45, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

Marvel Comics Adaptation Paragraph
The last sentence needs to be corrected. It doesn't make sense and is not a complete sentence. "Writer Dennis O'Neil and artists Marie Severin and John Tartaglione in Marvel Super Special #20." Paulhat33 (talk) 23:16, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

Blu-ray region coding
Observation: the Blu-ray versions of the film released recently in the US are region-coded and cannot be played on players that are not set to Region A. Is this considered relevant information for this page? Steveread999 (talk) 19:09, 12 July 2023 (UTC)
 * No, that's WP:TRIVIA or WP:NOTMANUAL for a product marketing page or a product manual, thanks. — Smuckola(talk) 01:33, 13 July 2023 (UTC)