History Awesome / Dragonslayer

* Pretty much any scene involving Vermithrax Pejorative. 40 years on, still the nastiest most badass dragon to appear in a Hollywood film.

* This troper wonders if Ulric and Vermithrax were...previously acquainted before the events of this film. Right before the big battle at the end Vermithrax and Ulric are seen standing/perched on two separate cliffs. Vermithrax sniffs the air a few times and then quickly turns her head toward Ulric, as if recognizing his scent. The wizard then murmurs an incantation in Latin. Cut back to the dragon, whose eyes narrow, almost in contempt (a nod to the effects wizards for that bit), then she snarls, as if to say, "Fuck you, old man!"

* While he was WrongGenreSavvy [[spoiler: and paid for it with his life]], Brother Jacobus was brave enough to confront the dragon and try to stop it, even when all his companions except one fled and he was clearly frightened himself. [[HeroicWillpower Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's the will to go on despite the presence of fear]]. In fact, he became a martyr, convincing Valerian's father than such bravery was proof that Christianity would overcome magic.

* Pretty much any scene involving Vermithrax Pejorative. 30 years on, still the nastiest most badass dragon to appear in a Hollywood film.

* While he was WrongGenreSavvy [[spoiler: and paid for it with his life]], Brother Jacobus was brave enough to confront the dragon and try to stop it, even when all his companions except one fled and he was clearly frightened himself. [[HeroicWillpower Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's the will to go on despite the presence of fear]].
* The first sacrifice was DefiantToTheEnd, even freeing herself from iron shackles through pure determination. In fact, he became a martyr, convincing Valerian's father than such bravery was proof that Christianity would overcome magic.

* The first sacrifice was DefiantToTheEnd, even freeing herself from iron shackles through pure determination.

* The first sacrifice was DefiantTilTheEnd, even freeing herself from iron shackles through pure determination.

* While he was WrongGenreSavvy [[spoiler: and paid for it with his life]], Brother Jacobus was brave enough to confront the dragon and try to stop it, even when all his companions except one fled and he was clearly frightened himself. [[HeroicWillpower Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's the will to go on despite the presence of fear]].

** The ensuing fight scene is also pretty damn awesome for the both of them. Galen gets awesome points for fighting with a trained soldier, and Tyrian gets them for fighting a guy with a magic spear that effortlessly slices through metal.
* Elspeth. When she learns her name was never put in the lottery, what does she do? Somehow, she has hundreds of lottery tickets -- all made from ''baked clay'', mind you -- made with "Elspeth" carved on them. While she doesn't exactly have a DyingMomentOfAwesome, she does show absolutely no fear in sacrificing herself to a gigantic firebreathing lizard.

* Elspeth. When she learns her name was never put in the lottery, what does she do? Somehow, she has hundreds of lottery tickets -- all made from ''stone'', mind you -- made with "Elspeth" carved on them. While she doesn't exactly have a DyingMomentOfAwesome, she does show absolutely no fear in sacrificing herself to a gigantic firebreathing lizard.

** The ensuing fight scene is also pretty damn awesome for the both of them. Galen gets awesome points for fighting with a trained soldier, and Tyrian gets them for fighting a guy with a magic spear that effortlessly slices through metal.

** The ensuing fight scene is also pretty damn awesome for the both of them. Galen gets awesome points for fighting with a trained soldier, and Tyrian gets them for fighting a guy with a magic spear.

* This editor loves CG art. Somewhere around the internet is a CG model of Vermithrax lovingly crafted by a fan. Its nice, but no where NEAR as awesome as the original puppet used in the film! I still get chills at the scene when Vermithrax lifts her head into the camera frame after seeing her little-ones were slaughtered. You can actually see the murder in the eyes!
--> Ulric: That's no claw, by the gods! Its a ''tooth''! You want me to do battle with ''that''?
** The very model itself was landmark in that it was the first 'go-motion' model. Unlike traditional stopmotion techniques, the dragon model was designed to move slightly when the image was taken in order to add a slight blur, smoothing out the characteristic jerky motion of its predecessors.

-->'''Galen Brandwarden''': I have plenty of reasons to kill you that have ''nothing to do'' with this sacrifice.

* This troper wonders if Ulric and Vermithrax were...previously acquainted before the events of this film. Right before the big battle at the end Vermithrax and Ulric are seen standing/perched on two separate cliffs. Vermithrax sniffs the air a few times and then quickly turns her head toward Ulric, as if recognizing his scent. The wizard then murmurs an incantation in Latin. Cut back to the dragon, whose eyes narrow, almost in contempt (a nod to the effects wizards for that bit), then she snarls, as if to say, "Fuck you, old man!"

* Ulric's battle royale against Vermithrax. Wizard against Dragon. Thunderstorms versus Fire. All leading up to Ulric's HeroicSacrifice.

** The very model itself was landmark in that it was the first 'go-motion' model. Unlike traditional stopmotion techniques, the dragon model was designed to move slightly when the image was taken in order to add a slight blur, smoothing out the characteristic jerky motion of it's predecessors.

** The sequence at the burning lake, as Galen has his back turned while [[OhCrap Vermithrax rises up]] from the water, the full reveal of what the dragon looks like up close and personal. NightmareFuel.

** The sequence at the burning lake, as Galen has his back turned while [[OhCrap Vermithrax rises up]] from the water, the full reveal of what the dragon looks like up close and personal. HighOctaneNightmareFuel.

* Pretty much any scene involving Vermithrax Pejorative in ''Dragonslayer''. Almost 30 years on, still the nastiest most badass dragon to appear in a Hollywood film.