History YMMV / DragonSlayer

* SpecialEffectsFailure: This was during the age of blue screen, so the composite shots have visible matte lines.

* PortingDisaster: The Game Boy version: Take a multi-hour game that takes longer than 4 AA batteries will last, leave out any kind of save system, and slow down player movement. Et voila! A game that is [[UnwinnableByDesign Unwinnable by (unintentional) Design]] without the Game Boy wall socket adapter, Super Game Boy, Game Boy Player or Game Boy Advance SP.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: This is a ''very'' dark film with blood, murder, scary dragons, arguments over religion, partial nudity, as well as the blatant misogyny of women being sacrificed to dragons (showing viewers the messy results). It's also a "[[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids PG-rated film by Disney]]". Audiences looking for the former will be alienated by the latter, and vice versa.

* {{Narm}}: Hodge. In a perfectly ordinary, conversational voice:
--> '''Hodge:''' Do you know? Someone shot me. But I can still talk. There's something that needs to be done!\\
'''Galen:''' The dragon...\\
'''Hodge: NO!''' No, not the dragon! The master's ashes! Here! Burning water! Find the lake! Throw it in!\\
'''Galen:''' Hodge, what are you doing with this?!\\
'''Hodge:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Burning! Water!]] *dies*

* PortingDisaster: The Game Boy version: Take a multi-hour game that takes longer than 4 AA batteries will last, leave out any kind of save system, and slow down player movement. Et voila! A game that is [[UnwinnableByDesign Unwinnable by (unintentional) Design]] without the Game Boy wall socket adapter.

--> '''Hodge:''' Do you know? Someone shot me. But I can still talk. There's something that needs to be done!
--> '''Galen:''' The dragon...
--> '''Hodge: NO!''' No, not the dragon! The master's ashes! Here! Burning water! Find the lake! Throw it in!
--> '''Galen:''' Hodge, what are you doing with this?!
--> '''Hodge:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Burning! Water!]] *dies*

** King Casiodorus. The thing is, the lottery ''worked''. Casiodorus tells the story of how his brother Gaiseric, a brave warrior king, went out to try and slay the dragon. Vermithrax killed Gaiseric and all his men, then laid waste to whole towns in retaliation. The point is underscored when [[spoiler:Galen's first bungled effort at dragonslaying provokes a slaughter]]. Casiodorus's solution of pacifying the dragon with a handful of sacrifices was far better. Even though Casiodorus is later shown to be a hypocrite who [[spoiler:accepts bribes to keep rich ladies out of the lottery, and then jettisons the whole scheme when his own daughter offers herself up]], no one ever presents a compelling answer to his argument: Better a few should die that many may live.
*** However, Casiodorus doesn't have one vital piece of information: [[spoiler:the dragon has just had babies. A few virgins a year to one dragon until it dies of old age might be a logical (if heartless) trade-off, but with three more dragons, and the possibility of more dragons in the future, it appears that Galen is in the right in trying to kill the dragon and its young now.]]

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: One of the reasons the movie bombed in theaters was that people were expecting a kids-friendly Disney movie... only to find out there was blood, murder, scary dragons, a ton of {{Squick}}, and partial nudity. Even with a PG rating at the time. The ratings system didn't have a PG-13 movie yet in place (this was one of the many films that pushed its creation) and it wasn't mature enough to qualify for the R rating.

* HellIsThatNoise: Vermithrax's long inhale when about to breathe fire.

* OldShame: For whatever reason, Creator/PeterMacNicol does not list the film (his debut, no less) on his CV.

* VindicatedByCable: Not a box-office hit on its release (mostly due to it being Disney's darkest and edgiest film ever, though being released two weeks after ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' certainly didn't help), the film still became popular with fantasy buffs for its impressive sfx, deconstructive tropes, and effective acting.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Ackdam, the Demon Lord]], is a powerful EvilSorcerer who invades the kingdom of Faaren, massacring everyone in his path, wiping out the capital city and personally killing the king. Ackdam proceeds to set up a horrific regime where citizens are starved, enslaved and killed at the will of the king and his minions, opposed only by a small rebellion and the renegade prince Sirius. When Sirius rescues a village from Ackdam's minions, Ackdam reacts by sending his chief minion Zagi, in dragon form, to wipe out the village to the last man and attempts to capture Sirius to execute him with his captive mother the Queen, wishing to rule Faaren no matter how many people have to die.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: One of the reasons the movie bombed in theaters was that people were expecting a kids-friendly Disney movie... only to find out there was blood, murder, scary dragons, a ton of {{Squick}}, and partial nudity. Even with a PG rating at the time. The ratings system didn't have a PG-13 movie yet in place (this was one of the many films that pushed its creation) and it wasn't mature enough to qualify for the R rating.

*** He obviously knew dragons exist, given his life in Urland. That didn't prove real magic does too (recall that IfJesusThenAliens is not always valid) especially if he'd only encountered charlatans.

* MisaimedFandom: Skeptics and atheists like using Tyrian's "They never do tests" speech, which out of context does make him sound like a noble rational soul crusading against superstition. Two more things that don't help are the film's anti-Christian overtones and Tyrian's later proven wrong when [[spoiler: Galen kills him with an enchanted spear, thus preventing him from living to see Ulrich's return]].

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Vermithrax used a new "Go Motion" stop-motion technique, which added a blur to the animation that removed the jerky aspect most stop animation had til then. Most of the scenes with the dragon hold up incredibly well, even more than 30 years later.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Vermithrax used a new "Go Motion" stop-motion technique, which added a blur to the animation that removed the jerky aspect most stop animation had til then.

--> '''Hodge:''' Do you know? Someone shot me. But I can still talk! There's something that needs to be done?

--> '''Hodge:'''Do you know? Someone shot me. But I can still talk! There's something that needs to be done?
--> '''Galen:'''The dragon...

--> '''Galen:'''Hodge, what are you doing with this??
--> '''Hodge:''' Burning! Water! *dies*