Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be checking out an animated film from 1982. That movie is "The Flight of Dragons".
Now, there is a special reason as to why I wanted to review this movie. See, one of the animation studios that is responsible for the making of this movie was Topcraft. And in case you've never heard of them, they're the studio who was responsible for making collaborative films with Rankin/Bass such as "The Hobbit", "Frosty's Winter Wonderland", and "The Last Unicorn", just to name a few examples. Speaking of the latter, in case you're not aware and are reading this review for the first time, "The Last Unicorn" is my all time favorite fantasy film. And I've wanted to see this film, in particular, because it was made by the same studio that also made "The Last Unicorn". And luckily for me, I was able to find a copy of this movie at a convention last year, so I'm hoping that it's gonna be worth the long wait.
Now, beyond what I just told you in regards to this movie being made by Topcraft, I don't know much else about this movie. I know that it's a fantasy film, and I also know that it's based off a novel with the exact same name by Peter Dickinson. But beyond that, I am going almost 100% blind here with this movie, because I really do *not* want to spoil myself with this movie too much. I'm hoping that it's gonna really good, but the only way I'm gonna find out if it is any good at all, is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "The Flight of Dragons".
2 minutes later
Well, guys, even though it is really early already, I can start by saying that this opening song here is really great. And I'm already getting the same kind of vibes that I did when watching the opening to "The Last Unicorn". So yeah, we're off to a great start here, and I'm hoping that it continues to stay this way.
12 minutes later
You know, guys, Ommadon's plan here to use logic and science against the humans sounds really fucking terrifying. Which, in a way, it kinda makes sense, considering he's actually using some sound logic of his own. And what makes it even sound more powerful is the fact that he's voiced by James Earl Jones. So, I guess it works it out for him either way.
7 minutes later
Wait, so Peter Dickinson, from the future, is making a board game based off "The Flight of Dragons"? The same guy who would also write the novel of the same name as well? That's...kinda interesting. I never would've expected an author to self-insert himself into the story that he would eventually make. That's actually really interesting now that I'm thinking about it. I'm just hoping he's not gonna be some sort of Gary-Stu, or anything of the sorts, but we'll just have to wait and see, now won't we?
18 minutes later
You know, I'm both kinda surprised, and not, by the fact that Peter, after merging Gorbash, the green dragon, seems to be taking all this rather well, given the circumstances. I guess having an obsession with dragons is making this situation for him all the more better, but I'm gonna tell you, guys, if I was merged with a dragon, I would at least be a little bit concerned about it *before* I immediately get use to it, you know what I mean?
17 minutes later
I know you guys can't hear this for obvious reasons, but this sound here, which kinda sounds like a rattlesnake even though it's not, is getting ridiculously annoying! Which makes sense, considering all of our heroes are being forced to listen to it as well and are going bonkers at each other because of it. But still, I'm kinda hoping for it to stop sooner rather than later, because it's starting to get to my head as well.
18 minutes later
Wow, um...I genuinely wasn't expecting that character to die. And considering how much I liked him, that kinda made his death much more unexpected than I thought. And no, I'm not gonna tell you who died, you're just gonna have to watch the movie for yourself.
The Review
Well, guys, that was "The Flight of Dragons". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. Well, um...where do I even begin here? Well, I may as well start off by answering this question. Is this movie as great as "The Last Unicorn" was? No. In no way would I ever say that this movie is as good as that thing was. But then again, I am rather biased towards it to begin with, so it's just something you have to take for what it's worth. However, I am gonna say that this movie, by it's own standards, is absolutely amazing! I cannot begin to stress how much I really enjoyed this movie, even if it may not be as good as "The Last Unicorn" was.
So with that said, let's begin this review off proper by discussing the writing. The writing here is really solid. Now, being that this is a fantasy film, you do have your standard creatures such as dragons (duh), dwarfs, wizards, ogres, knights, etc. Just about all of that is here and it's to be expected from a lot of fantasy stories. And we also do have a standard fantasy story about a group of heroes travelling together on a quest to stop an evil wizard, AKA Ommadon in this case. However, the movie also adds a rather interesting element into the story about whether or not logic and science is better than magic. Because throughout the film, we're being told that magic is in decline and could potentially fade away thanks to people switching over to science and logic, thus is the reason why Carolinus gets the idea to create a safe haven for where magic can still reign while being invisible to others while time passes. And the best part about this is that they don't beat you over the head on which side is better. Both sides have their positives and negatives to them, and it's mostly left up to interpretation on the viewer. So you can have your own answers as the film plays itself out.
I want to touch upon the characters next, and I want to start with Peter Dickinson himself. Now admittedly, I have no idea how much of the story was taken from Peter Dickinson's book, or whether or not Dickinson actually inserted himself into his own story. That being said, I am gonna solely focus his character in this movie. And one thing I was really concerned about is whether or not he was gonna be some kind of Gary-Stu within his novel. I bring this up because, when you do something like this, in which you try to insert yourself into your own story, you have to tread on very careful grounds here because you run the risk of having yourself come off as a know-it-all Gary-Stu that'll have the solution to every problem and will automatically thwart it. Well thankfully, that's not the case. While he does kinda come off as a bit of a smartass at times, it's not to the length where he comes across as painfully annoying or even a Gary-Stu. He actually has a rather decent character to him that definitely shows that, despite him making the game or making a half-finished book of "The Flight of Dragons", he's still shown as being rather vulnerable to a lot of the situations he is in this movie. Which is definitely a refreshing take on the main character, so I'm kinda glad the movie didn't make him a Gary-Stu here.
While I'm on the subject, most of the other characters here are very likable and have quite a bit of personality to them. Granted. while there are a couple of characters that are sorta lacking in depth, such as Danielle and Giles the Elf, everyone else is able to carry the load in terms of them having interesting personalities and depth to their characters. And with these cast of characters, what you ultimately have is very strong writing to boot. And to add on to that, the acting here is really solid. Everybody here turns in a fantastic showing, and I have to give a special mention to James Earl Jones. Not just because he is a great actor or that he had sadly passed away recently, but I wanted to mention him here because, again, he voices Ommadon in this movie. And if I had to be honest here, this is quite possibly the best voice-over performance he has ever given to film! Yes, more so than Darth Vader and Mufasa. What I think really helps it the most is the fact he sounds like he's having a blast with this role. Now admittedly, he might have a habit of hamming it up a bit here from time to time. But I really think that's what makes his character stand out so much is because of the fact that he's so blatantly evil and James Earl Jones can make that kind of evilness work so well to his advantage. And, again, it makes him stand out as the best actor in the movie, at least in my eyes. But everyone else, like I said, turns in a fantastic performance of their own, in which I'm not gonna take anything away from the rest of the cast, because they are that good at what they do. So yeah, acting here is great across the board.
Animation here is also really solid. But again, this was made by Topcraft, so I kinda knew what to expect from this kind of movie. In which you'll have characters that are all uniquely designed. Whether it's any of the dragons, humans, elves, or any sort of animal or mythical creature, all of them have a unique look to them. The backgrounds and locations all look great as well. And on the off chance that you don't know this, the people over at Topcraft would sometime later close that studio down, and they would form a very well known animation studio known as Studio Ghibli. So, for fans of Ghibli, you could consider this, and a few other movies that they've made as pre-studio Ghibli films. Because the quality is definitely here and would definitely be matched up to what you would see in a Ghibli film. So yeah, I can totally recommend this thing to those fans based on that aspect alone. However, I am getting *slightly* ahead of myself here. I still got a couple of things left to mention before I actually get to the recommendations. But first and foremost, the animation here is spectacular.
Before I get into the remaining technical stuff, there is one thing that I do want to mention, and this is a real minor nitpick, but it is something I still want to talk about. I'm convinced that this movie was suppose to be a made-for-TV film. I say this, because throughout the entire movie, there are moments that it will fade to black before cutting right back to the film. And that's what made me believe that this thing was suppose to be made as a television film. I kinda think that, had this thing been theatrically released back in the day, you wouldn't be able to see those kinds of transitions pop up in the movie. In fact, if you were able to cut all of those transitions out, you would probably at least cut out 30 seconds of time on the film itself. Now yes, I totally understand, again, that this is all trivial and pointless, but it is something that you could possibly notice, and whether or not it bothers you at all is definitely left up to interpretation. It doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I was able to get through this thing with no problems whatsoever. So yeah, it's a minor nothing to bring up, but I still wanted to mention it, just in case you haven't seen the movie yet.
Sound-mix here is mixed fine. The music here, in terms of it's score, is great. It definitely feels very fitting for a fantasy movie. There aren't really any songs in this movie, outside of the opening title song that's performed by Don McLean. And before I forget the guy who composed the music for this movie, he goes by the name of Maury Laws. And like I just mentioned, his music is great here. And you'll mostly definitely get a feel for his music whenever you get a chance to watch this movie.
So yeah, that kinda pretty much gives away what my answer's gonna be on whether or not I can recommend "The Flight of Dragons". Absolutely, yes. This movie is fucking great. If you, yourself, are a fan of the Rankin/Bass produced stuff that they have made before this one, such as their Christmas specials, or you liked movies such as "The Last Unicorn" or are a fan of Studio Ghibli films, then this movie is definitely gonna be up your alley. If you can find it on either DVD or Blu-ray, go ahead and pick it up. It's definitely worth your time and money. You'll most likely be able to find it under the "Warner Archive Collection", which holds almost all of Warner Bros. older films from decades past. You could possibly find it on VHS too, though it depends on whether or not you own a VHS player. But regardless of what version you buy, this movie is, again, worth picking up on any platform. And as for myself, I am very happy that I was able to find this at an A-Kon convention last year for almost $20. It might sound somewhat pricey, but I assure you that it's still worth your money. And I'm totally honored to have this movie be a part of my ever-growing DVD collection. Now, I'm gonna go and watch the other film that I have brought up quite a number of times in this review, which would be "The Last Unicorn". I'm gonna go and watch that right now, because this movie has put me in the mood into rewatching that classic again, and it's been a while since I've seen it anyway, so I may as well go and do that as soon as possible.
And with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.
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