The Flight of Dragons (1986)

Overrated

Good concept, poorly executed.

good back-story, and good acting

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Unlike other Rankin and Bass animated movies--The Hobbit and The Last Unicorn--this film isn't based on a single work. It doesn't have a "primary text," if you will, to accurately relate or deviate from. It's based on other works, but it is a mixture of two: (1) the "speculative natural history" book titled Flight of Dragons (1979) by Peter Dickinson, and (2) the novel, The Dragon and the George (1976), by Gordon R. Dickson. I'm not familiar with either of these works (though I wish I was). Needless to say, the narrative of this film is unique and not one that precedes its production.Some brief plot summary: the film concerns the adventures of a former biology student turned fantasy novelist / fantasy game maker. He creates a very "Dungeons and Dragons" type game and a world to go along with it. And, through some various magical happenings, he gets whisked away to the fantasy world he created. There he finds out that he is the champion of this world. He has to fight an evil necromancer named Ommadon (voiced by James Earl Jones). The story is filled with dragons, elves, rangers, knights, magical spells, fairies, slime worms, dreary taverns, etc..On the level of plot, it's very thrilling.But the plot is not the only thing that endears me to this film. Let me just list some of the elements that make it a masterpiece.The animation style: Rankin and Bass's unique animation style comes through here. Slightly strange, borderline grotesque, the artistic style creates a tension between the real world elements the drawings are derived from and the abstractions the drawings are supposed to represent. Thus, there is a kind of rawness / baseness to it.The drawings are stylized, for sure, but the nature of the stylization is such that it might even be described as a resistance to stylization. In other words, the artists strived for reality while realizing that reality was beyond the pale of animation. In other animated films, artists seem to abstain from any ambition to "realistically" represent something. And in this way you get the "four-fingered" hands of so much animation / cartoons.The voice acting: There is some strange voice acting in this film, but it endears me to it. Particularly, the voice actor who plays the voice of the Princess character, Millisande, is quite awkward yet completely satisfying for its mystical, almost recitative quality. Also, the voice actor who relates the character of Smrgol the Dragon—James Gregory—is brilliant! He's an old dragon, tired out by life, and the husky voice no-nonsense delivery completely communicates this. John Ritter does the voice of the main character, Peter Dickinson, and he ramps up the nerdy quality of his voice to the extreme. And, of course, James Earl Jones as the archvillain is just brilliant. He evil laughter is pure art.The thematic content: For a kid's film, this flick engages with some serious philosophical issues. Ultimately, this film is about the conflict between magic and science, empiricism and emotion, two fundamentally distinct ways of understanding the world. Without giving away too much of the plot, the main character becomes the avatar for reason and logic, science and math; thus, the baddies become the representatives of superstition, magic, fear, and other emotional ways of coming to terms with the world.Spoiler alert: It's a strange twist, but the main character's quest ultimately preserves "the magical realm," which is an absolute incongruity considering his way of understanding the world necessarily undermines it.But I forgive this film this as it really begs the question, "Are our imaginations and flights of fancy, our impulses toward wonder and beautiful ignorance necessarily incompatible with the scientific endeavor? Is there something worthwhile is hearing "a god's anger" in the thunder rather than, say, "the manifestation of a meteorological phenomenon?" Is there something lost when we "unweave" the rainbow?The film doesn't answer this rich question. It's the source of its aesthetic power is that is even raises it.

"The Flight of Dragons" is finally being offered on DVD! Amazon is selling copies of the film on DVD-R discs using their Create Space service. These are legitimate, licensed copies. According to Amazon, copies of works sold through Create Space are made from original sources, so the picture and sound should be better than any bootleg available. So, if you've been looking for this film on DVD, just go to Amazon and search for "the flight of dragons DVD", and buy it directly from Amazon (not from the marketplace). I've already ordered my copy and can't wait to watch it. Create Space is licensed by the studio that owns the film to do this, so if the studio sees that there is a demand for the film, maybe we will see a normal DVD or Blu Ray release in the future.

I've seen a few people comment and ask why they haven't released this title on DVD. I want to let you know that they have, it's just hard to find. Here's an easy link to the cheapest place I've found it: http://www.dvdlook.com and look for this movie title. They have it for $16.95 plus shipping and handling. They also have other timeless classics like "The Wuzzles" (who could forget lovable Bumble-lion? haha) and the Hugga Bunch. This movie is a timeless classic and should be a must-see mandatory viewing for everyone who hasn't already seen it. Personally, I don't own it on DVD...yet! I plan on buying it for my seven year old son as a Christmas present. I'm sure he will love it just like I did when I was his age! This is an awesome move with great animation! Why can't they animate movies like this anymore? Example: Check out the original My Little Pony movies and shows then watch the newer ones. The animation is crap if you ask me. I'm sure kids today like it because that's all they've seen. But you let them watch one 80's movie with the 80's style animation and they'll never want anything else. HAHA

it has been at least 15 years since i saw this film on BETA (yes, beta!) . . . i was about 4 years old the first time i saw it and it has absolutely influenced who i have become in so many unmentionable ways . . . i still believe magic and science CAN coexist, at least they do in my mind as a practitioner of science but a firm believer of all things magical (and musical). the paradigms expressed in this film and the struggle to keep them all alive still bring a sting to my soul to this very day. i had a sudden longing to see this film again tonight - it is new years eve and i'm reflecting on who i am and what i believe in. funny that i should hear a song tonight that reminded me too much of the theme "flight of dragons"-i almost cried. i need to return to the innocence of where my optimism for this world was formed, and it lies here. i typed in the film title, and here i find myself! i'm glad to find a forum dedicated to this, as no one i have ever met has ever even heard of this animation!