Monster of the Day #124

Updated on October 29, 2010 By Ken Begg 21 Comments

Who would have thought old Bert I. would have it in him? A great practical-built dragon that completely hits that point where fakey intersects with terrific and completely satisfying.

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  • The Rev.

    I was really hoping you were saving this guy for Friday. I LOVE this guy. Easily the best part of the movie, and not in a stupid, good-bad way, but in a purely wonderful way.

    Until I saw Vermithrax, this was my favorite movie dragon, even more than Harryhausen’s one in that Sinbad movie. A lot of it has to do with it being a real, fire-breathing prop, but seriously, look at him! He’s great!

    I still wish I could own this thing, improbable as it may be.

  • Ericb

    Surprising that Bert I. didn’t use a slurpasaur.

  • TongoRad

    The Magic Sword?

    I’ll have to check this one out (MSTed version) this weekend if Dragonslayer doesn’t arrive by then.

  • sady, few slurpasaurs are actually able to breathe fire.

  • Well, if anyone would KNOW, it would be Sandy.

    (Because he’s really old, get it? Old enough to have seen dinosaurs. See where I’m going with this?)

  • Ericb

    Sandy, all he needed to do superimpose some footage if a burning match in front of an iguana/baby croc’s mouth and and presto! a B.I.G slurpadragon. It would have been classic.

  • Gamera

    I always think of the MST3K version of the movie. When the two-headed dragon shows up one of the ‘bots quips ‘If this were Japanese the whole movie would have been about this monster.’

    Now that it’s the end of the week my nomination for the WORST cinema dragon ever goes to ‘Tiamat’ from the ’80s D&D cartoon show. She’s both a five-headed dragon and a friggin’ goddess and she can’t waste a handful of lousy annoying brat kids??? I was really hoping Ken wouldn’t chose her!

  • The only naturally “firebreathing” animal I know is the Bombardier Beetle, which produces 800 degree explosions in any direction. I’ve been “shot” by one. It didn’t hurt but it was a surprise. I’m sure it would hurt if I were the size of a thing that eats beetles.

  • Rock Baker

    Weird construction too. A big hump in the middle with a row of spikes down the back and a neck on either side of the body, coming right out of the sides of the trunk! A great scene in a super fun movie! (And I do believe the princess was the delicious Anne Helm!)

    There was apparently a Slavic version of the story filmed in 1950. I wonder if it also had a dragon (or an American release).

  • How can you say a dragon has “weird” construction? I mean, it’s not like there is some standard dragon model. Aren’t they all weird?

  • Rock Baker

    Oh, I’d allow that there’s a standard construction for dragons. Harryhausen’s dragon would fit the basic model nicely, with wings as an extra if needed.

  • Petoht

    Gamera: Oh, give 80’s Tiamat a break. Those brat kids are apparently wandering around with a bunch of hyper-powered artifacts.

  • 80s Tiamat deserves no break. According to the D&D rules themselves, a pack of low-level people with the most powerful artifacts in the game wouldnt stand a chance. The whole D&D cartoonj series was a travesty, plus it probably cost Gary Gygax his marriage. Hollywood assholes.

  • Oh, look who’s a big gaming expert all of the sudden.

  • Hey, I’ve seen people playing D&D in the movies. What more need I know to be an expert?

  • TongoRad

    It came across as pretty expert level commentary to me, but then again I’m the sort who’d use Magic Missile to attack the darkness…

  • KeithB

    Sandy:
    Interesting Charles Darwin story: He was out collecting beetles one day and had one in each hand when he saw another good specimaen. What to do? What any red-blooded collector would do, of course, he put one of the ones in his hands in his mouth. He chose the wrong one, it was a bombadier beetle and went off in his mouth.

    Actually ironic, if you know about Creationists and Bombadier Beetles.

  • John Campbell

    Sandy – you were batting a 1000 until you mentioned Gary Gygax being married.

    Come on man! He INVENTED D-&-D!

    He’s the god of single over-aged people still living in their parent’s basement!

  • I didn’t even know they had bombardier beetles in England. A wide variety of beetles emit noxious substances though. I’m very impressed with Darwin’s courage seeing as (A) he obviously didn’t know what kind of beetle it was or he wouldn’t have popped it into his mouth and (B) Bombardier beetles usually have warning coloration so he knew it might do SOMETHING.

    Gygax was married long before he co-invented D&D. If it helps your fantasy any, Dave Arneson, the other inventor of D&D, was unmarried at the time. His wife joined the army after they married, and then ran off without another woman.

  • i mean WITH another woman.

  • But only after rolling a natural 18.