The 'plothole' of Omadan's defeat is actually set up and properly explained during the council the brothers have at the start; it isn't actually 'science' per se that will make Omadan stronger, but the fear and chaos that the 'destructive'' side of it generates which Omadan intends to usurp. Peter represents the 'progress' side of science and the good it brings to the modern world; the antithesis of what Omadan wants, and in the clash between the two ideologies at the end, it's progress that wins out.
@@CouncilofGeeks it is totally shown to be a thing seeded early on. The water mill shows science plowing through magic with the swan fairies. With Omadonm Peter uses the logic of science to deny the existence of Magic as a reality that no such thing can truly exist. In that moment he becomes the paragon of modernity, the sweet moment is where he has not totally given up on the magic or fantasy as he is a man of science but also a nerd who holds in his imagination a glimmer of magic.
Probably one of my favourite films of all time, I watched it almost every weekend when I was younger. Not many people seem to know about it and they're missing out in my opinion
I absolutely ADORED this as a kid thirty-something years ago, I could watch it over and over and over and the animation for its time was pretty special for a direct-to-video production (before that was really even a thing). Really unique character designs too... and *oh*, that voice cast.
I've got a heck of a lot of nostalgia for this one, i must say. The Ogre of Gormley Keep was like the bogeyman in our house: he haunted my childhood dreams. I also made the somewhat heretical remark in the school playground that Omadon was a scarier and better villain than Darth Vader. He creeped me out with his "Doom! Doom! DOOM!" mantra.
The ending of this movie is on my my favorite moments in media ever. It's hilarious and shocking, and if you didn't notice, it was rambled off in alphabetical order, just making it that much dorkier.
Oh, this is the movie of my childhood. And I think it's a typical eighties fantasy which can't decide what it is: a child cartoon or a horror... Cuz I distinctly remember some character designs messing with my psyche on the first watch. Though I like it. And I think it has an excellent musical theme which I remember to this day. And yep... I have a ton of nostalgia for this one. But I see what you're talking about :)
There's something about this film. Not sure what it is but even with all its flaws there's still a touch of magic there. Really captures the same sense of melancholy that Lord of the Rings did - watching the passing of a world that has had its time.
This is one for me, to borrow your own phrase, I watched this so many times as a kid, I have no memory of watching it for the first time. It WAS a little odd when my mom found Dickinson's actual book at the library and it was SOOOOO not this movie. I love this one, even if it's just for the nostalgia. My take on the final confrontation (Omadon's transformation was pure nightmare fuel when I was a kid), is that Omadon was drawing power from the negatives of technology (war, atomic weapons, pollution, emerging bioengineering, etc) and Peter's response is naming off all the positive and beneficial aspects and advances of science, but I haven't watched it in over 20 years, but that is how I remember interpreting it when I was a wee lad.
Princess Melisande is much more important than mentioned here. Doesn't she have the visions that tells her father what's happening on the quest??!! Exactly !!
I watched this as a child in 80s, never knew what it was called and therefore couldn’t find it and knew it wasn’t dungeons and dragons. Today I some how found it and I’m tripping out! 🙈
Technically isn't in the UK because Wayne Anderson was a dick about the rights, because he finds it embarrassing. However the US version is region free. 😈 I might have had fun giving him the US version for Christmas one year. We immediately put it on for the grandkids lol
I was an adult when I saw the Flight on Dragons. Flight and Last Unicorn were my favorite Rankin Bass films. Flight was a mashup of Flight of Dragons by Peter Dickinson and The Dragon and the George by Gordon R Dickson.
I saw this one when I was ten, so I can definitely see nostalgia playing a role in it, especially as at the time I saw it I was obsessed with dragons. However I will admit that it isn't as good as it could have been, with a great voice cast and an interesting premise it does have its weaknesses, but it remains unique among fantasy films.
I never understand when people talk about Rankin Bass' fluid animation when they interact and move just fine. What, are they suppose to spin 4 times like Ariel in 1 movement? I wish people would elaborate more on it.
I adored this movie as a kid, and watched it whenever it was available at Blockbuster. I have tons of nostalgia for it and I must say, this was a really fine and fair review. I completely agree with almost all your comments and laughed out loud because some of them were so true. I even thought the ending was a bit bizarre as a little kid. I will say that the dragon design in this movie was phenomenal and I wish we had more dragon movies with the expressive faces and interesting personalities of these dragons. Smergol is a true hero and Brayog is a terrifying badass when you're seven years old. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I hope no one is dissuaded from seeing the film by the awful cartoony box cover design... the box cover looks nothing like the actual movie characters... I was so upset when this video was released with such a badly drawn cover!
I have met Peter Beagle, author of the Last Unicorn. Gordon Dickson author of Dragon and the George was an acquaintance who I hung out with frequently at SF conventions.
I first saw this movie when it aired on The Disney Channel. And, I'm dating myself, but we recorded it onto VHS the next time they aired it. I love Rankin-Bass's drawn animation, The Last Unicorn being my favorite of their films. And I was a big fan of Thunder Cats (but not so much Silver Hawk). I love a couple of the stop motion specials they did as well, Jack Frost and The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause being my favorites of those. The corniness, charm, character designs... and their ability to convey an epic story in a child friendly format has made them a favorite studio of mine. I just came across this channel yesterday, and I'm going through your backlog. I'm enjoying your videos muchly.
The Flight of Dragons is a favorite of mine, I remember watching it on ABC as a child and it just stuck with me. As a kid it was a fun fantastic movie, when I rewatched it as an adult, I still had the wonderful feeling. I would recommend The Flight of Dragons to anyone.
Might be quite influenced by 70s and 80s tripping but this was awesome. I watched this dozens of times when I was a kid. In hind sight, the only thing wrong with the movie seems to be that Omedon did in fact win...
Big shout out of course to the legendary voices as well as superb acting abilities of Harry Morgan and James Earl Jones, not to mention a huge thanks to Don McLean for his superb singing in the theme song, great music and background animation too. I downloaded this song plus his Starry Starry Night/Vincent and American Pie songs onto my MP3, the first songs I downloaded from a website onto the MP3.
I really did enjoy this movie as a kid, it did help me get interested in fantasy as a whole and how it ends (without spoilers so let's say with logic) always entertained me. Not a perfect movie but for kids it will definitely be a good watch and be a good lead into other fantasy films Also the music is great
That effect you spoke of at the end, when you rewatch something you loved as a kid, I always call it "watching through a haze of nostalgia." I ran into this when I saw Starblazers for the first time in college and was like, why? Many of my friends would defend it with their dying breath. I had the same result with Space 1999. I occasionally read books through a haze of nostalgia, and it's always so disappointing when it isn't quite as good as I remembered.
This is a film I grew up on, along with all other Rankin Bass films. Been one of my favourites and re-watching as an adult still was a great experience. Not a perfect film and your analysis was interesting, even though I see some things a little differently. This will always hold a special place in my heart.
Only meant for little kids? The evil dragon is not as scary as Smaug? Bryagh: “ HEAR ME SCUM OF CAROLINUS! PREPARE TO DIE!” *proceeds to kill the entire cast of heroes and heroines in front of your eyes in about a minute. Laughing all the way through the killings. “Praying? Hahaha now die” - as he firebombs the last hero standing. Bum. Done. I apparently didn’t have the same experience with Bryagh as you had. Perhaps you should have seen the movie as a kid :) And the nightmares of the ogre... and of the worm. those were scary too. *Shutters And no the red wizard does not thrive on science - he is fading too - but he intends to harness it. To make mans motivations his own and make the good guys destroy themselves- it is a solution where he will feed of the greed and averice of modern mans ambition instead of dying from their lack of belief in magic. It’s a change in diet by changing the world. That’s why science can still destroy him. The reason why the 4 Magic brothers can’t fight each other is because it would destroy the world. They need a surgical strike that they can motivate. Agree that they could have expanded on the idea - that faith in magic is fueling magic. I think it’s taken from mage: the ascension - or its other way around :) But I get it. I know I’m watching it through a lense of nostalgia haha thank you for reviewing it! ❤️👍
Movie plot is a mix of Peter dickensons book flight of dragons and Gordon R. Dickson's book The Dragon and the George. Flight of dragons for the science, the Dragon and the George for the plot.
You're thorough and thoughtful as always (I love Rankin Bass) but I can tell the difference between this and something you feel passionately about. ♥️the Last Unicorn. Cried my eyes out. Have you read A Fine and Private Place?
I saw this movie when I was a kid and I loved it, so much so that I've seen it several times. That being said, I do think your criticisms are valid. I honestly never thought of it in that way before.
Thing is the explanation makes sense in the context of a guy in a new body wanting to know how it works if you put Alan grant in the body of a t-rex and was learning from another t-rex
You brought up a thing I never thought about. How he defeated Omadon makes no sense. But I just now though of something similar that would. Keep the battle of words. But make Omadon threaten Petter with famin, war, disease, lies, fear, darkness, jealousy, greed and so on. Then have Peter counter with the good things about humans and how their science in the future will end those things. Peace, agriculture, medicine, books/literacy, love, and so on. "So you see you have no place in our future Omadon. I deny you fade away and be forgotten." But the opening song of this movie is epic. I still get chills.
I really enjoyed Flight of Dragons as a Kid, and I think it is a great example of fantasy productions of that time period. The final fight, against Omadaun, and using the power belief is a common theme of 80's children's fantasy such as Labyrinth and the Never Ending Story. Also the theme of evil wizard embracing modern war is sort of a hold over from the 60's and 70's. Wizards is a good example of that. Even Token has themes of nature vs industrialization sprinkled in the Lord of the Rings. It is also a nod to the growing popularity of D&D during that time. I see this as transitional movie from the under represented fantasy genre in the 60-70, to movies such as Conan and Willow opening the door for Peter Jacksons - Lord of the Rings. Until Jacksons trilogy (and Harry Potter) there was a lot of skepticism on how much of an audience there was for this kind of media so it was mostly done on the cheep.
Heh I love this one, I grew up with it. Both the book and film were illustrated by my dad's best friend; Wayne Anderson, and he finds the film so cringe. 😆 I love showing it to people to make him cross. It makes him so grumpy. It was extremely hippy and it's a fun time.
By the way, does anyone now realise that Peter Dickinson is actually dressed like Dr Who here, at 5:59? Just needs a hat on his head and an umbrella and sonic screwdriver to top off the look!!
Omadon’s defeat: this touches on Tolkien and movies like The Neverending Story... or even American Gods. The ultimate source of “magic” or “divine” or “demonic” forces is Humanity. The old world has been removed from the waking world... and guess what, we are ultimately responsible for it’s creation and deletion. Our childhood belief in religion and magic passing away, but still a part of us and remembered fondly to bring future inspiration.
It was based on the notion of honour, and falling in love later and it wasn't seen as the way it would be now, rather like how workhouses and the notion of children working was normal in the 1800s. I knew that bit wouldn't translate well in todays world though lol.
When i was really little, my grandfather taped this and also the Hobbit, and some other cartoons, like DTV, if anyone remembers that lol. I used to watch that tape EVERYDAY as a child, both movies, and both give me a huge feeling of nostalgia whenever mentioned. I LOVE this movie! But have yet to see it as an adult (i sadly wore the tape out). I think, just from what i remember, your criticisms are fair, and would probably be the same for me as a critical adult who LOVES tearing apart inaccuracies in shows and movies lol. I still love this movie, but come on lol. Movies from the 80s by todays standards are pretty bad lol. Good, but cringe, plotholes, and just clearly old lol. Still love this movie. Saw a mention on facebook today and the feels coming back! ❤ I just wish i knew where i could watch it without having to pay more than what i already do in streaming services.
Spoilers at the end after two extra empty lines. You were warned. Once upon a time there was a book on a shelf somewehre called The Dragon Knight. This book ended up in my hands, I read it, and then after research I learned that there was a book 1; TDK was book 2. No problem, went on a search and found a copy that was slightly beaten (eBay maybe?) but legible and Jim and Angie became dear friends as I read the tale. Every now and again I'd return to the tale because it was that good. I don't recall how many of the book 3-> I read; TD&TG and TDK were both clearly in my brain and overwhelmed the other two. Then I had a kid. Then I met a nice guy who had problems but we eventually got together and he told me about a movie he had watched as a kid and wanted to find a copy of. He outlined the plot, the lightbulb in my head went on and I was like, wait! Ran into the bedroom and pulled out my beaten green book with Jim and Angie and the rest of the Companions and we compared his distant memories of the movie with mine of the book. Then of course he took the book from me and read it. He was just as voracious a reader as I was then! On my side, I sat down and hunted a copy. It wasn't easy, but after a week or two I got it and the entire family--our child had just turned 6 and my 14 year old wasn't too interested but sometimes eyes would glance at the computer screen where we played it. And John Ritter is a genius. He might be Peter, and I haven't a clue what's in that other book--I didn't even know there WAS another book until just last week; visiting an hour ago it's at 103.00 to get it (DAMN!) so I get to hunt down a copy of THAT. If I am asked which version I like better--the book. Hands down. Even with James Earl Jones and John Ritter and Harry Morgan, the book has a lovely plot, character advancement for Jim (animated Peter) and examines what a man does and how he is is an indication of the environment he was raised and is set into adrift. King Arthur's Connecticut Yankee did it first. Onto the plot. The movie's plot takes a pinch of this, and a bit of that and maybe this flavoring down here of the D&TG. It brings in "fluff" I'll call it since I haven't read Peter's book and takes away some really nice things that I thought were well done, but there still is a time delay on the average Kids/Teens' length movie you have to squeeze things into. The Flight of Dragons starts as said above with the wizards meeting when Carolinus begins to see his powers are slipping. Then he calls the 3 wizards to meet at Antiquity's Tower. When asked why he's bring the red wizard, he explains that there must be evil and good to ensure the good doesn't get lost. Then off the story goes, The red wizard hates the idea of the "retirement home" as he calls it, and storms out to do his worse as long as he's wearing the red crown so he solemnly swears, and in this environment, oaths were not taken ligthly. You kept them. Carolinus begins to assemble the Companions (not sure if they're called that yet; I'm not too far into the rewatching when I came to grab two clips to c/p for my friends and this review popped up in the search). Carolinus goes to fetch Peter and away the story goes. Book plot. Jim and Angie are your typical grad students at a college in the midwest. I think it was called Riveroak, and they're looking to get away from their current living apart situation and find their own place. The book was written decades ago when 200 for rent was a large sum of money and Jim drove a Beetle. Angie works as a lab assistant and stays late one night after when Jim had went to get her. He arrives just in time to see her blip out of her chair. The study which Jim is infuriated to learn is on astral travel but they weren't trying to have Angie teleport out at all! Jim's threatening the Grad student who once Jim calms a hint down has him go into the chair and try to chase after Angie. The Student knows she was thinking about Dragons and fantasy... and Jim awakens to find himself in an awkward place and he can't figue out what's wrong. We find out it's because he's a dragon. Somehow his mind had been merged with that of our young green dragon friend in the movie and he's taken control pushing the dragon's mind into a dark corner. Angie has been kidnapped by the dragons and placed in a cage and they're all arguing what to do with the female George. After a long bit of arguing Jim's dragon body is sent to talk to Carolinus to see where the George belongs (not locally; she's from across the Atlantic!) and who would be willing to ransom her (again, not going to happen so Jim's worried they'll try to eat her). The discussion with Carolinus involves yelling about not my day for dragons, an ulcerated stomach which Jim tells him to drink milk--this works and Carolinus calls it the best bit of sympathetic magic he's seen in years. They try to make a plan when the subdued dragon 's uncle (red older dragon) hurries to tell them that Angie's been kidnapped and taken to the Loathly Tower. In this novel there is no red wizard. Just the Forces of Evil. I can't say if he does/n't show up later though in the series. Carolinus does magical things and finds out that the next task at hand was to undergo a quest and gather companions. Under no circumstances is Jim to go to the Loathly Tower alone. Stubborn, Jiim considers just this until he learns that is a way for him and Angie to both fail as well as the medieval world they're in falling into darkness and evil. Nothing heavy right? Just right for the kiddies? This starts his path to gain the Companions. The Princess doesn't exist just so folks know. If I recall correctly this is where the movie and the book begin to run parallel to each other around there for a bit. The book has a lot more meat to digest so it didn't make it into the movie, but a good portion did and it helped me enjoy the movie watching John be Jim / Peter. The ending is a bit more complex than the movie had it--the forces of good and evil met and the day broke and the fighting started and each companion was involved in their own tasks against their particular enemy from the darkness---it did not end with Peter saying he didn't believe James Earl Jones didn't exist! Sheesh. Movie ending is a bit cute for the kids. Book ending is more intense, there's a self examination for Jim to make a choice and to talk with Angie to decide their future. These two endings are as far apart as they could EVER be. All in all though? After we found the movie and watched it, and then the 6 year old wanted to watch it again and again and again, he ran around the apartment saying "The Chair of Doom!" "The fork of Doom!" The Book of Doom!" "The Computer of Doom!" (Can't tell which scene was his favorite?) About 3 or 4 weeks later we went to retrieve the cat that we had adopted for his birthday from his mother-cat due to a milk issue so the kitten was super small and 5 weeks old. He fit in my husband's shirt pocket with his nose and eyes sticking out but the rest hidden. Of course, the new kitten needed a name. My son perked up "The Cat of Doom!" My husband and I winced and said, "No. We are not naming this kitten The Cat of Doom. His face crumbling, Erik looked at us with puppy eyes. "Doom-zee?" As we go into the cat's 11th year of life--he was born April 2011--Doomz or Doom-zee is still a tiny little cat and the runt of famiily-crew of silbings. He's the only one of his litter mates that survived. And everyday as I say "Doom-zee! Oh Doom-zee!" my mind goes back to this damned movie where his name first came from and James Earl Jones' fanning the dragons on saying "Doom! Doom! Doom!" Every single day. Nah. We don't love the movie. Nope. {{Spoilers, the answer is YES!}} 🐲🐉🐈⬛😹🧙🧙♂🧙♀🧎♀🗡🏹🐺🏰
@@vilstef6988 Oh I know. I'm waiting on Amazon to debug the text before I buy it because the reviewers have mentioned typos and grammar issues in the digital print versions. I don't buy paper copies anymore because I can zoom on my Kindle/phone/laptop GUI to ease the strain on the older eyes. In particular I like the book Angie because she's fiesty and stands up for herself against anyone--including Jim! :D
The 'plothole' of Omadan's defeat is actually set up and properly explained during the council the brothers have at the start; it isn't actually 'science' per se that will make Omadan stronger, but the fear and chaos that the 'destructive'' side of it generates which Omadan intends to usurp. Peter represents the 'progress' side of science and the good it brings to the modern world; the antithesis of what Omadan wants, and in the clash between the two ideologies at the end, it's progress that wins out.
Oooooooooh... they really could have made that clearer and maybe a mid-point reminder.
@@CouncilofGeeks it is totally shown to be a thing seeded early on. The water mill shows science plowing through magic with the swan fairies. With Omadonm Peter uses the logic of science to deny the existence of Magic as a reality that no such thing can truly exist. In that moment he becomes the paragon of modernity, the sweet moment is where he has not totally given up on the magic or fantasy as he is a man of science but also a nerd who holds in his imagination a glimmer of magic.
Probably one of my favourite films of all time, I watched it almost every weekend when I was younger.
Not many people seem to know about it and they're missing out in my opinion
I absolutely ADORED this as a kid thirty-something years ago, I could watch it over and over and over and the animation for its time was pretty special for a direct-to-video production (before that was really even a thing). Really unique character designs too... and *oh*, that voice cast.
I've got a heck of a lot of nostalgia for this one, i must say. The Ogre of Gormley Keep was like the bogeyman in our house: he haunted my childhood dreams.
I also made the somewhat heretical remark in the school playground that Omadon was a scarier and better villain than Darth Vader. He creeped me out with his "Doom! Doom! DOOM!" mantra.
I always thought The Ogre was the big older brother of the goblins from The Hobbit!
Yes!!!!!
Ommadon expanding into that grotesque shape at the end always scared me.
Antiquity is voiced by Paul Frees. Nobody EVER questions Paul Frees.
The man had a four-octave vocal range, you COULDN'T question him.
I had this film on laserdisc. I was born in 82 and loved this film.
This was my favorite movie as a kid and someone no one has ever seen it
Ogre gave me nightmares with that scene of his hand coming through the wall of the inn
The ending of this movie is on my my favorite moments in media ever. It's hilarious and shocking, and if you didn't notice, it was rambled off in alphabetical order, just making it that much dorkier.
Oh, this is the movie of my childhood. And I think it's a typical eighties fantasy which can't decide what it is: a child cartoon or a horror... Cuz I distinctly remember some character designs messing with my psyche on the first watch. Though I like it. And I think it has an excellent musical theme which I remember to this day. And yep... I have a ton of nostalgia for this one. But I see what you're talking about :)
There's something about this film. Not sure what it is but even with all its flaws there's still a touch of magic there.
Really captures the same sense of melancholy that Lord of the Rings did - watching the passing of a world that has had its time.
There is another Rankin Bass animated movie you should review. That is their version of Wind in the Willows. Please review that one.
Wind in the Willows is so underrated. I would also reccomend Black Beauty.
This is one for me, to borrow your own phrase, I watched this so many times as a kid, I have no memory of watching it for the first time. It WAS a little odd when my mom found Dickinson's actual book at the library and it was SOOOOO not this movie. I love this one, even if it's just for the nostalgia.
My take on the final confrontation (Omadon's transformation was pure nightmare fuel when I was a kid), is that Omadon was drawing power from the negatives of technology (war, atomic weapons, pollution, emerging bioengineering, etc) and Peter's response is naming off all the positive and beneficial aspects and advances of science, but I haven't watched it in over 20 years, but that is how I remember interpreting it when I was a wee lad.
Princess Melisande is much more important than mentioned here. Doesn't she have the visions that tells her father what's happening on the quest??!! Exactly !!
I watched this as a child in 80s, never knew what it was called and therefore couldn’t find it and knew it wasn’t dungeons and dragons. Today I some how found it and I’m tripping out! 🙈
how the hell did James Earl Jones not blow you away? It's his best acting role ever. He goes 12/10, not just 11/10.
Had it on vhs in the UK loved it, still do now but isn’t on dvd or Blu-ray over here. “ bit of this bit of that, I had him he had me”.
Technically isn't in the UK because Wayne Anderson was a dick about the rights, because he finds it embarrassing.
However the US version is region free. 😈
I might have had fun giving him the US version for Christmas one year. We immediately put it on for the grandkids lol
I was an adult when I saw the Flight on Dragons. Flight and Last Unicorn were my favorite Rankin Bass films. Flight was a mashup of Flight of Dragons by Peter Dickinson and The Dragon and the George by Gordon R Dickson.
I saw this one when I was ten, so I can definitely see nostalgia playing a role in it, especially as at the time I saw it I was obsessed with dragons. However I will admit that it isn't as good as it could have been, with a great voice cast and an interesting premise it does have its weaknesses, but it remains unique among fantasy films.
I never understand when people talk about Rankin Bass' fluid animation when they interact and move just fine. What, are they suppose to spin 4 times like Ariel in 1 movement? I wish people would elaborate more on it.
The only acceptable review of this movie is to admit it is perfection
I'll be honest..this is my favourite animated film of all time.i don't care of the flaws or criticisms its my fav..n ive seen a lot over the years
Amen!!
I adored this movie as a kid, and watched it whenever it was available at Blockbuster. I have tons of nostalgia for it and I must say, this was a really fine and fair review. I completely agree with almost all your comments and laughed out loud because some of them were so true. I even thought the ending was a bit bizarre as a little kid. I will say that the dragon design in this movie was phenomenal and I wish we had more dragon movies with the expressive faces and interesting personalities of these dragons. Smergol is a true hero and Brayog is a terrifying badass when you're seven years old. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I hope no one is dissuaded from seeing the film by the awful cartoony box cover design... the box cover looks nothing like the actual movie characters... I was so upset when this video was released with such a badly drawn cover!
I have met Peter Beagle, author of the Last Unicorn. Gordon Dickson author of Dragon and the George was an acquaintance who I hung out with frequently at SF conventions.
I read the entire book series. Sooooo good.
I first saw this movie when it aired on The Disney Channel. And, I'm dating myself, but we recorded it onto VHS the next time they aired it. I love Rankin-Bass's drawn animation, The Last Unicorn being my favorite of their films. And I was a big fan of Thunder Cats (but not so much Silver Hawk). I love a couple of the stop motion specials they did as well, Jack Frost and The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause being my favorites of those. The corniness, charm, character designs... and their ability to convey an epic story in a child friendly format has made them a favorite studio of mine.
I just came across this channel yesterday, and I'm going through your backlog. I'm enjoying your videos muchly.
The Flight of Dragons is a favorite of mine, I remember watching it on ABC as a child and it just stuck with me. As a kid it was a fun fantastic movie, when I rewatched it as an adult, I still had the wonderful feeling. I would recommend The Flight of Dragons to anyone.
Might be quite influenced by 70s and 80s tripping but this was awesome. I watched this dozens of times when I was a kid. In hind sight, the only thing wrong with the movie seems to be that Omedon did in fact win...
I love them all. Grew up watching all of them. Dragons 🐉 replaced horses as my #1 favorite with this movie.
Fun facts: Sir Peter's voice actors son would play Dipper in Gravity Falls and Gorebash's voice actor also plays Snarf from Thundercats.
That's right. John Ritter played the Peter Dickinson character. Dipper was voiced by Jason Ritter, his son.
Big shout out of course to the legendary voices as well as superb acting abilities of Harry Morgan and James Earl Jones, not to mention a huge thanks to Don McLean for his superb singing in the theme song, great music and background animation too. I downloaded this song plus his Starry Starry Night/Vincent and American Pie songs onto my MP3, the first songs I downloaded from a website onto the MP3.
@@Zobovor so why hmm...no? I already said Sir Peters Voice actors son was dipper. Whats the point of your comment?
Puny scum of Coralinus are down voting this review
I really did enjoy this movie as a kid, it did help me get interested in fantasy as a whole and how it ends (without spoilers so let's say with logic) always entertained me. Not a perfect movie but for kids it will definitely be a good watch and be a good lead into other fantasy films
Also the music is great
That effect you spoke of at the end, when you rewatch something you loved as a kid, I always call it "watching through a haze of nostalgia." I ran into this when I saw Starblazers for the first time in college and was like, why? Many of my friends would defend it with their dying breath. I had the same result with Space 1999. I occasionally read books through a haze of nostalgia, and it's always so disappointing when it isn't quite as good as I remembered.
The world is Omadon.
Yes!
YOU JUST MADE MY MORNING!!!! I *love* this movie!
This is a film I grew up on, along with all other Rankin Bass films. Been one of my favourites and re-watching as an adult still was a great experience. Not a perfect film and your analysis was interesting, even though I see some things a little differently. This will always hold a special place in my heart.
Only meant for little kids? The evil dragon is not as scary as Smaug?
Bryagh: “ HEAR ME SCUM OF CAROLINUS! PREPARE TO DIE!”
*proceeds to kill the entire cast of heroes and heroines in front of your eyes in about a minute. Laughing all the way through the killings.
“Praying? Hahaha now die” - as he firebombs the last hero standing. Bum. Done.
I apparently didn’t have the same experience with Bryagh as you had. Perhaps you should have seen the movie as a kid :)
And the nightmares of the ogre... and of the worm. those were scary too. *Shutters
And no the red wizard does not thrive on science - he is fading too - but he intends to harness it. To make mans motivations his own and make the good guys destroy themselves- it is a solution where he will feed of the greed and averice of modern mans ambition instead of dying from their lack of belief in magic. It’s a change in diet by changing the world. That’s why science can still destroy him.
The reason why the 4 Magic brothers can’t fight each other is because it would destroy the world. They need a surgical strike that they can motivate.
Agree that they could have expanded on the idea - that faith in magic is fueling magic. I think it’s taken from mage: the ascension - or its other way around :)
But I get it. I know I’m watching it through a lense of nostalgia haha thank you for reviewing it! ❤️👍
A fellow Ascension person. I bow to you in Euthanatos my dear friend!
Movie plot is a mix of Peter dickensons book flight of dragons and Gordon R. Dickson's book The Dragon and the George. Flight of dragons for the science, the Dragon and the George for the plot.
You're thorough and thoughtful as always (I love Rankin Bass) but I can tell the difference between this and something you feel passionately about. ♥️the Last Unicorn. Cried my eyes out. Have you read A Fine and Private Place?
I can't say that I have.
I saw this movie when I was a kid and I loved it, so much so that I've seen it several times. That being said, I do think your criticisms are valid. I honestly never thought of it in that way before.
Thing is the explanation makes sense in the context of a guy in a new body wanting to know how it works if you put Alan grant in the body of a t-rex and was learning from another t-rex
And the omadon thing was about discovery aspects of science without the darkness that balances his power
The book series this is based on(Dragon Knight) is very different from the movie & has great potential for adaptation.
James erl Jones's voice acting in this movie is some of the most epic I've ever heard. I'm not sure what you were watching
You brought up a thing I never thought about. How he defeated Omadon makes no sense. But I just now though of something similar that would.
Keep the battle of words. But make Omadon threaten Petter with famin, war, disease, lies, fear, darkness, jealousy, greed and so on.
Then have Peter counter with the good things about humans and how their science in the future will end those things. Peace, agriculture, medicine, books/literacy, love, and so on.
"So you see you have no place in our future Omadon. I deny you fade away and be forgotten."
But the opening song of this movie is epic. I still get chills.
I really enjoyed Flight of Dragons as a Kid, and I think it is a great example of fantasy productions of that time period. The final fight, against Omadaun, and using the power belief is a common theme of 80's children's fantasy such as Labyrinth and the Never Ending Story. Also the theme of evil wizard embracing modern war is sort of a hold over from the 60's and 70's. Wizards is a good example of that. Even Token has themes of nature vs industrialization sprinkled in the Lord of the Rings. It is also a nod to the growing popularity of D&D during that time. I see this as transitional movie from the under represented fantasy genre in the 60-70, to movies such as Conan and Willow opening the door for Peter Jacksons - Lord of the Rings. Until Jacksons trilogy (and Harry Potter) there was a lot of skepticism on how much of an audience there was for this kind of media so it was mostly done on the cheep.
I can not get this on dvd... :(
Buy the cheep US version. It's not region locked
@@vickymc9695 already got it now. (region-free)
First time I've seen someone talk about this movie amd not bring up the opening song.
Huh, I'm kinda the opposite, this was the only RankenBass (spelling?) movie we had growing up.
Heh I love this one, I grew up with it.
Both the book and film were illustrated by my dad's best friend; Wayne Anderson, and he finds the film so cringe. 😆 I love showing it to people to make him cross. It makes him so grumpy. It was extremely hippy and it's a fun time.
By the way, does anyone now realise that Peter Dickinson is actually dressed like Dr Who here, at 5:59? Just needs a hat on his head and an umbrella and sonic screwdriver to top off the look!!
My oldest daughter would make me watch most movies over and over with her . We only watched this movie once, and that was VERY I'm with me.
Ok
The book Flight of Dragons is a faux nonfiction book.
Omadon’s defeat: this touches on Tolkien and movies like The Neverending Story... or even American Gods. The ultimate source of “magic” or “divine” or “demonic” forces is Humanity. The old world has been removed from the waking world... and guess what, we are ultimately responsible for it’s creation and deletion. Our childhood belief in religion and magic passing away, but still a part of us and remembered fondly to bring future inspiration.
It was based on the notion of honour, and falling in love later and it wasn't seen as the way it would be now, rather like how workhouses and the notion of children working was normal in the 1800s. I knew that bit wouldn't translate well in todays world though lol.
RIP James Earl Jones
When i was really little, my grandfather taped this and also the Hobbit, and some other cartoons, like DTV, if anyone remembers that lol. I used to watch that tape EVERYDAY as a child, both movies, and both give me a huge feeling of nostalgia whenever mentioned.
I LOVE this movie! But have yet to see it as an adult (i sadly wore the tape out). I think, just from what i remember, your criticisms are fair, and would probably be the same for me as a critical adult who LOVES tearing apart inaccuracies in shows and movies lol. I still love this movie, but come on lol. Movies from the 80s by todays standards are pretty bad lol. Good, but cringe, plotholes, and just clearly old lol. Still love this movie. Saw a mention on facebook today and the feels coming back! ❤ I just wish i knew where i could watch it without having to pay more than what i already do in streaming services.
Spoilers at the end after two extra empty lines. You were warned. Once upon a time there was a book on a shelf somewehre called The Dragon Knight. This book ended up in my hands, I read it, and then after research I learned that there was a book 1; TDK was book 2. No problem, went on a search and found a copy that was slightly beaten (eBay maybe?) but legible and Jim and Angie became dear friends as I read the tale. Every now and again I'd return to the tale because it was that good. I don't recall how many of the book 3-> I read; TD&TG and TDK were both clearly in my brain and overwhelmed the other two. Then I had a kid. Then I met a nice guy who had problems but we eventually got together and he told me about a movie he had watched as a kid and wanted to find a copy of. He outlined the plot, the lightbulb in my head went on and I was like, wait! Ran into the bedroom and pulled out my beaten green book with Jim and Angie and the rest of the Companions and we compared his distant memories of the movie with mine of the book. Then of course he took the book from me and read it. He was just as voracious a reader as I was then! On my side, I sat down and hunted a copy. It wasn't easy, but after a week or two I got it and the entire family--our child had just turned 6 and my 14 year old wasn't too interested but sometimes eyes would glance at the computer screen where we played it. And John Ritter is a genius. He might be Peter, and I haven't a clue what's in that other book--I didn't even know there WAS another book until just last week; visiting an hour ago it's at 103.00 to get it (DAMN!) so I get to hunt down a copy of THAT. If I am asked which version I like better--the book. Hands down. Even with James Earl Jones and John Ritter and Harry Morgan, the book has a lovely plot, character advancement for Jim (animated Peter) and examines what a man does and how he is is an indication of the environment he was raised and is set into adrift. King Arthur's Connecticut Yankee did it first.
Onto the plot. The movie's plot takes a pinch of this, and a bit of that and maybe this flavoring down here of the D&TG. It brings in "fluff" I'll call it since I haven't read Peter's book and takes away some really nice things that I thought were well done, but there still is a time delay on the average Kids/Teens' length movie you have to squeeze things into. The Flight of Dragons starts as said above with the wizards meeting when Carolinus begins to see his powers are slipping. Then he calls the 3 wizards to meet at Antiquity's Tower. When asked why he's bring the red wizard, he explains that there must be evil and good to ensure the good doesn't get lost. Then off the story goes, The red wizard hates the idea of the "retirement home" as he calls it, and storms out to do his worse as long as he's wearing the red crown so he solemnly swears, and in this environment, oaths were not taken ligthly. You kept them. Carolinus begins to assemble the Companions (not sure if they're called that yet; I'm not too far into the rewatching when I came to grab two clips to c/p for my friends and this review popped up in the search). Carolinus goes to fetch Peter and away the story goes.
Book plot. Jim and Angie are your typical grad students at a college in the midwest. I think it was called Riveroak, and they're looking to get away from their current living apart situation and find their own place. The book was written decades ago when 200 for rent was a large sum of money and Jim drove a Beetle. Angie works as a lab assistant and stays late one night after when Jim had went to get her. He arrives just in time to see her blip out of her chair. The study which Jim is infuriated to learn is on astral travel but they weren't trying to have Angie teleport out at all! Jim's threatening the Grad student who once Jim calms a hint down has him go into the chair and try to chase after Angie. The Student knows she was thinking about Dragons and fantasy... and Jim awakens to find himself in an awkward place and he can't figue out what's wrong. We find out it's because he's a dragon. Somehow his mind had been merged with that of our young green dragon friend in the movie and he's taken control pushing the dragon's mind into a dark corner. Angie has been kidnapped by the dragons and placed in a cage and they're all arguing what to do with the female George. After a long bit of arguing Jim's dragon body is sent to talk to Carolinus to see where the George belongs (not locally; she's from across the Atlantic!) and who would be willing to ransom her (again, not going to happen so Jim's worried they'll try to eat her). The discussion with Carolinus involves yelling about not my day for dragons, an ulcerated stomach which Jim tells him to drink milk--this works and Carolinus calls it the best bit of sympathetic magic he's seen in years. They try to make a plan when the subdued dragon 's uncle (red older dragon) hurries to tell them that Angie's been kidnapped and taken to the Loathly Tower. In this novel there is no red wizard. Just the Forces of Evil. I can't say if he does/n't show up later though in the series. Carolinus does magical things and finds out that the next task at hand was to undergo a quest and gather companions. Under no circumstances is Jim to go to the Loathly Tower alone. Stubborn, Jiim considers just this until he learns that is a way for him and Angie to both fail as well as the medieval world they're in falling into darkness and evil. Nothing heavy right? Just right for the kiddies? This starts his path to gain the Companions. The Princess doesn't exist just so folks know.
If I recall correctly this is where the movie and the book begin to run parallel to each other around there for a bit. The book has a lot more meat to digest so it didn't make it into the movie, but a good portion did and it helped me enjoy the movie watching John be Jim / Peter. The ending is a bit more complex than the movie had it--the forces of good and evil met and the day broke and the fighting started and each companion was involved in their own tasks against their particular enemy from the darkness---it did not end with Peter saying he didn't believe James Earl Jones didn't exist! Sheesh. Movie ending is a bit cute for the kids. Book ending is more intense, there's a self examination for Jim to make a choice and to talk with Angie to decide their future. These two endings are as far apart as they could EVER be.
All in all though? After we found the movie and watched it, and then the 6 year old wanted to watch it again and again and again, he ran around the apartment saying "The Chair of Doom!" "The fork of Doom!" The Book of Doom!" "The Computer of Doom!" (Can't tell which scene was his favorite?) About 3 or 4 weeks later we went to retrieve the cat that we had adopted for his birthday from his mother-cat due to a milk issue so the kitten was super small and 5 weeks old. He fit in my husband's shirt pocket with his nose and eyes sticking out but the rest hidden. Of course, the new kitten needed a name. My son perked up "The Cat of Doom!" My husband and I winced and said, "No. We are not naming this kitten The Cat of Doom. His face crumbling, Erik looked at us with puppy eyes. "Doom-zee?"
As we go into the cat's 11th year of life--he was born April 2011--Doomz or Doom-zee is still a tiny little cat and the runt of famiily-crew of silbings. He's the only one of his litter mates that survived. And everyday as I say "Doom-zee! Oh Doom-zee!" my mind goes back to this damned movie where his name first came from and James Earl Jones' fanning the dragons on saying "Doom! Doom! Doom!" Every single day.
Nah. We don't love the movie. Nope. {{Spoilers, the answer is YES!}}
🐲🐉🐈⬛😹🧙🧙♂🧙♀🧎♀🗡🏹🐺🏰
There are six or seven books in the Dragon Knight series by Gordon Dickson.
@@vilstef6988 Oh I know. I'm waiting on Amazon to debug the text before I buy it because the reviewers have mentioned typos and grammar issues in the digital print versions. I don't buy paper copies anymore because I can zoom on my Kindle/phone/laptop GUI to ease the strain on the older eyes. In particular I like the book Angie because she's fiesty and stands up for herself against anyone--including Jim! :D
Loved that movie
Wew, first view? Weird! Loved the review, I really enjoy your animation junkie series.