# Flight of dragons



## sonofstan (Jun 7, 2006)

When i was a kid i loved this feature length cartoon called Flight of dragons.
Somehow my cousin tracked it down for my last birthday(only on vhs she couldn't get a dvd) and i still love it. It is full of really cool charachters and the bad guy(voiced by James earl jones i think) still puts the fear in me.
I was just wondering if anyone else out there had seen this movie and if so what they thought of it?


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## Nesacat (Jun 7, 2006)

This has got to be one of my all time favourite movies. Amazon has it on VHS but believe it or not e-Bay has it on DVD. I was given one for Christmas last year and it's great. Clear visual, great audio. Saw it for the first time when I was in grade school and bought it on VHS when I was in High School. Have not found many people who've even heard of it let alone seen it. I think I know all of three people now including you. 

Yes James Earl Jones did the Red Wizard Omadan. The dragons were awesome. I really loved the idea that magic was essential to the world; that it inspired all the wonders of science and therefore had to exist even if in a separate realm.


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## j d worthington (Jun 7, 2006)

Okay, now you folks are getting me curious -- how come I've never heard of this thing before? (See, that's what I like about this place; now my only problem is figuring out how to cram all of this into the remains of one lifetime!)


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## Winters_Sorrow (Jun 7, 2006)

You got me interested as well.

Here's some blurb on the film 
http://www.badmovieplanet.com/unknownmovies/reviews/rev302.html


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## Nesacat (Jun 7, 2006)

j. d. worthington said:
			
		

> Okay, now you folks are getting me curious -- how come I've never heard of this thing before? (See, that's what I like about this place; now my only problem is figuring out how to cram all of this into the remains of one lifetime!)



You have to get it if you can j.d. It's wonderful. Four wizards and dragons in a time when science is just coming into force. The story shifts between the present (age of science) and the time of the wizards. It's basically an attempt by the wizards to create a realm where all that is magical might be safe to live and feed the inspiration and dreams of mankind. The Red Wizard of course is on the side of pure Science because he sees its potential for destruction. 

Each wizard has his own dragon. There's Carolinus the green wizard of nature with Gorbash. Solarius the blue wizard of the skies and oceans with Bluenarion, Lo Tae Shao the golden wizard of contemplation with Chin Tzu and finally the Ommadon the red wizard with Bryaugh.

Movie has a lovely song as soundtrack as well. Shall just stop telling everything right now.


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## sonofstan (Jun 7, 2006)

Nesacat said:
			
		

> This has got to be one of my all time favourite movies. Amazon has it on VHS but believe it or not e-Bay has it on DVD. I was given one for Christmas last year and it's great. Clear visual, great audio. Saw it for the first time when I was in grade school and bought it on VHS when I was in High School. Have not found many people who've even heard of it let alone seen it. I think I know all of three people now including you.


 
Well appart from my cousin, who watched it with me i never knew anyone who had even heard of this film either. I will definately have to get a copy on DVD as the video(from Amazon i think) is not the best quality. It's good to know i'm not the only fan of this movie out there


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## the_faery_queen (Jun 7, 2006)

it's great. one of my all time favs. there is a book, ut the book is more about the nature of dragons, than actually what happened in the toon. they show it on the cartoon network a fair bit. ior they did.


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## BookStop (Jun 7, 2006)

It's loosely based on the book, the Dragon and the George by Gordon Dickson.  

Back in the eighties, when Return of the Jedi came out on VHS, my husband bought it, and although the slipcase and title stickers all say Return of the Jedi, it is actually Flight of Dragons.  A few years later, I was working in a video store and assigned the task of cleaning out the backroom when I came across the Flight of Dragons case with no movie.  Now I have it in one, neat little bundle.  I thought I was just about the only person in the world to own this movie.  It's great!  My kids love it, and their friends are always completely charmed by it when they get the chance to see it with us.

Wasn't the animation done by the same guy who did the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings cartoons?  I believe John Ritter voices the lead.


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## Nesacat (Jun 8, 2006)

Ummm yes ... Katsuhisa Yamada did the animation for the The Hobit (1977) and The Return of the King (1980) and John Ritter is Peter Dickenson.

Wow ... didn't know so many people have seen and like this movie. It's good to know. 

There is a book called Flight of Dragons and it's by Peter Dickinson but its almost a scientific sort of book on how dragons could have actually existed. It gives theories on  how they breathed fire, flew, lived, etc, drawing on evidence from story lore  and legend. The movie "The Flight Of  Dragons", was based on this book. But it was only based on it in  terms of how the dragons were designed. The (very) basic plot and characters were taken from Gordon R Dickson's "The Dragon And The  George". 

But the book "The Flight Of Dragons" is different from the movie.  For one thing, Peter Dickenson views dragons as lethargic beasts with a dull  intelligence. He included a chapter on dragon-slaying, which, to me, was  something of the last straw. 
But most of Peter Dickenson's theories- especially the one about  why there are no fossils of dragons - are very well thought out. And I love his  saying: "Remember. The dragons live. Inside us."


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## tiny99 (Jun 8, 2006)

I remember it also, although not that well.....was The Ogre of Gormley Keep somehow involved??????


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## Nesacat (Jun 9, 2006)

Yes, yes he was


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## sonofstan (Jun 9, 2006)

Poor Smurgle


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## Nesacat (Jun 9, 2006)

he's the one 'with one eye where two used to be'


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## bendoran (Jun 9, 2006)

i relmember this movie, unleash a flight of DRAGONS!!!!  

doesnt it have a three headed dragon at the end?  i aont seen this since i was like four, and tried to get a copy some time back but failed utterly in the attempt.


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## the_faery_queen (Jun 9, 2006)

it has a many headed dragon. the evil wizard grows lots of heads and peter dickson chants a tonne of scientic reason at him to make them explode. then he gets the girl and they live happily ever after 

i know the film pretty much backwards.  also features the nice cliche of a totally obvious woman, dresed like a boy, confusing the knight. knights are naive, apparantly


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## j d worthington (Jun 9, 2006)

the_faery_queen said:
			
		

> also features the nice cliche of a totally obvious woman, dresed like a boy, confusing the knight. knights are naive, apparantly


 
Too many knocks on the noggin with very hard objects. Not only do you get the impact, but those tin hats reverberate!


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## tiny99 (Jun 10, 2006)

Nesacat said:
			
		

> Yes, yes he was


Thank you friendly feline...you know your stuff


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## Nesacat (Jun 12, 2006)

tiny99 said:
			
		

> Thank you friendly feline...you know your stuff



Thank you Tiny ... good to find people who've watched this too


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## bendoran (Jun 13, 2006)

just looked and you can actually watch the whole movie on youtube!!!


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## kyektulu (Jun 14, 2006)

*I LOVE this film!

I remember my mother taped it on VHS when I was a kid, it was my favorite.

I would love to watch it again... I hope it is availible to buy at HMV...*


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## Nesacat (Jun 14, 2006)

It's available at Amazon for sure but on VHS. I was given a DVD copy that a friend bought on e-Bay. Have not seen it at HMV or any of the other high street stores though, at least not in London or Scotland.


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## kyektulu (Jun 14, 2006)

*Thanks for the info Nesa.

I wont buy the VHS version, since videos are practically obsolete now, and my video player is broken! hehe

I will have to check out HMV and other such stores, see if they can order it in...*


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## Azure (Jun 14, 2006)

Flight of the dragons is one of my favourite films of all time, I remember being fascinated by the idea of transforming into a dragon. It's worth keeping an eye out for it on cartoon network UK as they often show it during the summer.
I'm also  pretty sure quite a few of the animators on this went on to work for studio Ghibli.


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## chrispenycate (Jun 14, 2006)

Hey, the Google ads actually got something right, for once.
Yes, I do look at them, if only to try and work out how the ad has been called up by the subject matter (hello, not had any ads for "Nixie tube watches" recently; is our Pixie on holiday?)

And this time (well, you've probably go it yourself, but:
http://www.vicpine.co.uk/The-Flight-Of-Dragons.htm


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## Esioul (Jun 19, 2006)

We watched it in Sci Fi soc earlier on in the year, as it is the faveorite film fo the Secetery.


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## the smiling weirwood (Jun 21, 2006)

Oh wow! This was the first fantasy-esque thing I ever saw or read and totally got me hooked. It's just about the best animated film ever. I've had a copy since I was eight that my mother dug up somewhere.


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## Spiritdragon (Jun 24, 2006)

Hi there

I just read a few of these comments and thought to check EBAY 

I have found that there are SEVERAL sellers selling DVD and VHS tapes of this movie!!

I think I will order one on DVD from the USA...

Thanks for bringing it to my attention!!

Cheers

James


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## Spiritdragon (Jun 24, 2006)

HEY!!!

I just got a copy from EBAY ---10 Dollars !!!!!!

That is the DVD and Postage to the UK!!!!!!!

WOW

WHOOOOP WHOOOOOP

LOL

Cheers

James


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## tiny99 (Jun 24, 2006)

A bargain my friend, congrats on this wondrous addition to your collection.


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## Nesacat (Jun 25, 2006)

Yay Spiritdragon ... congratulations and here's to many hours of fun.


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## sonofstan (Jun 25, 2006)

Spiritdragon said:
			
		

> HEY!!!
> 
> I just got a copy from EBAY ---10 Dollars !!!!!!
> 
> That is the DVD and Postage to the UK!!!!!!!


 


You lucky dragon! As soon as i finish travelling and get back to the UK i'm going to see about getting myself a copy on DVD. All this talk about the film has got me really looking forward to seeing it again.


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## Spiritdragon (Jun 27, 2006)

Yep Sonofstan
Ebay is a wonderful place to pick up good stuff...
I have never seen it yet and cannot wait!


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## ScottSF (Jun 27, 2006)

I remember it well.  I saw it when I was 15 and I hated it.  I'm sure if I saw it when I was 6 or 7 I would have liked it.  I didn't like the fat dragons.  I didn't like this guy coming up with scientific explanations why dragons fly; something about chewing limestone I think. I hated that horrible horrible song at the end.  Those are a 15-year-old's thoughts, I saw Flight of Dragons and wanted it to be badass like Fire and Ice or the Lord Of the Rings Cartoon, the creepy two towers one not the singing hobbit return of the king movie.  If I saw it today I would probably think it was a cute kid’s movie that my nieces would like.  The song would still be horrible though.


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## Spiritdragon (Jun 27, 2006)

The Discover channel did a brilliant Docudrama Dragon's World...
CGI and scientific explanations for dragons and their possible existance, told as if they discover the final resting place of the last dragon...complete with a couple of roasted Kinghts tee hee tee hee


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## sonofstan (Jun 28, 2006)

Spiritdragon said:
			
		

> The Discover channel did a brilliant Docudrama Dragon's World...
> CGI and scientific explanations for dragons and their possible existance, told as if they discover the final resting place of the last dragon...complete with a couple of roasted Kinghts tee hee tee hee


 

I'm sure i saw that programme on bbc2 at about 3am ages ago. it had dragons fighting dinosaurs then a mother dragon in a snowy cave fighting norsemen.


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## Nesacat (Jun 28, 2006)

Spiritdragon said:
			
		

> The Discover channel did a brilliant Docudrama Dragon's World...
> CGI and scientific explanations for dragons and their possible existance, told as if they discover the final resting place of the last dragon...complete with a couple of roasted Kinghts tee hee tee hee



Ooh yes ... I saw this one and then went and bought a copy of DVD from me neighbourhood pirates. It was indeed well done. And of course there are dragons


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## BookStop (Jun 28, 2006)

Nesacat said:
			
		

> Ooh yes ...It was indeed well done. And of course there are dragons


 
My son is now convinced.


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