Dragonslayer

The story, for anyone who has never been a small child or seen "Star Wars," is about a bold young man who sets out to save a kingdom, aided by the invincible powers of his wise and somehow immortal mentor. Steadfast young Galen (Peter MacNicol) is a sorcerer's apprentice to the wry old Ulrich (Ralph Richardson), who functions here much as Alec Guinness did in "Star Wars." When Ulrich appears to die at the film's beginning, he sends Galen on a mission to Urland, a place that is being terrorized by a dragon. The dragon's name -- I get this from the credits, not from having heard it roll off anyone's tongue during the movie -- is Vermithrax Pejorative.

The only way the people of Urland can keep the dragon at bay is by sacrificing virgins at regular intervals. Accordingly, one of the Urlanders who comes to fetch Galen is Valerian, a young woman disguised as a young man. This is the only way Valerian can think of to keep herself out of the lottery that selects virgins for dragonfeed. Galen falls in love with Valerian, but he, too, fails to think of other means of saving her (this is a Walt Disney co-production, after all). So Galen does things the hard way and proceeds to battle Vermithrax to the bitter end. Anyone who isn't sure who the victor will be must have momentarily forgotten the movie's title.