Dragon's Lair: The Complete Series DVD Review

Dragon's Lair runs out of ideas pretty much right after the fairly exciting opening credits montage. And that makes sense. After all, the series doesn't detail the adventure we all know and love from the popular '80s video game. Rather, this 1984 Ruby-Spears animated production focuses on the continued adventures of Dirk the Daring.

Layered with weak animation, some pretty terrible episode plots (the first episode, for example, has our main character going on a daring quest to get... a birthday present) and clumsy voice work, there's not much appeal to the series. But if you're a hardcore lover of all things Dragon's Lair, you might get a kick out of what this series has to offer. After all, as this 13-episode series progresses it does manage to get a little better, with darker narratives and slightly better animation. But the show can't ever seem to escape its own generic template – one that had already outstayed its welcome by 1984.

Dragon's Lair: The Complete Series is a two-disc set that comes from Warner Archive. As such, the discs themselves are actually DVD-Rs as opposed to traditional DVDs. The set includes no extras, unfortunately. All 13 episodes from the series are here. They include: "The Tale of the Enchanted Gift," "Sir Timothy's Quest," "The Tournament of the Phantom Knight," "The Smithee's Haunted Armor," "The Pool of Youth," "The Story of Old Alf," "The Song of the Chimes," "The Girl from Crow's Wood," "Mirror, Mirror," "The Snow Witch," "The Tale of Dirk's New Sword," "The Legend of the Giant's Name" and "The Mist of Wishes."

Transfer quality for Dragon's Lair is pretty mediocre. Some episodes look better than others, especially the last few episodes in the set. But none of the 13 episodes can shake the fact that they stem from low-grade source material, likely tape masters. As such, expect the usual dust and dirt, video degradation and soft, faded images.


Audio is right on par with the transfers. It's a hazy, cloudy mono listening experience damaged by age, though curiously the mix sounds like it comes from the '70s not the '80s. Sound design is flat and largely uninspired, with incredibly soft, hiss-filled dialogue and mediocre sound effects/score mixing. Admittedly, there's not a lot that could have been done to clean up this presentation, but I'm sure some fans will still find this set a bit disappointing.

Dragon's Lair: The Complete Series is a great title for Warner Archive. It's not a great presentation, nor does it boast decent audio, or even any extras. However, if you're a hardcore lover of the series, or just a fan of the game, this collection is worth collecting. And I'm pleased Warner has made it available for those fans. Casual fans and newcomers, on the other hand, needn't bother.

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