Great artwork by Brian Bysouth, from a design by Vic Fair, for this wizard versus dragon fantasy tale, which was co-produced by Disney and Paramount and directed by Matthew Robbins (Batteries Not Included). Apparently the effects for Vermithrax the dragon were given 25% of the film’s budget and were realised by several different teams, including Phil Tippet at ILM (final design and model), Brian Johnson (special effects) and Ken Ralston (flying scenes).

‘Go-motion’, a variant of stop-motion animation using computer-controlled cameras and developed by ILM for The Empire Strikes Back, was used for the scenes showing the dragon flying and walking with the intention of making these scenes feel more realistic.

Whilst Guillermo Del Toro was preparing to film his ultimately doomed version of The Hobbit, he stated:

One of the best and one of the strongest landmarks that almost nobody can overcome is ‘Dragonslayer.’ The design of the Vermithrax Pejorative is perhaps one of the most perfect creature designs ever made.

In 2012 I met and interviewed Brian Bysouth and the resulting article can be read here.

The US one sheet is markedly different but is also something of a classic, with artwork by Jeffrey Catherine Jones.

Colourful artwork features on this style B one sheet for the US release of the 1978 adventure comedy Corvette Summer. The film is perhaps most notable for starring Mark Hamill, fresh from his success with Star Wars a year earlier and prior to filming The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. Production began only a short while after Hamill was involved in a car crash in Malibu that left him with facial injuries and visibly scarred. Matthew Robbins assumed directorial duties and he’s perhaps best known as the director of Batteries Not Included and the writer of two films that were directed by Guillermo Del Toro, 1997’s Mimic and 2015’s Crimson Peak.

Hamill stars as high-school senior Kenny Dantley who is obsessed with cars and builds a custom Corvette Stingray as part of a class project. The car has a heavily modified body, bright red paint with flames down the side and is adapted to be right-hand drive so Kenny can talk to girls as he rolls down the street beside them. Soon after unveiling the finished car it is stolen and Kenny manages to follow a trail that leads him to Las Vegas. On the way he meets Vanessa (Annie Potts) who describes herself as a ‘prostitute in training’ and who’s headed to Sin City to try and make it big.

After taking a job at a car wash, Kenny eventually spots the Stingray and sets out to try and steal it back, but the truth behind its disappearance, which involves a teacher from his high school (played by Eugene Roche), shocks Kenny. The revelation only makes him more determined to get his car back and Vanessa is ready to help him. The film received mixed critical notices and performed rather limply at the box-office. It has a minor cult following today, largely due to the Corvettes featured. An article about the ‘hero’ car in the film, which was originally found in a junkyard following a wreck, can be read here.

Frustratingly this poster doesn’t feature any indication of who painted the artwork and I’ve been unable to find anything online either. I did discover that the original painting was sold along with two others at Profiles in History’s ‘Hollywood Auction 56’ in 2013. The items are on page 93 of the auction catalogue PDF, or see here for a standalone page featuring the item on another site.  If anyone has any ideas as to who the artist is, please get in touch.

The original trailer is on YouTube and gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect.