The Knight of the Dragon

• Spanish: El caballero del dragon
• Also known as Star Knight
• Directed by Fernando Colomo
• December 20, 1985

A knight sets out to rescue a princess from a dragon, but the dragon turns out to really be an alien spacecraft. It gets worse.

The Knight of the Dragon (Spanish: El caballero del dragon/also known as Star Knight) is certainly a different type of movie. There’s the kernel of something weird yet very good. I like the concept of a science-fiction film set during medieval times. UFOs and what not certainly adds a unique spin on it all. But it all falls apart. I don’t even know how to describe the movie. It’s just weird. It’s poorly directed and poorly written. A slow motion train wreck. What was the point of the story? Who was the villain? Were they trying a Star Trek IV and do a movie without a villain but rather a problem to overcome?

Harvey Keitel is a massive talent. As medieval knight Klever hearing him say ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ is like watching comedian Colin Quinn try to do Shakespeare. It is hilarious though it is not meant to be. Klever is ambitious with an eye towards Princess Alba (María Lamor) who for her part is not into him because she has her sights set on some fantasy male. That is the defining part of her character.

Klaus Kinski is court sorcerer Boecius. He summons (maybe) a UFO and looks to be plotting something. Seizing power from the king? Marrying Alba? Something more? Was he ever any kind of threat? By the end of this movie he is actually kind of a good guy.

IX (Miguel Bosé) is an alien that came to Earth for poops and giggles and found himself caught up in what was going on in a random royal court. And by that I mean I have no idea what the situation was. IX looks to be gathering images of random European forest creatures for some reason. And he might be here to pick up Earth babes. Alba disappears and falls deeply in love with IX because he kidnapped her? According to the movie IX can’t breathe our air and that’s why he only speaks in telepathy. IX is a very ‘80s Euro trash looking individual who must wear a spacesuit in order to get around on Earth. That is until it gets stolen/taken by Klever. Then it’s all good with no explanation.

Any supernatural elements or implications are created by the various characters. Everything weird gets explained as dragons and demons. Those are mixed in with people that appear to just want to be part of things. I like that idea because it is plausible but is in sharp contrast with the dominant goofiness. The Knight of the Dragon/El caballero del dragon/Star Knight has no idea what type of movie it is.

Was it some type of family friendly? Was it a comedy? Was it science fiction or a fantasy of some kind? Princess Alba gets abducted and falls in love. They tried for some great romance between the alien and the princess, but she’s some desperately clingy woman who might be more dangerous than any human. She has a serious abduction kink. What was the point of the whole story? Was it a romance? Was it about people misunderstanding the real for the supernatural? Was it about Klever losing everything when all he wanted to do was get somewhere in life? I don’t know and neither will you. 

Who is the villain of this? Fray Lupo (Fernando Rey)? Klever? Count of Rue (José Vivó)? Boecius? It feels like it has an idea but then changes direction when that is not working. Boecius as I said before by the end is even friendly and helpful.

The Knight of the Dragon/El caballero del dragon/Star Knight was an interesting idea that is completely fumbled from the start. It has no idea what it wants to be or what the point of the narrative is. It’s hypnotically bad and if that’s what you’re looking for then this is certainly an option, but there are other really bad films that are much better than this.