Gryphon (film)
Encyclopedia
Gryphon also known as Attack of the Gryphon is a 2007 film directed by Andrew Prowse, starring Amber Benson
, Jonathan LaPaglia
, and Larry Drake
. It premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel
on January 27, 2007.
The made for TV movie continues a tradition of science fiction movies, featuring computer-animated monsters, that have been part of the Sci-Fi Pictures original films series since its inception in 2002. These include Sabertooth
(2002), Rottweiler (2004), Mansquito
(2005), Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy (2005), Pterodactyl
(2005), Minotaur
(2006), and Mammoth
(2006).
, their father's kingdom of Vallon was torn into rival nations, Lockland and Delphi. The story flashes forward from this prologue to the eve of Lockland's destruction, when the castle is besieged and the crown prince killed by invading Delphites. Against the counsel of the prince's sister Amelia (Amber Benson
), their father, the Locklander king, turns to his chief sorcerer
Armand (Larry Drake
) in despair. The sorcerer convinces the king to give him a handful of his blood with which to animate a stone statue of a gryphon
, a flying beast that is the totem
of Lockland. Using the blood to bind the gryphon to him, Armand first orders it to break the Delphite siege, then betrays his king and calls it back to attack the Locklanders in a coup. It is seen that the sorcerer suffers the physical effects of any attack against the gryphon, but regenerates almost immediately due to his bond with the beast.
Princess Amelia escapes during the takeover and pursues the retreating Locklanders, led the Delphite prince Seth (Jonathan LaPaglia
), who had been in the vanguard of the besieging forces. Having inherited the gift of magical visions
from his parents, the prince is advised by his mother Cassandra (Sarah Douglas
), a sorceress, to seek an artifact called the Draconian Pike
, the only weapon that can kill the gryphon. His mother warns him that he must retrieve the two halves of the pike and reassemble it to kill the gryphon before a solar eclipse
occurs in two weeks, or Armand will be able to enact a ritual that makes himself and the beast immortal.
Amelia and her retinue capture Seth and his man-at-arms, David (Andrew Pleavin
), during a night raid on their camp in a location called The Valley of the Dead. They locate the haft of the Draconian Pike in a centuries-old temple. Fending off an attack by the gryphon by means of "dragon's fire" (apparently black powder or an explosive variant of Greek fire
), they escape and move on to seeking the blade. Meanwhile, Armand attempts to foment mistrust between the two rival nations by killing a Locklander messenger and sending his body to Amelia's father, a threat against her life magically scored into his chest. The king of Lockland calls for his armor and mounts a counter-invasion of Delphi. Meanwhile, Amelia confronts Seth at knife-point in his tent, demanding that he tell her where the blade is, but she lets her guard down momentarily and he takes advantage, seizing the knife; they fall into an amorous embrace. That same night, Armand sends his two magic-wielding brides, Daphne and Kyra, to seduce one of the Locklander soldiers into stealing the haft piece from Amelia and Seth. When Seth and Amelia find it gone the next morning, they decide to send messengers to their respective parents to muster the combined armies of Lockland and Delphi. Amelia and her remaining knights attack Armand's lair, while Seth and his retainer David enter a magically-warded labyrinth to retrieve the blade.
The two kings call a truce and their armies prepare for a massed assault, while the gryphon prepares to destroy them. Queen Cassandra of Delphi bids her husband farewell and rides into the deserted stronghold of the enemy. Once Seth retrieves the blade, he rushes to the sorcerer's lair to confront him, but finds his path blocked by the sorcerer's brides. Cassandra tells her son to leave the sorceresses to her and go to dispatch the gryphon, sacrificing herself in a magical strike against them. Meanwhile, Armand has captured Amelia and killed the Locklander knight champion, and demands that she become his bride. Seth and David arrive and fight with the sorcerer, but soon loses the blade of the Draconian Pike. Assembling the pike, Armand kills David and prepares to kill the Delphite Prince, but is persuaded to spare him by the surrender of Amelia. As the eclipse begins, Armand proclaims that he will soon become an immortal and that his progeny with Amelia will be the new Titans
. As he walks away from the defeated Delphite Prince, his hand touches Amelia's belly and he realizes that she is already pregnant with the prince's child. Furious, he rejects her and prepares to kill them both. A struggle ensues and Armand again knocks the prince to his knees, but is unable to deliver the coup de grace because the Delphite queen's spirit still protects her son. The sorcerer calls the gryphon down on the prince, to whom the princess tosses the Draconian Pike. It appears as if Seth is charging for the sorcerer, but instead hops onto a rock and turns just in time to level the pike at the stooping gryphon, impaling it. The gryphon reverts to stone and shatters as it falls to the ground, while the sorcerer dissolves into a pool of blood.
The armies of Lockland and Delphi rejoice at their deliverance, cheering as Amelia and Seth raise the reassembled Draconian Pike overhead to symbolize the reunion of the sundered kingdoms of Vallon. In a voice over, Amelia proclaims that the curse of civil war
has been lifted.
Amber Benson
Amber Nicole Benson is an American actress, writer, film director, and film producer. She is best known for her role as Tara Maclay on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but has also directed, produced and starred in her own films Chance and Lovers, Liars & Lunatics...
, Jonathan LaPaglia
Jonathan LaPaglia
Dr. Jonathan LaPaglia, M.B.B.S. is an Australian actor known for his roles as Frank B. Parker in the television series Seven Days, Kevin Debreno in The District and Det...
, and Larry Drake
Larry Drake
Larry Drake is an American actor.Drake was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Lorraine, a homemaker, and Raymond Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company. Drake is renowned for his portrayal of developmentally disabled Benny Stulwicz on the television show L.A...
. It premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
on January 27, 2007.
The made for TV movie continues a tradition of science fiction movies, featuring computer-animated monsters, that have been part of the Sci-Fi Pictures original films series since its inception in 2002. These include Sabertooth
Sabretooth (film)
Sabretooth is a 2002 made for television science fiction-horror film directed by James D.R. Hickox. It premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel on November 16, 2002.-Plot:...
(2002), Rottweiler (2004), Mansquito
Mansquito
Mansquito, also known as Mosquitoman, is a 2005 Sci Fi Pictures original film, directed by Tibor Takács, and stars Corin Nemec, Musetta Vander and Matt Jordon. It shares many similarities with the 1986 adaptation of The Fly, and was conceived by Ray Cannella, Manager of Program Acquisition for the...
(2005), Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy (2005), Pterodactyl
Pterodactyl (film)
Pterodactyl is a 2005 horror film that premiered on the Sci Fi Channel. The film is directed by Mark L. Lester.-Plot:A team of American scientists and students of science are exploring the Turkish/Armenian border...
(2005), Minotaur
Minotaur (film)
Minotaur is a 2006 horror film, directed by Jonathan English. It stars Tom Hardy, Tony Todd, Ingrid Pitt and Rutger Hauer. It was filmed in Luxembourg.-Plot:Long ago in the Iron Age a shadow loomed over the lonely village of Thena...
(2006), and Mammoth
Mammoth (film)
Mammoth is a 2006 feature film directed by Tim Cox and produced by Plinyminor in association with the Sci Fi Channel starring Vincent Ventresca, Summer Glau, Leila Arcieri and Tom Skerritt...
(2006).
Plot
The main narrative is set in a mythical land where, about 300 years before, two princes named Lock and Delphus fought for their father's throne. Although Lock killed Delphus in single combatDuel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
, their father's kingdom of Vallon was torn into rival nations, Lockland and Delphi. The story flashes forward from this prologue to the eve of Lockland's destruction, when the castle is besieged and the crown prince killed by invading Delphites. Against the counsel of the prince's sister Amelia (Amber Benson
Amber Benson
Amber Nicole Benson is an American actress, writer, film director, and film producer. She is best known for her role as Tara Maclay on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but has also directed, produced and starred in her own films Chance and Lovers, Liars & Lunatics...
), their father, the Locklander king, turns to his chief sorcerer
Magician (fantasy)
A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...
Armand (Larry Drake
Larry Drake
Larry Drake is an American actor.Drake was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Lorraine, a homemaker, and Raymond Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company. Drake is renowned for his portrayal of developmentally disabled Benny Stulwicz on the television show L.A...
) in despair. The sorcerer convinces the king to give him a handful of his blood with which to animate a stone statue of a gryphon
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
, a flying beast that is the totem
Totem
A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...
of Lockland. Using the blood to bind the gryphon to him, Armand first orders it to break the Delphite siege, then betrays his king and calls it back to attack the Locklanders in a coup. It is seen that the sorcerer suffers the physical effects of any attack against the gryphon, but regenerates almost immediately due to his bond with the beast.
Princess Amelia escapes during the takeover and pursues the retreating Locklanders, led the Delphite prince Seth (Jonathan LaPaglia
Jonathan LaPaglia
Dr. Jonathan LaPaglia, M.B.B.S. is an Australian actor known for his roles as Frank B. Parker in the television series Seven Days, Kevin Debreno in The District and Det...
), who had been in the vanguard of the besieging forces. Having inherited the gift of magical visions
Vision (religion)
In spirituality, a vision is something seen in a dream, trance, or ecstasy, especially a supernatural appearance that conveys a revelation.Visions generally have more clarity than dreams, but traditionally fewer psychological connotations...
from his parents, the prince is advised by his mother Cassandra (Sarah Douglas
Sarah Douglas
Sarah Douglas is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for playing the Kryptonian supervillain Ursa in the first two Superman movies , and for her role as Pamela Lynch in the 1980s primetime drama series Falcon Crest .-Early life:Douglas was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, the...
), a sorceress, to seek an artifact called the Draconian Pike
Pike (weapon)
A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the...
, the only weapon that can kill the gryphon. His mother warns him that he must retrieve the two halves of the pike and reassemble it to kill the gryphon before a solar eclipse
Solar eclipse
As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...
occurs in two weeks, or Armand will be able to enact a ritual that makes himself and the beast immortal.
Amelia and her retinue capture Seth and his man-at-arms, David (Andrew Pleavin
Andrew Pleavin
Andrew Pleavin is an English actor known for his appearances in the TV film Attila, Unstoppable, Batman Begins, Attack of the Gryphon, Return to House on Haunted Hill and his roles in the British police dramas Messiah III: the Promise and the Bill...
), during a night raid on their camp in a location called The Valley of the Dead. They locate the haft of the Draconian Pike in a centuries-old temple. Fending off an attack by the gryphon by means of "dragon's fire" (apparently black powder or an explosive variant of Greek fire
Greek fire
Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning while floating on water....
), they escape and move on to seeking the blade. Meanwhile, Armand attempts to foment mistrust between the two rival nations by killing a Locklander messenger and sending his body to Amelia's father, a threat against her life magically scored into his chest. The king of Lockland calls for his armor and mounts a counter-invasion of Delphi. Meanwhile, Amelia confronts Seth at knife-point in his tent, demanding that he tell her where the blade is, but she lets her guard down momentarily and he takes advantage, seizing the knife; they fall into an amorous embrace. That same night, Armand sends his two magic-wielding brides, Daphne and Kyra, to seduce one of the Locklander soldiers into stealing the haft piece from Amelia and Seth. When Seth and Amelia find it gone the next morning, they decide to send messengers to their respective parents to muster the combined armies of Lockland and Delphi. Amelia and her remaining knights attack Armand's lair, while Seth and his retainer David enter a magically-warded labyrinth to retrieve the blade.
The two kings call a truce and their armies prepare for a massed assault, while the gryphon prepares to destroy them. Queen Cassandra of Delphi bids her husband farewell and rides into the deserted stronghold of the enemy. Once Seth retrieves the blade, he rushes to the sorcerer's lair to confront him, but finds his path blocked by the sorcerer's brides. Cassandra tells her son to leave the sorceresses to her and go to dispatch the gryphon, sacrificing herself in a magical strike against them. Meanwhile, Armand has captured Amelia and killed the Locklander knight champion, and demands that she become his bride. Seth and David arrive and fight with the sorcerer, but soon loses the blade of the Draconian Pike. Assembling the pike, Armand kills David and prepares to kill the Delphite Prince, but is persuaded to spare him by the surrender of Amelia. As the eclipse begins, Armand proclaims that he will soon become an immortal and that his progeny with Amelia will be the new Titans
Titan (mythology)
In Greek mythology, the Titans were a race of powerful deities, descendants of Gaia and Uranus, that ruled during the legendary Golden Age....
. As he walks away from the defeated Delphite Prince, his hand touches Amelia's belly and he realizes that she is already pregnant with the prince's child. Furious, he rejects her and prepares to kill them both. A struggle ensues and Armand again knocks the prince to his knees, but is unable to deliver the coup de grace because the Delphite queen's spirit still protects her son. The sorcerer calls the gryphon down on the prince, to whom the princess tosses the Draconian Pike. It appears as if Seth is charging for the sorcerer, but instead hops onto a rock and turns just in time to level the pike at the stooping gryphon, impaling it. The gryphon reverts to stone and shatters as it falls to the ground, while the sorcerer dissolves into a pool of blood.
The armies of Lockland and Delphi rejoice at their deliverance, cheering as Amelia and Seth raise the reassembled Draconian Pike overhead to symbolize the reunion of the sundered kingdoms of Vallon. In a voice over, Amelia proclaims that the curse of civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
has been lifted.
Cast
- Jonathan LaPagliaJonathan LaPagliaDr. Jonathan LaPaglia, M.B.B.S. is an Australian actor known for his roles as Frank B. Parker in the television series Seven Days, Kevin Debreno in The District and Det...
- Prince Seth of Delphi - Larry DrakeLarry DrakeLarry Drake is an American actor.Drake was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Lorraine, a homemaker, and Raymond Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company. Drake is renowned for his portrayal of developmentally disabled Benny Stulwicz on the television show L.A...
- Sorcerer Armand - Amber BensonAmber BensonAmber Nicole Benson is an American actress, writer, film director, and film producer. She is best known for her role as Tara Maclay on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but has also directed, produced and starred in her own films Chance and Lovers, Liars & Lunatics...
- Princess Amelia of Lockland - Andrew PleavinAndrew PleavinAndrew Pleavin is an English actor known for his appearances in the TV film Attila, Unstoppable, Batman Begins, Attack of the Gryphon, Return to House on Haunted Hill and his roles in the British police dramas Messiah III: the Promise and the Bill...
- David - Douglas Roberts - General Gorwin
- Ashley Artus - Gerard
- Sarah DouglasSarah DouglasSarah Douglas is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for playing the Kryptonian supervillain Ursa in the first two Superman movies , and for her role as Pamela Lynch in the 1980s primetime drama series Falcon Crest .-Early life:Douglas was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, the...
- Queen Cassandra of Delphi - Amy Gillespie - Daphne
- Simone Levin - Kyra
- Adrian PinteaAdrian PinteaAdrian Virgil Pintea was a Romanian actor.-Career:Pintea graduated from the Theatrical and Cinematographical Arts Institute in Romania . He appeared in the 2005 Romanian film Femeia visurilor directed by Dan Piţa. Pintea made his last appearance in Francis Ford Coppola's 2007 film Youth Without...
- King Phillip of Lockland - Stephan Velniciuc - General Orina
- Ciprian Dumitrascu - Lock
- Vlad Jacob - Delphus
- Radu Andrei Micu - Sir Patrick of Delphi