 The first lesson for a director with no real special effects budget working on a picture that requires extensive special effects in telling the story should be this: DO NOT PUT YOUR CRAPPY SPECIAL EFFECTS FRONT AND CENTER ON THE SCREEN.
Yeah, that big old “Gryphon” in the title of Attack of the Gryphon? It's front and center time and again, interacting with the characters and featured in tight close ups. And it looks no better than an Xbox game. In fact, it looks worse. And that's no hyperbole.
When you're watching a made-for-TV “epic fantasy” movie, it's easy enough to forgive bad acting, generic costumes and chintzy sets. Heck, viewers expect a degree of budgetless camp when it comes to productions like this. Sometimes it's even a lot of fun. Just don't flaunt that shoestring budget you're working on. There is a fine line between the charmingly low-budget and the embarrassingly cheap. Here, we're on the wrong side of the line.
Attack of the Gryphon is a generic fantasy story in every way, and that's not necessarily an altogether bad thing. In it, two kingdoms, Lockland and Delphi, have been at war for 300 years. The war is finally coming to a head. When the Prince of Lockland is slain and the nation seems on the verge of collapse, Lockland's king permits his court sorcerer, Armond (Larry Drake), to awaken the Gryphon, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. It is the protector of Lockland, and with it Delphi may finally be crushed.
But allow wizards too much power and ill will come of it, as the royalty of both Lockland and Delphi learn. Armond turns on Lockland and plans to use the powerful beast to rule both kingdoms, and ultimately bring himself immortality. With doom upon them, Princess Amelia of Lockland (Amber Benson, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Prince Seth of Delphi (Jonathan LaPaglia) form an uneasy alliance and seek out the Draconian Pike, a weapon of legend and the only way to defeat the Gryphon once and for all.
So yeah, it's pretty generic, paint-by-numbers fantasy. But hey, generic is very often what fantasy fans (and I count myself among them) want.
 Embarrassing special effects better left to a Nintendo Wii, on the other hand, is not what we want.
The adventure here is good enough. Cheap, yes. Poorly acted, no doubt. Totally predictable, no question about it. But hey, dudes with swords fight, there are some dank tunnels and dark forests, and a big creature eats people left and right. A statue comes to life, a few spells are tossed around, and an army goes on the march. That's all pretty cool. Generic fantasy through and through, to be sure, but there isn't enough generic fantasy on DVD.
 Make that, there isn't enough good generic fantasy on DVD. Good generic fantasy this isn't. Oh, it has its moments - Benson's Princess Amelia is a strong female character with a decent screen presence, her protector, Gorwin (Douglas Roberts) is a pleasantly stereotypical tough guy difficult to dislike, and Sarah Douglas' turn as Queen Cassandra is good despite the role being woefully underdeveloped - but Gryphon makes the mistake of taking itself too seriously when it has “camp” written all over it, both in budget and delivery. Larry Drake is hilariously hammy as the sorcerer, his two stripper brides are even more unintentionally funny, and LaPaglia, bless him ... well, bless him.
And the Gryphon? It's not harping on the subject to bring it up again. After all, it's in the title! And boy does it look awful. Director Andrew Prowse makes the fatal mistake of featuring this god-awful CGI animation up front and center. It looks terrible, made all the worse for being shown in tight close-up not once, not twice, but repeatedly. From a distance, the creature  works just fine - in fact, an aerial attack early in the film is actually kind of cool - but when we see Armond interacting with the beast it is impossible to avoid laughing. Amateur animators have done better work.
Hammy acting, piss-poor special effects and a cookie-cutter plot can work, if you're a fan of low-budget swords and sorcery. And hey, many of us are. I wish there was more swords and sorcery out there. When it's good, even low-budget fare can offer some slash-and-bash fun. Too bad Attack of the Gryphon is not an example of a movie rising above the sum of its rotten parts.
Disc Presentation
Hey, a nice, vivid anamorphic widescreen presentation that doesn't look that bad. Color me surprised. It looks made for TV, yes, but the picture quality is still better than I expected, and an anamorphic presentation was a pleasant surprise. Visually, a pretty solid release. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio doesn't fare quite as well, very much betraying its television roots. Not much action in the surround speakers and not much “oomf.” The dialogue is clear and easy to understand, at least.
If you like your low-budget sword and sorcery, this isn't a bad presentation.
Disc Extras
The AWESOME preview for Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King is the best thing on this disc. What a fantastic trailer! I'm sold; looked it up and will hunt down this disc.  Wicked. Previews for Ringers: Lord of the Fans, MirrorMask, Labyrinth, and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children are also included. Eh. But Dark Kingdom looks great! End of extras.
The Bottom Line
Attack of the Gryphon is a low-budget, made-for-TV sword and sorcery flick, and it shows. Had it reveled in its bargain-basement status it might have had some camp value (and maybe a bit of fun), but in taking itself too seriously, Gryphon is doomed to a fate worse than death: unintentional comedy. I wanted to like it. I really did. But unless you're a fan of bad fantasy, I can only urge you to steer clear.
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