Despite the gore, my brother loved this movie as a kid, and still loves it. I didn't really grow to appreciate it until I was an adult, because I was distracted by the pretty princess and didn't understand the adult concepts this film had.
Now I love Galen and Valerian. It's particularly interesting how it's a "coming-of-age" story for Galen, and how wise his wizard master was to trick him into going out into the world, so he could learn what the real world was like and how to deal with it, in addition to learning magic. It also reveals a realistic look at the Middle Ages from a fantasy perspective, how people deal with corrupt governments and how good can still prevail against evil.
Valerian is a fun character because she learned how to be a tough chick, disguised as a man so she wouldn't be subject to the "virgin auction" that killed so many of her fellow women to appease the dragon. I found it adorable how she gave up the disguise and wanted to be a girl again when she developed feelings for Galen. After that, she showed just how fearless she was, even when living as a female among the villagers again. She never let the social rules of the time define her as a person, nor was she afraid to speak her mind or put herself in danger. Now that is a strong female character!
Vermithrax is an amazing (and truly terrifying) dragon. She inspired soooo many people to go into movie special-effects or other film industries (including people like George Lucas and Peter Jackson). I'd say her most realistic scene was when she's coming out of the water with fire on it, slowly and menacingly raising her head to see who dared to enter her cave and wants to kill her. And then she sees Galen and tries to burn him alive.
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