DragonHeart (1996)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

I've finally reached my fifties, but I still love this film as much as the first day I saw it in the cinema. It's a relevant thought, you see, because as I browsed the reviews I came face to face with an old acquaintance -- the realisation that childlike wonder and imagination are actually rare enough to be in short supply, enough to justifiably call those resources scarce.I raised an eyebrow, vexed, as people complained about realism; I've heard complaints of the improbability of a dragon's ambulatory system without ever the self awareness to realise that with a few tweaks to physics to account for a different world -- one where magic exists as an institution and resource, no less -- along with some fixes to common misconceptions of dragons and animal biology that one could make anything probable. Clever people call this 'escapism,' a retreat into a fantasy, fictitious world unlike our own. Escapism goes so much further than daydreams of attractive sexual partners and fast cars.Here I see in the 'goofs' section that the dragon's wings don't generate downdraft. Who says they need to? A man in Britain created a box that could generate quantum thrust by manipulating lasers. Who's to say that a dragon's lift doesn't work the same way? Cries off realism come only from dull, mundane, typical minds. Not anyone who's especially brilliant would even mistake fantasy for reality in the first place. Truly, if one is unable to discern that dragon's exist in the realm of the improbable, so far separated from our own, then they've bigger problems than 'unrealistic' dragons.The pseudo-intellectual of below average intelligence complains of unrealism, thinking himself clever. The truly clever person possessed of a sharp mind and considerable wit finds the challenge of explaining other realities with their own physical laws fun!So, to wit, this is a lovely film, heartwarming, ingenious, and with a fantabulous showing from Mr. Connery. You may like it, but you should probably only watch it if you're clever enough to understand the distinctions and boundaries between reality and fantasy. Though individuals quite clever enough for that are evidently few and far between.Don't apply if you subscribe oxymoronically to 'I don't want fantasy in my fantasy, only reality with the rules of that even normalised and simplified into mundanity enough that I'm able to actually understand it;' Or if you're inclined to prefer bat-like dragon's over their six- limbed cousins because they're more realistic (without being erudite enough to realise why that statement makes no sense, because playing by those rules the ambulatory pressure problems created by such a large, flying creature would make bat-like dragons every bit as unrealistic). If either of the prior is true, you're not good enough for this film. It deserves a better audience.If, however, that gave you a chuckle rather than fired your ire, you may just be good enough for it. In which case you really should watch it!

A knight is sworn to valor. His heart knows only virtue. His blade defends the helpless. His might upholds the innocent. His wrath undoes the wicked! Such was the Old Code of the Knights of the Round Table.Fantasy films of now could take some cues from DragonHeart. The story of a Knight, Bowen, who believed in those words, and dreamed of serving a noble King. But the Prince he put his faith into, Einon, let him down, and proved to be a tyrant, despite that a Dragon had given him half his heart, saving his life and hoping to defeat the evil in him that his father also possessed.Bowen then goes out to slay all Dragons as revenge, asking money in return from the folk, and defying King Einon. However, he ends up befriending that said Dragon, who he calls Draco, after the constellation, as well as Brother Gilbert, a wandering and whimsical Monk, and Kara, a Peasant girl whose father was blinded by Einon during a revolt and later murdered. Bowen and his friends triumph against the evil King as his cohorts. The twist? Their Dragon friend had to die for Einon to be killed, they both carried half a heart, and Draco had the one that sustained the other. They shared the pain in life and in death.Draco was then admitted into the Dragons' heaven. According to the movie's story, the Dragons do no harm to men unless attacked, and they must earn going to Heaven by helping Men.Dennis Quaid as Bowen, Sean Connery as Draco, Dina Meyer as Kara, Pete Postlethwaite as the comical Brother Gilbert,and David Thewlis who played the villainous King Einon all did well, and Einon's mother, Aislinn, played by Julie Christie, was an interesting character with a cruel fate. DragonHeart has plenty of lighthearted moments in between the serious themes, but it surely put a spin on the usual fantasy tropes. As a whole, it suffers from budgetary issues, however the charm is there for a wide audience. The film doesn't waste much time to get the point across.

In this film the word epic doesn't quite cover it. I freaking love this film. It's fun, it clever, it's very Spielberg-like and the dragon Draco is one of the coolest dragons ever right behind Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon. This film also goes places I didn't expect with some dark moments and mind blowing scenarios. The voice talent of Sean Connery as Draco works so perfectly that as soon as he appears on screen and talk you instantly fell the power, and grace of this magnificent dragon at least I did. As soon as he appeared I fell in love with the character. And he is the reason why this film works. The only negative I have to say it the plot is a little confusing at times. It doesn't take time to explain the scenes very well. Other then that this is a home run. Now to grade it. Characters: B+ Draco: A+ Effects: A+ Music: A+ (the best score by Randy Edelman) Acting: B Story/Plot: C+ Overall: A

As a child I'd go to my grandmother's house during the summer. She had bought this movie on VHS and my cousins and I would watch it. Then watch it some more and more. I'm amazed we never broke the tape. Dragonheart is, in my humble opinion, one of the best-ever dragon movies I have seen. So what if some of the plot is not 'believable'. It's a fairytale. So, when and if you watch/re-watch this movie, do so with an open heart. Top-notch special effects of the time and the inclusion of Sean Connery and Dennis Quaid, who performed their roles of noble dragon and despairing knight incredibly well. In my view, an amazing film, an amazing cast and an amazing result. This is a must watch and under-rated film in my opinion.