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From Amazon.co.uk
While it owes much of its appeal and appearance to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Eragon can stand on its own as an enjoyable fantasy for younger viewers. Faithfully adapted from the bestselling novel by teenage author Christopher Paolini, this boy-and-his-dragon tale offers clean, fast-paced family entertainment without compromising the darker qualities of Paolini's novel (the first in what is known as the "Inheritance" trilogy). The plot centers on 17-year-old peasant farmboy Eragon (played by appealing newcomer Ed Speleers) who discovers a mysterious blue object that turns out to be an egg that eventually hatches to reveal Saphira, a blue-scaled dragon that quickly grows to full-size. According to prophecy, Eragon is destined to be a dragon-rider like those who once protected a benevolent kingdom, thus reviving an ancient conflict against the army of King Galbatorix (John Malkovich), a former dragon rider who turned to evil, now in alliance with a dark-magic "Shade" sorcerer named Durza (Robert Carlyle).
While the movie serves up familiar fantasy elements and offers little if anything new to fans of the genre (or anyone who's read the books of Anne McCaffrey and Ursula K. Le Guin), it's visually impressive (especially the dragon scenes, with Rachel Weisz providing the telepathic "voice" of Saphira) and full of timeless wisdom, much of it delivered by Eragon's heroic mentor Brom (Jeremy Irons), himself a former dragon rider with memories of past battles and hope for Eragon's future. Add a fair warrior-maiden named Arya (Sienna Guillory) and you've got all the ingredients for a worthwhile (if not particularly original) fantasy that points directly to a sequel. Whether that's a good or a bad thing is up to individual viewers to decide. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By Isis
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this DVD in spite of the reviews and actually I like it! I've watched it many times and still like it. If you want to spend some time in a world of Dragons and their riders then buy it and make your own mind up. Maybe this film has been compared with the likes of the Lord of the Rings unfairly as I definately would NOT show any of those films to my young kids, but I would be able to let them watch this one without worry of them having nightmares. Watch it and make you own mind up...
43 of 47 people found the following review helpful
By Mr Horse
Format:DVD
Being a fan of dragons and in the middle of writing a story about one, I was very excited when I first saw the trailer for Eragon. When I my dad took me to the cinema a few weeks ago I had mixed feelings because of the very poor reviews it got. Neither of us had read the book, but we came out of the cinema smiling. It was fun, entertaining and was well worth it.
For those of you who have not seen the film or read the book, the story itself is Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope but retold as a fantasy adventure rather than sci-fi. It's about a 17 year old boy called Eragon who finds a polished stone in the nearby forest. After desperate attempts to sell it he finds out that the stone is really an egg when he sees a young dragon hatch from it. Eragon eventually finds out that he is one of the legendary dragon riders after meeting Brom, who used to be a dragon rider himself. Eragon learns that he will have to move on and become a dragon rider and to stop the evil King Galbatorix from ruling the land.
However, it is not the classic that it should have been which is the shame as the film has a lot of potential. The reason it is not a classic is because of one thing: the screenplay. Absolute rubbish!
The dialogue is indeed poor, with lines like "there is nothing left for you to fear, my king" and "this royalty will be punishable by death". The acting is a mixture of good and bad. The best performer in the film has to be Rachel Weisz as the voice of Saphira but she's only a voice over. The best 'acting' performance IMO is Jeremy Irons as Brom, although Ed Speleers wasn't too bad as Eragon, considering that it is the first time he has ever acted in anything. However, the worst actor in the movie has to be John Malkovich as King Galbatorix. His performance was very poor in this movie. The pace of the film is also a bit too fast in places. I also hear that most of the book is missing from the film, but let's be positive about that. Scenes from the book will always be axed when it is adapted into a film.
However, there are some really great things about this film. For one thing, this film WILL leave you breathless! The special effects, created by the legendary studio Industrial Light and Magic, are the greatest effects I have ever seen in a long time. Although still not quite Jurassic Park standard, the CGI is VERY convincing. As for Saphira... she is GORGEOUS! She is without a doubt the best looking dragon I have ever seen in a film! I almost wanted to jump into the screen and ride on her! Of course that is not possible, but the dragon flight scenes made up for it. Whenever Saphira flew, she flew so fast that my stomach began to churn! If you have seen the trailers do not be put off by the fact that she has feathers for wings, as she still looks and acts like a dragon in the actual film. It is worth seeing the movie just to see her.
But it's not just the special effects that make up for the poor screenplay. There's also some very good set design here, and the soundtrack really fits in with the action.
Overall it is not a classic, but is not worth the poor reviews it is getting. I found it gripping, exciting and stimulating right through to the end. The screenplay sucks (hence the 4 star rating) but in the end the film entertains you, which is what you want a film to do and the reason why you watch films in the first place.
IMO this is the best dragon film ever made, and far better than Dragonheart (which is a terrible film). I recommended this to anyone who is a dragon fanatic like me!
Acting: 6/10
Screenplay: 4/10
Special effects: 10/10
Story: 7/10
Entertainment value: 8/10
Overall 7/10
For those of you who have not seen the film or read the book, the story itself is Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope but retold as a fantasy adventure rather than sci-fi. It's about a 17 year old boy called Eragon who finds a polished stone in the nearby forest. After desperate attempts to sell it he finds out that the stone is really an egg when he sees a young dragon hatch from it. Eragon eventually finds out that he is one of the legendary dragon riders after meeting Brom, who used to be a dragon rider himself. Eragon learns that he will have to move on and become a dragon rider and to stop the evil King Galbatorix from ruling the land.
However, it is not the classic that it should have been which is the shame as the film has a lot of potential. The reason it is not a classic is because of one thing: the screenplay. Absolute rubbish!
The dialogue is indeed poor, with lines like "there is nothing left for you to fear, my king" and "this royalty will be punishable by death". The acting is a mixture of good and bad. The best performer in the film has to be Rachel Weisz as the voice of Saphira but she's only a voice over. The best 'acting' performance IMO is Jeremy Irons as Brom, although Ed Speleers wasn't too bad as Eragon, considering that it is the first time he has ever acted in anything. However, the worst actor in the movie has to be John Malkovich as King Galbatorix. His performance was very poor in this movie. The pace of the film is also a bit too fast in places. I also hear that most of the book is missing from the film, but let's be positive about that. Scenes from the book will always be axed when it is adapted into a film.
However, there are some really great things about this film. For one thing, this film WILL leave you breathless! The special effects, created by the legendary studio Industrial Light and Magic, are the greatest effects I have ever seen in a long time. Although still not quite Jurassic Park standard, the CGI is VERY convincing. As for Saphira... she is GORGEOUS! She is without a doubt the best looking dragon I have ever seen in a film! I almost wanted to jump into the screen and ride on her! Of course that is not possible, but the dragon flight scenes made up for it. Whenever Saphira flew, she flew so fast that my stomach began to churn! If you have seen the trailers do not be put off by the fact that she has feathers for wings, as she still looks and acts like a dragon in the actual film. It is worth seeing the movie just to see her.
But it's not just the special effects that make up for the poor screenplay. There's also some very good set design here, and the soundtrack really fits in with the action.
Overall it is not a classic, but is not worth the poor reviews it is getting. I found it gripping, exciting and stimulating right through to the end. The screenplay sucks (hence the 4 star rating) but in the end the film entertains you, which is what you want a film to do and the reason why you watch films in the first place.
IMO this is the best dragon film ever made, and far better than Dragonheart (which is a terrible film). I recommended this to anyone who is a dragon fanatic like me!
Acting: 6/10
Screenplay: 4/10
Special effects: 10/10
Story: 7/10
Entertainment value: 8/10
Overall 7/10
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
shame the sequel will not happen. watched this with my 7 year old and loved it. good effects, good baddies. great wee film.
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2.8 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
DVD
I watched Eragon DVD twice now. It is nice story and the dragon in the story is very great to watch.
Published 12 hours ago by Annie O'Kane
5.0 out of 5 stars
I REALLY love it!!!
Wow this is a great film if you love dragons and magic. But why, oh why, have they not continued with the whole set :(
Published 18 hours ago by E. A. Cousins
1.0 out of 5 stars
AWFUL
This is a great way to ruin a perfectally good book in all honesty, the CGI was great for saffire the dragon its how i imagined her, but the acting of the other characters was pig... Read more
Published 12 days ago by Abbi G
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eragon
A very exciting fantasy film, with well-written characters. Support for what is Good is strong, and the determination of people to win their fight against evil is very heartening.
Published 14 days ago by Sue Heard
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good film
Our grandson watched the whole film lots of times and loved every minute of it. He'll be watching it again very soon.
Published 1 month ago by crisscross
5.0 out of 5 stars
exellant family film
brilliant entertaining film for a cold rainy days viewing grand kids thought it was brilliant and wanted a dragon when it was over
Published 2 months ago by Robert Marriott
1.0 out of 5 stars
Good story, bad movie
I have read all the books about Eragon the dragon rider and I like them very much. I was very excited when it was known that a movie was being made about the stories. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Gupmundur
5.0 out of 5 stars
cheap price
cheap price my daughter watched this on the tv and liked it so much i thought id buy it as it was cheap enough
Published 5 months ago by tracy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good, entertaining film
Most will be aware of the storyline of this DVD, it having been on TV a few times. While it may not be a blockbuster, it is a good film. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mike T
2.0 out of 5 stars
Did the Director even read the book?
I am a big fan of Christopher Paolini's creation and have read all 4 books, but the film was dire. I so wanted it to be a great movie, but it wasn't. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Vman
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