Eragon (2 disc) [DVD]

 

 

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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...

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

The premise sounds good, dragons, adventure, good vs evil, a bit of Lord of the Rings thrown in in the shape of elvish language and breeds of folk like the Varden. But sadly, the delivery of this adventure is fractured, abysmally acted and the ending, well, is a complete joke.

As a fan of Lord Of The Rings, I really looked forward to watching this, thinking the poor reviews don't always tell the real story....but sadly they do. The story is rushed through, badly thought out, full of totally unbelieveable half stories and it just doesn't gel.

The cast list, including JOhn Malkowicz (limited appearance), Jeremy Irons (dreadful script) and Robert Carlyle (a half decent baddie, but just didn't make sense), you'd think, could conjure something grand and exciting and whilst their parts are the darkest and therefore, most interesting.... not a chance. The young lead actor, who hopefully will film his next epic on Antarctica in a mankini, is a dork who frankly would have been better off slaughtered by a passing baddie after the first scene and the Varden, our heroes, were lead by someone with zero acting ability.

The big battle scene at the end is thrown at you, it makes no sense as to what is going on and it seems the director obviously ran out of any enthusiasm for this nonense by cutting it short. Not short enough.

At the end, there is the suggestion that a sequel may follow. Let us pray that this never happens.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Great older kids adventure film
My son got this as a Christmas present after reading the book and thoroughly enjoyed watching it. I would recommend to any child aged 11+ that enjoys fantasy type adventure films.

Published 1 month ago by Anthony Edwards

2.0 out of 5 stars i suppose it is good, but a HUGE dissapointment
i am a MASSIVE fan of the books. in my oppinon they are the best books ever. but this film does not reflect the books. it is a mockery that it is associated with the book. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Mr. R. M. P. Garnett

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the bad reviews.
I strongly disagree with the bad reviews about this film.

I totally enjoyed the script acting and direction it does not just appeal to teenagers as I'm 49 and enjoyed... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Paul O' Brien

1.0 out of 5 stars How to ruin an OK book
The only good thing about this film is that it works as a bad example. The film is poorly done, the acting is bad, the storry is thin and, worst of all, it is not even close to... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Birger Bob

2.0 out of 5 stars Had so much potential
Having read the first and second of the books in this trilogy, I thought it was finally time to watch the film which held such mixed reviews. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Darkgeo

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointingly Poor
The Inheritance Cycle (the series of books that Eragon originates) is not entirely original but then again fantasy struggles these days to really comes across as original. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Dickie

1.0 out of 5 stars Love the book but this is a diffrent story
I cant believe paolini let them spoil his book it was a perfect story that needed little if any change and the makers of this should really of not done the film if they hadnt got... Read more

Published 6 months ago by Neil Wilson

5.0 out of 5 stars New to this genre and loved this
My flatmate is a primary school teacher and has introduced me to fantasy genre. I never thought I'd enjoy it although I quite enjoyed the Harry Potter films and books. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Venus - the book lover

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining enough - better than the book by miles
This film is entertaining enough and delivers a bad book to the big screen. Considering the material they had to work with the filmakers have created a decent enough fantasy film,... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Sam

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but nowhere near the brilliance of the books!
So with the fourth and final book in the Inheritance Series nearly upon us, I think it's obvious that the film is shocking compared to the books, but still if you are a fan of... Read more

Published 7 months ago by RDS9

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