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Dragonheart: Collector's Edition

List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]

Review by Aaron Beierle | posted January 18, 2000 | E-mail the Author
In Short: One of my favorite movies and a fine special edition.

The Movie:

Yes, it's slightly silly at times, but I've always found it rather enjoyable. Rob Cohen's period action-drama didn't do terribly well in theaters, but gained its share of admirers due to the film's sense of fun and well done special effects work. The movie stars Dennis Quaid as Bowen, the last of the dragon slayers, who makes it his business to hunt down every last remaining dragon. When he finds the last dragon(voiced to perfection by Sean Connery), he comes to realize that if he rids the Earth of this dragon, he's pretty much got nothing else to do. The two form a partnership and gradually, become good friends.

The main story revolves around a young prince who originally was thought to honor the "old code" of the knights, but has grown up to follow just the opposite, ruling the land with an iron fist. So, it's up to the slayer, the dragon and a peasant girl(Dina Meyer), to stop the king. The movie is goofy, but it really doesn't take itself seriously, and its intentions are stated from the very begining; it's simply about having fun, nothing more, nothing less. The performances are good, with Dennis Quaid being suprisingly effective in his performance as a knight. David Thewlis makes an entertaining villian as always, and Sean Connery is the perfect choice as the voice of the dragon, who is an excellent special effect in itself.

"Dragonheart" is an entertaining tale, and fun for the whole family.

The DVD

VIDEO: With a few small exceptions, this is an excellent anamorphic widescreen image, letterboxed at 2.35:1. Images are clear, clean and reveal very good details. It's not a movie with a terribly vibrant color palette, but colors remain natural and pleasing throughout, and accurate to the intent of the movie. Black level is very strong and flesh tones are natural and problem free. The only flaw of note is the occasional bit of shimmering, but nothing that was terribly distracting. Other than that, this is an image of high quality throughout the movie.


SOUND: Generally fantastic, with very good use of the surrounds and even one of the neater tricks I've heard sound-wise in quite some time. During a scene where the dragon flies around Quaid's character and off-screen, his voice and sound goes from speaker to speaker around the room, as if he's flying around the viewer. The score is outstanding, and sounds wonderful on this disc. Dialogue is problem free and clear throughout.

MENUS:: Basic, non-animated main menus with score behind them.

EXTRAS: An informative but sometimes slow commentary by director Rob Cohen; a long documentary on the making of the movie that reveals quite a good amount of information and behind-the-scenes notes on the production; concept art and production design; photos and poster concepts(many of the poster concepts were far better in my opinion than the final US poster used); 5 TV spots; teaser and theatrical trailer; production notes and more.



Final Thoughts A fun movie and a packed special edition. Recommended.

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