DragonHeart (1996)
Directed by Rob Cohen
In an ancient time when majestic fire-breathers soared through the skies, a knight named Bowen comes face to face and heart to heart with the last dragon on Earth, Draco. Taking up arms to suppress a tyrant king, Bowen soon realizes his task will be harder than he'd imagined: If he kills the king, Draco will die as well.
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And, although the beast is a lot more impressive here than the one featured in 1981's Dragonslayer, not even the thrill of a dragon attack can save this film.
Most fantasy movies, including George Lucas' Willow, the Conan twosome, and last year's Arthurian First Knight, vary from mediocre to virtually unwatchable.
Producer Raffaella De Laurentiis, who inherited her father's taste for hokey, garish sagas, seems to have blown the budget on the dragon, created by the dino-wizards of "Jurassic Park."
Sure, there might be a few unconvincing F/X shots scattered here and there, but, all things considered, the special-effects wizards at Industrial Light & Magic (the folks responsible for Jurassic Park, and, more recently, Twister) have managed yet another breakthrough: The dragon here is a walking, talking, fully developed, totally likable character, not merely an eye-popping piece of effects work, although it is most certainly that.
The battle scenes, with extras in cheap chain mail or peasant tatters, resemble outtakes from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."