The Most Groundbreaking Dragon Movie Ever Made? - DRAGONHEART (1996)
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- Опубліковано 17 жов 2024
- Dragonheart is a 1996 action fantasy movie directed by Rob Cohen starring Dennis Quaid and Sean Connery as Draco, the dragon. This movie was groundbreaking for CGI visual effects and was a leap Industrial Light & Magic took after Jurassic Park for realism. The movie was a modest hit with extremely good music and is in my opinion one of the most important movies about dragons ever made.
#Dragons #Movies #Film
Draco flew so other dragons like Smaug, Drogon and Ghidorah could soar.
The other thing I will always cherish from this film is the score by Randy Edelman. Wondrous, heartfelt, adventurous and uplifting, if there were a musical representation of CINEMA this would be it.
For Smaug, yeah makes sense for Drogon, Viserion,Rhaegal, not fully, Ghidorah? He's in a weird spot.
For the 3 last Dragons of Westeros, I would say Reign of Fire since they're very similar.
But if we're talking about dragons that walked so our dragons could fly, Vermitrax deserves her place.
Ps. If it seems that I'm attacking your opinion I'm not and I'm sorry if it seems like it.
Plus I wouldn't say Draco made dragons memorable for their design, but for more things(like personality or how they fit within the world)
@@rhinoxsaurus3560 No worries, I understand what you were getting at. I hope Klayton takes a look at Dragonslayer, as Vermithrax is to me one of the finest stop motion monsters in film.
@@oscarstainton hmmmmm might have to disagre-Nah I'm just kidding I love that dragon.
I think the Reign of Fire dragons were the ones that paved the way for future cinema dragon designs. No shade to Draco. He's a legend, but the ROF dragons were a slap.
King Ghidorah? From the 2019 film Godzilla: King of the Monsters? The critical and box office failure that lead to the cancellation of the Legendary Monsterverse? That King Ghidorah?
RIP,Sean Connery. He voiced Draco in this movie, and was the voice of reason, telling Bowen, Dennis Quaid, revenge will never take the pain away after losing Einin to the dark side.
Just ordered myself a Dragonheart figure.
Haha I saw this in the theaters also I had no idea Sean Connery was dead
Dragonheart
I painfully agree Rest in peace Sir Sean Connery
What now Draco?
Where do we go?
Where do we turn?
To the stars Bowen.
To the stars.
Draco is important not because he was another creature, but because he was a character. I can't think of a fully/mostly CGI character before Draco that was a main character and had such screen time. He more than animated well, he emoted well, with strong emotion and character depth that made him more than just a prop like Rexy.
Well jarasaic park was creatures and mostly robots with very minimal CGI. Which is why the film looked great. Just like alien can't beat a good prop and latex suit in a person like predators or like 1990s Ninja Turtles.
nice profile picture
Yes- I think Draco was vital because he set the ground for monster features that HAD to have expression relevant to their intelligence. He was, as you stated, not just a creature- he was an intelligent being and was brought to life perfectly by displaying a wide variety of emotions, which I think paved the way for a lot of coming CGI AND animation in how to do this.
You lost me when you called rexy a prop
thats like saying dogs dont have personality
Fun fact:
This film was the inspiration for the Spyro franchise staring dragons.
I remember reading that many years ago when I first started using the internet
How ironic since the character of Ignitus from the Legend of Spyro trilogy always reminded me of Draco!
I strongly suspect it inspired Dragons Dogma too.
One of my favorite movies of my entire childhood... “To the stars Bowen, to the stars.”
true
Draco is probably the best looking dragon design ever something about him feels real like if dragons did actually exist they would look like him.
DragonHeart was the first dragon movie I ever watched and Draco became one of my favorite Dragons of all time, topped only by Smaug and Ghidorah. It was also the first time I was introduced to Sean Connery. Definitely one of my favorite films from the 90’s.
What’s funny is that I still have the VHS tape from an old movie store called Moovies.
That music piece "To The Stars" is so good, it always makes me tear up. I remember it from the Mulan trailer. Also, something funny, in the first James Bond film "Dr. No", Honey Rider and Quarrel tell Bond that there's a dragon on Dr. No's island. Bond shoots this down saying, "There's no such thing as dragons." Years later, Sean Connery voices one of the most famous dragons ever made.
After playing Arthurian characters like the Green Knight and King Arthur he got to be that dragon inside that world!
To the Stars theme is an masterpiece I remember the poster for it quoting you will believe.
I absolutely loved this movie as a kid, it always made me cry when Draco died at the end 😭😭😭
Stay cool all and remember to go hug your animal friends 💙🐱💙
Still love this movie even now. Would love a director’s cut of it someday.
Oh I can’t wait to watch this one! DragonHeart is such a nostalgic movie for me one of the first movies I got as a kid on VHS! Sean Connery voicing Draco was incredible and I remember not recognizing Dennis Quaid as Bowen! Plus can’t forget about Pete Postlethwaite as the lovable Brother Gilbert and David Thewlis! It was a really great cast!
This movie isn't perfect, but the ending always guts me, and it has this very enjoyable innocence and purity in the storytelling that I'll always enjoy even if parts of it are quite clunky and a little goofy.
"To the stars, Bowen, to the stars." with that iconic score....it hits me every time.
For it's time it is impressive. And compared to other films where the effects suck it is amazing that they pulled off this good of a film. I'm sure all budget went I to making the dragon that corners had to be cut. So just be thankful that it wasn't like alien 3 where everything was good but the monster.
Came to the comments to see this. I teared up in the theater upon hearing that sentence.
I feel you man. Every now and then, I tell myself "okay, I can do this, I'm an adult, I'm a big guy now", then I watch the movie again, I get to the "to the stars Bowen" part, and I find myself crying like a schoolgirl watching Titanic.
I have draco tattooed on my back. This movie came out when I was 2 and i remember being about 4-5 years old and watching it on repeat because the dragon made me feel so safe. Sean Connery’s voice was so comforting to me as a child in a dysfunctional family. This movie means so much to me and always will 🤎 Draco really is an unmatched character
Dragonheart was my favorite movie when I was a little kid - til LOTR came out. That movie began my love of dragons, which I still have to this day. Its such an amazing movie, with so much to give... Draco and Bowen learn from one another, and each becomes better for it.
The score -especially at the ending- makes me cry each time.
This, Enemy Mine and Inner Space are in this weird forgotten fantasy/sci-fi Dennis Quaid category that's barely talked about. All great and memorable movies.
Don't forget Dreamscape, that initiated the "you die in your dream, you die for real" concept just before Freddy (both films were released in 1984)!
Agreed! All great Dennis Quaid movies!
Yo props to knowing what Enemy Mines is. That's a great movie
I still bawl my eyes out at Draco's death. It's my favorite movie of all-time. Because no matter how many times i've seen it, no matter how old I get, this movie will never fail to bring me to tears.
Same here! I’ve watched this movie literally a hundred times since the 90’s and seeing Draco suffer and die still makes me depressed!
One of the few movies with a dragon which have made me cry even in my adulthood. Draco still and will always rock.
I Saw this Wonderful Dragon Movie a Few Years ago, it felt like i watched it as a Kid. The Score, The Adventure, Etc was just Beautiful. The Sequel were So-So, I did the Like the Latest one Vengeance. RIP Draco as well as your Voice Actor Sean Connery. We'll see you in the Stars
The "DragonHeart" frnchise is one of those groups of movies that I think need to be recognized more because each dragon is a great character to watch with a few quirks here and there. the stories that each movie tells get you immersed in this universe and also the human actors do a funny as well as decent job. and as far I have been reading the 6th movie is currently being made.
You got that right and that’s why I still love this movie!
Screw the franchise it was a joke. The first film was excellent and that's it. It's like predator good first film. okay to terrible sequels. Same with ninja turtles and. Alien the first two films fantastic after that most crappy films or ok films with terrible effects. And even both bad story and effects.
"and as far I have been reading the 6th movie is currently being made."
wait, when was there 3 4 and 5?!
@@mrexists5400 hell yeah. All of em prequels to the first movie
Draco is cool but Vermithrax Pejorative from *Dragonslayer* (circa 1981) will always be my absolute favorite.
What a beast!
beat me to it.
#2
Vermithrax still holds up well to this day, and Ulrich is one of the only examples you'll ever see of a good-guy Necromancer
No way! I love this movie!!! Dragon heart is definitely my favorite when I was younger!
I friggin’ *LOVE* this movie (😁)! This was, for me, _my_ introduction to the late, GREAT Sean Connery. As much as I love other well know dragon (🐉) characters like Smaug and Jake Long, Draco will always be my personal #1 favorite; he literally is the genuine heart and soul of the film.
I remember my mom took me to the movies to see Dragonheart and I liked it a lot. Draco still looks pretty cool! But I've heard the original script was far superior and more emotional. However, my favorite movie about dragons is still "Flight of Dragons" from 1982, directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. I highly recommend you to watch it! The dragon designs in that film are fantastic, and there's many different styles of them, and a reasonable explanation of how a dragon could fly. It's a very underated film and I think you may enjoy it!
Oh man, I remember "Flight of Dragons". Saw it one rainy day as a kid, and it always stuck with me. Can't recommend it enough.
Flight of Dragons alongside Dragonworld were actually the first to make me see the dragons as the good guys and living with humans as “family”! Dragonheart just took it a step further in live action and a hard PG-13!
@@ladisneyprincesse
I've always found it curious that for Europeans and Americans, Dragons were mostly depicted as evil, while in Asia they've always been considered as good.
Same lol
one think that stuck with me with flight of dragons was smorgle talking about internals of dragons.
i was thinkin: "i doubt dragons have some advanced schooling system and the wizards dont seem that intent on teaching such things... that means smorgle has probably seen a dragons insides before.... yeesh hes hard core. seen some shit in his day.
As much as I've always loved the film, ever since I'd seen it in theaters at a VERY young age, I can't help but marvel at the darker and more tragic version the writer initially wanted to make. If ever a remake of the original Dragonheart was greenlit, I would hope that it was for the purpose of bringing that more tearful vision to life.
This film has always been very special to me. The heart aspect/needing to sacrifice a character the audience cared deeply about to defeat the villain was something very original and the fact that they actually followed through on killing that sympathetic character rather then retconning it at the end of the film was pretty ballsy, especially for 1996. I'm surprised it isn't more well known because I do remember a lot of my friends at the time (I'm a 90s kid) talking about the film, especially how sad the ending was when Draco died. I still listen to the soundtrack off and on today, especially when I'm playing medieval/ancient/fantasy games to create the proper atmosphere.
3:36 "Universal wanted Whoopi Goldberg to voice the dragon." Thank goodness that didn't happen!
I love this movie! I'd agree that it's probably the most important Dragon movie, Draco is probably the best/second best movie dragon (it's hard to decide between him & Smaug from the Hobbit or Drogon from Game of Thrones). This is one of the few films I think deserves a remake/reboot
Whoopi could fit as one dragon voice but as a mother if they could have made better prequels in the vein of Wings of Fire! Heck this franchise allowed Patrick Stewart into this years later after understudying Draco in the screen tests!
i could see whoopi goldberg doing a bang up job as draco. wouldnt be the same for sure but good all the same.
One of the best dragons in movie history. And one of my favorite movies. Some of the effects might have not aged that well but the message and sincerity of it still hold up after 20+ years of it existing.
Sean Connery and Denis Quaid make this movie along the effects, and music.
The sequels are hit or miss, IMO. The second having a soft spot due tk nostalgia and watching it more often than not due to the bromance between the main character and Draco's son.
It's funny you can even see the way Sean Connery talks by the way Draco talks too, the lip curl with his accent on certain words shows and that's crazy that the technology was that good back then. Love this movie💚🤟🏻
I grow up with this movie. I cherish every single memory of watching and loving it as a kid.
For some reasons there was couple direct to video sequels, as always
They were also very good.
This was a Childhood staple of a film for me as a 90's kid and you nailed it with the score in my opinion, even clipped the same sample that has been stuck in my head since the first time I've heard it lol. Yes I would have LOVED the full 2 hour 18 min version, maybe one day for an anniversary release they'll give us that version.
Well... they have 4 years to make it real, then, for it's 30th anniversary... they missed the 25th by a year.
Still holds up damn well after so many years.
Love this movie. I talked about it in a Facebook group & just got comments saying the film hadn't aged well.
I really need to watch this movie again soon. It's always cool seeing a dragon befriend a knight, or rather any person.
I've always loved that Draco was actually a dragon with 4 legs and wings...and not a darn wyvern where the front/top arms are PART of the wings like pretty much every modern depiction of dragons on screen.
To be fair, Two legged dragons were pretty common in medieval manuscripts folk art
@@OtachiKaiju68 That's fair, Dragonheart was one of my first major exposures to dragons, and it has always irked me that almost every major, noteworthy Dragon depiction since has opted for two legs.
I understand that there are no creatures on earth that have wings AND 4 legs....but in the realm of fantasy it should be permitted.
This movie is a classic, and Draco is still one of the best live-action dragons ever created, in execution and character.
Draco is my favorite design for a dragon ever. It also created my favorite Aint It Cool News meme - that "real dragons were intelligent and could talk."
Rip Sean thank you so much for the amazing movie , I would watch Dragonheart so many times as a kid, growing up , Bowen by far was my favorite character , I wish the sequel were much better like dragon heart 2 a new beginning but they kept changing the characters and thank you for reviewing this master piece
i FUCKING loved this movie as a kid! definitely one of those tapes i wore the hell out of rewatching a million times. when you played the score i got the biggest dumb smile and flashed back to all those lovely little moments of Draco and Bowen just talking to each other, relating as living beings, and that bitter-sweet ending. as a dumbass kid, this movie made me believe dragons had been real and the character of Draco is still the goddamn benchmark of what a dragon should be
Also you should do Reign of Fire Klayton, Surprised you Never to go talk about that Movie. It's 20 Years old Now ^_^ I love that movie as well as the Game.
The technology used to mesh Sean Connery's expressions to the dragon's face was the precursor to modern-day motion capture effects.
One of my most favorite childhood movies. RIP Mr Connery. And thanks for the nostalgia feels Dragoncurve.
Man I love this movie, I always watched it as a kid. Glad my childhood had classics like this.
I have this movie on dvd AND really enjoy rewatch it, the music it's beautiful and Drako it's one of the best looking dragons
I watched this all the time as a kid. Love it!
One of my favorite movies of all time when I was a kid. I haven't seen it in a long time...might have to watch it again now.
This film, Reign of Fire, and the How To Train Your Dragon trilogy are probably the only major (and more importantly GOOD) movies I can think of that feature dragons as the focus of the plot. Sure there are lots of other movies they appear in and an UNGODLY amount of B-Movie junk where they are the focus but this film is the one I most associate with my childhood. The To The Stars track by Randy Edelman makes me cry almost every time I hear it and I even remember having a hand puppet of Draco as a child I would play with. I'm annoyed at how few people I speak to now who have never heard of this film.
The Dragonslayer.
My only problem with Reign of Fire is the idea that dragons were able to drive humans to near-extinction in a modern world.
Put an Apache helicopter or Fighter Jet against a dozen dragons and the result would always be the same.
I agree. There is no way that the male dragon alone could take out the entire U.K airforce.
@@CaptainKotetsu
What annoyed me the most with Reign Of Fire is that the poster was a BIG lie.
They sold us Independence Day with Dragons, but gave us Mad Max 2 with Dragons instead.
SO misleading
@@anubusx Vermithrax Pejorative stands as the greatest dragon on film. Others may be bigger, speak, have different powers, etc. but nothing matches the visceral menace and character present in Verminthax when she is on the screen. Smaug could have been great but by the simple fact that they couldn't decide how many legs to have between movies he falls short.
Classic Fantasy film. Couldn't agree more about the score, so criminally underrated.
This is still my favorite movie of all time. It's the first I remember being coherent enough to recall and I watched it way more time than I can count. It had the right amount of comedy, drama, action and heartbreak, and they really don't make them like this anymore. The sequels failed to live up to the original, but are still underrated in my opinion. And I don't know for sure if this is the first film or piece of media that featured a dragon being presented as an ally of man and not some evil creature, enemy of life that must be slain to save the land, but I think it's the first that drove that point home best.
Also, Draco remains one of the greatest dragons of all time
I remember seeing this in the theater as a kid. Of course the effects show their age now, but it totally blew my mind at the time.
Literally my favorite movie of all time. Whenever I buy a new TV, I never really know if the picture settings are correct until I watch Bowen's encounter with Draco in the cave at the waterfall. It's that "test movie" that just has to be right, or else my home theater setup is all for naught.
Amazing visuals for their time, lots of memorable quotes, and INCREDIBLE sound design (not just the music, but the sound effects around Draco's roars, fire breath, etc.).
I loved this movie as a kid an as an adult I love it even more, knowing about how they made the movie and all the hard work put into it. Would definitely like to see the original 2+ hour cut
I did really like this movie when it came out.
Man you nailed it - this was a delightful, fun movie about a dude and his dragon with a surprisingly wholesome heart behind it, some astonishing special effects for the time, and a breathtaking score. Parts of it are very cheesy but honestly that just adds to its charm. People are always surprised when I use this as an example of “they don’t make them like they used to” movies, but it’s true.
Honesty it's still a timeless classic that I enjoy watching till this day. It's like the first predator, alien, who framed Rodger rabbit, 1990s ninja turtles movie, legend and short circuit. It was a film done so well that even to this day still holds up and that speaks volumes compared to other films wear you watch them and go man the effects suck so much. So for that I'd say films like this should never be forgotten regardless of how advanced we get with technology.
This is one of the most popular dragon movie and I remembered it very well since I was a kid.
i watched it fully today for the first time and i enjoyed it quite a bit. the score is absolutley amazing. to the stars. oh man what a beautiful piece of music.
As someone who absolutely loves this movie I grew up with this movie during the early 2K, my childhood was blessed by this movie and I definitely say it needed to come back into the mainstream media.
This is one of my favorite movies. As a kid it captured my imagination for so long. Draco is still my favorite dragon design, and I name so many of my D&D characters Bowen or Einon lol
This movies ending had me crying as a child when I 1st saw it and my mom walked into my room asking me what was wrong. All 5 year old me could say was that the dragon died as that ending score was playing.
God I love this movie. I have to grab a copy now
Same here and couldn’t stop thinking about it as a kid!
One of my favorite movies of all time. This got me into swords and medieval stuff. I recently showed this to my wife and she loved it, though she did cry at the end .
another thing that made this movie groundbreaking is that this pioneered a concept of of a protagonist dragon...and a knight and dragon working togather in friendship rather than the dragon simply being an a monster as an obstical for the hero to fight.
other movies had dragons...but this one had a dragon that was an actual character. paving the way for future stories of knights or riders with dragon companions.
YO I was telling Tony about you and him reviewing this movie haven’t seen the whole movie but will give it a shot for sure
LOVE this movie so much! This one and Reign of Fire are by far my two favorites! 🥰
Not exactly the best film ever but one I'd happily watch whenever it's on.
I haven't seen Dragonheart in years (probably 15+) and it was categorised as one that was better left in my memory banks. Having watched this, I think it's time to see where I can find it. Thanks Amigo
Dragonheart is one of my favorite movies of all time. I get a big kick out of how Draco's fire breath comes out of his nostrils, as opposed to most other dragons, where the fire breath comes out of their mouths. One of the best lines for me is the Knight's Code:
"A knight is sworn to valor.
His heart knows only virtue.
His blade defends the helpless.
His might upholds the weak.
His word speaks only truth.
His wrath undoes the wicked."
I can still recite that by heart
@@faketohma Such an iconic quote
A true trailblazer for ILM back in the day and even now. I remember watching the BTS special about the movie where it’s said that his Draco’s wings alone had more computing info than what was put into the T-Rex from the original Jurassic Park. That blew my mind.
And you’re right about the score. I remember how every trailer for every drama that came out after would use the main theme.
Yesssss. This was such a great and important movie. Granted, there's been several sequels now, but the original is still one of the best Dragon-based movies made. One where the dragon *isn't* the antagonist or enemy.
And the effects for the time was pretty stellar! While in HD, it might not hold up fully, it's still amazing that they did this 26 years ago!!
I had a DragonHeart background on my monitor for several years. :)
And holy crap. The soundtrack is golden in the movie.
It is a shame that so much was cut out of the movie though.
I absolutely love this movie! Still one of my favorites.
I absolutely adore this movie, Draco and Bowen are both such good characters, and Brother Gilbert cracked me up. I never knew it had been trimmed down though, I'd kill just to see the full, uncut movie.
People today just understand how groundbreaking Draco truly was! No one had ever seen anything like him back in 1996 and he truly,did make you want to believe!
I remember seeing this in the cinema and it blew me away!! I loved it and the dragon looked beyond real back then
If I had to pick one favorite movie of all time, it would be Dragonheart. 🥺💜✨️ Sean Connery set a standard that all other dragons in cinema had to live up to. Just legendary.
I usually don't cry while watching movies, but this was the first one that got me, and it still does, whenever I rewatch it.
i bawled my eyes out at the end of this movie... and to this day i cannot listen to the theme "to the stars" by randy edelman without tearing up
I agree with most everything you said regarding the story and film and now I really want to try to find an extended version that includes those missing 30 minutes.
So this is one of my all time favorite movies, I have the Old Code tattooed. I vividly remember seeing it in theaters. I remember the ending most, when they killed the magic talking Sean Connery dragon, I was seven...... and I cried for a week. The ending still gets me
A part of me wishes we had a talking dinosaur in a similar, if not darker tone to Dragonheart.
I love how the T-Rex looks talking.
Just got done rewatching this movie today. The mix of CG and practical effects looks so fucking good, even now. It's extremely impressive to behold
Finally some love for Dragonheart!
Dragon Heart was one of my first movies to get me into fantasy and dragons in general, before I even know being a fantasy writer was my life's career. I love it and enjoyed the second, sequels meh with 'Vengeance' coming more to that original Dragon Heart feel.
You shared so many facts that blew my mind away. And am I the only one who immensely enjoyed Brother Gilbert's 'natural talent' in hitting ppl where it hurt?
Damn I love this movie I got my Grandmother to watch it for the first time cause I know she loves Sean Connery so when his voice came on she was like "oh yeah".
Draco is one of THE best dragons in movies. Sean Connery did an awesome job as his voice, and the CGI still looks great almost 30 years later. Love this dragon a lot.
I remember watching this movie since I was younger ages in 2000s era. I used to own this movie on VHS back in 2009, but not anymore.
I remember watching Dragonheart for the first time on Valentines day and it was a special present 🎁 for me in my childhood. Thanks for showing this for me.
I'm gald you covered this movie, I'm really sad I almost completely forgot about this film but I remember liking it a lot when I was younger, I will definitely be rewatching this
I remember seeing that (with I could say as a kid, but I was 28) - still acted like a kid :) I loved this movie. Since I was hard core into fantasy this was my thing and like I said, I adored this movie.
Phil Tippett also animated the dragon in _Dragonslayer_ , a way _way_ darker movie which I hope you'll check out one day. Apart from showing the pinnacle of Go-Motion animation technology, it also pioneered the pterosaur dragon design subsequently copied by _Reign of Fire_ , _Game of Thrones_ and _The Hobbit_ .
Dragonheart is, and will always be, my favorite dragon movie.
One of the best soundtracks I've EVER heard in a movie! To the stars...
I loved this movie. 2 of my favorite actors, Connery and quaid. I wanted it with my mom when I was a kid. Great movie
This is my favorite dragon movie ever made! This and Reign of Fire!!
I'm two months late but I just found this video and I'm just going to throw this out there. This is my favorite movie ever, nice to know some one is talking about it still
one of my favorite dragon movies.
I REALLY would love to see more insight to this flick! I legit love this movie and I had NEVER seen the T. rex bit before! I absolutely am now gonna scour everywhere for more info!
Dragonheart is my favorite movie I watch some of the sequels but my favorite television dragons was shenron from the anime dragon ball z
I loved and still love that movie 🐉 ❤
Weirdly, one of the versions of Dragonheart I've wished to see was the one where Jim Henson Studios made a practical fullscale dragon and Clive Own played Bowen (edit: fullscale head, and quarter scale dragon model). I found a picture taken of a set where Clive Owen was in front of a campfire and the practical Draco is behind him. My brother and I watched Dragonheart many time but we always thought Draco design could be improved, and Jim Henson Studio's design felt like that.
When I found out about Clive, it was really meant to be for him to be King Arthur after that screen test!
If the Jim Henson design could ever be restored, perhaps it should be on a future musical version of this movie!
It's crazy that as soon as you mentioned Jurassic Park, and your other channel, I immediately recognized you voice! I'm glad to see that you've branched out, Klayton! 😺
This movie is still one of my favorites. I watched this in theater when I was 5 or 6 I cant remember it was amazing