Age of the Dragons [Import]

I'm not sure how many people that tuned in for "Age of Dragons" on the SyFy network (or who are now shopping this DVD) have read the classic Herman Melville novel that inspired the story. Taking its basic premise from "Moby Dick" while jettisoning just about everything else, this was one mightily bad idea from the inception. Why would you set yourself up for the comparison if you didn't have to? Seriously, though, no one watching this film would be expecting a grand literary interpretation. In most regards, this is unrecognizable from Melville's tale of obsession and the great white whale. I'm not sure, therefore, why they tried to keep the dialogue somewhat faithful. In a strange decision, the movie makers didn't really seem aware of their intended audience. By taking everything so seriously and trying to play it straight, this movie just isn't much fun. I expected it might not be very good, but I had hoped for some genuine bad movie camp and silliness.

The tale starts with a young Ahab (before he grows into Danny Glover) and his unfortunate encounter with a vicious white dragon. After this brief introduction, we fast forward through the decades until a modern Ahab is assembling a crew for a hunting expedition. It seems that Dragon vitriol (don't ask, I think it was hard to make dragons as commercially viable as whales are) is one hot commodity. If you are familiar with the novel, you will recognize the key participants--but it's hardly essential. Aside from Vinnie Jones (who brings occasional moments of interest), the cast is drowning and completely over their collective head with the clunky screenplay. The narration by Ismael (Cory Sevier) in painfully leaden and all the performances are awkward and stilted. When Glover finally shows up, he overacts up a storm but nothing can save this production from the lack of forward momentum. Ahab is loony, the expedition is treacherous, mutiny is on hand, and the outcome looks murky for all involved.

What really strikes me about "Age of Dragons" is that, despite everything, the movie had the potential to be an enjoyable guilty pleasure. The effects, sets, and other technical aspects of the film are decent. The CGI dragons are, also, well done although some of the battle sequences lack the requisite bite. But most of the movie is spent with a cast of characters you don't really know or care about. As they wander around wordlessly (or with that horrible narration), it just seems so impossibly dull. It became a chore to continue on the quest with this group. Why didn't they just try to have a bit of fun since they started with such a nutty idea? What you have is a bad movie masquerading as something more significant. As someone who loves all kinds of bad movie mayhem, all I ask is to be entertained (even if the production is atrocious). "Age of Dragons" failed that simple test. KGHarris, 6/12.

I approached this movie with extremely low expectations which I thought might help me enjoy at least some aspect of this movie. I was wrong unfortunately and it cost me. I have been reading the Eragon books by Christopher Paolini and love them. So naturally I wanted to watch a movie about dragons. This is 1 of 3 movies in my entire life I couldn't make ii through the whole movie. I watch at least 2 movies a day (at least). So to say it is uncommon or rare is an understatement for me to give a movie 1 star and not finish it completely. I am sorry to be harsh but between the acting, the "boat" on wheels and the computer "attempted" to create a dragon, all of those areas felled miserable. So if you are thinking to yourself I really just want to see a movie with dragons, don't. Look elsewhere (although there really many out there). If I had the money and team I would create a movie about dragons because there are very few and the few they are aren't that great. Anyways, do what you want but I figured I had to warn someone.

Some ideas are great on paper, not so in practice, and "Age of the Dragons" is one of such examples. The fantasy adventure film is a re-imagined version of "Moby-Dick," a classic novel of Herman Melville. Looking for the legendary white dragon, Danny Glover's vengeful captain Ahab leads the dragon hunters including Ishmael (Corey Sevier), Queequeg (John Kepa Kruse) Stubb (Vinnie Jones) and Starbuck (David Morgan) in a landship named the Pequod.

The film is set in a fictional mythical land that looks like medieval Europe, though some part of the film (design of the landship, for instance) reminds us of the steampunk world. Dragons are hunted, it is explained, for vitriol, a highly sought-after energy source. The hunters enter deep into the woods and wilderness to kill the flying dragons, and spend most of the time ... talking, talking and talking.

Turning a Herman Melville novel into an action fantasy is not a bad idea. For this kind of fantasy film to succeed, however, you need characters you can relate to, or at least decent action sequences. Sorry, but "Age of the Dragons" has none of them. You have to wait about 30 minutes for the first combat scene to start. Those action scenes, poorly shot and edited, are not thrilling.

As to the actors, it seems only Vinnie Jones (second-billed) knows what he is doing. Unfortunately, his role is a pretty small one. Captain Ahab has a daughter Rachel (Sofia Pernas), love interest for Ishmael. Her pointless role does not help.

In short, the film is terrible. By saying terrible, I'm not talking about the idea of re-imaging a classic novel. "Age of the Dragon" is dull. It needs better acting and more budget.