Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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56 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Satire or Monumental Disaster?, January 14, 2008
I am a 56-year-old movie buff and right off let me confess, I love this movie.
In my opinion this movie was never intended to be taken seriously at all. Consider that in the first exposition scenes you have not one, but 2 entirely different characters in different scenes say directly to the narrator in the middle of his attempted explanation of this nonsensical tale "what are you talking about?" I don't believe this was accidental folks, this is called comedy.
One thing to be aware of when you're watching this movie is that the director is the most popular comedian in the entire country of Korea. He gained his fame and fortune as comedic actor. In other words his entire professional career has been based on making people laugh.
I think most people who are reviewing this movie are completely missing the comedy. Frankly I found the movie to be hilarious.
How anyone could possibly take this movie seriously after seeing the Darth Vader character stupidly get run over by a car 2 times in a row is beyond me. That was obviously comedy (and very funny).
Yes it is entirely overblown. Layers of complete absurdity are piled with additional layers of even more absurdity. Which makes it a perfect satire of the Star Wars, Lord of the rings, Harry Potter and all of the rest of the overly pompous mega-movies. If there is a big overblown scene in one of those movies you're going to see a similar scene in this one.
A few examples. The Gungan Army scene from Star Wars episode 4 -- only this time the Army with the cute, smiling dinosaur critters with the weapons on their backs are the bad guys. And these smiling dinosaurs are wreaking total havoc on Los Angeles fighting the LAPD. The incongruity of the destruction and the cute smiley dinosaurs is absolutely hilarious.
Remember the giant explosion scene in Independence Day with the flames and flying cars rushing up the street? It's here, but with a very funny twist. In this movie the same thing is done by a giant snake rushing up the street. The exorcism scene in the Exorcist? Yep, it's here too, tossed in like the kitchen sink, completely unconnected to any plot points.
Giant marching Imperial Army and Ninjas? Sure enough. Darth Vader character with a ridiculously laughable sinister voice? Of course. Rampaging Jurassic Park dinosaurs? You got it. Dogfights straight out of Independence Day? It's here too.
Savor the site of Ray Harryhausen look-alike creatures doing massive destruction that Ray most certainly dreamed of, but couldn't accomplish with the technology of his day. I can tell you that he is smiling in his grave cause this movie delivers a wonderful tribute to his work.
Let me name a few more of the movies that have tributes here. Pitch Black, King Kong, Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Men in Black, Dragonheart, Ghostbusters, Godzilla, Ninja Mutant Turtles, the Host, The Thing, Rodan and even Monty Python and the holy Grail. It doesn't stop there, look carefully and you'll see many many more.
Does the acting suck? Absolutely. Is the story completely incomprehensible? It most certainly is. Is it even more ridiculous than Star Wars, Lord of the rings or dozens of others. Yes it is, and I believe that was exactly the point.
I predict this movie will be watched at midnight showings at colleges 10 years from now with folks rolling in the aisles.
I have seen lots of Hollywood studio comedies recently and have not laughed nearly as hard as I did watching Dragon wars. I literally had tears streaming from my eyes many times because I couldn't stop laughing.
So give yourself a break from any pretensions of seriousness, have a glass of wine and have a fun time watching and laughing at the funniest, most ridiculous spectacular eye candy CGI movie ever.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A bit Sweet and Sour, January 9, 2008
Ok, I gave it four stars cuz no one else had rated it 4 stars yet.
Honestly, I didn't think this was that bad a movie (given what others posted) - I enjoyed it - least most of it (bought & watched the DVD). I think this would a been a great movie if it wasn't for a few things. Number one problem (IMO) was the lead male character - I don't know if it was the actor (Jason Behr, I think) or just the character he was playing, but he just seemed to suck the life out of every scene he was in. I think if his character had a bit more personality, the movie would have been a lot better. The editor could have done a bit more with the pacing of the movie - it is a bit uneven in places. Felt like you were hitting speed bumps during some parts.
What I did like: The special effects were great! Reminded me of the CGI from the latest Star Wars movies (wouldn't be surprised if some of the same people worked on this movie). Could a used a bit of gore though - the creatures were a bit too "clean". I also liked the ending - especially the type of dragon that the Imoogi turns into - wasn't expecting that.
Would have liked to seen a "behind-the-scenes" documentry on the making of the special effects.
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
So Terrible... You Must See It, December 21, 2007
This movie is so terrible... and I mean SO terrible, that you absolutely must see it. But if you see it, you must see it with a large group of people. The movie is so bad in so many ways that it will be hard to describe them, but I can try.
The movie starts off with the most wild concept you can possibly imagine, or rather, the most wild concept that a 4th grader can possibly imagine, then sets it on the big screen. One of the first scenes we get is an army attacking a village... but not just any army! Oh no. This army is full of - get this - huge dinosaurs that look vaguely like a Stegosaurus but they have - sit down for this one - rocket launchers on their backs. And if THAT wasn't enough, these Rocket-Shooting-Stegodons are being ridden by black-clad ninjas!
So these ninjas are riding towards this city on their Stegodons with rocket launchers, right, and whatever 4th grader thought this movie up is not satisfied. So in fly the Pterodactyls that breathe fire. But the Pterodactyls, while cool, are not enough. In rides - now this is the best part by far - raptors (like in Jurassic Park) but riding one of these raptors is... The Shredder! From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! But it doesn't stop there! Then this old Korean wizard flies out of nowhere and does magical/kung-fu battle with the Shredder! All while the dinosaur-riding, rocket-shooting ninjas and their fire-breathing Pterodactyls are tearing up the town!
And that is in the first 15 minutes of the movie.
The kid at the beginning sums up the movie nicely in one of his early lines. Just as the random creepy shopkeeper (who for some reason is safe enough to leave a child with - go figure) is finishing with his wild tale of dinosaurs and grenadier wizards, the kid looks up and says, "Uh, what are you talking about?"
That one line sums up the whole movie. "What are you talking about" is something that will linger in your thoughts while you watch this amazingly, epicly wretched movie.
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