Dragon Crusaders

I can't believe this film actually made it through production. I thought there was a recession going on in the world but there still seams to be people out there with money to throw away (albeit a miserly sum). The whole thing feels like a Live Roleplaying session on a weekend. Every single close up of a weapon supposedly hacking or stabbing, pathetically portrayed worse than beginners stage night at the local primary school. The actors are so cardboard, they could be recycled for cereal packets. The CGI could well have been done by a self taught enthusiast in their bedroom late one night. The sounds of people running in terror, gives the impression of crowds fleeing, then the camera pans around and 4 to 5 is all there is. They should be running for their lives, but a gaintily trot is all your given. The only realism of the whole thing is the horses, and they act better too.

Well I didn't expect much from this film - and I'll say it's a bit less than I did expect. I will call this a Z-film -- that means is a lot less than a B-film in quality.

Remind me not to get another film made by The Asylum!! Their films are not very good.

3/10.

I was interested in seeing Dragon Crusaders because the title was one of those titles that immediately makes you want to see it, as this seemed like my kind of movie, and the cover actually made it look fun. I was also dubious though seeing as it was from SyFy/The Asylum, notorious for making bottom-of-the-barrel type movies.

Seeing Dragon Crusaders for myself, it is not a good movie. However it could have been worse, you could have been watching something like Battle of Los Angeles, Quantum Apocalypse, Alien vs Hunter or Titanic II. Dragon Crusaders is made tolerable by some nice scenery, the tiny swords-woman(played very well by Cecily Fay) who really did kick ass and some good looking dragons, even if I would have liked to have seen more of them.

Conversely, apart from the scenery I could tell Dragon Crusaders was shot on a low budget. The camera shots are haphazard, or at least some of them are, and the costume design while not bad in look were inauthentic in detail, especially with the knights, the heavy red lipstick and the hair extensions, not to mention the sweat pants for the pirates. The dialogue also is never sure whether it wants to be in Old English or in the language of today, this jars with the setting and comes across as stilted.

The action has moments where it is spirited, but overall I found it a little too hectic and eager to please particularly with the tumbling, screaming, kick boxing and wire spinning. There are also goofs that are very noticeable, such as the business with the quiver of arrows for two reasons, one that many are used yet the numbers in the quiver don't change and also where it should be empty but in the next scene it's full. The props are just as jarring as the costuming, they look cheap and seem more at home on a Halloween display than a swords and sorcery tale.

Story-wise it is disappointing, the idea is good but too much time is spent on the action and when something other than that happens it is rushed, a longer length might've sufficed perhaps, so you don't engage with it. The characters are cardboard thin, the direction is sloppy in some scenes and erratic in others and the acting doesn't fare much better, with Dylan Jones an uncharismatic lead and Simon Lloyd Roberts equally unmemorable. Fay is the sole bright spot.

All in all, not a good movie, but if I were to choose between watching this and watching something like Titanic II again, I would pick this easily. 4/10 Bethany Cox

From the few films I've seen from the SyFy channel and The Asylum in the past few weeks I must admit DRAGON CRUSADERS was surprisingly entertaining in an odd way, don't get me wrong its not a gem that's for sure but out of all the others that included films like 2012 MOBY DICK and TITANIC 2, this film had a sense fun to it despite the fact the effects weren't ground breaking in any way, the costume designs weren't very accurate in terms of historical detail and the acting and the dialog needed a little work.

The one character who steels the show is a sword wielding woman about 4 feet tall who kicks butt like nobody's business and looks good while she does it and the dragons actually look okay despite the film's obvious low budget.

Honest opinion, the only thing that really sucks about films from The Asylum and SyFy is the fact that they get the film to a certain stage and by that I mean we all know the production value of their films and they all had the potential of being hugely entertaining but their main problem is not the cheap looking CG or the acting, its their scripts, if they would just put a little bit more effort into writing a better script for a film it would be so much better, they don't need that multi million dollar budget to make a film entertaining, they just need a good script and that's all.

Overall, DRAGON CRUSADERS won't please a huge audience but if you're willing to give the film critic inside you the day off its very entertaining.

Firstly, let's establish the facts: This is one of the many films produced from The Asylum, they can usually be found on the SyFy channel or Movies for Men. So, we have: A ridiculous title, an even more ridiculous story, wooden acting, extremely clunky dialogue and mega drive standard CGI.

Of course, for the reasons I just listed Dragon Crusaders is an absolute turd of a film. It would be easy to go on a rant, but I will refrain from that temptation. The fact is that Asylum films know their place, all those involved surely know what they are making, and these films that they make tend to actually make a profit, so fair play to them. Calling these films B movies is probably too much of a compliment, maybe Z movie, but they certainly deserve to be a genre in their own right. As long as you know what you are getting in too, have a strong alcoholic beverage at your side, then films like Dragon Crusaders are more entertaining and certainly funnier (intentionally or not) than anything Adam Sandler or Nancy Meyers ever produce.