Merlin e os Dragões

I had the misfortune of buying this DVD from Play.com thinking it would be half decent to watch. What a mistake that was, as other reviewers have said this is quite bad, actors who can't act etc. etc., but worst of all there is no COLOUR to the film, no green grass, no flesh tones, nothing actually, I know it is supposed to be the Dark ages but the director Mark Atkins is also a cinematographer but he well and truly "cocked" this film up big time. What Jurgen Prochnow was doing appearing in this film is anybodies guess, the story isn't that bad with better direction and a bigger budget from money saved by hiring totally unknown actors except Jurgen who knows. A POOR EFFORT, not a very good advert for the British film industry.

I liked it. It was not awful, and not the best film ever. But it was fun. Considering the usual fare on a lazy weekend, it's good enough. My wife writes fantasy and we watch plenty of films of this genre.

CRITICISMS: It didn't have huge surprises and the props and costumes needed a little help. The book, for example, was quite tattered on the outside, but the pages were a bit too clean, and the edges of them were perfect. Shouldn't they be dog-eared and worn with spots and smudges?

Costumes were TOO CLEAN - and in too good a condition. You would expect, particularly after battle, dirty clothes with rips and tears. And how does Merlin stay so clean shaven out in the field all day? And swords should be bloody after you run through a man with one. Small things like that.

Our biggest issue with the film-making was the sped-up parts of battle. That was - sorry for the word - cheesy. The special effects were not very special.

COMPLIMENTS: I think Info-11159 said it well in the "A good old fashioned - good VS evil fantasy film" comment. His (her?) point about needing a bigger budget and more time is really what was needed. We really enjoyed the horse scenes, but we're horse people. We always enjoy seeing beautiful horses handled by highly skilled equestrians. The riding was very good and a pleasure to watch.

The filming location was GREAT. I like seeing these kinds of stories in more authentic locations. Very beautiful countryside that contributed to the project. That's a sacrilege for me to say - we're in California and our son is a writer in Hollywood! But truly - filming in the UK was perfect for this.

The actors did well with what they were given and the story was just right for this genre.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. I do like the genre. I think to really enjoy it, you have to have the right expectations. Don't expect huge budget Hollywood fare - think of it as a fantasy B movie and just go with it.

If they do a sequel, I hope they use the same horse suppliers and riders - and don't speed it up. Those people were highly skilled and could handle the action just fine at the speed they would be performing at. Maybe get a little bit better CG software.

I would watch it again.

This movie was pretty bad. The best thing that it has going for it is the scenery. The acting is horrible with few exceptions, the special effects are VERY bad, almost like there was no effort put forth. Merlins character looks like McLovin from Superbad, and the antagonist looks like someone who got beat up everyday in high school. I don't remember his name, but one of the warriors gives a really cheesy motivational speech to his army of 15 people that was ripped off from braveheart. The massive armies that are battling it out are comprised of about 30 ugly actors and occasionally some poor CG. Half of the actors couldn't control there horses. I wouldn't recommend watching this movie. Sorry of my review is a little disjointed.

Massive blunders in the every domain of film making, starting from pound for pound worst special effects on this list. So woeful that it's actually funny.

Strange to see tar Mac road running through the hills in the days of merlin😂😂