Dragon Hunter

I am embarrassed to admit that I watched this film all the way through, even though I could have turned it off at any time. I was, I suppose, oddly mesmerized by the awfulness of it all. Who knows? On some level, perhaps I enjoyed it.

The dialog is stilted and corny, delivered in a manner so "ham" the actors should have been pierced with cloves and garnished with pineapple. The dragon, despite its total 1950s-style animated cheesiness, must have been considerably more expensive per minute than the ham actors, because its appearance on screen is mercifully brief. When one considers the quality of the actors, the sets, and the special effects, it seems probable that this was the lowest budget feature length film of 2008.

Nevertheless, I will be on the lookout for future performances of the fabulous Slate Holmgren, whose face and mannerisms are perfect for a comic villain. Needless to say, he was NOT a comic villain in Dragon Hunter.

Less than 10 minutes into the show, the "shaky cam" alone was enough to make this a no-watch. Wow... absolutely terrible directing and choreography. If anyone suffers from motion sickness at all, this is a definite skip. Worst. camera. work. ever.

This is the worst movie i have ever turned off after ten minutes. The script was written by a middle schooler. The actors were wooden at best. The camera looked like it was being held by a drunken chimpanzee. I find it hard to believe there was any post production work done on this movie. If these are the best shots the worst must be truly awful. This is not even a B movie. This is an F movie. Everybody involved flunked. The reason i finally bailed on this stinker was the camera work in a fight scene. It made the Blair Witch Project seem like a high budget Michal Mann film. it was hard to get ten lines of comment because even now i am trying to form a mental block so i will forget i ever seen a movie of such low caliber.

Madness overwhelmed when I saw this movie. Literally! I've seen high school Film Class projects better then this craap!

No lie here ladies and gents! this is a nothing movie. the plot seems to start then is forgotten. the entire movie was filmed in someones backyard or forest. the castle was someones front porch. the dragon was CGI and was only shown twice. the outside of the castle shots, was just a poster. cheap? no! worst then cheap. this is poverty film. even adult films put more money in their budgets, honestly! this movie was literally in someones backyard!

Is there anything good to say about this? NO!...I seriously cannot see, understand how anyone can even say anything good about this movie. this is worse then homemade videos. if you enjoyed this movie, im assuming you were drunk or you could have been on some kind of substance.

Message to the friends of the people who made this film: why did you lie to the makers of this film? you should have been honest with the makers, that this movie freakin suuucked! it is full blown awful.

notice i gave it zero stars...which zero is too much already because this movie doesn't deserve to be a movie.

Since this is a story about a man who is a Dragon Hunter in a world of Orcs, Elves, and Dragons you would think this is a Fantasy. However, as a fantasy film, it pretty well sucks. The Dragon is only in the movie for a few minutes and the orcs you see are just a band of five, dispatched in seconds, and the special effects for them are quite weak, they're just men in masks. The Dragon, on the other hand, is a pretty decent CGI for a low budget flick from 2009.

Realising the budget wouldn't be so large the writer and director, Stephen Shimek, decided to make it about the journey of brothers Darius and Kendrick, played strongly by Erik Denton and Maclain Nelson respectively, to get to the Castle Okarda to train the last Dragon Hunter. On the way, they form alliances with a band of soldiers who accompany them on their mission.

As a drama, it's an above-average film with some really nice camera shots. I particularly liked the way Shimek created the love scene between Darius and the Elfin Raya, portrayed elegantly by Kelly Stables. There's a nice chemistry between the pair and as they move in for their first kiss a rain shower starts, and you know what the rain drop hitting the leaf really represents.

The actors have above average acting skills and give the most to their roles.

The only things that irked me were the amount of time the journey took; they walked a lot... and must have passed the same tree at least three times, this slowed the film down quite a bit... not to the point of boredom, but close. Then there was the swordplay when the Hunter was training. It would've been advisable to bring in an expert to show them how to wield a sword correctly.

This is not a fast action-packed movie it's a slow meander through the fantasy realm and therefore not for everyone. I enjoyed it, though I wouldn't rush to watch it again... or ever.

If there's nothing else to watch and you can't get out the house for some reason, then this could pass the time quite well.