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.

In times of orcs and dragons, the orphan Kendrick (Maclain Nelson) was raised by his overprotective brother Darius (Erik Denton). When their village is attacked by dragons, they have to move through the woods seeking the land of Ocard where a dragon hunter should be trained. They teem-up with a group of warriors wandering in the forest and the walk together to Ocard, in a dangerous journey under the attack of orcs and dragons. When they arrive in their destination, Darius discloses a secret to his brother.

"Dragon Hunter" is a terrible low-budget fantasy movie. The story of a fearful young man that is permanently protected by his older brother and in the end becomes a brave dragon hunter is inconsistent and incoherent; further it is disclosed through awful amateurish camera work and edition specially in the fight scenes; very poor special effects, sets and costumes; and the dialogs are very weak and do not help the unknown cast to have better performances. This flick is highly recommended for insomnia. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "O Caçador de Dragão" ("The Dragon Hunter")

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.

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.

When the movie ended (yes, I endured the entire thing), I sat there staring at the screen and uttered the words, "What the heck?" I felt like I just watched a fantasy-themed production from the early 1970s. I gave it 2 stars only because Kelly Stables was a decent actress, but even she was not convincing in her role. The low budget was obvious, especially during the fight scenes when apparently they could only afford to hire an undernourished person for holding the heavy camera. Either camera mounting gear was unavailable on those days for renting, or it was just cheaper to hire someone off the street who lacked the strength to hold the camera steady.

Guess no one in the editing team has access to after effects software. Lighting, mood setting, color tinting--you know, the visual impact basics that decorate the scenes with an altered element--were completely absent. Heh...the outfits worn by the villagers with fresh dirt applied in an attempt to give a worn, soiled look was a severe distraction.

Intrigue is what captivates an audience. Character depth, convincing roles, unpredictable story lines, and visual impact create intrigue. This movie had nothing in the way of intrigue.

This ranks as the second worst production in my viewing list. The actors may want to strike this from their tear sheet list of accomplishments.