DragonHeart

DragonHeart – When the tyrannical King Freyne is killed during a peasant’s revolt, his son, Einon, takes the crown but is then mortally wounded. His loyal knight and mentor, Bowen, rushes him back to the castle where his mother takes him to the lair of a dragon who gives Einon half of his heart in order to save his life, inextricably linking the two together. Several years later, King Einon has shown his true colours and is using the local peasants as slaves. Bowen blames the dragon for this and sets about killing all the dragons he can find but he comes across one who will change everything he thought he knew.

DragonHeart (1996) – Director: Rob Cohen

Rating: PG

Running Length: 103 mins

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Sean Connery, David Thewlis

Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy

REVIEW: ‘DRAGONHEART’

‘DragonHeart’ is a movie which has divided opinion and has had mixed reviews from critics. We feel that, while it has its flaws, it’s a great family movie with plenty of action, adventure and fun characters to keep everyone entertained. The motivations of both leads, Bowen (played by Dennis Quaid) and Draco (voiced by Sean Connery), are believable and, when they realise that working together makes more sense than fighting, the changes seen in both are wonderfully heart warming. When we find out that Draco is the last of his kind, his life suddenly becomes much more precious, adding a realistic sadness to his otherwise upbeat and comedic persona.

The other members of the cast provide solid performances, David Thewlis as the adult King Einon oozes with charismatic evil and provides a villain who the audience just loves to hate and the late Pete Postlethwaite is great as the comedy monk who is torn between his pacifist lifestyle and his very human desire to fight for what’s right. The story itself is full of twists and turns as Bowen and Draco’s lives crash together before they join forces to stop the evil King and such a plethora of diverse characters adds to the excitement and enjoyment of the movie.

‘DragonHeart’ doesn’t try to be serious and sometimes doesn’t even try to make sense so if you expect anything other than a light-hearted family movie, you will probably be disappointed. However, if you want plenty of action and comedy with a few moral messages thrown in, ‘DragonHeart’ won’t fail to entertain.

CONTENT: IS ‘DRAGONHEART’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

During the rebellion, the King and his army go in to fight the peasants; several are seen to be run through with swords but this is not too graphic. The King leaves the fight to go to the village and begins to set fire to the homes of the peasants; he is then surrounded by a mob who beat him to the floor and, when they move away from him, his lifeless body lies on the ground. The rebellion is also when Einon receives the wound that causes him to be taken to the dragon to be saved. He is accidentally pushed onto a sharp spike which stabs him in the chest. Blood is seen running in some nearby water but very little of the wound is actually seen.

After Einon becomes King, he treats his subjects like slaves. With one peasant, he tells one of his men to ‘burn the insolence out of his eyes’, the peasant is then held while a hot poker is held near his face. However another character comes to his rescue. Later in the movie, after several years have passed, this peasant is seen again as an old man and he is now blind. Nothing is mentioned about how he lost his sight, however it is likely that he was blinded by Einon sometime after the initial threat.

As Bowen believes that Einon became evil after the dragon gave him half of his heart, he takes it upon himself to attempt to kill all the dragons he can find. He kills one dragon in the film although nothing is seen on camera. He brings the dragon down into a dip in a field, there is a lot of noise and Bowen is thrown into the air a few times then walks away dishevelled but mostly unharmed. This is designed to be a comedy scene in the movie but children who are sensitive to animal cruelty may be upset by this. Bowen also tells another character that although he kills the dragons for money, he mostly does it for pleasure.

There is a brief, mild sexual reference where one character leaves a building in his underclothes, holding his trousers up and is followed out by a woman. Another happens when a rather innocent male character accidentally squeezes a woman’s breast, he instantly apologises and appears to be much more shocked than her. There is a stronger scene later in the movie where Einon has a female prisoner in his bedchamber. He allows her to attack him but overpowers her and pushes her onto his bed. He then forcibly kisses her but then gets up and walks away. This does not go any further and there is no implication that anything else happens, however Einon’s behaviour may cause upset to some children.

There is an emotionally charged scene where one character sacrifices themselves for the greater good. The scene is designed to be very sad with an emotional score and strong grief of other characters who care about them.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: ‘IS DRAGONHEART’ FOR KIDS?

‘DragonHeart’ is a fantastically fun and entertaining family film that is bound to appeal to almost every member of the family. Due to the very child friendly action and comedy throughout, we feel that this movie should be appropriate for most kids aged 6 and over.

Violence: 2/5 (very little blood is seen, King Einon’s evil behaviour may be a little distressing for young kids)
Emotional Distress: 3/5
Fear Factor: 2/5 (there is one scene where ghostly voices can be heard, however the characters do not react with fear so this should reassure children that these voices are not scary)
Sexual Content: 2/5
Bad Language: 1/5 (a couple of instances of mild blasphemy)
Dialogue: 2/5 (King Einon is often quite threatening)
Other notes: Deals with themes of friendship, slavery, the corruption that power can bring, fighting against those in power for what is right, accepting the differences of others and realising that sometimes your opinions are wrong and should be changed.

Words by Laura Record

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