Eragon (DVD, 2007, Full Frame)

I don't understand why all the bad press has been coming out about Eragon. Sure, I normally take the Hollywood critics with a grain of salt, but with all the poor reviews coming out, my sodium intake is way too high!

Given, Eragon is not high art. It won't make any great contribution to the discipline of film theory, but it is a solid sword and sorcery offering. I enjoyed it tremendously.

I think many people (or at the very least, a lot of young guys of my generation) will get a kick out of the premise: a seemingly insignificant young man finds a dragon egg that will launch him into a greater world of magic, wonder, and the fight against evil. And, really, who hasn't daydreamed about dragons as a child. Or if you're a nerd like me, I can rephrase the question: "Who doesn't daydream about dragons on a regular basis."

But seriously, this is a great film for the whole family. There is a small amount of what they call "fantasy violence" (which means only the bad non-human critters get killed on-screen), but nothing to the extent of, say, Braveheart. The themes are pretty simple, and everything conflict in the film is presented in convenient black and white dualisms, so you don't have to explain any morally ambiguous actions to the kids.

It's not a smart film, but adults will still enjoy the light humor, the fairly standard adventure story that you need not pay constant attention to, and the uplifting fantasy aspects (it didn't make me sob, like after Gandalf bit it in the Mines of Moria, anyway).

Most amazing of all is that a teenager wrote the book this was based on. True, he's no Fritz Lieber or Terry Pratchett, but I have to give credit to the kid - I know what I was up to when I was a teenager, and it certainly wasn't writing novels!

So, once again, I think the critics are off base. Maybe they need to relax and have a little fun with their movies, rather than overanalyzing them.

Highly recommended!

Eragon grows to find out what life is all about.He discovers the battle between good and evil and has to choose. He also has to learn to trust after his uncle and family are killed by the evil king's men. It is coming of age story of a young boy he developes into a man by the help of Saphira who has chosen him above all to be her dragon rider. Eargon discovers how to love and care both for his princess and for his dragon. Eragon discovers his powers as he helps to heal his Shapira when she falls helping him. Although this film has violence it is well told as was the Lord of the Rings. Graphics are excellant and believable. It is a great family movie for children 11 and older. It is entertaining for adults as well. All around good movie. Highly recommend. There could be a sequel as the this is a trilogy. The next book is called Eldest and the evil king is working misery again. As an adult if you are a fan of Sci Fi and dragon lore you will not be dissappointed. Your children will be filled with the wonder of the possiblity of really finding a place in this world and being important in their own right. Enjoy!

I'm probably the oldest guy to like Avril Lavigne's music (her early stuff), but heard of this movie thru her song "Keep Holding On", which, unfortunately plays at the end during the credits. Nonetheless, the story line is simple and plausible for the movie version. I have not read the book, but according to Wikipedia things progress differently towards the end than in the movie (so what's new?), because there are actually two more books in this trilogy, of which this is the first.

It was just a great feel-good movie where the bad guys really get their due (and John Malkovich plays the evil king, which he acts so well). The lack of a British accent w/him is the only thing askew w/his character. Everyone is cast well and I especially think Jeremy Irons was well cast for his role as Eragon's dragon riding tutor and mentor. Other critics/reviewers make the point that the effects are akin to Star Wars, but I liked the Star Wars series, so it didn't bother me any. People will find a lot of faults with the movie, but I just like finding a movie that's not so evil and that is light and entertaining. (Another favorite is "Ever After" with Drew Barrymore, if that tells you my tastes). Saphira's flight scenes are the most fun; great CG effects.

This is one I'd really like to see made into a sequel; the author has written the book. However, this didn't do well at the box office, so we're probably out of luck for Eragon Part II.

Fun fact (learned from the Wikipedia reference); the name Eragon is simply "Dragon" that starts with an "E" instead of "D"!

In short -

Nothing like the book, it cut character's vital to the plot of the next books/movies, crappy acting, wussyfied pathetic fight scenes, decent special effects, overall a pathetic movie. If you've not read the book you'll hate it, if you've read the book you'll completely loath it.




In full -

I read the book, and when I first found that there was going to be a movie of it I was really excited.

When I saw it however I seriously considered walking out of the theater. It is nothing like the book, cuts literally over half of the storyline, and it has below average acting. In the book the plot takes place over a pretty long amount of time, and in the movie the entire plot takes place over a day or two. They spend months and months traveling, training etc. and in the movie from the time the plot begins unfolding to the end of the film is a couple days. The fights are nothing like portrayed in the book.


If you read the book then watch this movie you'll most likely want your money back. I would go so far as to say the people that claim it stayed true to the storyline are selling a copy and just want to make it sound like a good movie even though it was terrible.

Because most of what I've said so far is directed at those who have read the book, I'll now write some things for those of you who haven't read the book.
If you are looking for a movie anything like great fantasy movies such as Lord of the Rings, then forget about this movie. Even for someone who hasn't read the book the plot is very rushed and vague. The fights are totally wussy, it's not dramatic and action packed.

I'll finish this review to saying something to people who have, and haven't read the book. Eragon is the first book of a trilogy and the movie ends obviously hinting that there will be movies of the other two books of the trilogy. Currently both the first and second books have been released and I have read both. Characters in the first book that seem say small things and seem to be minor characters come back in the second book and play absolutely VITAL roles in the trilogy, and without them the plot would fail. In this movie they cut multiple characters like this.

Because it was such a pathetic movie, and because the storyline was thrown off by the editing, and because they cut vital characters, I'm am 99% sure that we will not be seeing next to books made into movies, which means the movie sucks and is left as a cliffhanger that won't be finished. This movie is a waste of money, and a waste of time to watch.

I watched this movie with high hopes of it being another wonderfully intriguing fantasy movie, but I was so let down. The whole movie just started out weird. It didn't give the viewer enough information at the beginning to get a feel for what was going on before it got deep into the storyline.

How similar this movie was to The Lord of the Rings was so apparent that it was distracting. The actors did a good job and the effects were fine, but that doesn't help when the story isn't that great.

This movie might be okay for children, and maybe that's what they were shooting for (there were lots of cheesy aspects to the movie), but for adults, I would say to pass on this one. The only downfall to this being a children's movie is a little bit of violence, and the main "bad guy" was so evil-looking that it might be disturbing to young kids.