Robert's Review

Based on the best-selling novel "Eragon," written by Christopher Paolini and published in 2003, "Eragon" is an epic fantasy-adventure tale of magic, kingdoms at war, dragons and dragon riders. Eragon (newcomer Edward Speleers) is a young farm boy and hunter. One day, as he's out hunting in the woods, he stumbles across a strange blue stone about the size of his head. At first, he thinks it may be valuable and tries to trade it to the local butcher for some choice cuts of meat, but because of where young Eragon was hunting – a forbidden area of the woods that's controlled by the king – the butcher turns him away for fear of what the King's soldiers might do if they were to find out what had happened. 

So, Eragon takes the strange-looking rock home and soon, it hatches into a baby dragon that forms a special, magical bond with Eragon, choosing him as its rider. The dragon's name is Saphira (Rachel Weisz) and she explains young Eragon's destiny to him – that together they must save the kingdom from the tyrannical rule of King Galbatorix (John Malkovich), a former dragon-rider who, in one fell swoop, caused the deaths of all the other dragon riders and crowned himself king of all Alagaesia. Eragon and Saphira are soon joined by Brom (Jeremy Irons), a mysterious man who seems to know a lot about dragons and dragon riders and together, they set out on their journey to reach the rebels and gear up for war, having to get past many of the King's soldiers and mercenaries on the way, without getting captured or killed. 

The writing, directing and acting (basically all of the key elements in making a movie) are poorly accomplished in "Eragon." Edward Speleers has no real charisma; the King only has a few lines in the movie, but for each line, it almost seems like he's acting on stage in a bad play; the animation for the dragon is OK, but not great; the major fights between the rebels and the King's soldiers really looked mediocre at best, nothing like the epic battles in "Lord of the Rings," or any other really good Hollywood movie for that matter; and the list goes on.

Another thing that really, really bothered me about "Eragon" was that there was no sense of the passage of time throughout the whole story. In the very beginning – when Eragon, Saphira and Brom set out on their journey, the dialogue briefly mentioned traveling for a few days to reach where they were, and a few more days to reach where they were going. However, after that, all sense of time-flow was lost because the dialogue no longer made any mention of it and the movie is so short (only 104 minutes), that most of the traveling around isn't shown. Instead, the director just sends them from one place to another, over and over, with no sense of distance or time. The end-result makes it seem as though they did everything in a day... crossing great distances, learning how to use magic, going on a rescue mission, rallying an army and fighting an epic battle... all in a day? That all must have taken months! 

The director, Stefen Fangmeier, really messed up by making this so short and constantly rushing the story. He really should have followed the "Lord of the Rings" example and made "Eragon" into a much grander-scale production that may have taken three hours of screen-time to tell the story. In my honest opinion, "Eragon" – as it is right now – is the kind of movie that I'd expect to see on the Sci-Fi channel as an original made-for-TV movie, not something worth paying for in theaters. 

All in all, I'd give this movie 1 STAR. Re-watch value: NONE (although if it's on cable sometime and I'm not doing anything, I may watch it again.)

"The sands of time cannot be stopped. Years pass whether we will them or not... but we can remember. What has been lost may yet live on in memories. That which you will hear is imperfect and fragmented, yet treasure it, for without you it does not exist. I give you now a memory that has been forgotten, hidden in the dreamy haze that lies behind us..." - Brom the Storyteller

Based on the best-selling novel, these epic fantasy-adventure centers on a young man named Eragon whose destiny is revealed when he happens upon a polished blue stone in the forest. At first, he thinks it's a lucky discovery, something that will bring meat to his poor family for the winter. Instead, it brings a dragon hatchling, a discovery that leads him on a predestined journey with the help of a dragon.  Eragon is soon thrust into a world of magic and power through which he and the dragon must navigate.  He realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.  Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.  As the history of the dragon riders has been diminished to nothing more than legends and children's tales, he finds some unlikely friends along the way to help in his quest to rid the kingdom of the tyrant king also a former dragon rider.  The history is as follows:

Dragon Riders were formed. To protect and guard was their mission, and for thousands of years they succeeded. Their prowess in battle was unmatched, for each had the strength of ten men. They were immortal unless blade or poison took them. For good only were their powers used, and under their tutelage tall cities and towers were built out of the living stone. Wealth flowed into the cities of Alagaesia, and men prospered.  Though no enemy could destroy them, they could not guard against themselves. And it came to pass at the height of their power that a boy, Galbatorix, was born. At ten he was tested and it was found that a great power resided in him. The Riders accepted him as one of their own, and he exceeded all others in skill. Gifted with a sharp mind and strong body, he quickly rose among the Riders' ranks.  The Riders grew arrogant in their power and ignored caution. During a reckless trip Galbatorix and two friends were ambushed, his friends killed, and his dragon slayed. For months he wandered, becoming more and more mad, until he was found unconscious by a kind farmer, and returned to the Riders' council.  When the Riders refused to grant him another dragon, Galbatorix grew mad with rage. Vowing revenge on the Riders, he began to hone his use of dark secrets, learned from a Shade. Then, in the dark of the night he stole a dragon hatchling, and convinced Morzan, a weak-minded Rider, to join him in his practice of dark secrets and forbidden magic. Together they gained strength, and waged a war of revenge against the Riders. Twelve more of the Riders, desiring power and revenge, joined Galbatorix, and they became the Thirteen Forsworn.

In the last bloody battle, Galbatorix gained dominance over all, and anointed himself king over all Alagaesia. And from that day on, he has ruled.

Ok so two out of three isn't bad.  This was the last movie of the day and I really wanted to end on a good note, however to quote a line from another movie "you have been weighed, you have been measured and you have been found wanting".  It is really hard to make a good dragon movie and such is Eragon, for those of you who have read the book, the movie version sucks.  For those of you who haven't read the book, the movie version is just ok.  I read that one of our readers said it was Star Wars with dragons, well I have to disagree. Star Wars was a good movie, this one wasn't so good.  I thought this movie lacked in several ways, now I understand that it would take about 4-5 hours to really make this movie, however LotR (Lord of the Rings) was done in three hours per movie, so if they would have went into a little bit more of the story in "Eragon" and taken the extra hour, then it might have rated a little higher.  The special effects were ok, not the greatest I have seen, but they were fair, and as for the cinematography – well there was so much more they could have done to it.  The acting was marginal and I felt that one of the better known actors – John Malkovich (King Galbatorix) – just didn't seem to be into the role. He seemed like "hey I'm here and they're paying me to be here, so here I am!"  I was really looking forward to this movie but when it was all said and done, I was glad it was over.  I am hoping that they don't make the sequel, but if they do, then spend more time and money to explain it better for those who haven't read the story, and to make it more enjoyable for those of us who have. 

Overall Rating: 2 Stars Re-Watch Value: Uhh yeah, maybe when I'm bored and it is on cable for free.

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