Dragon Hunters (2008)

I have to admit that my first reaction to seeing this on the video rack was suspicion that this might be another Aero-Troopers, the Plan-9-from-Outer-Space-awful, worst computer animated film ever made I wasted 90 minutes of life I can never get back upon the last time I took a chance on a computer animated film I'd never heard of before. However, despite some eerie similarities in world construction, this turns out to be one of the BEST computer animated films ever made, one I can recommend without hesitation.

To begin with the world of Dragon Hunters is simply gorgeous, a world of islands floating around in the sky, upon which gravity works oddly when it works at all. But this beautiful world is threatened to varying degrees by the dragons of the title, which range in degree of threat from annoying crop stealers to terrifying world devourers, thus the necessity for hunters of same.

Twenty years ago Lord Arnold lost his sight and his health trying to stop the World Gobbler's last rampage, now he impatiently and all but hopelessly awaits the return of the knights he dispatched to try and stop his pending rampage. So his fairy tale loving niece, Zoe, decides to lend a hand by sneaking out and finding some noble knights like those in her fairy tales, but what she finds are our two hapless heroes. Can a little girl's belief in them inspire a couple of two-bit, fly-by-night, down-on-their-luck dragon hunters into succeeding where a troop of noble knights failed, into stopping the most horrifying dragon this world has ever seen?

Well, the answer is obvious, but the fun is in how we get there.

Gwizdo and Lian-Chu make for a hilariously mismatched pair, whose widely differing reactions to Zoe, the dragon hunter groupie who is not quite as naive as she appears, threaten to tear their partnership apart,...

assuming of course that anyone survives this fiasco.

Note: Some retailers package this DVD with a free Dragon Hunters comic book, which is little to get excited about IMHO; Sergio Aragones did this sort of thing much better in Groo the Wanderer. The first 17 episodes of the first season of the animated TV show, which this movie is a prequel to, have been released on DVD: Dragon Hunters: Vol. 1 It's A Dragon's Life (ep. 1-4), Dragon Hunters: Vol. 2 Dead Dragon Walking (ep. 5-8), Dragon Hunters: Vol. 3 There's No Place Like Home! (ep. 9-11), Dragon Hunters: Vol. 4 Don't Look Now (ep. 12-14), and Dragon Hunters: Vol. 5 Unwelcome Guests (ep. 15-17).

I watched what I could of the original cartoon. And when I saw that a movie was made, I though it was going to be quaint and cute. But I didn't think it was going to be great. I thought just like many cartoon CG movies, it was going to be amusing but that's about it. Once the menu loaded up, I got the first impression that something different was going on. The sound quality was thick and the surround sound even on my cheep speakers was gripping. Then the actual movie started, and all preconceptions fell to the ground. The movie is DE-TAILED. And beautiful! The vision of the backgrounds of the show were amplified by the merciless CGI.

Another thing in this movie is a great beating heart. Care is all over this picture. Most CG animated DVD movies get the job done, but there is not much to get attached to. This move is detailed even between the lines.

Forest Witaker did a great Lian Chu. His deep voice fit. This is an AWESOME movie. Not just for kids, anyone, open to it, would enjoy this movie to pieces. Absolute recommend.

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An underdog of a film, but the question of how the Blu transfer would turn out was being asked since the announcement this year. In brief summary, it turned out great.

We have a story of fantasy, peril, comic relief, bravery and action all set against a beautiful world where gravity has a much different outcome. The picture clarity looked amazing. There are brief blips in the motion here and there, but overall the quality turned out vivid, crisp and articulate. Reference the wide pan shots where the characters are extremely small; on the DVD they were little blips, on the Blu they were distinguishable with arms and legs.

The sound was outstanding. All five channels are used extensively, and it appears no imagination was spared on how to make these floating villages and action sequences surround you.

The special features are catered to the kids who follow stories like this with trading cards and such. The Universe of DH, Character Biography and Dragon Gallery options can be surfed through like reading a book on all the creatures and locations we just watched. The Interview With Forest Whitaker lasts less than five minutes and shows the production process of recording in studio.

I have not watched the original series, but I hope they continue with more films of this quality and story. For the parents wondering on content, the PG rating on language is for fart stuff, the fantasy action and scary images will most likely be scary for 6 and under. But between the music, scope of pictures and action I was noticing kids younger than that loving it as it played today.

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My 6 year old son borrowed this movie from my brother and I was a bit skeptical, assuming it would be a second rate children's animated movie. We started watching it and I was immediately impressed with just the images. Beautiful, creative and fantasy like. The story was great, the characters lovable and had a very nice message that wasn't delivered with too much sugar.

I am certainly purchasing this dvd for our family collection!

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I have never even heard of this movie until last week from watching the STARZ network (being that it's free for a year with their anniversary). I don't want to sound like a nerd but I cannot believe I have never heard of this animated movie before! I thought I have seen all the good ones (mainly Disney/Pixar, animes, etc) but this one really amazed me. Even my husband who usually isn't into animated films unless he has to watch one with our 4 yr old was very impressed. The story is pretty neat and similar to most "kill the dragon save the world" stuff. What sets it apart was that it was truly visually amazing ( comparable to Avatar ) especially in HD and the musical score that accompanies it was quiet perfect. This movie had some heart, although the side-kick character tended to annoy me some, but Forrest Whitaker was great. I loved it so much I had to go buy the Blu Ray IMMEDIATELY ( you really can't beat the price of below $10!!!) and I cannot wait to eventually share it with my daughter and the rest of my family. I really do think it's a must BLU RAY/SURROUND SOUND/minimum 52" 1080 screen...just for the WOW factor alone! Ok, that's it for my nerd rantings. Simply a must-see

UPDATE:

P.S. I don't think this is for the kids (as in 10 and under). A lot of the dialogue are a little bit too mature for the younger ones, and the story line will probably bore them some. When I saw this movie, I had no distractions, therefore it helped me enjoy it a bit more than I normally would.