Dragon Hunters (2008)

hyped garbage

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I've watched this a couple times with the 3-yo and the 7-yo. We all like it. The kids have a low filter for engaging with an animated movie, but they lean in on this one like they do for good Ghibli movies.It is exciting but not crushingly scary; it interesting and creative, making good use of the opportunity to invent an imaginary world; fascinating and moody; it has obvious value lessons that the 7-yo expects to be in her movies, but also with a little twisting that she doesn't expect and needs to talk about; the ending seems a little abrupt, but perhaps that was the copy of that we were watching. I am over-voting it, but the current IMDb rating of ~6 is absurd.

The reviews for Dragon Hunters are glowing, but I found it to be literally one of the worst movies I have ever seen (and probably the worst animated film I've seen).The thing reviewers seem to go on about the most is the animation, writing and writing about how beautiful and breathtaking it is and how it gives Pixar a run for the money. I disagree so strongly! The animation of the setting is mildly interesting, but more in idea than actual visual stimulation and lacks a lot of detail. The characters are anatomically clunky and their movements don't even seem natural to that clunky design - they just flat out don't work for me. All in all, I would say that visually this movie looks more like a draft...it lacks so much that it seems entirely unfinished.The voice acting is mediocre at best and utterly fails to emote, but that isn't even my biggest beef with it! The voices themselves are so grating and obnoxious that they go beyond being caricatures, as animated characters are expected to be, and simply irritate. Speaking of "character" and "emoting"......the story itself lacks any substance at all! Yes, the bare bones idea is a bit cliché, but that doesn't really matter. It's all about the meat you put on those bones, after all, and unfortunately this meat is lean, stringy, and crude. There is no real...anything here. No true journey. No character development. It's an as of yet unformed idea that tries to parade as fully formed, and I hate it for that.Honestly, I feel angry that I watched this movie. Disgusted. Writing this review civilly took a lot of self-control. If I could have given Dragon Hunters no stars I sure would have (and that's still more than it deserves).

This one had been languishing on my netflix queue for the longest time for reasons that I never could quite pin down. It's not Pixar. It's not Disney. It's not anime.And the story seemed so simple. A lot of people seemed to comment on that. Just the same, I didn't erase it from the queue.So finally, I clicked on it.Just the opening Graphics alone held me spellbound. A world of floating islands, drifting ruins, flying forests, castles high in the sky with darkling clouds below. . .and a dragon. A hero and his friend, a spunky Princess and. . .a very strange dog.The story is straightforward-- a standard Slay-the-dragon quest with the usual lessons about Responsibility, Friendship and Bravery. We've all seen it done many times. But this one has a soulful elegance to it.The big shouldered Hero warrior has simple lines, but the expressions on his face speak volumes about honesty and gravitas especially when he remembers his childhood.His friend Gwizdo is the perfect fulcrum of adult humor, sarcasm and Guilty Conscience. His laugh inducing lines were never out of place.And the Princess is just adorable.I loved this as an adult. And its simplicity speaks with wordless directness to children.To call the storyline 'simple' is unfair: Call it 'Uncluttered'. And the visual vistas are simply astounding in their detail and majesty.Whether you have Children or Not--Just Watch it.

We rented the movie on a lark while on vacation at the beach and were dumbfounded that we did not know about it sooner. The animation is truly gorgeous and very surreal. The use of what seemed like real film footage with animation was very well done and added to the believability of the other-worldliness. The story is a very fun play on good and evil, stereotypes/misconceptions, and if you have a daughter(s) there is a little girl-power subtext going on. I loved the knitting references. It has become one of my family's favorite movies and we are waiting to do an outdoor movie night to see how it plays in the open. I imagine it will be stunning.