Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
It seems that the Dragonheart films have officially become a franchise. 1996’s Dragonheart was a moderately well received action/fantasy film that really didn’t need a sequel. Don’t get me wrong. The original film was a blast of digital wizardry and live action at a time when that type of CGI was on the cusp of becoming mainstream. Sean Connery and Dennis Quaid were a huge pull, and I still yank out my old HD DVD just to give it a spin now and again. The sequel, Dragonheart: A New Beginning went straight to DVD back in 2000 and was definitely underwhelming. Then Universal decided to make it a trilogy with a third film that comes 15 years after the happenings of the 2nd movie. Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer’s Curse was a moderately fun little time waster, but like most DTV movies, was riddled with a dull plot, poor editing, and mediocre acting from C level actors. So, I guess it’s officially a franchise now as the race to the bottom continues with yet another DTV sequel that underwhelms except if you’re interested in just boredom watching this type of stuff on Netflix.

Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire picks up quite a few years after the 3rd fill, BUUUUUUUUUUT it references the main characters from that movie, as well as stars Drago the dragon (who was voiced by Ben Kinsley in the 3rd film, and by Patrick Stewart in this movie). It’s been years since King Gareth married his Celtic bride after the events of The Sorcerer’s Curse, and he has lived a full life. His kingdom is in peril though, as the King has no dedicated successor to the throne after his son abdicated his responsibilities. As the poor King dies, we naturally expect Drago to die with him (as is the case with a dragon and human whose hearts have bonded like that). Strangely, Drago is still standing, and he feels a weak bond still active. Realizing that there is a connection with someone else out there (how that happens is beyond logic) the dragon departs and soon finds the target of his gaze. A young boy named Edric (Tom Rhys Harris) is found, and this boy turns out to be the spawn of King Gareth’s long lost son.

Immediately taking the crown (without much hesitation), the young boy takes to it like a fish in water, although he shares a hatred of Dragons thanks to his father’s prejudices that made him leave the castle to begin with. However, due to a spoiler at the beginning of the movie, we know that Edric has a twin sister. A sister that soon comes back to haunt him when she enters the kingdom an army of Viking warriors (if 15-20 people that could pulled together as extras counts as an “army”) seeking the throne as her own (being that she was born first by a few moments). The standard squabble among the siblings ensues, sister betrays the brother, they have to band together to face a new threat, and everyone lives happily ever after.

A series like Dragonheart doesn’t exactly pay much attention to continuity and logical leaps amidst the storyline, but I was happily surprised to see that the storylines directly tie into each other and share some of the same characters (though hearing Patrick Stewart as the voice of Drago this time was a little odd). However, it follows very firmly in the tradition of going with your cookie cutter plot devices that are seen from a mile away. Kid is arrogant and ignorant, Drago has to teach the whipper snapper a lesson. Villain comes in from out of the blue, only to not be such a villain after all, then they both turn out to love and adore Drago and live happily ever after as King and Queen. Rinse and repeat until the profits stop coming in.

While the storyline and dialog are pretty weak, Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire is a decently entertaining piece of fluff. The CGI is decent, and the action is middling, but still entertaining. I wouldn’t go out and buy the thing right off the rack, but it’s a decent Netflix time waster if you’re so inclined. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the film editing was done by Chuck Norris (I couldn’t find out if it was THEEEEE Chuck Norris), and have to say. If it was actually him doing the editing, he needs some more experience.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for violence




Video:

The digitally shot production is capable, but never exemplary, in its 1.78:1 AVC encoded presentation. Colors are a bit dim and the resulting picture can be a bit flat at times. Drago is a dull grey that is used to mask the limited budget of the CGI, and the costumes are pretty much your standard Renaissance festival level outings. Armor is mostly cheap leather so as to not use up a whole lot of money, and the most colorful moments from when Meghan and Edric are out in the field during their duel. Black levels are pretty murky, but usually still well detailed enough to give us a decent looking image. I wouldn’t say that the movie is going to stun anyone, but it’s a solid step up over the DVD and looks well enough to satisfy most people.






Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track follows in the path of the audio mix. It’s capable, but never exemplary. Dialog is firmly planted in the front of the room, and the mains get a goodly portion of the action, such as when Drago is lighting up the place with fire, or the clash of steel against steel amongst the Vikings. The surrounds get some moderate sounding excitement, and a few times I noticed a decent sense of immersion. Otherwise this is a very low budget, very front heavy mix that is capable at doing what is asked of it, but not really excelling at anything.






Extras:

• The Making of Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire
• The Magic Behind Drago
• Inside the Castle

Final Score:
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Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire is one of those middle of the road films that just exists. It’s neither so bad that it kills the franchise completely, but also not great enough to really gain it much acclaim. The movie just hovers in the middle as capable enough entertainment for an indiscriminate audience. The film’s CGI is done well enough to keep it from the bottom of the barrel trash, and the performances are what they are. Nothing special, but not Asylum level acting either. I can’t say that I would ever go out and grab this off the new release rack, but it made for a palatable 90+ minutes of fun. Audio and video are decent enough, but once again, extras are a bit meager for my tastes. Definitely one of those cheesy rentals at the most.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tom Rhys Harries, Jessamine-Bliss Bell, Patrick Stewart
Directed by: Patrik Syversen
Written by: Matthew Feitshans
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Spanish DTS 5.1
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 98 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: June 13th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Cheesy Rental

 

[Jon Liu]

This is a tough one for me. I am a sucker for Dragons and all movies dragon-related so I still want to see it. The problem now is I don't know if rental places will even have this obscure-ish title...

 

[Michael Scott]

yeah, that's the problem. It's not an easy rental. Now don't get me wrong. It's not great, but it's not horrible either. it's just low level schlock that is good for a popcorn watch IMO...

 

[Todd Anderson]

I'm sure you'll be able to find it on the cheap in a few months.

I *rarely* make time to watch movies that are reviewed as middle of the road, so I think I'll skip this one.

 

[Jon Liu]

So it looks like this movie has made it to Netflix already! I saw this in the newly released content section. I added it to my list of things to watch on Netflix, so hopefully soon-ish I'll have time enough to watch it. Dragons. You still had me at "Dragons".