Dragon Fighter (2003) (V)

User Rating:

3.3/10   

Director:

Phillip J. Roth

Writers:

Micheal Baldwin (screenplay)
Phillip J. Roth (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 January 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

There can be only one dominant species.

Plot:

Workers in an underground lab fight for their lives against a cloned dragon they created.

Plot Keywords:

Dragon | Scientist | Fire | Part Computer Animation | Multiple Views

Cast

Dean Cain	...	Capt. David Carver
Kristine Byers	...	Dr. Meredith Winter
Robert Zachar	...	Dr. Ian Drackovitch
Marcus Aurelius	...	Dr. Greg Travis
Robert DiTillio	...	Kevin Korisch
Vesela Dimitrova	...	Bailey Kent (as Vassela Dimitrova)
Hristo Shopov	...	Capt. Sergei Petrov
Chuck Echert	...	Cookie
Kelly Wilborn	...	Dying Mother
Hector Kleist	...	Knight #1
John Barnsall	...	Knight #2
Chad Boyer	...	Knight #3
Matthew Coe	...	Knight #4
Matt Harris	...	Knight #5
Darius Kerns	...	Knight #6

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

South Korea:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Sofia, Bulgaria

Company:

Angry Dragon Entertainment

Trivia:

Visual Effects were done half in Bulgaria, and half in California.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The beginning in the movie takes place in 12th century England. The soldiers have a barrel of gunpowder with them, several centuries before gunpowder arrived in Europe

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#29.11)" (2003)

Not terrible, but scientifically flawed

I really wanted to like this movie, and i was entertained to a point. But, there are tons of things very wrong with this movie.

There is a very annoying split-screen style that occurs every so often during the movie, showing different camera angles of the scenes. Inventive yes, but i found it quite distracting and just plain annoying to watch it in that fashion.

Another thing is the cloning of the "Dragon" so rapidly. How could something go from a single DNA strand into a multi-ton beast within a few hours? Let's forget that it is basically scientifically impossible, but where was it going to get so much raw organic material to produce that level of exponential growth? This isn't the first time in a movie that they've leaped over the seemingly obvious scientific facts, hoping that the dummies out there wouldn't care or notice.

The ending was equally as troublesome, military airplanes shooting down the Dragon? That reminds me of what happened in the horrible movie "Retillian". At the very end we see soldiers (or scientists) exploring the underground facility which was blown up by a Nuclear core meltdown that was 53% of Hiroshima, right after our heroes escaped. When the soldiers go in, the facility only appears to be mildly damaged...how they could even go into it at all is beyond me.

Anything positive about the film? Well, the beginning of the movie that takes place during medieval times is decent, and the Dragon CGI effects are fairly believable except for a few scenes. The acting is admirable, but that in and of itself fails to help the weak plot.

This is far from the worst film i've ever seen, but i wouldn't recommend it or give a seal of approval. It's worth a single viewing for fans of sci-fi movies, but for everyone else...just forget Dragon Fighter.