Dragon Hunter (2009) User Reviews

Terrible Low-Budget Fantasy Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 3/10 · 30 May 2009]

In times of orcs and dragons, the orphan Kendrick (Maclain Nelson) was raised by his overprotective brother Darius (Erik Denton). When their village is attacked by dragons, they have to move through the woods seeking the land of Ocard where a dragon hunter should be trained. They teem-up with a group of warriors wandering in the forest and the walk together to Ocard, in a dangerous journey under the attack of orcs and dragons. When they arrive in their destination, Darius discloses a secret to his brother.

"Dragon Hunter" is a terrible low-budget fantasy movie. The story of a fearful young man that is permanently protected by his older brother and in the end becomes a brave dragon hunter is inconsistent and incoherent; further it is disclosed through awful amateurish camera work and edition specially in the fight scenes; very poor special effects, sets and costumes; and the dialogs are very weak and do not help the unknown cast to have better performances. This flick is highly recommended for insomnia. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "O Caçador de Dragão" ("The Dragon Hunter")

Not your usual dragon movie

[vic-232 · 2/10 · 29 March 2009]

I am embarrassed to admit that I watched this film all the way through, even though I could have turned it off at any time. I was, I suppose, oddly mesmerized by the awfulness of it all. Who knows? On some level, perhaps I enjoyed it.

The dialog is stilted and corny, delivered in a manner so "ham" the actors should have been pierced with cloves and garnished with pineapple. The dragon, despite its total 1950s-style animated cheesiness, must have been considerably more expensive per minute than the ham actors, because its appearance on screen is mercifully brief. When one considers the quality of the actors, the sets, and the special effects, it seems probable that this was the lowest budget feature length film of 2008.

Nevertheless, I will be on the lookout for future performances of the fabulous Slate Holmgren, whose face and mannerisms are perfect for a comic villain. Needless to say, he was NOT a comic villain in Dragon Hunter.

No surprise

[xnrat · 3/10 · 27 July 2010]

If you take a look at the rating the experience of watching this movie will offer you no surprises. It is not a good movie. I will go even so far as to call it a bad movie.

Now, as to what makes this movie so bad, I would say "the characters". Oh, I might even exclaim "The characters!". For they possess absolutely no depth. They are shallow husks, waiting to be filled with life and back story. And the the other thing is the really bad camera work. Whenever there is a fight scene the camera starts shaking so you can't make out anything. I am not yet sure if the camera operator got a seizure from excitement or if he got bored and started polishing Lord Vader's helmet, if you catch my meaning. I hope it was the latter, so at least one person got some fun out of this whole mess.

My eyes hurt.

[darkandor · 1/10 · 24 March 2009]

Lets take a look at the summary..

Orphaned as a baby when his parents were killed in a vicious orc attack, Kendrick of Elwood was raised by his elder brother, Darius. Though only nine at the time, Darius devoted his life to Kendrick's care and to purging orcs from their land. As Darius grew into a great warrior, he sheltered Kendrick from all possible harm. Now, after years of absence, a new danger emerges, more lethal than the threat of orcs or men. Reports of dragon attacks spread like wildfire through the panicked land. In memory of his mother's prophesies of a mighty Dragon Hunter in their bloodline, Darius leads Kendrick on a perilous journey to the castle of Ocard - the Dragon Hunter training grounds. As they battle through evil men and orc-infested lands, they align with a band of rogue warriors who swear their allegiance in this hazardous quest. The Brothers of Elwood, joined by Raya, an elven princess, Olick, a mute Berserker, and five human mercenaries must escape orc ambushes and dragon attacks to reach the fortress at Ocard. Will dragons completely decimate the countryside? Only the Dragon Hunter will decide! The summary itself is wrong, at no point in the movie is the word "princess" even mentioned. The "mute" berserker speaks thus hardly making him "mute".

I had no hopes for this movie because I actually enjoy low budget fantasy movies. This movie however can only be summed up by one word "terribad". It isn't the plot, it isn't the acting, it isn't the fact the characters have no depth, its the horrible camera work that makes this unwatchable. You can not see any fighting as the camera starts being shaken every time there is a battle, not slightly but to the point where you can not see anything. The ended was...well...wow...that bad. I have nothing else to say.

What A Ride It Was

[hinesgtrservice · 1/10 · 27 March 2009]

You know when you make it over an hour through a movie and you only have like twenty minutes left, and even though it's awful, you've come this far and just have to finish it? Well, this is not that movie. I was literally five minutes away from the end and couldn't care less.

The acting was downright pitiful with characters lacking any depth to pull any emotion from anyway. Blame the writing, it was some of the worst you'll see.

The plot sounded interesting enough in the ultra-nerdy sort of fashion, but rest assured, it falls short here, too. Awful plot. Awful writing. Pitiful direction.

The continuity was thrown out the window. There are scenes in which a character's beard appears to have gotten a magical trim over the course of a few seconds, until...BAM! It's back!

The effects are just goofy. The dragon, well, I won't give it away, but it's laughable to say the least.

Although I gave this only one star, and would probably consider it one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time, it isn't without it's charms. It's charms being that it is so terrible, you'll find yourself chuckling every few moments. The chuckles eventually wear off and you stop caring, at which point you should just turn the movie off.

All in all, the director/writer/producer in Shimek should be shunned from the fantasy community, hanged for his abomination, and mocked for eternity in his pathetic attempt at a film. This guy is pathetic. Literally something that you would not believe until you see. Yes, it's THAT bad.

See it for a laugh with buddies over some beers, but I'm sure you won't want to watch more than forty five minutes or so.

If you plan on watching it for any other reason than mockery, just don't.

How does this movie pass to even get on DVD???!!!

[kham_phet · 29 November 2009]

Madness overwhelmed when I saw this movie. Literally! I've seen high school Film Class projects better then this craap!

No lie here ladies and gents! this is a nothing movie. the plot seems to start then is forgotten. the entire movie was filmed in someones backyard or forest. the castle was someones front porch. the dragon was CGI and was only shown twice. the outside of the castle shots, was just a poster. cheap? no! worst then cheap. this is poverty film. even adult films put more money in their budgets, honestly! this movie was literally in someones backyard!

Is there anything good to say about this? NO!...I seriously cannot see, understand how anyone can even say anything good about this movie. this is worse then homemade videos. if you enjoyed this movie, im assuming you were drunk or you could have been on some kind of substance.

Message to the friends of the people who made this film: why did you lie to the makers of this film? you should have been honest with the makers, that this movie freakin suuucked! it is full blown awful.

notice i gave it zero stars...which zero is too much already because this movie doesn't deserve to be a movie.

This Is Not A Fantasy But An Average Drama Set In The Land Of Dragons.

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 5/10 · 7 May 2017]

Since this is a story about a man who is a Dragon Hunter in a world of Orcs, Elves, and Dragons you would think this is a Fantasy. However, as a fantasy film, it pretty well sucks. The Dragon is only in the movie for a few minutes and the orcs you see are just a band of five, dispatched in seconds, and the special effects for them are quite weak, they're just men in masks. The Dragon, on the other hand, is a pretty decent CGI for a low budget flick from 2009.

Realising the budget wouldn't be so large the writer and director, Stephen Shimek, decided to make it about the journey of brothers Darius and Kendrick, played strongly by Erik Denton and Maclain Nelson respectively, to get to the Castle Okarda to train the last Dragon Hunter. On the way, they form alliances with a band of soldiers who accompany them on their mission.

As a drama, it's an above-average film with some really nice camera shots. I particularly liked the way Shimek created the love scene between Darius and the Elfin Raya, portrayed elegantly by Kelly Stables. There's a nice chemistry between the pair and as they move in for their first kiss a rain shower starts, and you know what the rain drop hitting the leaf really represents.

The actors have above average acting skills and give the most to their roles.

The only things that irked me were the amount of time the journey took; they walked a lot... and must have passed the same tree at least three times, this slowed the film down quite a bit... not to the point of boredom, but close. Then there was the swordplay when the Hunter was training. It would've been advisable to bring in an expert to show them how to wield a sword correctly.

This is not a fast action-packed movie it's a slow meander through the fantasy realm and therefore not for everyone. I enjoyed it, though I wouldn't rush to watch it again... or ever.

If there's nothing else to watch and you can't get out the house for some reason, then this could pass the time quite well.

Just plain bad.

[tdzz1 · 1/10 · 28 July 2009]

This is the worst movie i have ever turned off after ten minutes. The script was written by a middle schooler. The actors were wooden at best. The camera looked like it was being held by a drunken chimpanzee. I find it hard to believe there was any post production work done on this movie. If these are the best shots the worst must be truly awful. This is not even a B movie. This is an F movie. Everybody involved flunked. The reason i finally bailed on this stinker was the camera work in a fight scene. It made the Blair Witch Project seem like a high budget Michal Mann film. it was hard to get ten lines of comment because even now i am trying to form a mental block so i will forget i ever seen a movie of such low caliber.

This was made in the 2000s? Seriously?

[[e-mail] · 2/10 · 31 October 2010]

When the movie ended (yes, I endured the entire thing), I sat there staring at the screen and uttered the words, "What the heck?" I felt like I just watched a fantasy-themed production from the early 1970s. I gave it 2 stars only because Kelly Stables was a decent actress, but even she was not convincing in her role. The low budget was obvious, especially during the fight scenes when apparently they could only afford to hire an undernourished person for holding the heavy camera. Either camera mounting gear was unavailable on those days for renting, or it was just cheaper to hire someone off the street who lacked the strength to hold the camera steady.

Guess no one in the editing team has access to after effects software. Lighting, mood setting, color tinting--you know, the visual impact basics that decorate the scenes with an altered element--were completely absent. Heh...the outfits worn by the villagers with fresh dirt applied in an attempt to give a worn, soiled look was a severe distraction.

Intrigue is what captivates an audience. Character depth, convincing roles, unpredictable story lines, and visual impact create intrigue. This movie had nothing in the way of intrigue.

This ranks as the second worst production in my viewing list. The actors may want to strike this from their tear sheet list of accomplishments.

Abysmal, just abysmal

[stephenbooth-uk · 1/10 · 27 September 2009]

This film is so bad I'm stuck where to start. The acting? The FX? The plot? The camera work? The costumes? Actually the costumes weren't too bad.

Acting was variable, from fan film to school play. Junior school (that's age 7 to 11, translate to your local education equivalent for non UK people) school play that is. Wooden would be an up. The most rational explanation I can think of is that the cast were basically handed the scripts 5 minutes before each take and not given the chance to even talk to each other. I have seen worse acting from professionals, but only in classes where they are demonstrating how not to do it.

FX were poor, both CGI and physical. The dragon, when you could see it, looked like a stop-motion shot with a mobile phone (my niece makes short films that way, the amusement of herself and friends, so I know the comparison is apt). Camera work was shaky, close to that of the Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield, where at least that was deliberate and part of the story.

The plot was largely absent, narrative causality and storyline were largely missing leaving us with a poorly connected network of events.

To be fair, I didn't see to the end. After just shy of an hour neither I nor my sister could bear to watch any more so we switched off and put "Rachel Getting Married" on. If faced with this film I recommend you do the same.

Stephen

Not worth the time...

[simian1998 · 1/10 · 1 April 2009]

I was pretty unbiased when it came to watching this film, i did not read any reviews and just went by the title name as a guide to what this film would be like. From the get-go the movie lacked any real appeal to be honest, it was slow, obviously not thought out (or perhaps to thought out), and what is with the bizarre camera moves in the first and second fight? My guess would be a quick cover up of cheap acting. As above mentioned the acting was not of top quality, which is okay if its sincere, but in this its just poor, at least try to choreograph the fights not just have a few 'orcs' run at them. I'm sorry, I'm rambling, its very hard to list the problems with this film and really describe them so anyone who's not already seen it would understand, i think the best thing to do is to say, if you want to be disappointed watch this film, if not do not bother...

Very good lower-budget Adventure/Sci-Fi film

[scott-halter · 9/10 · 17 April 2009]

Very good lower-budget Adventure/Sci-Fi film. The special effects were above-average and the acting was as well. Isaac Singleton Jr. plays a fun character with his excellent facial expressions. Shots of scenes with the dragon are actually very well done on such a low budget. Makes me wonder what they could have done with a larger budget. All in all an enjoyable film that will keep you entertained. Much better than some of the box office adventure films out lately that spent 50-100 mill and the film turned out not to be enjoyable and entertaining. The people who enjoy adventure films or "dragon" films will want to see this one. This is the type of film people want to have an opportunity to see so hopefully this will be available to most.

Good... Surprisingly good!

[aridale · 7/10 · 23 March 2009]

I went into this movie not expecting anything. I knew nothing about it aside from the link here and decided to give it a blind watch. It started out kinda shaky but it turned out to be quite good. Don't get me wrong this is no blockbuster. I don't know what the budget was or how long it took to make and it seemed like they probably had to have some really good friends to pull of the cgi that it had as the dragon was quite well done. The interactions WITH said dragon were a lil iffy but on the whole the effects team did quite well. Friends or talented upstarts lookin to get their names on somethin, I dunno but they did a very competent job.

Im not sure if I got used to it or they stopped somewhere around the halfway mark but the overly shaky "fight cam" effect was no where near as bad later in the movie as it was during the initial fight scene with the orcs. It wasn't "gritty camera man chasin the action" style either it was "omg the camera guys got the palsy and is shaking uncontrollably" But it seemed to be only that initial scene... either that or I got used to it for the remainder.

The acting was overall good. There were no moments when I really was taken out of the scene by bad lines or bad acting. The overly dramatic "NOOOOOOO!" scene was over the top and should be easy to spot if you watch the movie and a lot of it wasn't overly believable I mean I know it was a training montage but it came across more like "trained for a week and is now a badass" type thing.

Anyway no MAJOR gripes. Only thing I could really complain about is its too short so it lacked any real depth that coulda made it all the better. I can see this expanded some remade with a good budget and with more character development and itd be fantastic.

All in a good lil movie and very surprising. And Kelly Stables doesn't hurt either... very easy on the eyes =D

Good message, clean movie, free on Hulu

[flynnpatrick · 5/10 · 17 June 2012]

Yes, it's low-budget. But this movie is much better than most of the evil twisted junk you come across. This movie is full of wholesome themes: good versus evil, fighting for your family and friends, courage. If you're a spiritual person, you might also appreciate the scene where one of the characters tries to exalt himself as a god... and is promptly put in his place.

Okay, I did work on other stuff while watching. But I definitely enjoyed the film. Some of the reviews cited that the CGI dragon isn't on the screen for long. I'm not a big fan of cgi anyway.

If you're looking for deep character studies or superb acting, this isn't the film for you, but watch it as a nice diversion--it's not long.

Not that bad

[kendallwehr · 5/10 · 26 September 2018]

This movie has some bad reviews and I'll admit it's not the best. Also, it's not that bad either. If you can handle watching The Office then the camera movement shouldn't make you sick. It's mainly during action scenes. I admit I only watched it because of the several "bald" actors. Seems like we don't get the screen time we deserve. It's good for a watch if you are bored and have nothing to do.

Ideal for the under 15's

[barticox · 1/10 · 24 April 2009]

An upper age limit of 15 should be given for this turkey which should only be screened on Sataday morning TV. Low budget and appalling casting and direction puts this in the same class as 'Krull' and .....um....I cant think of anything else as bad. Its as if a porn director has decided to make a fairy tale movie using his usual cast and camera men but without all the babes, he he. Big idea wasted by a second rate production team with insufficient financial backing. I have to find three more lines to conform to the minimum requirements for leaving a comment so, there is an Elf chick in the plot that is worth a second look but I would not part with any cash for the privilege of seeing her in this flick.

(DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS MIGHT BE THERE BUT ITS A MUST READ! IT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE!)(hopefully the directors/producers read this also)

[cyanideghost · 1/10 · 24 March 2009]

Its so bad, its hilarious. The whole plot is a joke. Firstly, I couldn't treat the actress who is in one of the most popular shows on Television (Two and a Half Men) as an Elven Archer. It was even more preposterous when she started wielding powers and that cheesy line where she claims she didn't think much of humans until she met the lead hero, who let's face it is a complete washout and a loser and a bit of a drama queen. I almost never rate movies as a 1, this would be my first that deserves to be in the bottom 10, let alone bottom 100. I was laughing throughout it was so terribly awful. Do yourselves a favour, don't watch this, save 1.5 hours of your life. The dragon in the beginning scene was okay, when they finally revealed it, it was AWFULLY like those plastic figures, and was literally catching arrows. What kind of dragon catches arrows and chucks them aside like its a shooting gallery? Was the entire cast high during the making and shooting of this movie? Did no one just spit on your faces for coming up with lousy plots? Seriously, nobody should have to watch a fake garbage movie like this. Then there's the faulty camera, even a 2 year old can hold a camera still during battle sequences and action scenes. There was virtually nothing but just cheesy one liners and fake plastic with gibberish in the background. I'm disgusted with this, and frankly that actress Kelly Stables DESERVES TO LOSE HER CAREER. FIRE HER FROM 2 AND A HALF MEN, SHE'S ANNOYING AND HIDEOUS and a lunatic for accepting this role. Anyways, off to watch a better movie, my 2 cents, save your money, don't rent this or watch it, you will feel cheated throughout.

New levels of inanity

[Leofwine_draca · 1/10 · 12 November 2015]

I think zero budget fantasy films are among the worst of all cinematic sub-genres. There are very few ways in which you can convincingly portray a fantastic world on a limited budget, and in these amateurish effort you tend to get non-acting cast members wandering around in the woods, wearing what appear to be Halloween costumes, and occasionally engaging with some extremely tacky special effects.

That's exactly the case in this near-plot less piece of drivel about a group of characters who embark on a journey to defeat a dragon which has been terrorising the land. If you're a fan of dragon attacks, you'll be disappointed here by the almost entire absence of scaly foes, apart from a couple of minutes of appalling CGI. Instead what we get are people wandering around the woods while the camera shakes and there's the occasional fight scene.

This is appalling stuff indeed; there are no recognisable cast members here, just members of a local theatre troupe; at least AGE OF DRAGONS had Danny Glover in the cast and that IN THE NAME OF THE KING had Jason Statham. If there's a script, I didn't notice it.

Waste of time

[shakebreak · 2/10 · 29 December 2010]

If it weren't for the semi-good costumes, it would have been a 1. Seriously, if you have nothing better to do than watch this waste of reel, you need to get a hobby. I believe the title says it all; Dragon hunter. All through the movie you are the dragon hunter, hoping for a dragon, but you never get one until you finally see a half ass special effect in the end. Even then nothing makes sense. The acting is poor at best because no one seems to care or even agree on what the f*ck the script is all about. And I didn't care either. Had more fun with a slinky. Or an empty aquarium. Even filling out this review until it reached 10 lines was more fun, which it just did. So no more wasting energy on this epic piece of crap. Yay.

Not as bad as THAT

[paaskynen · 2/10 · 14 May 2015]

OK, this film was pretty bad in every aspect.

However (You knew there was going to be a but), it is consistently bad, no aspect of bad outdoes the other, which makes for a relatively balanced bad film.

Forty years ago, this might actually have made it to the big screen as a passable fantasy action flick.

Too bad it was made in 2009.

One must hope that the crew who worked on this poor product will have learnt from this experience and will do better next time.

Otherwise this whole exercise in silliness would have been a waste.

Therefore, a well-earned 2 out of 10.

OK, I'm just going to come out and say it. I really like this film.

[Blinksterboi · 9/10 · 25 February 2015]

I know it's not an epic, but for half a million quid you're never going to get Lord of the Rings. The acting is decent, the setting is believable and most of the cast do their old world accents very well. Yes, the dragon does look a little clunky but it only appears fleetingly so it hardly spoils the film.

The whole feature has a wonderful mellowness to it. It's so refreshing to see a film of this genre written about everyday folk: no kings, warlocks or dark lords. The script is plain but earnest and the characters are easy to relate to. Try to think of it as the journey of two brothers and their mates rather than a reptilian killing spree and you'll see what I mean.

Erik Denton and Maclain Nelson are great in the lead roles. Both characters are extremely likable and the actors are incredibly attractive. I love the contrast between the two brothers. Darius (played by Erik) is overburdened, distant and a little sad, while Kendrick (played by Maclain) is wide-eyed and eager to please. Nice work fellas! Credit also to the excellent Slate Holmgren, who really shines as sidekick Roland.

The shaky camera-work in the orc fight has come in for a lot of criticism. It worked fine for me: we all know why directors do this so there's no need to give them a hard time about it. My only gripe is that the side story whereby Oswin tries to tame the dragon was never given a chance to develop. I guess they ran out of time.

All in all, this is a touching tale about two blokes trying to do some good in the world. It is not an action adventure. Enjoy it for what it is.

Low Budget but Good.

[zero-one-zero · 6/10 · 11 March 2010]

Dragon Hunter is one of those movies you either love or you hate. It really is rather on par with some of the SciFi...excuse me, SyFy channel monster movies. The "special" effects are almost as good as Power Rangers but not quite as good as the old Xena: Warrior Princess show.

There are some holes in the timing, editing, and dialog that are amateurish and again, low budget. I suspect that the first take was the only one for most scenes.

With all that going against it, how could I consider it "good"? For starters, the language was clean and the "shaky camera effect" added to what would likely be bland fight scenes, adding a frantic element without resulting to gore and blood. You could watch this with your grandmother or young (8 and older) kids without worrying or feeling embarrassed.

I found the characters to be more than just cookie-cutter cut outs. We aren't given a lot of character development and none for minor characters but I enjoyed the two brothers and especially Erik Denton playing the older.

So willingly suspend your disbelief, ignore the obvious faults, and just go with it.

Ouch

[Snootz · 3/10 · 6 November 2020]

Less than 10 minutes into the show, the "shaky cam" alone was enough to make this a no-watch. Wow... absolutely terrible directing and choreography. If anyone suffers from motion sickness at all, this is a definite skip. Worst. camera. work. ever.

Feels cheap

[daniel-mannouch · 3/10 · 24 January 2020]

Dragon Hunter has a slightly better than average story and cast for the kind of film and production that is, however it is still nothing dazzling and does very little to mask it's impoverished budget. From the cramped camera compositions masking a serious lack of background action or any action to be honest, to the cheap costumes, which furthermore are exposed by flat cinematography.

Just a bunch of tired fantasy crap. Tired by 2009 even. The film exhausted itself by the seventy minute mark and had to push down hard on it's Karate Kid angles with a limp montage sequence. And though we get some shirtless twinks now and again, as well as some bears, it's little reward for sitting through this most mediocre of fantasy films. Moving on.

Worth watching

[Abrucard · 6/10 · 12 March 2010]

Well, for the most part, it was pretty straight forward with the story. The thing that struck me at first, was their costumes and makeup seemed too pristine. They seemed like they were in a film, not real life, too clean cut, if you know what I mean. The acting was good, better than most low budgets. The special effects, well, you get the idea, they didn't have countless millions to spend on them, so you don't see much of the dragon, except towards the end, briefly, so if you are used to the Hollywood blockbuster effects, you'll be disappointed. However, if you are a fan of independent or small scale films, this one is for you. In my opinion, pay no mind to the belligerent reviews below. This film was well done, with what resources they had. It is not even close to the worst film I have seen (see Psycho Ward if you want BAD). Bottom line, you gotta at least give it a chance. Worth renting, not buying (though you can watch it for free on Hulu, so no gripes about wasted money).