Dragon Wars

Theatrical Release Date: 2007 09 14 (USA)

UPC: 043396245303

Studio: Sony Pictures

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Violence]

Summary: Korean director Shim Hyung-Rae's monster movie D-War begins with a lengthy prologue, in which an antique dealer named Jack (Robert Forster) watches a young patron, Ethan Kendrick (Cody Erens) get zapped with a force emanating from a chest in his shop. Realizing the significance of this event, Jack bequeaths a medal to the boy, and speaks candidly to him of mystical events that transpired a half-millennium earlier. In a bygone era, it seems, giant creatures called Buraki roamed the land, morphing from serpents into dragons and back again, and equipped with a massive army of formidable creatures. An ancient warrior-apprentice saved the life of his beloved from these monstrosities; the warrior's spirit was eventually contained in the aforementioned chest, and it has now filled Ethan. Jack gives Ethan an enchanted red pendant and advises him to see out the contemporary incarnation of the ancient warrior's intended, who can be recognized via a red dragon tattoo on her shoulder. When the woman reaches her 20th birthday, it seems, she and Ethan - joining forces - will be able to reincarnate Imoogi as dragons. That woman is in fact Sarah (Amanda Brooks); she and Ethan do encounter one another, but it isn't long before the Buraki serpent and all of his enormous minions resurface and decide to lay waste to the City of Angels, worming their way through the town as they look for the chosen pair. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Category: Science Fiction

Features: cc
"5,000 Years in the Making" Featurette
Storyboard-to-Screen Featurette
Conceptual Art Gallery

Dragon Wars

Format: Universal Media Disc

Release Date: 01/08/2008

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Alternate Wide Screen

Runtime: 90 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,Spanish,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Derek Armstrong

Dragon Wars is just a summer release date and a major star short of passing itself off as a legitimate special-effects blockbuster. Nothing here is more preposterous than what happens in, say, Transformers -- actually, the two films have some similar set pieces. But being dumped in September -- and possessing such a pulpy title -- gave the unmistakable whiff of a B-movie to Dragon Wars, or D-War for short. Those who went for precisely that reason may be disappointed, because it's not outrageously dumb, and in fact has some halfway decent scripting among all the ancient Korean lore, explosions, and slithery dragon mayhem. From an opening sequence in which an army of demon soldiers decimates a Korean village -- with the help of mammoth cannons on the backs of dinosaur-like lizards -- director Shim Hyung-rae serves notice that this film should be taken seriously as a technical achievement, even if these visuals are cribbed from the new Star Wars and Lord of the Rings trilogies. The important part is that they're impressive, and this same visual creativity carries over to the present day, when the dragons make good use of contemporary urban props in terrorizing Los Angeles. Their character design is refreshingly different from what we usually see in dragon films, more like serpents than four-legged flying beasts. No one is going to confuse this for an A-level cast -- the biggest name here is Robert Forster -- but the actors do help steer things clear of the hokum that could have overtaken this production. Shim certainly deserves some of the credit, especially in only his second feature, and the first one anyone saw. Plus, Craig Robinson (Darryl from The Office) chips in a comic relief performance that's a lot funnier than these sidekick roles usually get. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: James Kang  Producer 
Steve Jablonsky  Composer (Music Score) 
Shim Hyung-rae  Director 
Shim Hyung-rae  Executive Producer 
Shim Hyung-rae  Screenwriter 
Kim Woo-taek  Executive Producer 
Choi Sung-ho  Producer 
Jeong Tae-sung  Producer 
Sungho Choi  Producer 
Woo Taek Kim  Executive Producer 
Jason Behr  Actor 
Amanda Brooks  Actor 
Robert Forster  Actor 
Craig Robinson  Actor 
Elizabeth Peņa  Actor 
Chris Mulkey  Actor 
Aimee Garcia  Actor 
John Ales  Actor 
Cody Arens  Actor 

Country: South Korea