The fantasy genre, for various reasons, does notoriously poorly on film. Despite this track record, every so often one studio or another will trot one out. The latest, and in my opinion, one of the best, is 'Dragonheart'.
When a tyrannical king is killed in a peasant uprising and his son mortally wounded, the queen, a celtic mystic, seeks the aid of an ancient, magical creature, a dragon. Before he will help, he demands an oath from the new king that he will forsake the ways of his father and follow the ways of the old code, a code of honor, courage and justice. He then gives the boy half of his heart to make him whole again. In his gratitude, the boy's tutor, himself a knight of the old code, swears allegiance to the dragon and accepts his charge to teach the boy the ways of the old code. The new king, however, turns out to be even more cruel and twisted than his father and the knight blames the dragon's gift for bewitching his king. He then swears a new oath, an oath to kill every living dragon left. He nearly succeeds but for the last dragon left. It is through their unlikely friendship that the knight regains the honor by which he once lived and together they stand against the evil king.
Expertly directed by Rob Cohen, the film stars Dennis Quaid as Bowen, the knight-errant and Sean Connery as Draco, the dragon, with solid supporting roles by David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Dina Meyer and the ever lovely Julie Christie. This, along state-of-the-art visual effects by Phil Tippett and Industrial Light & Magic and a terrific score by Randy Edelman, adds up to a grand adventure in the best big-screen style.
Universal has released 'Dragonheart' on disc in two editions. A "movie-only" edition in the CLV format was released this past December ('96) and, now, a collector's edition. Part of Universal's "Signature Collection" series, this edition features an all-CAV presentation of the film, supplemental material and Dolby Digital audio (more on that in a moment). Both disc editions share the same first rate, THX approved transfer. Presented in its correct theatrical ratio of 2.35:1, this transfer looks every bit as good as the print I saw in the theatre. Colors are accurate and vivid without a trace of chroma noise. Image detail is simply as good as it gets. Brightness and contrast are also excellent.
Exclusive to the collector's edition is a fabulous Dolby Digital soundtrack, notable not only for its quality, but for being the first on a disc from Univeral, a company that holds a financial stake in DTS, a competitor of Dolby. Whatever the reasons, we can be thankful for the decision to release this disc this way. As good as the 2-track matrixed audio is (and it is very good), this soundtrack simply must be heard in a 5.1 discrete format to be fully appreciated. The 5.1 mix provides a broader, more detailed soundstage with deeper, tighter, more controlled bass. This soundtrack also takes full advantage of the split surround capability, including a 360 degree dialog pan (!), yet is so well integrated into the on-screen action that it is never distracting.
'Dragonheart' runs 103 minutes and is spread to four CAV sides with 34 chapters. All the side and platter breaks are very well placed. A third disc containing supplemental material rounds out the set. I found most of the supplement quite interesting, beginning with a running commentary by Rob Cohen on the analog/left channel during the film. The supplement disc opens with an original documentary, 'The Making Of Dragonheart', that features interviews with Cohen, producer Raffaella De Laurentis, Dennis Quaid, Dina Meyer, Phil Tippet and Randy Edelman, as well as behind-the-scenes footage, tapes of satellite conferences between Cohen and ILM's effects team, and some of Phil Tippets preproduction animatics. Following the documentary are a still-frame archive containing preproduction sketches, storyboards and production photos, a couple of deleted scenes and several trailers (some with foreign dialog) and TV spots. Certainly not the most comprehensive supplement I have seen, but the documentary is quite good.
List price of the CLV edition is $39.95 with the collector's edition weighing in at a whopping $129.95. Taken by itself, the supplements in no way justify this price. But, if you have a Dolby Digital sound system, I can say unequivocally that the 5.1 soundtrack truly enhances this film experience. Based on this, I recommend this collector's edition of 'Dragonheart', if only to those that can fully appreciate the soundtrack.
This review is copyright, and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the author.
