![]() ![]() The story: Early in the film, Bowen is trying to teach the elements of chivalry to the uncouth young prince Einon. As a creation of special effects, Draco is up there with E.T., and has more screen time. When it talks, its lips are perfectly synched with Connery's voice, and its facial expressions are astonishingly subtle. The dragon, a winged beast with a hide as studded as a Harley-Davidson jacket, isn't cheated in fuzzy long shots, but is right there on the screen next to Quaid. It takes itself seriously-easily as seriously as, say, Ray Harryhausen's “Clash of the Titans” or “Golden Voyage of Sinbad.” It's swashbuckling adventure, blood-soaked romance and villainous cretins against colorful heroes. Is “Dragonheart” then some sort of prehistoric “Naked Gun” movie, with Quaid in the Leslie Nielsen role? Not at all. (Bowen eases the situation by picking Draco's teeth clean of the remains of one of the dragon's earlier victims.) Eventually their truce leads to a partnership in a phony dragon-slaying scam. ![]() There's a neat little standoff where Draco has Bowen between his jaws, but Bowen has his sword aimed straight through the roof of Draco's mouth at his brain, and they decide that as reasonable beings, they should discuss this thing further. Obviously, once Bowen slays Draco, they're both out of business. It stars Dennis Quaid as Bowen, last of the professional dragon-slayers, and Sean Connery as the voice of Draco, the last of the dragons. (And when it comes to offering easy shots, this movie is a sitting duck-or dragon.) The film takes place-oh, I dunno-sometime between the age of King Arthur and the invention of indoor plumbing. Since it combines its silliness with special effects that are, quite simply, sublime, I must resist the urge to take easy shots at it. Rob Cohen's “Dragonheart” is one of the most sublimely silly movies I have ever seen. ![]()
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