Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5139 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-04-16
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
While it owes much of its appeal and appearance to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Eragon can stand on its own as an enjoyable fantasy for younger viewers. Faithfully adapted from the bestselling novel by teenage author Christopher Paolini, this boy-and-his-dragon tale offers clean, fast-paced family entertainment without compromising the darker qualities of Paolini's novel (the first in what is known as the "Inheritance" trilogy). The plot centers on 17-year-old peasant farmboy Eragon (played by appealing newcomer Ed Speleers) who discovers a mysterious blue object that turns out to be an egg that eventually hatches to reveal Saphira, a blue-scaled dragon that quickly grows to full-size. According to prophecy, Eragon is destined to be a dragon-rider like those who once protected a benevolent kingdom, thus reviving an ancient conflict against the army of King Galbatorix (John Malkovich), a former dragon rider who turned to evil, now in alliance with a dark-magic "Shade" sorcerer named Durza (Robert Carlyle).

While the movie serves up familiar fantasy elements and offers little if anything new to fans of the genre (or anyone who's read the books of Anne McCaffrey and Ursula K. Le Guin), it's visually impressive (especially the dragon scenes, with Rachel Weisz providing the telepathic "voice" of Saphira) and full of timeless wisdom, much of it delivered by Eragon's heroic mentor Brom (Jeremy Irons), himself a former dragon rider with memories of past battles and hope for Eragon's future. Add a fair warrior-maiden named Arya (Sienna Guillory) and you've got all the ingredients for a worthwhile (if not particularly original) fantasy that points directly to a sequel. Whether that's a good or a bad thing is up to individual viewers to decide. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
Based on the first novel in Christopher Paolini’s popular INHERITANCE trilogy, ERAGON is a fantastical adventure in a vein similar to that of the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA. A classic story of a quest driven by destiny and set in a land where elves, magicians, and humans live side by side, the battle between good and evil, innocence and cynicism, is taken up once again. John Malkovitch camps it up as the evil King Galbatorix, a former guardian of peace who long ago went over to the dark side. He now rules over a land from which dragons have all but disappeared, until humble farm boy Eragon (newcomer Edward Speelers) happens upon a mysterious blue object that turns out to be a dragon egg. Eragon befriends the charming dragon cub, Saphira (voiced with aplomb by Rachel Weisz), and becomes her rider, designating him as the principal warrior in the fight against evil. Jeremy Irons steals the show as the wise and mysterious old man who becomes Eragon’s mentor, guiding him through the tasks of saving a princess (Sienna Guillory) battling an evil sorcerer (Robert Carlyle, TRAINSPOTTING), and fending off hordes of the hideous Urgals. All of this will strike the seasoned fantasy viewer as familiar territory, but the formula is given life by veterans Malkovitch and Irons, as well as the young Speelers. The film was shot mostly in Hungary, whose breathtaking landscape combines to great effect with excellent cinematography. The special effects, created by LORD OF THE RINGS’ Digital Magic and STAR WARS’ Industrial Light and Magic, more than live up to the precedent set by those films, while the dragon is film’s true star.

Customer Reviews

Well I like it!
I bought this DVD in spite of the reviews and actually I like it! I've watched it many times and still like it. If you want to spend some time in a world of Dragons and their riders then buy it and make your own mind up. Maybe this film has been compared with the likes of the Lord of the Rings unfairly as I definately would NOT show any of those films to my young kids, but I would be able to let them watch this one without worry of them having nightmares. Watch it and make you own mind up...

OK, so it's not Lord of the Rings, but.....
Let's face it, no other fantasy film will *ever* match that trilogy. As another reviewer has said, Peter Jackson set the bench mark, and it will have to be some jaw-dropping film to top his achievements, but it's honestly not as dire as some reviewers have suggested. My eleven-year-old niece and nephew loved the baby dragon, and liked her even more when she grew up. Robert Carlyle was seriously disturbing, and if the battle scenes don't possess the hack and slash and gore of LOTR, well what can? Give it a try on a wet Sunday afternoon when the children are driving you mad

To paraphrase the script -one part inspiration to three parts foolishness
Eragon , adapted from the book by Christopher Paolini, feels so much like a precursor to a franchise that it becomes abundantly clear that the filmmakers and producers were more interested in setting up this premise than they were in making a film worthy of the concept. The trouble with this of course is that if the first film of a franchise is a complete dud then it kills the franchise completely . What a mistake to make.
It's also clear that the original source novel -I haven't read it by the way- has borrowed extensively from "Lord Of the Rings" and "Star Wars" , to such a degree though ,that it impinges on your enjoyment as you constantly spot references and plot points that hark back to them.
It might have still worked if they had got vital components of the film right but they have seriously erred in so many critical areas Eragon was doomed to never really take flight. Eragon played by Ed Speleers is blond and cute -maybe too cute - but the lad cannot act . Not one thing he does convinces , he even looked awkward walking and if you are out emoted by a CGI dragon then you might as well start circulating your CV around the local hyper markets because you ain,t going to be working in a film again anytime soon. Talking of the dragon . "Saphira" is not a dragon. She is a flying squirrel with an eczema problem. Plus she is voiced by Rachel Weisz which means she is about as terrifying as a Yorkshire terrier .You get the feeling the makers of Eragon , if they had made Star Wars ( the more waggish will say they effectively have) would have had Darth Vader voiced by Joanna Lumley instead of James Earl Jones .Or maybe they'd have stuck with Dave Prowse .
The plot is lame re-hash of someone fulfilling a destiny they were up until now unaware of and lots of inane chat about said destiny. There is a master/apprentice relationship that fails to convince because it's handled clumsily and swiftly and, is too sentimental .Jeremy Irons as Eragons mentor "Brom "adds welcome gravitas but is let down by a script laced with self help sound bites .The villains -Robert Carlyle as a "Shade" necromancer "Durza" and John Malkovich as "Galbatorix" - are suitably fiendish but Malkovich is given way too little to do and the evil henchman are the usual set of grunting failed wrestlers wearing boot polish, bad teeth I assume were false and some spiky leather accessories. The "Wraith" substitutes are underused and the climatic battle is only that in the sense of being an anti-climax.
Plot strands are hinted at and then abandoned quicker than the flick of a dragons tail. Eragons mother abandoning him, his cousins is introduced then promptly disappears, another character suddenly appears with allusions to Drom ,s past and its all rushes past in a bewildering whirl of clunky dialogue and intersecting (admittedly some are good) action sequences . Director Stefan Fangmeier (yes really) hasn't the first clue how to pace a movie and it's hard to escape the conclusion that it would have been preferable to make a longer more definitive version but then we'd have ended up with a three hour bad movie not a 100 minute one and no one would want that.As it is I think you have more chance of a sequel to "Titanic" than of a sequel to Eragon seeing the light of day.