Patrick Read Johnson (born May 7, 1962) is an American filmmaker , special effects artist and screenwriter . Born in Wadsworth , Illinois , he is best known for his directorial work on the films Spaced Invaders , Angus , Baby's Day Out , The Genesis Code and 5-25-77 . He also has written and produced such films as Dragonheart .
104-609: Dragonheart (stylized as DragonHeart ) is a 1996 fantasy adventure film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Charles Edward Pogue , based on a story created by him and Patrick Read Johnson . The film stars Dennis Quaid , David Thewlis , Pete Postlethwaite , Dina Meyer , and Sean Connery as the voice of Draco the Dragon. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and various other awards in 1996 and 1997. The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising
208-478: A dragon to save his life. The dragon makes Einon promise to be a just ruler and replaces Einon's wounded heart with half his own. However, Einon proves oppressive by enslaving the former rebels that killed Freyne and forcing them to rebuild a castle. Einon also has Kara's father, who led the insurgents, blinded. Believing that the dragon's heart has corrupted Einon, Bowen swears vengeance on him and all dragons by hunting them down. Twelve years later, Bowen has become
312-409: A "monster stick"—a pole with a bar and two red circles at the top—as an indicator for where Draco's eyes would be for Quaid's reference. They also set up speakers through which Cohen would read Draco's lines for Quaid, which Quaid said that it "helped [him] out a lot". While filming the scenes involving Draco in flight, the crew used a microlight for reference and edited the footage to "put Draco over
416-445: A character stripped of potential development. This was a guy who had been given immortality. He knows it, or at least believes it. He's been saved by a dragon; he's blessed, and unstoppable. An unstoppable guy doesn't go around raging, he's supremely confident and quiet. He kills with a whisper, and not with a scream. My idea was Kenneth Branagh, or someone of that ilk. They made Einon into this character who had nowhere to go. Throughout
520-446: A chaste kiss on the hand . Cohen reportedly removed the scene because he felt Kara should be more of an action-oriented character swinging axes around and didn't believe she would make "sappy speeches". Pogue however said that Cohen cut the scene because he couldn't get the desired performance, which involved having Kara and Bowen in an intimate embrace instead of the hand kiss, and conflicted with Dina Meyer. This issue also made Cohen cut
624-407: A cinematic genre, fantasy has traditionally not been regarded as highly as the related genre of science fiction film. Undoubtedly, the fact that until recently fantasy films often suffered from the " Sword and Sandal " afflictions of inferior production values, over-the-top acting, and decidedly poor special effects was a significant factor in fantasy film's low regard. Since the early 2000s, however,
728-652: A dragon in it...or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Dragon ", and that he wanted "the idea of a dragon and a knight conning villages for money" because he thought that the concept was "not only funny, but kind of sweet". Up until 2021 Johnson served as a filmmaking instructor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts . Johnson began developing 5-25-77 in 1999 after he met Gary Kurtz . In 2001, Johnson began seeking funding for 5-25-77 , and didn't start shooting
832-420: A fantasy film, and Heaven Can Wait (1978) was a successful Bangsian fantasy remake of 1941's Here Comes Mr. Jordan (not 1943's Heaven Can Wait ). A few low budget "Lost World" pictures were made in the 1970s, such as 1975's The Land That Time Forgot . Otherwise, the fantasy genre was largely absent from mainstream movies in this decade, although 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Willy Wonka &
936-453: A half for the dinosaurs). They were primarily responsible for Draco's actual look and design, storyboards, blocking , and action sequence timing. Tippett worked closely with sculptor Peter Konig in designing Draco. Konig crafted between 20 and 30 maquettes before Cohen approved the final design. Konig improved the ones Cohen said "[felt] right", adding forearms as Cohen wanted Draco to use his hands. Cohen's ideas for Draco's design stemmed from
1040-557: A hero of humble origins and a clear distinction between good and evil set against each other in an epic struggle. Many scholars cite J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings novel as the prototypical modern example of high fantasy in literature, and the recent Peter Jackson film adaptation of the books is a good example of the high fantasy subgenre on the silver screen. Sword and sorcery movies tend to be more plot-driven than high fantasy and focus heavily on action sequences, often pitting
1144-473: A history almost as old as the medium itself. However, fantasy films were relatively few and far between until the 1980s , when high-tech filmmaking techniques and increased audience interest caused the genre to flourish. What follows are some notable Fantasy films. For a more complete list see: List of fantasy films In the era of silent film , the earliest fantasy films were those made by French film pioneer Georges Méliès from 1903. The most famous of these
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#17328769385791248-419: A kids' movie as the dark and weighty elements were either removed or dumbed down . As Johnson said: "They messed with the script and started adding things like, 'Ready or not here I come! It's Draco!' I mean, we never had that stuff in our script! All this cheesy crap that just juvenilized the picture". Another change Cohen made to the script that was a bone of contention to Pogue was the lack of logic in adding
1352-574: A limited edition vinyl model kit of Draco and Bowen, sculpted by John Dennett. In 1996, Topps released trading cards for the film, and the comics division published a two-issue comic adaptation. Charles Edward Pogue wrote a 262-page novelization, Dragonheart , published by The Berkley Publishing Group in June 1996. The first edition shows Pogue as the sole author, but the book is frequently listed with Johnson as co-author. Based on his original screenplay, with "several new inspirations that weren't in any of
1456-448: A little more exciting. The 1940s then saw several full-color fantasy films produced by Alexander Korda , including The Thief of Bagdad (1940), a film on par with The Wizard of Oz , and Jungle Book (1942). In 1946, Jean Cocteau 's classic adaptation of Beauty and the Beast won praise for its surreal elements and for transcending the boundaries of the fairy tale genre. Sinbad
1560-534: A modern Chinatown setting. Highlander , a film about immortal Scottish swordsmen, was released the same year. Jim Henson produced two iconic fantasy films in the 80s, the solemn The Dark Crystal and the more whimsical and lofty Labyrinth . Meanwhile, Robert Zemeckis helmed Who Framed Roger Rabbit , featuring various famous cartoon characters from animation's "Golden Age," including Mickey Mouse , Minnie Mouse , Donald Duck , Bugs Bunny , Daffy Duck , Droopy , Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner , Sylvester
1664-509: A partnership to defraud villagers with staged dragon "slayings". Bowen later names the dragon after the Draco constellation , unaware of Draco and Einon's connection, through which they feel each other's pain. Kara, seeking revenge on Einon, is imprisoned after a failed assassination attempt. Realizing that she is responsible for his near-death, Einon tries seducing Kara and making her his queen. Despising what Einon has become, Aislinn helps Kara escape
1768-412: A physically powerful but unsophisticated warrior against an evil wizard or other supernaturally endowed enemy. Although sword and sorcery films sometimes describe an epic battle between good and evil similar to those found in many High fantasy movies, they may alternately present the hero as having more immediate motivations, such as the need to protect a vulnerable maiden or village, or even being driven by
1872-451: A reference for Draco's poses. It took five months for four modelers to make Draco's digital model with ILM's Alias software. Originally, Draco's scales and wings would have an iridescent quality; it is visible in some scenes but mostly not. His wingspan was initially calculated as 125 ft to support his body but halved to 72 ft to be practical enough to fit on the sets. His eyes were also more detailed and dilated. Those were some of
1976-435: A result, Draco would appear less often than in the original script, which included a sequence with Bowen flying around on Draco's back. According to Pogue, the film production became troublesome after Rob Cohen's hiring; Pogue felt Cohen "had neither the poetry in his soul nor the panache to bring Dragonheart to the screen". One of Cohen's first changes to the film was setting it during the 10th century Dark Ages rather than
2080-405: A satellite hookup. After reading the script, Jerry Goldsmith personally requested Johnson to let him score Dragonheart when Johnson was set to direct the film. Goldsmith never got to write any music for the film as things fell through during production, and he left the project when Universal let Johnson go. Randy Edelman composed the score, beginning in the late fall of 1995 and finishing by
2184-419: A scene with the peasant army gifting Bowen a suit of armor they make for him, overwhelming Bowen with emotion, which Pogue considered Dennis Quaid's best scene. Then Cohen's desire to showcase Draco as the film's main attraction caused the deletion of vital " connective tissue " scenes, making the film feel inconsistent and rushed. Pogue also said the film suffered because Universal aimed to turn Dragonheart into
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#17328769385792288-635: A screen test for Dragonheart using a "stretched out" version of the Tyrannosaurus from Jurassic Park . The test impressed Universal, so they attached ILM to the film in May 1994. Rob Cohen hired Phil Tippett , a visual effects producer specializing in creature design and character animation, to animate Draco for Dragonheart . Tippett states that his studio's responsibilities for Dragonheart differed from what they did for Jurassic Park since Draco would have more screen time (23 minutes for Draco instead of six and
2392-450: A skilled dragonslayer. Meanwhile, Kara asks that Einon free her father after years of slavery; Einon instead kills him. Monk Brother Gilbert witnesses Bowen's prowess and follows him to record his exploits. Bowen stalks a dragon to its cave, not knowing that it is the one who saved Einon. The confrontation ends in a stalemate , during which the dragon states that he is the last of his kind; they agree not to kill each other and instead form
2496-466: A thick Northern English accent , forcing Thewlis to mimic the child actor's accent. After Universal approved the screenplay and gave the go-ahead on the film, Johnson and De Laurentiis scouted Spain for filming locations. Johnson described Dragonheart as a phenomenon that took off in Hollywood since it was "a movie that everybody wanted to be in, and everybody wanted to score, and everybody wanted to be
2600-536: A tower in the ensuing fight. He then tries freeing Draco, who begs Bowen to kill him and end Einon's reign. Einon rises and charges towards them, forcing a reluctant Bowen to throw an axe into Draco's exposed half-heart, killing him and Einon. Draco's body dissipates as his soul joins his fellow dragons to become a new star in the constellation. Bowen and Kara go on to lead the kingdom into an era of justice and peace, with Draco's star shining brighter than ever in troubled times. In 1988, Patrick Read Johnson came up with
2704-518: Is contemporary fantasy . Such films feature magical effects or supernatural occurrences happening in the "real" world of today. Films with live action and animation such as Disney 's Mary Poppins , Pete's Dragon , Enchanted , and the Robert Zemeckis film Who Framed Roger Rabbit are also fantasy films although are more often referred to as Live action/animation hybrids (2 of those are also classified as musicals). Fantasy films set in
2808-807: Is the first film to use ILM's Caricature software, developed to help lip-sync Draco's animation to Sean Connery's voiceover work; programmer Cary Phillips received the Academy Scientific and Technical Achievement Award for creating the software. The film is notable for having the first realistic CG dragon in film, and Draco is the first dragon ILM made capable of human speech. Pre-production on Dragonheart began on January 17, 1994, while principal photography began that July in Slovakia , scheduled to end in November. During sequences with Draco and Bowen, visual effects supervisor Scott Squires and his teams used what they called
2912-467: The Fantasia segment (along with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 's original poem) The Sorcerer's Apprentice Many fantasy movies starting in the 2000s, such as The Lord of the Rings films, the 1st and 3rd Narnia adaptations, and the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 7th Harry Potter adaptations have most often been released in November and December. This is in contrast to sci-fi films , which are often released during
3016-509: The Himalayan fantasy kingdom of Shangri-La , where the residents magically never age. Other noteworthy fantasy films of the 30s include Tarzan the Ape Man in 1932 starring Johnny Weissmuller starting a successful series of talking pictures based on the fantasy-adventure novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs and the G. W. Pabst directed The Mistress of Atlantis from 1932. 1932 saw the release of
3120-474: The Universal Studios monster movie The Mummy which combined horror with a romantic fantasy twist. more light-hearted and comedic affairs from the decade include films like 1934s romantic drama film Death Takes a Holiday where Fredric March plays Death who takes a human body to experience life for three days and 1937s Topper where a man is haunted by two fun-loving ghosts who try to make his life
3224-660: The afterlife , called Bangsian fantasy , are less common, although films such as the 1991 Albert Brooks comedy Defending Your Life would likely qualify. Other uncommon subgenres include historical fantasy and romantic fantasy , although 2003's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl successfully incorporated elements of both. As noted above, superhero movies and fairy tale films might each be considered subgenres of fantasy films, although most would classify them as altogether separate movie genres. As
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3328-450: The fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic , supernatural events, mythology , folklore , or exotic fantasy worlds . The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction films and horror films , although the genres do overlap. Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth , wonder , escapism , and the extraordinary. Several sub-categories of fantasy films can be identified, although
3432-484: The 1950s that feature fantastic elements and are sometimes classified as fantasy are Harvey (1950), featuring a púca of Celtic mythology ; Scrooge , the 1951 adaptation of Charles Dickens ' A Christmas Carol ; and Ingmar Bergman 's 1957 masterpiece, The Seventh Seal . Disney's 1951 animated film Alice in Wonderland is also a fantasy classic. There were also a number of lower budget fantasies produced in
3536-611: The 1950s, typically based on Greek or Arabian legend. The most notable of these may be 1958's The 7th Voyage of Sinbad , featuring special effects by Ray Harryhausen and music by Bernard Herrmann . Harryhausen worked on a series of fantasy films in the 1960s, most importantly Jason and the Argonauts (1963). Many critics have identified this film as Harryhausen's masterwork for its stop-motion animated statues, skeletons, harpies , hydra , and other mythological creatures. Other Harryhausen fantasy and science fantasy collaborations from
3640-624: The Barbarian followed by Krull and Fire and Ice in 1983, as well as a boom in fairy tale -like fantasy films such as The Neverending Story (1984), Ladyhawke (1985), The Princess Bride (1987), and Willow (1988). The 1980s also started a trend in mixing modern settings and action film effects with exotic fantasy-like concepts. Big Trouble in Little China (1986), directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell , combined humor, martial arts and classic Chinese folklore in
3744-617: The Caribbean also saw success at the box office. The early 2010s saw a continuation of the book to screen adaptation fad of the 2000s. Also prevalent in the decade were remakes of older fantasy films especially from Walt Disney Pictures . The 2020s as of 2023 have shown an increasing interest by studios to adapt games into film with Monster Hunter , Sonic the Hedgehog , The Super Mario Bros. Movie , and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Patrick Read Johnson Starting out in
3848-646: The Cat , Tweety Pie , and Jiminy Cricket , among others. The 90s saw the Disney Renaissance in which many successful adaptations of written fantasy works were released by Disney Animation . The 2000s saw a boom in the genre. This was compounded by the success of Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter , which spurred a movement in film adaptations of fantasy literary works including The Chronicles of Narnia , Tales from Earthsea , Eragon , Inkheart , and The Golden Compass . The Star Wars prequel trilogy and Pirates of
3952-593: The Chocolate Factory were two fantasy pictures in the public eye the former being predominantly from the same team who did Mary Poppins the latter again being from Roald Dahl in both script and novel. 1980s fantasy films were initially characterized by directors finding a new spin on established mythologies. Ray Harryhausen brought the monsters of Greek legends to life in Clash of the Titans while Arthurian lore returned to
4056-517: The Creature Shop test footage as the pretext for the final film's quality. The studio went behind his back, trying to remove him from the project and give it to an A-list director since Johnson only had one film to his name at the time. Raffaella De Laurentiis tried to negotiate the budget to one the studio would accept at around $ 21 million. Still, Universal wouldn't take an amount lower than $ 23 million and would ironically end up spending roughly triple
4160-655: The Menace , and then later, the comedy Baby's Day Out . Baby's Day Out was tremendously popular in South Asia , including India , Pakistan , Sri Lanka and Bangladesh . In India, it was played at the largest theater in Calcutta for over a year. He also wrote the fantasy film Dragonheart , which spawned a franchise. He proposed the idea for the film to producer Raffaella De Laurentiis . Johnson described it as " The Skin Game with
4264-467: The Sailor (1947), starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. , has the feel of a fantasy film though it does not actually have any fantastic elements. Several other pictures featuring supernatural encounters and aspects of Bangsian fantasy were produced in the 1940s during World War II . These include Beyond Tomorrow , The Devil and Daniel Webster , and Here Comes Mr. Jordan , all from 1941, Heaven Can Wait
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4368-516: The Sword and Sandal label should be reserved only for the subset of fantasy films set in ancient times on the planet Earth, and still others would broaden the term to encompass films that have no fantastic elements whatsoever. To some, the term Sword and Sandal has pejorative connotations, designating a film with a low-quality script, bad acting, and poor production values. Another important subgenre of fantasy films that has become more popular in recent years
4472-491: The U.S. broadcasts of the Olympic Games , making it a well-known film score . MCA Records released the film's soundtrack album on May 28, 1996, containing 15 music tracks. All tracks are written by Randy Edelman Released on May 31, 1996, Dragonheart collected $ 15 million during its opening weekend, ranking in third place at the box office behind Twister and Mission: Impossible . The film grossed $ 115 million against
4576-631: The advent of sound films , audiences of all ages were introduced from 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to 1939's The Wizard of Oz . Also notable of the era, the iconic 1933 film King Kong borrows heavily from the Lost World subgenre of fantasy fiction as does such films as the 1935 adaptation of H. Rider Haggard's novel She about an African expedition that discovers an immortal queen known as Ayesha "She who must be obeyed". Frank Capra 's 1937 picture Lost Horizon transported audiences to
4680-454: The amount on the film. When Universal ended his contract, Johnson was only paid and given credit for writing the story and acting as executive producer. For his desired direction for the film, Johnson said: ...I wanted this to be a more noble film than it ended up being. I still wanted it to be fun, and I wanted it to be charming and clever. I wanted it to have a more European feeling. Like something Terry Gilliam might do. Then Richard Donner
4784-409: The ancient crown of Italy), with war, cruelty, betrayal, heroism, sex, magic and mysticism, a whirl of events taken from every possible fairy tale and legend source Blasetti could find. This movie is unlike anything done before; indeed, considering that it was finished fifteen years before the publication of Lord Of The Rings, its invention of a vast, national epic mythology is an act of genius. And while
4888-436: The backstory of the dragon culture and spiritual afterlife proved challenging for Pogue; he had to think of Draco's motivations and why he clings to life rather than letting Bowen kill him and end his despair. Pogue solved the issue by making Draco fear going to Hell without a soul for sharing his heart with Einon. Then Bowen re-enters Draco's life, and he sees hope and a chance for redemption through Bowen, with Draco unaware that
4992-420: The budget of $ 57 million. Dragonheart was released on VHS on November 19, 1996, and on DVD as a "Collector's Edition" on March 31, 1998. A THX certified widescreen VHS version would debut on September 9, 1997. The film was later released on HD DVD on May 29, 2007. Dragonheart and Dragonheart: A New Beginning were released on a one-disc print known as "2 Legendary Tales" on March 2, 2004. Dragonheart
5096-533: The castle. Kara tries to rally her village against Einon, but they sacrifice her to Draco instead. After Draco takes Kara to his lair, Einon arrives to recapture her and fights Bowen. He nearly kills Bowen, but Draco intervenes and reveals his half-heart to Einon, making him flee in fear. Kara asks Bowen to help overthrow Einon, but the disillusioned knight refuses. Bowen reunites with Gilbert at another village while Kara tries exposing Bowen and Draco, appalled by their actions. The villagers do not believe her until after
5200-538: The cinematographer of, and everybody wanted to direct". For a campfire scene test, Johnson had the then-unknown Clive Owen fill in for Liam Neeson as Bowen opposite an animatronic Draco made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop . As the Creature Shop did tests for Draco, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) did CGI tests for Jurassic Park . Universal believed waiting would be better as the CGI technology could benefit Dragonheart . Additionally, according to Johnson, Universal saw
5304-570: The crew went to Shepperton Studios in England to begin shooting the film, starting with the campfire scene. The team faced difficulties in keeping within the budget. The test didn't convince Universal that Draco could have enough dynamic movement. After Jurassic Park 's theatrical release, the CG dinosaurs convinced De Laurentiis to bring Draco to life with CGI. Universal hired several effects companies to do Draco animation tests. Due to time constraints, ILM did
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#17328769385795408-583: The decade include the 1961 adaptation of Jules Verne 's Mysterious Island , the critically panned One Million Years B.C. starring Raquel Welch , and The Valley of Gwangi (1969). Capitalising on the success of the sword and sandal genre several Italian B-movies based on classical myth were made, including the Maciste series. Otherwise, the 1960s were almost entirely devoid of fantasy films. The fantasy picture 7 Faces of Dr. Lao , in which Tony Randall portrayed several characters from Greek mythology,
5512-499: The delineations between these subgenres, much as in fantasy literature, are somewhat fluid. The most common fantasy subgenres depicted in movies are high fantasy and sword and sorcery . Both categories typically employ quasi-medieval settings, wizards, magical creatures and other elements commonly associated with fantasy stories. High fantasy films tend to feature a more richly developed fantasy world, and may also be more character-oriented or thematically complex. Often, they feature
5616-413: The design elements dropped because of software issues, running out of time, and wanting to make Draco as realistic as possible and not too fantastical. To aid animators so that Draco's performance resembled Connery as much as possible, Cohen made an extensive library of reference footage with hundreds of Connery images from his filmography up to that point, categorized by his displayed emotion. Dragonheart
5720-416: The desire for vengeance. The 1982 film adaptation of Robert E. Howard 's Conan the Barbarian , for example, is a personal (non-epic) story concerning the hero's quest for revenge and his efforts to thwart a single megalomaniac—while saving a beautiful princess in the process. Some critics refer to such films by the term Sword and Sandal rather than sword and sorcery, although others would maintain that
5824-447: The dragon dies he's dead, that he really begins to panic, and then he starts to go crazy. That's what you want, but you don't start there! In the "Making of Dragonheart" featurette on DVD, Cohen says he was aware of the project for years before getting the directing job and that Johnson was merely involved with the script. Johnson said that he harbored no ill will for Cohen taking over the project, but that changed when he "started hearing
5928-806: The fantasy genre. In the 1950s there were a few major fantasy films, including Darby O'Gill and the Little People and The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. , the latter penned by Dr. Seuss . Jean Cocteau's Orphic Trilogy , begun in 1930 and completed in 1959, is based on Greek mythology and could be classified either as fantasy or surrealist film, depending on how the boundaries between these genres are drawn. Russian fantasy director Aleksandr Ptushko created three mythological epics from Russian fairytales, Sadko (1953), Ilya Muromets (1956), and Sampo (1959). Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi 's 1953 film Ugetsu Monogatari draws on Japanese classical ghost stories of love and betrayal. Other notable pictures from
6032-445: The fateful decision he's been avoiding for years is now closer than he knows. According to Pogue, the screenplay for Dragonheart is among his best work, and it moved countless people to tears; he completed the first draft in only two months. After he, Johnson, and De Laurentiis made revisions, Pogue finished the script in 1990. They submitted it to Universal Pictures on a Friday. Two days later, on Monday morning, Universal gave Johnson
6136-400: The field of practical special effects and models, Johnson was one of the first people outside of Industrial Light and Magic to see Star Wars (albeit in an incomplete form) as chronicled in his semi-autobiographical film 5-25-77 . He first saw the film during Spring Break, sometime between late March and early April 1977, when ILM was scrambling to complete VFX shots. He had also visited
6240-591: The film until 2004. An incomplete "preview cut" was exhibited in 2007 at Star Wars Celebration IV and at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2008, where 5-25-77 won the Heineken Red Star Award. On May 25, 2012, the 35th anniversary of the release of Star Wars , Johnson began a cross-country road trip in his 1975 Ford Pinto to attract the funding needed to finish the film's remaining post-production work. Johnson spent
6344-425: The film was ever called Dragonheart and had the element of the shared heart, it began with the premise of ...the last dragon and the last knight that finally meet up in a stalemate and make a deal. This was sort of the first scene that I thought of with the knight in the dragon's mouth with his sword against the roof his mouth. I knew they would come to the conclusion that the only way for them to continue to survive
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#17328769385796448-536: The film's first cut to Cohen with a length of 2 hours and 18 minutes. After going through the reels, they shortened the film to two hours and seven minutes. In mid-March, they completed the final cut with 182 CG shots. According to Cohen, they spent an additional 13 months working on the film after making the final cut. He was in Rome to shoot Daylight on-location during this period and had to review animation sequences with ILM, giving them his comments and instructions through
6552-419: The film, and the elements that would serve Bowen's arc became pointless. According to Johnson, the script changes also damaged Einon; Johnson envisioned Kenneth Branagh or a similar actor in the role as a quiet and confident villain with a sense of unpredictability who'd go crazy upon realizing his and Draco's fates are connected. To Johnson, the script revisions turned Einon into a continuously shouting brat and
6656-514: The film. Johnson already had the story's beginning and end in mind but not much of the middle, so he and Pogue collaborated on the script, developing the characters and the Old Code while working the Arthurian myth into the story. Pogue described the story's themes as "a disillusioned man's struggle to recapture his idealism" and "the attempt to maintain one's passion in the cesspool of the world". Creating
6760-501: The first Draco design, a wyvern with a long snout and a crown of feather-like horns. To stay within the budget Universal was willing to shell out with Johnson directing, the developers approached Jim Henson's Creature Shop to create the Draco through traditional means. The dragon model was done within eight weeks, including a quarter-scale puppet and a full-size head that could speak with real-time lip sync through camera speed manipulation. Then
6864-407: The genre has gained new respectability in a way, driven principally by the successful adaptations of Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings and J. K. Rowling 's Harry Potter series. Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy is notable due to its ambitious scale, serious tone, and thematic complexity. These pictures achieved phenomenal commercial and critical success, and the third installment of
6968-406: The genre. These have included adaptations of the first, second, and third books in C. S. Lewis ' The Chronicles of Narnia and the teen novel Eragon , as well as adaptations of Susan Cooper 's The Dark Is Rising , Cornelia Funke 's Inkheart , Philip Pullman 's The Golden Compass , Holly Black 's The Spiderwick Chronicles , Nickelodeon's TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender , and
7072-495: The green light to start making the film as the script produced a strong emotional response from studio executives. During his time location scouting in Spain, Johnson created the character of Draco. He and Pogue shaped it for Sean Connery, a client of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) at the time, who was Johnson's only choice in mind to voice Draco. Johnson wanted to "animalize" Connery's voice by giving it "deep resounding rumbles, and make
7176-582: The horror stories about how Chuck Pogue was being treated, and then I started seeing Rob taking credit for things that weren't his to take credit for". Cohen also took credit for Draco's design and Sean Connery being Draco's voice actor. Johnson cites an article from Cinescape magazine, "where Rob is again asked about the origin of the project and he basically tries to sell the idea that I was some film student that somehow got attached to this great project that somehow pre-existed my involvement". After leaving Alien 3 , sculptor Gary Pollard supervised and sculpted
7280-424: The idea for Dragonheart and pitched it to producer Raffaella De Laurentiis a year later. Johnson proposed the film's concept to De Laurentiis, describing it as " The Skin Game with a dragon in it...or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Dragon ". He wanted "the idea of a dragon and a knight conning villages for money" because he thought the concept was "not only funny, but kind of sweet". According to Johnson, before
7384-463: The material. After working with De Laurentiis on Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story in 1993, Rob Cohen agreed to take over as director, and Universal announced his attachment to the film in January 1994. Since Jurassic Park was released and Universal Studios sought to have Draco made with CGI like the dinosaurs, there had to be script alterations per Draco's allowed screen time based on the film's budget. As
7488-529: The musical Cabin in the Sky (1943), the comedy The Horn Blows at Midnight and romances such as The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), One Touch of Venus and Portrait of Jennie , both 1948. An astonishing anticipation of the full "sword and sorcery" genre was made in 1941 in Italy by Alessandro Blasetti. La Corona di Ferro presents the struggles of two imaginary kingdoms around the legendary Iron Crown (historically
7592-928: The northern hemisphere summer (June–August). All 3 of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, however, were released in July 2003, July 2006, and May 2007 respectively, and the latest releases in the Harry Potter series were released in July 2007 and July 2009. The huge commercial success of these pictures may indicate a change in Hollywood's approach to big-budget fantasy film releases. Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identifies fantasy films as one of eleven super-genres in his screenwriters taxonomy , claiming that all feature length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres. The other 10 super-genres are action , crime , horror , romance , sci-fi , slice of life , sports , thriller , war and western . Fantasy films have
7696-478: The novel Ayesha: The Return of She both produced by Hammer Film Productions . The musical fantasy film Mary Poppins was released in 1964, and 1968 saw the release of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang based on a story by Ian Fleming with a script from Roald Dahl . Fantasy elements of Arthurian legend were again featured, albeit absurdly, in 1975's Monty Python and the Holy Grail . Harryhausen also returned to
7800-436: The pigs to the swamp village scene. In Johnson's words: Critical elements were missing, things were replaced, and there was all this silly stuff. Like this village that's surrounded by 10 million pigs, but all the people are starving, and yelling out, "We're starving! We need meat! Let's kill the dragon", but they're surrounded by pigs! So, I'm trying to find the logic here. I just didn't get that. Pogue explains that Draco uses
7904-526: The premise, visual effects, and character development but panning the script as confusing and clichéd. It was a box-office success, earning $ 115 million worldwide. It was dedicated to the memory of Steve Price and Irwin Cohen. In 984 A.D. , English knight Sir Bowen mentors Saxon prince Einon. While suppressing a peasant rebellion, Einon's father Freyne, is killed by rebels. Peasant girl Kara later accidentally wounds Einon's heart. Einon's Celtic mother Aislinn asks
8008-438: The races of Man and Dragon, and earning a place in the constellation—the Dragon's Heaven. Draco fears that his choice has cost him his soul , and that his spirit is doomed to disappear upon death like he never existed. After hearing that Kara and even Gilbert intend to oppose Einon, Draco agrees to help. When a vision of Arthur reminds him of his knightly honor, Bowen also agrees. Bowen, Kara, Gilbert, and Draco organize and train
8112-465: The right man for the role; Liam Neeson was the right man for the role... And Dina Meyer...again...10th century England?! Beverly Hills 10 A.D.? Bless her heart, she tried. It didn't help that they stuck her in that funny red wig that was constantly changing shape and size. The whole thing just flabbergasted me. Johnson also claimed that Cohen shooting the scenes with Lee Oakes as young Einon first greatly hindered David Thewlis's performance; Oakes spoke with
8216-517: The role. With the castings of Quaid as Bowen and Meyer as Kara, Johnson said: ...I love Dennis Quaid; I love everything he's done. I just didn't think he should be in 10th century England, any more than Kevin Costner should be in Sherwood Forest . Not that they weren't enjoyable in their roles. Frankly, I think Dennis Quaid saved the movie, as much as it could have been saved...Dennis Quaid just wasn't
8320-513: The scams he and Bowen do to "pick at Bowen's conscience and test his morality". Each village they go to is more poverty-stricken than the last. This point would come to a head and serve Bowen's character arc in the swamp village; its people are beyond impoverished, and Bowen feels he can no longer justify the scams as a way to be a thorn in Einon's side. When Cohen added the pigs to the scene, Pogue told De Laurentiis it would make everyone look stupid since
8424-459: The screen in John Boorman 's 1981 Excalibur . Films such as Ridley Scott 's 1985 Legend and Terry Gilliam 's 1981–1986 trilogy of fantasy epics ( Time Bandits , Brazil , and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen ) explored a new artist-driven style featuring surrealist imagery and thought-provoking plots. The modern sword and sorcery boom began around the same time with 1982's Conan
8528-408: The script under Cohen's direction include: Also removed were scenes showing the developing love story between Bowen and Kara, which the final film only alludes to without proper resolution. For example, Kara and Bowen declare their love for each other, during which Bowen asks Kara for her "lady's favor". Kara reveals Einon raped her and therefore has nothing to give Bowen, so Bowen kneels and gives her
8632-460: The set of Close Encounters of the Third Kind at Future General Corporation a few days before and found Douglas Trumbull 's work to be "engineered, intimidating and mature" compared to John Dykstra 's "shooting-from-the-hip" style. Johnson ascended into mainstream Hollywood filmmaking following the modest success of Spaced Invaders , invited by John Hughes to work on his adaptation of Dennis
8736-582: The silver screen in the 1970s with two additional Sinbad fantasies, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977). The animated movie Wizards (1977) had limited success at the box office but achieved status as a cult film . There was also The Noah (1975) which was never released theatrically but became a cult favorite when it was finally released on DVD in 2006. Some would consider 1977's Oh God! , starring George Burns to be
8840-451: The sophisticated "Robin Hood-era" 12th century Middle Ages . He felt the possibility of dragons existing during the mostly unrecorded period would be more believable and appropriate for his grittier vision. While streamlining the script with Pogue, they removed one of Bowen and Draco's scams as Cohen felt that doing three would be too expensive and reduced the number of battles. Other changes to
8944-528: The staged slaying while Draco plays dead. He bolts when the villagers decide to carve him up for meat, revealing the scam. Then they surround Bowen, Kara, and Gilbert, wanting to eat them instead; Draco rescues the trio and takes them to Avalon , where they take shelter among the tombs of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table . Draco reveals that he hoped to change Einon's nature by saving him, reuniting
9048-710: The start of 1996. The main theme song, "The World of the Heart", and its companion track, "To the Stars", were used in many film trailers such as Two Brothers , Mulan , Anna and the King , Dragonheart: A New Beginning , The Young Black Stallion , and Seven Years in Tibet , among others. Clip montages at the Academy Awards feature the Dragonheart theme, as do the closing credits of
9152-597: The storytelling is rough - due to the need to insert everything - and the resources limited, Blasetti shows how to make a little go a long way through beautifully staged and designed battle and crowd scenes. Although it's not classified as a fantasy film, Gene Kelly 's Anchors Aweigh had a fantasy sequence called "The King who Couldn't Dance" in which Gene did a song and dance number with Jerry Mouse from Tom and Jerry . Because these movies do not feature elements common to high fantasy or sword and sorcery pictures, some modern critics do not consider them to be examples of
9256-478: The summer of 2012 test-screening 5-25-77 , his trip also becoming the subject of a documentary called Hearts of Dorkness , by filmmaker Morgan Flores . In 2013, the TIFF Next Wave film festival invited Johnson to show 5-25-77 as a "work in progress", the attention from the festival Johnson attributed to the bid of his promotional tour the summer before. In 2017, it was announced Johnson had completed
9360-734: The then-up-and-coming Liam Neeson, and the two hit it off, with Johnson noting how Neeson could be both brooding and funny, but much to Johnson's chagrin, the studio refused to believe Neeson could pull off the action hero role since he had just completed Darkman . Wanting a big-name lead actor for the film, Universal sent the script to actors like Tom Hanks , Kevin Bacon , and Arnold Schwarzenegger as potential Bowen candidates. The studio even suggested that Whoopi Goldberg voice Draco instead of Connery. Other actors considered to replace Neeson included Harrison Ford , Mel Gibson , and Patrick Swayze , Cohen's first choice for Bowen before Dennis Quaid accepted
9464-494: The top of that and remove any traces of the aircraft". Although Draco is fully CGI-rendered, some scenes use full-sized models of some of his body parts. One of them was Draco's foot, used to pin Bowen to the ground, and the other was Draco's jaw during the scene where Bowen gets trapped inside it. While the foot was a non-moving prop, the jaw had moving parts, and a puppeteer operated it. In January 1995, editor Peter Amundsen delivered
9568-414: The traditional Chinese guardian lion , which Cohen describes as having "a lion-like elegance, a fierceness", and that it is "ultimately a proud...visually powerful creature". As Draco had to emote, Tippett infused human features into Draco's face to make it mammalian rather than reptilian; his muzzle was designed to be a mixture of a highland gorilla and a human mouth to accommodate his dialogue. Draco's face
9672-482: The trilogy became the first fantasy film ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture . The Harry Potter series has been a tremendous financial success, has achieved critical acclaim for its design, thematic sophistication and emotional depth, grittier realism and darkness, narrative complexity, and characterization, and boasts an enormous and loyal fanbase. Following the success of these ventures, Hollywood studios have greenlighted additional big-budget productions in
9776-447: The various drafts", it is faithful to his vision of Dragonheart as the transcendent film it should have been. It was released in several languages and five editions in the U.S. to widespread critical acclaim. Readers praised Pogue's writing and how the book develops the story, setting, and characters more than the film, noting its darker and more serious tone than the film's. Fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to
9880-488: The villagers into an army. They are nearly victorious against Einon's forces when Gilbert strikes Einon in the heart with an arrow. However, Draco, feeling Einon's pain, falls from the sky and is captured. Realizing that he is immortal as long as Draco lives, Einon is determined to keep Draco safe. Knowing their connection, Aislinn attempts to kill Draco at his request, but Einon intercepts and kills her. The rebels invade Einon's castle to save Draco. Bowen throws Einon from atop
9984-407: The villagers were supposed to be starving. They are trying to eat a seemingly dead Draco for an easy meal before turning on Bowen, Kara, and Gilbert for being the victims of a cruel joke, yet the pigs surrounding the villagers would've sustained them. Pogue and De Laurentiis brought the illogical nature of adding the pigs to Cohen's attention, but he forcibly dismissed their concerns. The pigs stayed in
10088-471: The vocabulary such that it didn't sound quite human". Instead of how it is heard in the final film, "it wasn't just gonna be Sean Connery's voice coming out of the dragon". After completing location scouting, CAA sent numerous English and Irish actors to meet with Johnson for the Bowen role, including Gabriel Byrne , Timothy Dalton , and Pierce Brosnan . English actresses sent for the part of Kara included Elizabeth Hurley and Patsy Kensit . Johnson then met
10192-470: The whole first act of the movie was just screaming and yelling and throwing things around! He was just being a whiny brat. Where do you go from there? You can't get bigger, and you can't get smaller because the movie is supposed to build. My idea was for him to just be so quiet and you just wouldn't know what he was going to do next. He had half of a dragon's heart inside of him. And it isn't until you see this dragon return to come for him, and he realizes that if
10296-578: Was 1902's A Trip to the Moon . In the Golden Age of Silent film (1918–1926) the most outstanding fantasy films were Douglas Fairbanks ' The Thief of Bagdad (1924), Fritz Lang 's Die Nibelungen (1924), and Destiny (1921). Other notables in the genre were F.W. Murnau 's romantic ghost story Phantom , Tarzan of the Apes starring Elmo Lincoln , and D. W. Griffith 's The Sorrows of Satan . Following
10400-447: Was approached as Universal sought a replacement director. Donner spent roughly six months working on the film before moving on to other projects. The studio declined Kenneth Branagh after deciding the amount he asked to star in and direct the film was too expensive. De Laurentiis hoped to make John Badham , Rob Cohen's then-partner, interested in handling Dragonheart and sent him the script; according to Cohen, Badham "didn't respond" to
10504-468: Was designed to resemble Sean Connery's after his casting. Cohen also drew ideas from nature, such as the boa constrictor 's jaw structure, horses' musculature, and retractable teeth. Tippett also considered how Cohen would frame the scenes involving Draco, the size difference between Draco and the human actors, and what he would do throughout the film. Tippett and his crew created a five-foot model of Draco for lighting reference and an articulated model used as
10608-474: Was released in 1964. But the 1967 adaptation of the Broadway musical Camelot removed most of the fantasy elements from T. H. White 's classic The Once and Future King , on which the musical had been based. The 1960s also saw a new adaption of Haggard's She in 1965 starring Ursula Andress as the immortal "She who must be obeyed" and was followed by a sequel in 1968 The Vengeance of She based loosely on
10712-445: Was released on Blu-ray Disc on March 27, 2012. Shout! Factory released the film in 4K on Blu-ray on February 28, 2023. The film's first official trailer featured Enya's song "Pax Deorum" from her album The Memory of Trees . Kenner released a toy line based on the main characters and additional dragons that weren't shown or mentioned in the film. Revell (under their Promodeler line) produced and released only 5000 units of
10816-473: Was to stage these mock battles all over the countryside and get paid in heaps of gold. Johnson's manager Melinda Jason also managed screenplay writer Charles Edward Pogue, who previously wrote for David Cronenberg's remake of The Fly and was working on adapting A Princess of Mars for Disney. When meeting for drinks in Bora Bora , Johnson pitched the idea for Dragonheart to Pogue, and he agreed to work on
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