Dragon Wars

2007

Dragon Wars

Critics Consensus

Dragon Wars' special effects can't make up for an unfocused script and stale acting.

28%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 36

19%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 175,522
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Movie Info

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

Cast

Jason Behr
as Ethan
Amanda Brooks
as Sarah
Robert Forster
as Jack
Aimee Garcia
as Brandy
Craig Robinson
as Bruce
Chris Mulkey
as Agent Frank Pinsky
John Ales
as Agent Judah Campbell
Elizabeth Peña
as Agent Linda Perez
Robert Foster
Billy Gardell
as Zoo Guard
Holmes Osborne
as Hypnotherapist
NiCole Robinson
as Psychiatrist
Cody Arens
as Young Ethan
Jody L. Carlson
as Sarah's Mother
Kevin Breznahan
as Reporter
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News & Interviews for Dragon Wars

Here Be Dragons! Famous TV and Movie Fire-Breathers
Box Office Guru Preview: Captain Jack and Captain Morgan Set Sail
RT on DVD: 3:10 to Yuma, Sunshine Arrive!
View All

Critic Reviews for Dragon Wars

All Critics (36) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (26)

  • It is such a breathless, delirious stew, it's impossible not to be entertained, provided -- this is crucial -- you have a sense of humor.

    Sep 17, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/5

    Andy Webster

    New York Times
    Top Critic

  • When they decide to sic [those monsters] on downtown Los Angeles, the movie turns shockingly watchable. Until that sequence, there was no evidence that anybody involved with this laughable fantasy knew what he or she was doing.

    Sep 17, 2007 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…

    Wesley Morris

    Boston Globe
    Top Critic

  • The rampaging-monsters flick Dragon Wars loudly speaks the universal language of effects-laden mayhem. Unfortunately, it is also fluent in the laughable dialogue of a million bad fantasy flicks.

    Sep 17, 2007 | Rating: 1.5/5 | Full Review…

    Robert Abele

    Los Angeles Times
    Top Critic

  • The only winners in Dragon Wars are the computer-imaging geeks who must have logged tons of overtime. The rest of the world is left scratching its head at a monster epic so dismal that it doesn't even register as a guilty pleasure.

    Sep 17, 2007 | Rating: 1/4 | Full Review…

    John Monaghan

    Detroit Free Press
    Top Critic

  • This monster film makes even the remake of Godzilla look good.

    Sep 14, 2007

    Frank Scheck

    Hollywood Reporter
    Top Critic

  • A feast of A-grade f/x married to a Z-grade, irony-free script.

    Jul 21, 2007 | Full Review…

    Derek Elley

    Variety
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (36)

Audience Reviews for Dragon Wars

  • Jan 26, 2012
    When it comes to movies featuring monsters I always rely on two monsters to give some sort of entertainment and they are King Kong and Godzilla. Any other monsters would can result in disappointment, just like how Dragon Wars. Every five hundred years, a woman protected by a man transforms in a serpent to fight against a dragon in a battle between good and evil. Ethan seeks out Sarah and together they fight to survive and destroy the devilish dragon. So right off you know the story won't go anywhere as it include random scenes that makes you wonder if you're watching the most expensive high-school movie ever produced. I'm serious, there so much inconstancy like how a helicopter crashes into a building and then magically blows up when the pilots get out for some reason. It's also very uninteresting to have a hero who's useless for most of the movie which made me feel like also watching a comedy just because on bad certain scenes are. So the story isn't what anyone wants to watch in this movie, they want the monsters, and they disappoint for the most part. These monsters just look terrible and terribly animated. I will say I did enjoy when the monsters got released in Los Angles and the battle began. To bad they were terribly filmed and not as cool as they could have been. As for the epic finale, i'll just say i've seen better in terms of monster movies. I mean the area where the final battle looks so bad and incomplete with bad special effects. The final battle is a let down, it's last less than three minutes. Now I originally was going to give this a 30% before I saw the ending. The ending makes you feel you wasted your time and got ripped off. It's such a shame to see a movie featuring Dragons be this bad and so poorly made. I mean it's not often we see Dragons being the main focus of a movie let alone in a watchable movie, but maybe one day we'll have a decent movie featuring Dragons. Until then, avoid this at all cost.
    Caesar M Super Reviewer
  • Nov 30, 2011
    Dragon Wars is considered the most anticipated film in the history of korean cinema. It's worth seeing for whats there on the screen in front of you. The effects and the movement of the dragons are mind boggling and the surrounding backgrounds of the film are good to look at. The problem with it however that will dissapoint most is the acting and the very very bad script. I did however enjoy the appearence of the actor from the TV Series "Mike and Molly" as a zookeeper. I didn't like it but I didn't hate the film either.
    Directors C Super Reviewer
  • Jun 30, 2011
    I really don't see why everyone is hating so hard on this movie. No it's not a great film. Yes it hokey and corney to the max. Yes the bloated CGI does leave a bad taste in my mouth, but come on. It does deliver on the action sequences, they did bother creating some mythology for the story plus it's got Robert Forster in it. Not a great film by any stretch but I really didn't think it was as bad as most of the other reviews here will indicate. Worth seeing for a mindless good time.
    Ed Fucking H Super Reviewer
  • Mar 08, 2011
    If you go back to 2007 there was this really big line up for a new film getting promoted in my country and was made there called D-War. And director Hyung-rae Shim blockbuster was being promoted everywhere. If you're not quite familiar it is a film that appeals to our nationalism and culture and it cost a stuttering more than $70 million, and my first thoughts where "Don't be Crap" And with the mixed to very negative reviews I was reading I still had hope... And of course I was it opening day like so many and walk out hunted by what I saw. So just because it was made to succeed in my country or even America doesn't make it good... In a matter of fact it was even worse. One tends to always think our country was positive on this... No we weren't at all. If anything 45 million other people thought the same thing. Look how about I just pan out the film for you... Awful acting from our American cast (That occupies the whole film). A horrible story that in same way might not even have anything to do with the legends I was told when I was young. Though impressive Ground breaking Special Effects that can't make up for this plain awful fucking film.
    Ariuza k Super Reviewer
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