DRAGONHEART

"DRAGONHEART"
(1996) (Dennis Quaid, voice of Sean Connery) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	Moderate	Moderate	Mild	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	Minor	Mild	None	Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
None	None	Minor	Minor	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: A medieval dragonslayer teams up with a dragon to fight an evil king.

PLOT:: It’s 981 A.D. and Bowen (DENNIS QUAID) is teaching Einon (DAVID THEWLIS), the king's son, the ways of the Knight’s Code. Before he’s able to complete the training, however, the king is killed in a peasant uprising and Einon is fatally wounded. The Queen knows that dragons can heal the sick or dead, so she summons Draco (voice of SEAN CONNERY) to do the trick. He does, and gives half of his heart to save the boy. Twelve years later, Einon has grown up to be just like his evil dad, and Bowen has dedicated his life to finding and killing the dragon that allowed the boy to grow up so evil. Kara (DINA MEYER), the daughter of the leader of the former peasant uprising, wants revenge herself on King Einon, who recently killed her ailing father. Bowen eventually encounters Draco, they call a truce, and team up to overthrow the evil king.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: A dragon movie? That’s close enough to dinosaurs for kids.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For action/violence.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: DENNIS QUAID plays the dragonslayer who believes in code, ethics and honor.
SEAN CONNERY plays the wise old dragon whose mission in life is to help humans.
DINA MEYER plays a woman out for revenge for the death of her father by the hands of the King.
DAVID THEWLIS plays the despicable king.; SEAN CONNERY plays the wise old dragon whose mission in life is to help humans.
DINA MEYER plays a woman out for revenge for the death of her father by the hands of the King.
DAVID THEWLIS plays the despicable king.; DINA MEYER plays a woman out for revenge for the death of her father by the hands of the King.
DAVID THEWLIS plays the despicable king.; DAVID THEWLIS plays the despicable king.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Einon and his men drink some ale with dinner.

BLOOD/GORE: There is a little blood on the dead King’s face.
Blood mixes with spilled milk as it flows across the ground.
Einon’s graphic and bloody chest wound is seen.
The decomposing head, and later the body, of a former dragonslayer are thrown from the dragon’s lair.
A skeletal arm is pulled from Draco’s teeth.
Draco sneezes on Bowen, covering him with dragon phlegm.
During all of the fight scenes there is some blood here and there on bodies and on weapons.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Einon, like his father before him, is mean to the peasants.
Bowen kills off dragons just for the money, until he learns better.
Bowen and Draco con the poor peasants out of their money (by faking dragon killings).

FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES: After Einon has been impaled, there are several scenes where he screams in agony and pain.
The early scenes, before Draco is fully seen, may be scary to younger kids since they're darkly lit, with echoing sounds, growls, glowing eyes, and a large and mysterious figure lurking about in the shadows.
The many fight scenes may be tense for some kids.
There is a thunderstorm scene with ghostly sounds from former knights that may frighten kids.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Swords, bows and arrows, spears, knives, axes: Heavily used by everyone to threaten, injure and kill many, many people. For detailed occurrences, see the "Violence" category.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Fighting with swords and bows and arrows.
There is one scene where the Einon is shot in the chest with an arrow. Since he’s somewhat immortal (due to the heart connection to Draco), he pulls out the arrow and continues on. Some younger kids may get the impression that one can get shot with an arrow and be okay.
Phrases: "Scum," and "Shut up."

JUMP SCENES: The dying king suddenly grabs Einon.
Draco suddenly jumps between Einon and Bowen.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): Some of the early Draco scenes, as well as the fight scenes, have mild suspenseful music accompanying them.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: "For God's sake" is used as an exclamation.

SEX/NUDITY: None.

SMOKING: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Einon cries out when he finds his father fatally wounded. That’s short-lived, however, as he grabs the crown for himself and rushes off.
Kara cries out when her father is shot with an arrow.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Conning people for money (Bowen & Draco con the poor people for their money).
How Einon can pull an arrow from his chest and not be hurt.

VIOLENCE: In a peasant uprising against the King’s army, many people are impaled, knifed, and sliced by spears, knives and swords.
The King’s army burns down the peasant village.
The King is cornered by the peasants who then capture and kill him.
Einon is accidentally pushed into a fence stake and impaled.
A knife is held to a peasant’s throat as the king wants to run a hot poker through his eyes. Bowen stops this, but not before the peasant is knifed in the back.
Bowen kills a dragon (we don’t see it, but do hear the fight).
Einon shoots a man in the chest with an arrow.
Bowen and Draco have a fight with sword thrusts, tail swipes (which cut down trees) and fireballs flying.
Draco tries to eat Bowen who gets stuck in his mouth with his sword planted in the roof of Draco’s mouth.
Draco does some fire breathing strafing on the peasants' villages.
Kara attacks Einon with a knife (for killing her father) and later attempts an attack again.
Bowen and Einon have a sword fight that ends with Bowen being stabbed in the shoulder.
A villager prepares to hit Kara with a shovel, but an arrow fired by Bowen changes his mind.
A soldier is impaled by a large spear intended for Draco.
Another soldier is crushed by a cart.
There is a climatic battle scene between the King’s army and the villagers where many more people are killed from knives, swords, etc...
A soldier is shot in the buttocks with an arrow.
Three soldiers are knocked off their horses by a large, swinging log.
Einon is shot in the chest with an arrow.
The Queen stabs a guard and moments later is killed by her son, Einon (heard but not seen).
There is another sword fight between Bowen and Einon.
Draco catches a soldier on fire.
Bowen kills Draco in order to kill Einon (since they shared a heart -- it had to be done).

Reviewed June 1, 1996

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.