To me, this movie was by far the best out of them all and the story behind it was the greatest. Nowadays it seems as if it has more sorcery than dragonsAlso I miss how much this movie was focused on the knight code unlike the newer ones.If they decide to make a number 5, I strongly suggest making it more like this one.If you haven't watched this movie, please do I know you won't regret it.

Disclaimer: I saw this movie in theaters when I was 6 or 7 and cried my eyes out there. It was the very first movie that I got home and tearfully, hauntingly asked my parents why it had to happen that way. Why did the good dragon have to die? I don't remember what they had to say, but at 25 I still spill whiskey soul tears when I watch this movie to the end. The clear-cut morality of it, the good and bad and how it gets complicated. It's just painful in real and in the best/worst way. I'm quite sure I'll expose my someday kids to this movie, especially because the special effects and Connery's moral, good voice will live up to it. I only wish I live up to the Old Code every day at my hard job and teach my kids to do the same.

Dragonheart (1996): Dir: Rob Cohen / Cast: Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, Dina Meyers, Pete Postlethwaite / Voices: Sean Connery: Energetic fantasy about importance of sacrifice, friendship and love. Dennis Quaid plays a knight who is assigned to protect the young King but when injured in battle the King is taken to a wise dragon who donates a heart in return that the King rule wisely. The King becomes greedy and Quaid blames the heart and vows to slay every dragon he can, with the obvious one remaining. What are the odds of that? Eventually they form a plan where Quaid hunts Draco repeatedly for money before they attempt to dethrone the King. Story is repetitious with a ridiculous climax but the visual effects bring out that young at heart feeling. The dragon is a triumphant visual wonder voiced by Sean Connery who brings personality and purpose to the dragon's sense of worth. Director Rob Cohen has fun with the fantasy elements. Quaid survives as a knight who wishes to repair a wrong, but much of the acting is bad. David Thewlis as the tyrant King is straight forward and too juvenile. Dina Meyers is the obvious potential love interest and otherwise useless. The visual effects are the payoff and unfortunately it isn't enough. An attempt to recapture fantasy will appeal to that audience while others will find that it breathes more fumes than fire. Score: 4 ½ / 10

This is an Academy Award nominated fantasy movie from almost 20 years ago. Visually, it really is a feast with nice sets, special effects and costumes. And the music is good too. But the story is not bad either. A warrior (played by Dennis Quaid, ex-husband to Meg Ryan) and a dragon stop fighting against each other, but instead decide to join forces against an evil king that was once saved by the dragon. The king is not physically strong at all, but sadly he is immortal, which complicates things a lot. Of course, there is also a beautiful maiden (Meyer looks super-hot here) and a loyal man of religion (Postlethwaite, rip) fighting on our hero's side. It's mostly a fantasy film, but there are many genres included here, even comedy. The initial encounter of Quaid's character and the dragon (voiced by Sean Connery) certainly has some humor to it. It's certainly a challenge for a film like this to be funny, but it worked very well when it did not take itself so seriously. The main villain is played by David Thewlis, a very underrated actor in general in my opinion and one of the best currently working without an Academy Award nomination. He made this film 3 years after "Naked" what is widely considered his finest performance. But he shines here as well. Looks like he really has a thing for villains although the way the character was written surely helped him in letting it all out, even down to murdering his own mother.Seeing as how there was only one dragon left, I suspected his death at the end and I was proved correct. I knew that there are two sequels, so I was a bit unsure, but in the end they decided to take this direction. I would say that this is the best film of director Rob Cohen, but I am not a fan of the likes of xxx or "The Mummy", so I may be a bit biased here. The film's writer also came up with "The Fly" many years before this, so he sure is no one-trick-pony. It's difficult to name a favorite sequence as there are many great ones. The fight sequence near the waterfall was good, but so was the ending with the dragons turning into stars.