This takes the premise that dragons one existed alongside humans and creates a 'documentary' of those long-lost creatures. It treats the subject matter seriously...but in a way that the viewer knows that the film isn't actually describing any true history. It's a creative work, describing the habits of various types of dragons (Chinese, frost, etc.) and how they interacted with their environment, hunted, nested, and how humans affected their futures. Obviously it's all pure fantasy, but it's incredibly fun to see these magnificent beasts treated as if the legends were true and they once existed (and that we knew something about them). The special effects, while a bit dated now, still stand up well without detracting from the experience. This is perfect for people to who'd be interested in the subject matter (dragons or myths) or for anyone looking to see an alternative to the usual film style (neither strictly a documentary nor a narrative fantasy or adventure story). It's safe enough for children (if they're old enough to see a lion hunt down a zebra in a nature documentary, then they can handle this!), and would probably interest a child who doesn't normally like non-fiction, since it straddles the line.

This one, another Documentary/movie combination, gives us a theory about the 'what if'. If dragon's were to be described from all over the world, and they had very distinct similarities in the ancient inscriptions and images, then 'what if' they actually existed. This movie combines the fictional find of a dragon's carcass and the slow unveiling of its features by a group of scientists, and an actual animation show going along the path of many dinosaur shows shown before on the documentary channel.Some critics bash this one into the ground for being so unbelievable. Its pure fiction thrown into some actual believable scientific explanations. The scientists describe every great aspect and ability of the dragon's that make them unreal and impossible to exist. The excuse made up for breathing fire is not something a scientist, or just a highly educated scholar, would find credible enough to exist, but it does not turn you into someone hating the show from that moment that the actor drew his conclusion. Evolutionary there really isn't anything credible, but so what? One must understand the very essence of evolution and such to really bring all the shown theories down. And given the scientific level of most discovery/animal planet or NGC programs, these channels surely do not aim for scientists as their main goal. Plus the fact that it is compelled into a film there is nothing you should complain about.The animation of the dragon's is very well done and albeit the fact that one, compared to the rest of the animation, very cheap scene is annoyingly often repeated, it stands its ground easily next to any other prehistoric documentary you would compare it with. The acting is not on the same level. The fake emotions and movements of the archaeologists are predictable and diminish the credibility of their story about the fossil's former capabilities. The lead investigator gives me a Daniel Jackson feeling (Archeologist from a famous Sci Fi series) in a way I do not like it. Therefore the usual pleasure of seeing people get astounded at something you, as the watcher, already know, is disturbingly absent.If one would take another look at the scientific value, you could laugh at it. If one could ignore the most of the details and look at it in a mere entertaining way, the way a usual citizen would watch to a dinosaur documentary on the animal channel, it is truly a superb film. Something worth to establish your entire family for and enjoy the nearly 100 minutes of dragon theories. The early climax of the two mating dragons imitating the ritual of eagles clashes into your eyes and awakens your possibly slumbered attention by the water and jungle dragons, and keeps you attended to the rest of the show.I would recommend this to anyone wanting a good show about dragon's. Do not expect too much and have yourself be awestruck by the visuals and pleasing story lines. The overall picture makes you forget the flaws and therefore I give this a nine.

Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real is (I believe) a continuation of the "Walking with Dinosaurs" Trilogy, with a lesser known "Sea Monsters" at the following this."Walking with Dinosaurs" was interesting. However, it was WAY too long. (If you watch the episodes as if they were a whole movie. That adds up to 180 minutes.) "Dragons: A Fantasy made Real" has luckily been cut down to about 99 minutes, which is a great and short run time.So, here's what "Dragons: A Fantasy made Real" really is: It blends folklore and science together to make up how dragons would probably have lived if they existed.The people who made this took parts and abilities from real animals to create our dragons. For example, the dragons in this movie spit fire exactly how the Bombadeir Beetle does.What else is interesting is how they blend in folklore. After the massive death of the dinosaurs, most of the survivors were aquatic creatures, such as Colecanths and Crocodiles. Therefore, science says that the dragons must have gone aquatic if they wanted to survive. When the dragons in this movie do somehow evolve to become aquatic, they end up looking very similar to the Water Dragons that were rumored to exist. When the dragons emerge from water, they keep their snake-like form, and move to the forests. This is similar to the Chinese dragons in myth."Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real" does get boring, but it ends up looking very smart too. It blends fact and fiction to make up one wild ride for the viewer. The special effects are amazing too.I think I would give this something like a 6.5 out of ten, but since it is so well-done, it ranks higher than that.You will believe.8/10

As a Dragon lover I completely enjoyed this movie. It was very interesting from the moment it started until it ended. I KNOW it was only fiction, but it was made to look so real. The level of special effects were superb and very convincing. And why is it not possible that Dragons might not have existed ? Millions of years ago is such a long time ago. The movie made it seem all so possible that their existence was a reality. Anyone who loves Dragons will enjoy this movie and I highly recommend it. Patrick Stewart as the narrator was an excellent choice as well. He has such an authoritative voice and commands attention. I personally wish they would make more movies like this about Dragons. My only complaint is that they dealt only with the fire breathing race of Dragons and did not include some of the other races common amongst Dragons.