Eragon (www.the-usher.com)

"You are the dragon rider"

The land of Alagaesia was once protected by Dragon Riders but when Galbatorix (Malkovich) turned them against other, they and their dragons fell until they were no more and Galbatorix was king. Decades later, with the land ruled by fear and tyranny the people lived in hope that a dragon would return and choose a new rider. Now that time has come when Arya (Guillory) steals the last dragon egg from the King and it ends up in the hands of farm boy Eragon (Speleers).

After the Oscar winning success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, fantasy films became viable again but with Hollywood looking for the new Middle Earth, we were bound to get a few pretenders to the throne. The bad news is that Eragon quickly falls in battle.

Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien set new standards for the fantasy genre and movies in general. The trilogy opened the floodgates as the studio clambered for the next big fantasy franchise. We had the first movie from CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, which continued the success of the genre, so now 20th Century Fox think they have found the next franchise to draw in the fantasy fans.

Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Trilogy has everything that any studio would be looking for. Set in the land of Alagaesia, this is a world filled with magic, armies, rebels, castles, warriors and most importantly dragons. The potential is great, so why is the first film in the series, Eragon, a complete let down?

The basic premise for the movie is very good. It is a story of the power hungry Galbatorix, who portrayed the mythical dragon riders and became King. Ruling the land of Alagaesia with an iron first, the King has only one fear that the dragon riders will return. This is the people's only hope and when Eragon finds a dragon's egg the prophecy might actually become true. While this all sounds good, it is the execution that lets the film down.

Former visual effects artist and first time director Stefen Fangmeier attempts to begin the Inheritance trilogy with a bang but fails to get you interested. While it may be the restriction and unoriginality of the story, which borrows from Lord of the Rings and Star Wars for most of its plot points or the below par look of the movie, there is something that just doesn't quite work. The problem with any first tale is that is part of a much bigger story. You also have the problem of introducing the story, the character and the world it habits. This takes up an awfully large amount of the film but in 'Eragon's' case it takes up all of it. But even after all of this plot build and character investment, you still don't feel connected to the characters.

The cast is very impressive but the director doesn't get the most out of them. Robert Carlyle's evil sorcerer Durza is a laughable, almost pantomime villain. Jeremy Irons is a poor man's Obi-Wan Kenobi as Eragon's mentor Brom. Sienna Guillory is the beautiful princess Arya is distress and need of rescue. John Malkovich as King Galbatorix is almost a cameo and Djimon Hounsou gives his worst performance ever as rebel leader Ajihad. The only actor that comes out of the film with any real credit is Edward Speleers as Eragon. As a debut performance he is strong enough to carry the film as he rides on the back of the very averagely CG created dragon Saphira, voiced by Rachel Weisz.

'Eragon' is a real disappoint. While the final confrontation between Eragon and Durza is exciting, it takes an awful long time to get there, with nothing new or imaginative before hand. It is the lack of imagination, fantasy and the way it look like a cheap version of many films that have come before, 'Eragon' is a step back to the dark ages of fantasy films.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1, the movie is presented well.

BONUS FEATURES

DISC 1

Extended and Deleted Scenes (12.37 mins)
Entitled 'The Butcher's daughter', 'Farm fight/We don't take charity', 'Roran and Katrina say goodbye/The Butcher changes his mind', 'Milking the cow', 'We can learn a lot about each other', 'The son of a traitor/The twin's test' and 'Magic blessing', these deleted or extended scenes are accompanied by commentary from director Stefen Fangmeier.

Commentary by director Stefen Fangmeier
The special effects designer turned director provides a track in which he never really stops talking. He covers nearly every aspect of the film's production, highlighting the locations, adapting the novel, the changes from the book to film and of course, the visual effects of the piece. This is a good commentary from the director and shows that he was very passionate about the movie.

Coming Soon
Preview trailers of 'Night at the Museum', 'The Hogfather', 'The Simpsons Movie', 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' and 'Eragon: The Game'

DISC 2

Inside the Inheritance Trilogy: The Magic of Eragon (51.21 mins)
Split into six sections entitled 'The Prologue: The Storyteller's Scroll', 'Chapter 1: Realising Alagaesia', 'Chapter 2: The Destined Roles', 'Chapter 3: From Carvahall to Farthen Dur', 'Chapter 4: Hatching the Dragon', 'Chapter 5: Just the Beginning', the documentary cover most aspects of the film's production and introduces you to the world of Eragon. With contributions from director Stefen Fangmeier, author Christopher Paolini, screenwriter Peter Buchman, producer Wyck Godfrey, animation supervisor Glen McIntosh and stars Edward Speleers, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlyle, Djimon Hounsou and John Malkovich, this is a very good documentary.

The Inhabitants of Alagaesia (19.36 mins)
Director Stefen Fangmeier goes through the journey of bringing the characters to life, looking at the Dragon Riders, Saphira, Arya, Durza, the Urgals and the Ra'Zac.

Arya's Ambush - Original Animatic Sequence (4.37 mins)
With optional commentary by director Stefen Fangmeier, see how the opening sequence was planned.

Vision of Eragon: Conceptual Artwork Gallery (3.47 mins)
With optional commentary by director Stefen Fangmeier, he takes you through the ideas for the adaptation of the book.

Pronunciation Guide
Learn how to speak the ancient languages of Alagaesia

Original Storyboards
View the storyboards for 'Saphira hatches', 'Raising the Ra'Zac', 'A hard journey', 'Durzu's Scouts', 'Brom's tale' and 'Battle in the Sky'

Lost Storyboards
View the storyboards for deleted scenes entitled 'Hearing voices', 'Smashing the hut', 'Name your dragon' and 'Catch the bird'

Saphira's Animation Guide (2.21 mins)
With commentary by director Stefen Fangmeier talks you through how the dragon was created for the movie.

Eldest: Christopher Paolini Interview (4.05 mins)
The author of the Inheritance trilogy outlines the plot of the second novel, 'Eldest'

Teaser/Theatrical Trailers
Watch the trailers that previewed the movie in cinemas and on the Internet.

The Secrets of Alagaesia (44.13 mins)
Visual effects supervisors John Van Vliet and Michael McAllister reveal the secrets behind the sequences entitled 'Dragon battle', 'Fire in the forest', 'Baby Dragon', 'Summoning the Ra'Zac', 'Unhappy landings', 'Durza disappearing', 'Over the edge', 'Happy flight', 'Ra'Zac attack', 'Durza's prisoner', 'Gil'ead approach', 'Gateway to Gil'ead', 'Brom's grave', 'A grand entrance', 'Durza's army', 'Breath of fire', 'Battle in the sky', 'A fallen Saphira' and 'The land of Alagaesia'.

OVERALL

The DVD treatment for 'Eragon' is extremely good. With a well-produced documentary, loads of featurettes and a good commentary, fans of the movie will be extremely pleased with this release. It is just a shame that they could put more effort into the actual movie.

DVD

Dragonheart

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2006