Search - Dark Kingdom - The Dragon King on DVD

Acceptable Adaptation

Darren Fox | USA | 03/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In an age where Hollywood feels it can slice and dice books to make a movie, especially with classical myths & legends, I thought Sci-Fi Channel did an exceptional job with this film.

Tragedy, deceit, scripting (except for Siegfried's lines - when he was just Erik the Smith's son, I could understand his being a punk but when he discovered he was a King, that should have ended his immaturity) - legend and fantasy all rolled into one miniseries.

Unlike the critics here pointing out minute details of inaccuracies and inconsistencies, I watch a movie for one thing: escapism. Can you escape in the movie? Yes. Easily so. It's not campy at all even when the prince's pals take on Erik in the town square and he bests them. It's not a long fight sequence and it doesn't distract from the film's overall feel.

The fight scene with the dragon (an overgrown komodo-like dragon) was quite classic and without the typically Hercules/Xena crap of defeating it.

Max Von Sidow did a superb job as Erik/Siegfried's father. He taught the lore of steel to his son, taught him to use weapons, to forge weapons, to learn the lore of the Gods, to respect the Gods, to be troth, and to stand up to the scrutiny of the christian "Our-God-is-better-than-your-gods" type of mentality.

The dwarf and his magic made sense. In many native cultures, those born deformed were believed to have been touched by the Gods/Spirits and often ended up becoming Shamans, Magicians or Varlokkurs. And making Julian Sands character a son-of-a-dwarf (something he despised) was truly superb.

The Seeress (Brunhilde's advisor) while somewhat historically accurate, didn't have historically accurate Runes staves. Iceland had 16 known Runes and these would have been carved on wood or possibly bone but not engraved in steel or metal. The way she held them and then cast them to read the omens from Odhinn was accurate.

Also the use of the ravens for communication is accurate. This is an old Shamanic technique that has been found in many native cultures. I was quite surprised to find this mini-series using such things.

Again, minor differences. SCA people usually note discrepncies in fighting techniques, weaponry and costuming. Historians look for slipping away from original story lines - this one from the Sagas.

I disagree that Siegfried should have been cast as a big ape of a guy. That was done in "The Viking Sagas" and it didn't work as well. Few big actors have the training to pull off good roles as they focus more on toning muscles and physical prowess rather than delivering their lines convincingly enough. Erik was acceptable in my opinion. Brunhilde was also very strikingly beautiful with an air of coldness about her. She definitely had that aura of the Saga Brunhilde to me - fat or not. The girl IS beefy.

If you haven't seen this film get it. I'm going to order a copy but also tape the one on Sci-Fi on VHS since I hear they've cut parts I like. The dragon head in the wagon was terrific! It's exactly what I'd do if I were in his boots so why cut it? Oh yes, the "special edition crapola" on the DVD. Yes let's CUT the movie to put on 'director's comments' or silly video games. Ugh."