Eragon (DVD)

...a fantastic adventure, realised by Eragon when the 'stone' hatches a blue dragon and he realises he is destined for something far greater than being a farm boy - the life of a Dragon Rider! He embarks on a journey to find a gang of rebels known as the Varden, accompanied by an old soldier, Brom, and his dragon, Saphira.

I am not keen to reveal a great deal more of the plot, for I think it is nice in a film such as this for the viewers ...
...a little of Eragon's homeland, named Alagaesia. The land is one of fantasy, under the rule of King Galbatorix, to all intents and purposes an evil King who is a Dragon Rider himself. Galbatorix is aided by his right hand man, the evil Durza, a terrifying Shade (sorceror) who possesses immense magical powers. The King's army is made up of creatures as well as men, along with special assassins known as the Razac, vile creatures! Fighting against this ... more

The Plot

Based on the book of the same name penned by Christopher Paolini, 'Eragon' is the tale of a farm boy (Eragon), who one day finds a blue stone whilst out hunting deer. It is the start of a fantastic adventure, realised by Eragon when the 'stone' hatches a blue dragon and he realises he is destined for something far greater than being a farm boy - the life of a Dragon Rider! He embarks on a journey to find a gang of rebels known as the Varden, accompanied by an old soldier, Brom, and his dragon, Saphira.

I am not keen to reveal a great deal more of the plot, for I think it is nice in a film such as this for the viewers to come across plot developments themselves. I will, however, explain a little of Eragon's homeland, named Alagaesia. The land is one of fantasy, under the rule of King Galbatorix, to all intents and purposes an evil King who is a Dragon Rider himself. Galbatorix is aided by his right hand man, the evil Durza, a terrifying Shade (sorceror) who possesses immense magical powers. The King's army is made up of creatures as well as men, along with special assassins known as the Razac, vile creatures! Fighting against this tyranny is the Varden, the rebel army, led by Ajihad, holed up in the mountains waiting for the right time to strike.

Casting and Performances

The cast list of 'Eragon' contains many household names. There is the relatively unknown Ed Speleers playing the lead role of Eragon. Jeremy Irons plays the old soldier Brom, and does so admirably. John Malkovich and Robert Carlyle play the evil pairing of Galbatorix and Durza respectively, and Djimon Hounsou plays the leader of their enemies, Ajihad of the Varden. Rachel Weisz lends her vocal talents in beautifully voicing the dragon Saphira, and a whole host of supporting actors including such names as Alun Armstrong and Sienna Guillory support a good balance of acting.

The talent on show here needs no real defending. They are all accomplished actors and actresses in their own right. Yet something doesn't click. You almost get the impression they are all held back, by what I am unsure of. The acting in parts does not seem real enough, too forced, as if they had to do take after take after take, and in the end they just went with what they had! Malkovich and Carlyle provide a wonderfully evil combination, and Irons gives a good turn as the old soldier, but the plot is very rushed and the other actors are almost cringeworthy in places, as if they were trying to cram the story into the allocated running time of 99 minutes that we get with this film. Unfortunately, one of these such actors is the lead, Speleers, who is quite wooden in places, and I feel this is down to the directing as much as the acting. Director Stefen Fangmeier has some wonderful films under his belt as a Visual Effects Supervisor, such as 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'The Bourne Identity', and this is evident in the effects of the dragon Saphira - they are outstanding. Yet the direction of his cast is not so well done. I was also disappointed with Hounsou's Ajihad, a very wooden performance and unlike the actor, who has provided smooth performances in films such as 'The Island' and 'Blood Diamond'.

My Opinion

I was disappointed in a way, having read the book first a while before the film came out, but never fear. I have the knack of being highly critical of a film if it does not truly follow the book. In 'Eragon', the essence of the plot remains true to the pen of Paolini, but the sequencing of events and a few select and important details seem to have been amended for the big screen. Why. I cannot fathom, but I'm sure they had their reasons.

The story is a good one, and the plot lopes through and is very clear to the viewer. Fans of Paolini will be disappointed, as I say, and at times, it seems as if important pieces of the plot are kind of thrust in anywhere there is a gap, but let's not take too much away from what is essentially a fun fantasy film. It has had very critical reviews, and I can see why, as it was billed to be the next closest thing to the Lord of the Rings that we have seen for a while, and some of the acting is a bit cringeworthy. The books are held in high esteem and compared to Tolkien's series, and I wonder if some of the critics take that too much into account when reviewing this film.

The DVD Extras

Included on the first Disc, along with the feature presentation, are the extended and deleted scenes (nothing I was surprised to not see in the film), a trailer for the video game 'Become the Dragon Rider' and a very interesting 'Audio Commentary with Director Stefen Fangmeier', in which he attempts to explain what is happening and the reasoning behind what is going on. In truth, the most striking parts of this commentary are when he is talking about visual effects!!!

On the second Disc, there is an abundance of features., including trailers and galleries, a lovely featurette on some of the characters which explains a lot if you haven't read the book, and some featurettes on some of the CGI work on the film, including the Director's Commentary on the making of Saphira and the CGI it entails. Yet the most intriguing part of the extras is the interview with Christopher Paolini, where he barely mentions the film, and talks a lot about the book. It is still, however, an interesting interview.

My Conclusion

A few things strike me with this film. Firstly, the Director Fangmeier has a prolific history as a Visual Effects genius, and the extras all feature him heavily involved with the FX on 'Eragon'. It is worth noting that the CGI of Saphira the dragon is outstanding, right down to the last character detail. The second thing is that the acting seems to suffer from a lack of direction. I am a big fan of the books, and would dearly love to see the second in Paolini's series, entitled 'Eldest' hit it onto our screens at some point. I would be keen to see Fangmeier once again included, but perhaps in his more familiar role as the Special Effects Guy (!), as that is obviously his forte. Apparently, Paolini was not too impressed by the adaptation from book to film, but I hope this won't stop us from getting Part 2! I liked the film, and am glad to have bought the DVD, as there are some great extras and I know it is a DVD I will bring down off the shelf more than once.

'Eragon' is available on the high street between the £7 and £10 mark at the moment. Its RRP sits at £22.99, but amazon.co.uk are currently selling it brand new at £5.98, a good price if you ask me. 

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