Top 5 Cinematic #Dragons

Who doesn’t love an awesome dragon?

Every year, artists, filmmakers and writers of fiction (myself included) work diligently to test the limits of their imaginations to bring their audiences wondrous dragons to either make us laugh or terrify us in our waking and sleeping moments. No creature seems to do either of these better than a dragon.

There is no doubt in my mind that the best books of fiction about dragons is Anne McCaffrey’s Dragons of Pern series, which begins with this beauty:

But what about film? My top 5 picks to date are in order from #5 to #1. Keep in mind, I am not grading the movie but the dragon.

#5. The Reluctant Dragon

This is an old 1941 animated Disney film featuring a whimsical dragon who, instead of being a fierce, fire-breathing terror, would rather sit and recite poetry. It is an awesome film for kids. The knight, Sir Giles, is unlike any other you will encounter. If you have small children, this is a must see.

#4. Falkor – THE NEVERENDING STORY

Who doesn’t love a luck dragon, especially ones with soft features of your favorite pup? For those not familiar with the story, it’s about this bullied kid named Bastian who literally dives into a fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book, and helps a warrior to stop a dark storm called the Nothing from engulfing the world of Fantasia. I thought it was a wonderful family film. Falkor, the dragon, is so loveable and cuddly but fierce when needed in a good way. I wasn’t impressed with the second film in the series, but the 3rd was quite original.

#3. Dragonheart

This film is the story of the last surviving dragon (Draco) and a disillusioned dragon-slaying knight who join forces to stop an evil king who was given partial immortality. While I hated the name Draco for the dragon, and I found the film lacking in plot, I did love Draco’s character and Sean Connery brought this character a charisma and charm that made the audience root for the beast. Again, a family film, not an academy award winner, but look at that dragon!

#2. Vermithrax Pejorative of Dragonslayer

This is a Disney film about a young wizarding apprentice who is sent to kill a dragon which has been devouring girls from a nearby kingdom. The plot is hokey and cliché. The acting not so great, but this dragon is to die for! And what a name for a dragon! Vermithrax Pejorative. Can you say, awesome?

#1 – Smaug

We all know Smaug from the Hobbit series. While this dragon didn’t have as much screen time as I would have like, Smaug is the ultimate film dragon. Look at his size! The beast is fearsome and cunning and is the epitome of a bad-ass dragon. I wish I’d experienced more of him because he’s just so epic, and of course Benedict Cumberbatch added the perfect voice to the perfect cinematic dragon terror.

Of course there were other dragons I loved: Pete’s Dragon, Toothless, the dragons from the Game of Thrones series, but these are my faves.

What are yours?

Wacky Wednesday

What would hump day be without a few fantasy jokes and funny one-liners to get us through the day? Just remember to smile; it increases your face value. 🙂

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“May the dragon of life only burn your hot dog and never your buns.”

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“If you can’t take the heat, don’t tickle the dragon.”

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Two high elves are sitting in a bar and in walks a dwarf woman.

The woman orders a martini and starts to eat the olives when she suddenly finds herself choked.

Trying to be the hero, one of the elves jumps up, grabs her trousers, yanks them down and runs his tongue across her buttocks.

The dwarf woman spits out the olive and screams “how disgusting”.

The elf says “whats wrong, haven’t you heard of the hiney-lick manuever.”

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A dwarf was in his front yard mowing grass when his attractive elf neighbor came out of the house and went straight to the mailbox. She opened it then slammed it shut and stormed back into the house. A little later she came out of her house again, went to the mailbox and again opened it, and slammed it shut again. Angrily, back into the house she went.

As the dwarf was getting ready to edge the lawn, she came out again, marched to the mailbox, opened it and then slammed it closed harder than ever.

Puzzled by her actions the dwarf asked her, “Is something wrong?”

To which she replied, “There certainly is!”

My computer keeps saying, “You’ve got mail!”

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A dwarf, an elf, and a half-orc were shipwrecked on a deserted island. There they find a forgotten temple. They make their way to the alterroom where they find a magical ring of wishes.

The dwarf grabs the ring and says “Great! Now I can get home! I wish I was back in the tavern at home surrounded by ale“!

poof he’s gone!

The elf grabs the ring and says “Finally, I can go home! I wish I was in the tree city, trading tales with the finest poets of our age!“

poof he’s gone!

The half-orc picks up the ring and says “I’m lonely now. I wish the other two guys were back here.“

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Lord of the Fandoms 2

New Hobbit Trailer is here!

I normally don’t do two posts in one day, but have you all seen the new trailer for The Hobbit?

I have to say, Peter Jackson is a genius. This film looks positively amazing. I’m sure he took some poetic license with this film as he did with LOTR, but he is a brilliant man, and it’s really hard to believe, after watching the trailers, he had serious snags in the beginning with producing this film. There is even talk of a 3-part trilogy to tell Bilbo’s tale. What do you guys think?

here is the original trailer that came out 3 months ago.

For those unfamiliar with the story, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” follows Bilbo Baggins on his epic quest with 13 dwarves to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

Do you plan on seeing The Hobbit? After seeing the trailers, what’s your enthusiasm level, with ‘1’ 🙂 being ‘eh’ to 5 🙂 being OMGosh, When can I buy tickets?

I’m at 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂