The Last Dragon

The Carpathian Mountains of Romania: hikers exploring this fabled range have stumbled onto a unique find, one that requires an official investigation. Paleontologists arrive to find an ice cave in a glacier, revealed by unseasonably warm weather in the region. Inside, they find the corpses of several 15th century knights and make an amazing discovery; a frozen, yet perfectly preserved body of a creature once thought to be only a myth: a dragon.

So begins the latest foray from the BBC and the Discovery Networks, "Dragon's World: A Fantasy Made Real", with effects by Framestore, the same company that gave us "Walking with Dinosaurs". The story takes a simple concept - what if dragons were real - and runs with the idea, using science to explain how these animals might have existed.

I'm a big fan of the dragon, perhaps the most powerful and inspirational beast of myth, legend, and literature. As a fan of these spectacular beasts, I was practically salivating when I first saw the teaser in January for this program on Animal Planet and have been checking out their website since. It was an exciting thought to think that I would be seeing wyverns taking on T-Rex and winged drakes soaring over snow capped mountains. Dragons were coming to life in the real world.

Personally, I enjoyed the program I saw on Animal Planet, narrated here in the US by Patrick Stewart. Stewart is an excellent narrator, and even he apparently got caught up in the action of the program, actually missing a cue at one point. His narration will be missed when I get the actual program, which I hear is narrated by Ian Holm. The program transitions smoothly between the dragons scenes and the scenes involving the investigation into the dragon corpse. Even the autopsy scenes are done well; I wasn't tempted to go look for a snack during these scenes.

This program is not without it's faults. While I can believe how an animal that can get to be 900+lbs took off, I'm not quite as sold as how they breathed fire. I can see why the writers and producers went with this method - ancient manuscripts describe the dragons' fire in this way - but I prefer the "Reign of Fire" method. I'm also a little wary about how dragons warmed their eggs; somehow, the idea of dragons "cooking" their eggs doesn't appeal to me, but again, according to most ancient literature, this is how it was done. I also felt that the program should have paid more attention to the aquatic and marine dragons, the fabled "wingless" dragons of China.

Perhaps my favorite scene was the mating dance of the mountain dragons, inspired by the rituals of eagles. To see these dragons grasping their claws together and free falling is a sight that anyone would have been awestruck to witness. I was also impressed with the scenes involving the dragon corpse, which actually looked real in many scenes. Usually, when Framestore uses latex models, they somehow can't seem to make them look like anything other than rubber puppets; this was not the case here. In a program where the majority of the dragons were CGI productions, this is a plus.

I would recommend this program to anyone who is a fantasy aficionado, or someone who likes dragons and a good story. I've read one reviewer's comments that maybe that this should have been on the Sci-Fi Channel instead of Animal Planet, but I disagree. As one producer said, this is the ultimate animal, one that is known by nearly all human cultures, from the Inuit in the north to the Aboriginies of Australia. It would have probably been more at home on the Discovery Channel, but considering that the BBC has a contract with Discovery's parent company for programs like this, I'm not complaining. And one must remember that while it is done in the style of a documentary, it is a story; but then, isn't that what a documentary is anyway?

A skiing accident in Romania uncovers a series of ice caves. The police are called as bodies are found which look like they date back centuries but this discovery is nothing compared to what appears to be a large, comparatively intact beast preserved in the ice. News reaches the London museum about this discovery and it peaks the interest of one Dr Tanner – a man mocked by his peers for claiming that attack marks on a T-Rex skull could have come from a dragon. Tanner and his team investigate and find more than they could have ever expected; meanwhile the documentary shows us the history of the beast.

OK, lets get the pointless moaning out of the way – "it's not even real". Well, of course it isn't and god love anyone who thought it was. Of course the subject not being real is hardly a criticism given that 99% of the films in cinemas tend to be fictional and the genre of documentary style dramas is hardly something new. However what it does mean is that the documentary style relies very heavily on how interesting it is and also how engaging it is as it folds in with the drama part of the film. In this case the subject is nothing to do with fact or reality at all but yet the special effects in the "nature documentary" side of the film make it interesting enough.

It is all very "Walking With Dinosaurs" but it looks good and Ian Holm's delivery is a good choice for the style of thing that the film is aiming for. Unfortunately though, the "drama" side of the film is roundly poor. It focuses on Dr Tanner excitedly following the modern discovery of our dragon and discovering (rapidly) all manner of things from one corpse – right down to "proving" an entire family of dragon species or coming up with an extreme rating ritual from a few burns in the rock! The explanation of how the mythical figure worked and lived is pretty detailed but I found it impossible to forget that it was entirely made up! This is only part of the story though because whatever potential the theorising had is completely undercut by the delivery of the drama part.

The dialogue and acting is average at best, with Hilton miscast and unable to do anything with what he is given. Tanner's narration is also poor; the American accent doesn't help but it is still poor regardless. Hardy's direction clearly focuses on the effects rather than the overall product (as does Foley's script) and he can't help this part of it. This leaves the viewer with the only value being offered from the curio nature of seeing the dragons as if they were real and this was a documentary.

This was barely enough for me although I admit at times I was interested. The drama is terrible nonsense that is badly delivered in many aspects and it is only the novelty of seeing the dragon as a subject of a "Walking with Dinosaurs" nature programme that makes it engaging at all. Perfect for those that adore dragons and want to believe the myth, a very mixed bag for everyone else.

I was expecting a show about the mythological origins of dragons, as well as the observations of real animals or misperceptions of other natural phenomena that may have inspired the myths. Instead, I was presented with a proposed account of the evolution of dragons, as if they were real. The narrator did mention in passing that dragons didn't exist, with such clauses as "if dragons were real," and there may have been a disclaimer at the beginning, which I missed. However, the program gives the impression that dragons did exist at one time and that hikers in the Carpathians actually did discover bodies of dragons and scorched knights. Perhaps the producers weren't really trying to deceive, but the program does seem like a hoax in the making. In any case, whether it had been presented purely as a work of fiction or as alleged science, it didn't belong on Animal Planet. Animal Planet is supposed to be about real animals. The show Animal X tends to push the boundaries a little too much as well, particularly with its spooky narrator who tries to encourage viewers to lower their skepticism. The Sci-Fi Channel or The History Channel would have been a much better choice for broadcasting this show.

All that said, however, this was a very fascinating program. The production values were excellent, and the science behind dragon evolution appears sound. As a "what if" program it's excellent.

I just loved this movie. It was well done for it's genre. The special effects were magnificent. The dragons are beautiful. If you love dragons this is a must see movie. My daughter saw part of a commercial for this movie and was all excited that they had found a dragon. She was, and is, very upset that they "lied" to her. She thought it was a real documentary. We have rented this movie 6 times now and I am looking for it to purchase. This movie actually made me think, what would it take to enable such a large creature to fly? I like their explanation. The movie actually seems to incorporate new dinosaur findings as far as preferred habitat, social interactions, and mating rituals.

Dragons appear in the histories of many distant civilizations, enough to raise the speculation of their existence. This film documents in a very logical way, the finding of a dragon frozen in a Carpathian Mountain ice cave. The wildly imaginative story of how this dragon lived and died is the basis for this wonderful film. The c.g.i. images of dragons in their imagined habitats is simply outstanding. Though based on legend, "Dragon's World" is far more entertaining than most reality shows, which are limited by facts. These are not merely bones in a cave, they tell a story that spans the ages, and lets your imagination take flight with the magnificent flying, fire breathing beasts. Highly recommended. - MERK