Dragonfyre

This movie is a deep and moving tale about a us veteran fighting orcs that represent his demons you have to be really intelligent to understand this Masterpiece!!!

Yeah, ORC WARS isn't too bad for what it is: a really cheesy and unbelievable action-packed B-movie that happily rips off the look of the orcs from THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. I mean, the orcs in this film are EXACTLY the same as in those Peter Jackson movies: so much so that if I worked for Weta Workshop I'd be tempted to sue. The orcs are the most entertaining part of this movie, but I'm not too sure about their presence in the real, contemporary world.

I mean, seeing orcs interacting with modern-day human characters, farmhouses, and vehicles is just plain odd and realism is never going to be a priority in that situation. Still, given that this is a B-movie with the usual problems (absolutely fake looking CGI fire, fake looking black blood clouds for the orcs, rubbish acting and a non-existent script) it's actually quite entertaining by the standards of the sub-genre.

ORC WARS incorporates an absolute ton of action into its running time, particularly in the second half which involves a running battle between humans and orcs. Sure, a lot of it is repetitive, but they even manage a dragon in the budget, which is quite impressive. By the standards of normal film this is a complete waste of time, but as a B-movie you can do much, much worse.

Former soldier John Norton buys a ranch in the middle of nowhere (shot in Utah) and is surprised to find that his new neighbors are an elf princess and an army of Orcs chasing her. He happens to live next to a gate to another world and is destined to become guardian of the gate. Not an easy task, as evil creatures are coming through every day. Since the Orcs do not know guns, though, they think Norton is a sorcerer with magic weapons, but when he defends the princess, the Orcs summon a powerful ally to strike back: a fire-breathing dragon...

Despite the low budget, simple countryside setting and unknown actors, this was surprisingly good fun. The script has a great sense of humor (for example when Katie gets a gun to fight the Orcs because they wrecked her car), nobody takes it too seriously, and the overall feeling is like watching an 1980s trash classic rather than a new digital production. Nothing wrong with that!

Nit-picking small details is an easy way to write a review. "The special effects were poor, the acting was bad, the plot was stupid, blah blah blah." But every director knows that to make a good film you have to have a great many small and large details come together to do just one thing: entertain. Even several "bad" bits can be used effectively if the movie makers keep the goal in mind. The makers of this movie didn't let their little troubles get in the way, they just used what they had to good effect.

I personally feel that this film delivers in the entertainment category. I really had a good time watching it. While the usual fantasy film clichés abound, it manages to breathe new life into many of them by directly contrasting them to the real world reactions of normal earth folk. The idea is not necessarily original, but it always has potential.

The mix of modern weaponry against fantasy weaponry is really what this film is all about. Seriously now, who HASN'T watched "Lord of the Rings" and thought to themselves at one point or another, "Yeah... airstrike. That's what I'd do." Also, despite the drawbacks of poor animation and somewhat limited plot, the actors involved pull it off with enthusiasm, making themselves not just plausible, but even a little bit likable. The occasional witty comment was fitting, and the interplay between the orcs was reasonably fun to watch.

It exceeded my expectations and I had a good time watching it.

I watched this movie only because I wanted to see just how bad it actually was. Talk about a horrible plot. This movie is soo low budget, the heroine is actually using a Lord of the Rings replica of 'Sting'. I have never before seen a movie rip off such a known piece and try to pass it off as original. Of course, after seeing that, I have to wonder - are all of those orcs wearing Extra's costumes from the Lord of the Rings films? With the number of folks hired to participate in those films, they'd be easy to find and hire in.

The only reason I didn't give this movie a '1', is that I enjoyed the cheesy Eastwood impression that the first Sentinel was passing off.