Dragon Hunters [Blu-ray]

This is based on a TV series which I have never heard of. A French animated film redubbed into English. A very odd film. Not much dialogue. A very beautiful film at least in the extent of the landscapes and backgrounds. Everything is floating in a low gravity world; seemingly a world in ruins and decay, fragments of buildings, floating in the air. Quite wonderful. However, the human characters are odd, awkwardly rendered -- and not very successfully. So it is a four star, not a five star rating. The story is rather thin and not too clear. How the Silly Dragon was defeated is not made clear. The World Gobbler was destroyed by Lian Chu throwing knitting needles into the World Gobbler's eyes, but what of the Dragon? It seems electricity and conductivity is the key here, as another dragon, the Jimbob Dragon, was defeated by shorting it out -- it was an electric dragon. Highly original ideas. Very strange. The French tend to make very odd animated features (Fantastic Planet, Light Years, Azur & Ashnar's Prince's Quest, Persepolis -- all weird films). Visually beautiful; but the story was not successful. Both cliched and with holes in the plot. Lian Chu is the hero who hardly says anything, while his partner Quixbo is essentially a con artist and a coward. They are pushed by Princess Zoe, who has read too many fairy tales and fantasies. She wants a knight to come and slay the World Gobbler and save the world. Quixto is only interested in money; but Lian turns out to be the laconic true warrior type and defeats several dragons. Defeating World Gobbler transforms the landscape from a floating belt of ruined buildings to floating balls of bright green grass. A very odd world, but I suspect there is a science fiction novel somewhere where such a world is described. I liked it for the rendering of the landscape not the characters. The characters are ripped from the Fahrd and Gray Mouser characters invented by Fritz Leiber. The story reminds me of any number of Piers Anthony's parodies of fantasy worlds. I understand the film was barely released in the USA and chiefly at film festivals. Though made in France it first opened in Russia. Yet another European film that was unable to find a wide release in the USA -- now why is that?

We got this movie at the library because of the word 'dragon' in the title when my daughter was probably 5. Watching it, I was slightly concerned by some of the language (nothing bad, but perhaps better suited for older kids?) and potentially odd or scary situations (culminating at the end with a dragon made of bones). But my daughter totally loved it and was not scared (except perhaps by a quick encounter of a mad knight... she was much more scared by movies like Snow White where there are evil people, but not by worlds that are clearly fantastical and where the heroes don't suffer). She asked to watch it again and again and after borrowing it many times I felt I should really pay the authors and bought a copy (a no-brainer given the low price). Six years later, we still watch it from time to time.As a grownup, I was fascinated by the fantastic world shown in the movie, for example the funny fight against a giant caterpillar around a micro-planet not much bigger than a rock. In such a fantastic world made of floating chunks, I thought there would a complex plot, but later realized that this is the classic and simpler literary form of the quest, where the heroes need to go from A to B and encounter many, possibly unrelated, difficulties along the way. By the time they conquer their final goal, each of the three main characters discovers that the voyage changed them and made them grow inside.This is a movie that could only be made by French artists for its strong blend of cultures. In the visual artwork, I saw echoes of Cordoba's cathedral, Roman ruins and the Great Wall of China. The classic plot merges with modern themes and French humor. The music is really beautiful and multicultural (ethnic and electronic instruments) and the characters and settings look like a combination of Japanese Anime and Pixar movies.Overall, this animation is a little gem that deserves to be seen by more people.

Animation is hard because (a) the characters have even less time and human nuances with which to develop actual character, much less engage in character development, and (b) because directors and writers seem to believe that a few stock hints will suffice to create a believable character. This movie avoids those traps and delivers a surprisingly well-done plot and film.This movie is not just well-animated (it is), not just visually detailed and plainly gorgeous (it is). The characters are actually interesting and placed into an interesting and slightly surreal plot and universe. The combination is amazing.I watched it with my daughters (6 and 8). Generally acceptable, although one species of dragon engages in self-propulsion through its backside emissions and the worst language in the film occurs when one of the characters calls another a "bu**wipe". There are a few booger references. Additionally, two or three times during the film the sidekick dog-like character of the protagonist quartet demonstrates its ability to start a fire with its urine. I'm not fond of potty humor (especially with the risk that my 6 year old will sing out lines from the movie for days) but while it's there it's much more minimized than the Shrek movies. If your little girl dreams of being a princess who also goes on quests and helps fight dragons, they'll love this movie. Likewise, the main protagonist is an admirable hero who grows throughout the movie and would provide an excellent dragonslayer motif for boys.Bottom line is that this movie is a keeper. After I finished watching it with my daughters, my wife got home from the gym and, after putting the kids to bed, I watched it again with my wife. Notably, my wife also thought it was excellent, again commenting on character development and the extraordinary scenery and animation. Not as amazing as some of the best Japanese anime, but well worth watching.

I always wondered if James Cameron got the idea of floating islands for Avatar from here. The physics of this world is amazing....and dangerous! The pace is good with no hold on the amazing animation. Great story telling and a suitable finale! A class act!

Whats not to like?2 "Dragon hunters", and a blue dragon(?) who fight lots of different dragons (and never get paid) are tasked with a quest to save the world.A small girl, who believes them to be like her Heroes from comic books follows them and watches while they inexpertly manage to survive large numbers of terrifying dragons.This film was great, I enjoyed it, the kids enjoyed it ... It's not the fastest film out there, but it's also got heavy action sequences in it, and quite a few laughs.I read in another review that this was dubbed from the French version, but to be honest I couldn't have told.

This is a very underrated film - and many people may not even have heard of it. But its really well crafted and with a good story that's not just about all the thrills and spills.

What a refreshingly different film. Sort of a cross between Japanese and European film making. Eye popping visual and quirky character designs all helped to make it appear fairly unique in an overly saturated fantasy market. I am so glad I bought it and a testiment to how much I enjoyed watching it is that I am looking forward to viewing it again (unlike Tintin!)

Very bizarre tale of 2 friends who are shepherds and become dragon hunters. With Forest Whitaker being one of the voices I was expecting a high quality film, however this seems to have tried to get cult status by being eccentric and fantastical, yet ends up being boring and self indulgent. (The kids watched it for about 30 mins before they gave up trying to follow what was going on.)