Paul Magne Haakonsen Despite the very low rating this movie had received here on IMDb, I still decided to give it a go. Why? Well because it was a movie with dragons, and I do like fantasy movies and dragons as well, and also because I have been playing Dungeons & Dragons for some odd 25 years or so by now, so anything that just remotely smells like something in that genre does spark an interest in me.I am puzzled at why the movie have scored such a low rating. I found the movie to be rather good. It had a good story, and yeah, it is basically just a re-make of the "Moby Dick" story. But so what? Hollywood have pumped out re-makes of old movies by the dozens these last couple of years, so why not also another re-make of "Moby Dick"? (One that wasn't as bad as the "2010: Moby Dick" movie!) In "Age of the Dragons" you just change the white whale out with a white dragon, and set the story into a fantasy-medieval setting. I found it interesting enough. And also, there was a very great feeling to the environment, as they had really managed to capture the essence of what I believe a fantasy-medieval setting (with dragons) would actually be like (of course, I am leaning much on my Dungeons & Dragons experience here).The effects in "Age of the Dragons" were great. The dragons looked real and believable, as did the wyverns. However, one thing did jab a thorn in my side. As an avid role-player of the Dungeons & Dragons game, I am accustomed to white dragons breathing intense cold, not fire. So that was sort of something that didn't sit well with me. But of course, I am familiar with the stereotypical mythological approach that all dragons breathe fire, so it was alright. Just would have been cooler (no pun intended) had it been a breath of deadly cold instead.As for the acting in "Age of the Dragons", well I though people did good jobs, and they had managed to put together a rather good ensemble of actors and actresses actually. The role of Ahab was played by Danny Glover, and I think he actually pulled this off quite nicely. But also, Vinnie Jones (playing Stubb), Corey Sevier (playing Ishmael), Sofia Pernas (playing Rachel), Larry Bagby (playing Flask) and Kepa Kruse (playing Queequeg) did great jobs. I especially enjoyed Kepa Kruse's performance and his somewhat odd character, that really brought some flavor to the movie."Age of the Dragons" was also a movie full of visual treats. The town was nice to look at, and it really had that unique touch to it, making it believable as if you were there in fantasy-medieval times. But the scenery once the group ventured out into the wilderness in search of the great white dragon, that was just breathtakingly beautiful. I do love the scenery of snow and snow-clad majestic mountains.I was a little bit puzzled by Ahab vessel. A huge metallic boat-like vehicle? Alright, sure, great enough idea. But just how was the vessel propelled? What forced the wheels to go round, there was no sign of any type of engine, mechanical or alchemical of any sorts. And also, the vessel looked rather small when seen outside, but inside it seemed to easily fit the entire crew and then some. So in my opinion there was a matter of questionable reason in the dimensions of this odd vessel.But aside from that, then I found "Age of the Dragons" to be rather interesting and entertaining. And if you do like fantasy movies, then I definitely would recommend this movie, despite it being a re-make of "Moby Dick".

Paul Andrews Age of the Dragons is set in a mythical land a long time ago where a young man named Ishmael (Corey Sevier) joins a team of Dragon hunters, the scarred Ahab (Danny Glover) runs the show & is out on a personal quest of vengeance to find & kill the Great White Dragon that killed his sister & left him horribly burnt when he was a child. Ishmael becomes a harpooner as they travel deeper into the dark realms of the Dragons in search of their ultimate prize, however as they team of hunters near their goal tensions break out & secrets are revealed that put everyone at risk. Finally Ahab & his men reach the liar of the Great White Dragon & with on revenge on his mind he sets out to kill it & abolish his own personal demons...Directed by Ryan Little this is an odd film, basically the script by producer McKay Daines is an adaptation of the Herman Melville novel Moby Dick but has it's Captain Ahab looking for a Dragon rather than a Whale but otherwise it's fairly faithful to it's literary source with many of the character's present & correct with the same names. Unfortunately Age of the Dragons just isn't very good, when I first heard of Age of the Dragons it sounded like a Sy-Fy Channel film but this tries to be 100% serious & spends more time trying to be a human drama rather than a fantasy film. One suspects that Age of the Dragons was trying too hard to follow the novel & not trying to be a good film in it's own right, for a start I found it incredibly boring & dull with constant arguments between the various crew as tensions take their toll but I didn't spend 90 minutes watching a film called Age of the Dragons to see people with funny names arguing about things I can't relate to. Also am I the only one who noticed that Captain Ahab here was played by Danny Glover who is black & his main prey is called the Great White Dragon? I mean I am just wondering there's meant to be some sort of subtle racist subtext going on here? Or maybe not. The dialogue is stiff, there's no humour & the character's are far too one dimensional, there's supposed to be a couple of twist's but they have no great impact & the lack of any decent action mean sitting through Age of the Dragons is a real chore.One thing going for Age of the Dragons is that it look quite nice, the widescreen cinematography & open landscapes means this is visually quite good. The sets, costumes & special effects are also surprisingly good. It's just a shame the film otherwise is so boring. While not the best CGI computer effects ever put on film the Dragons look alright, I've certainly seen worse, a lot worse. The lack of gore or significant action doesn't help & neither does the leaden pace & plot. The huge metal boat looking thing on wheels looks a little daft but it's easy enough to understand what it represents & why it's included.Apparently filmed in Utah, the main aspect that jumps out about Age of the Dragons is the cast with Danny Glover in the lead even though he doesn't make his first appearance until about thirty minutes into the film while British football hard-man Vinnie Jones looks like he is getting desperate already if he is accepting roles like this although to be fair to him he had the good sense to get killed off within the first twenty minutes so has nothing more than an extended cameo.Age of the Dragons is a surprisingly close reworking of Moby Dick that could have done with going it's own way, Dragons instead of a Whale sounds cool but it isn't. It looks good & is well made but, well, for Moby Dick fans only who want to see a different take on the tale.

Stefan Oest I'm not a big fan of Moby Dick but this was a poor and not very respectful adaptation. A land boat? That's pretty lame. Harpoons? Not very creative. Searching for the great white dragon? Very weak. Herman Melville's book captured its audience because the story is exciting, engrossing, and emotionally moving. In the original, Ahab wants revenge: We can understand that. The other boat is seeking her lost children: Again we can empathize. But this ridiculous collection of highlights is just stupid. Adding a love story was okay but everything else just seemed contrived and awful. I liked the actors but not the movie.

orion_ss1 I was intrigued by the title, and why they would go to the trouble of using Melville's plot with a dragon instead of the traditional whale. I still don't know. Had they used the same name for the title ( Age of the Dragons ), and left out the Melville characters' names, I might not have been so disappointed. I heard Summer Glau read for the part of Rachel, and Val Kilmer for Ahab. I understand why they bailed out. The few details they did change did nothing for the movie ( and I use the term "movie" loosely ). The SciFi channel has forgotten what is and isn't science fiction. They should probably go back to professional wrestling to bring their image up a notch. Condolences to Mr. Glover; with Predator 2 under his belt, and the Lethal Weapon franchise to his credit, this is a heavy anchor to hoist should he decide to have his career set sail again.