Dragon Crusaders

source: Dragon Crusaders

Well thank you Eragon for this. Released in 2011, just before Game of Thrones had launched on HBO and changed everything about the fantasy genre and beyond, Dragon Crusaders is directed by Mark Atkins, who some say is the best director to ever work for The Asylum, for what that's worth, and to my pleasant surprise, Dragon Crusaders is a good example of why this opinion is held. I have not fared well in the past exposing my eyes to Atkins' output, having seen only Snakes on a Train which is one of the worst films i have ever seen and recently Planet of the Sharks which was not that much better. However, by the Asylum's standards of direct to video trash, Dragon Crusaders entertains as a lean 85 or so minutes of sword and sorcery carnage. What prevents Dragon Crusaders being the bad kind of bad is an effective, driving score by fellow Asylum alumni, Chris Ridenhour, decent CGI considering, and tight-ish editing by Atkins himself, which compliments well Atkins' cinematography which is also decent, however he might have shot himself in the foot if he did the colour grading also because the whole picture now looks like washed out garbage, or maybe the lighting was blown out to begin with, i don't know. However, you are probably starting to wonder why this review has such a negative slant as i am noting all these film's positives. Well, for all that is does right, Dragon Crusaders set out to be, and achieved nothing more, than being direct to DVD era exploitation trash. Blood, dragons, and a quest, that's all what this film is. And i didn't expect much more, so i had not reason to be annoyed really, and i wasn't. I was just indifferent. Dragon Crusaders just goes about its business, competently, and i haven't got much at all. It's sword and sorcery exploitation ala early 2010's. I was not bored, i was not frustrated, i was entertained, simply put.

The final scene when the dragon is suspended in the atmosphere was MY GOD SUCH AS BEAUTIFUL THING AHHAH, it seems like I'm playing prehistoric video games, trust me see this, it's worth it! See this film with humour, I'm just kiddin:)

Some knights become cursed and will turn into gargoyles unless the curse is removed. They must seek out the feared black dragon to remove the curse. They are aided by Aerona (Cecily Fay) who recited her lines in a very dry fashion. Her choreography had my head scratching. She tried to do that urban fighting stuff where you jump up on a wall and turn around, but she couldn't get that far up the wall which made it look comical. In one seen she fights with a towel, perhaps a tribute to her former film, "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." One of the Knights did have personality and some good lines but only one of the Knights. This is certainly not the worst dragon film, but might be one for the kids instead. No swearing, sex, or nudity.

DRAGON CRUSADERS is another ultra-cheesy low budget fantasy film, made by The Asylum and shot in the Welsh countryside. A bunch of mumbling actors are involved in a nonsensical storyline that mixes up the Knights Templar with a plot involving them being cursed into transforming into dragons. The emphasis here seems to be on low rent action scenes, with horse riding and sword fighting mixed into the fray. It looks cheap, nasty and digital, and fails to connect with the senses in any way. It's neither bad enough to be amusing, nor good enough to be entertaining, just poor and below average.

I give this movie a 2 out of 10 instead of just 1 because it is at least unintentionally interesting and entertaining because you will end up laughing at how stupid it is. The effects are laughable, very very bad, even by standards of like 2001 these effects are cheap and unreal looking. The acting is also terrible and I won't even mention the writing but then again what do you expect when you pick up a discount bargain bin movie called "dragon crusaders" at a grocery store for 2.99? This movie is very bad but if you are a fan of laughing at super horribly done and acted movies then you can do a lot worse than this one, you'll end up laughing at it a few times at least.

Dragon Crusaders can suck my D1CK!!!!Worst movie ever rather watch George Lopez do his stand up routine.the guys were very cute!!The Pirates were a bunch of dipsh1ts that the director picked up at a truck stop. This was the biggest waste of time and life. Burn this movie and then take a huge bloody sh1t on it. The maybe is watch it again. What was the point of this movie ? Did we really need another movie about dragons and crusaders? You can spend better time watching grass grow or even just watching a dark screen. Screw This Horrible Movie Just Don't! Do it. The special effects locked like an elementary school class got together and tried to make this movie . You should get payed to watch this.

First look of this film reminded me of Reign of Fire, then I saw that it's made by Asylum. It's surprising that Asylum the same company that made Two Headed Shark Attack, made such a dark movie. But I like Asylum's picture in general, so I decided to watch. There's nothing wrong with the movie except that it's boring. There's no central figure in this whole story that binds things together. Character of Neem was super annoying. At least in other Asylum's pictures there're the giant lizards and fishes that keeps the story going. Not so bad of execution, but the characters just sucked in this movie.

This film is not LotR but has been quite underrated. Granted: acting performance is improvable, but for its budget it came out quite enjoyable and imaginative. It gets better as the party progresses to the dragons' layer, ending with an unexpected twist of the plot. The outdoor landscapes are great, it casts some (unfrequent) strong female leading characters and the makeup, clothing and atrezzo look quite realistic. After the initial supression of incredulity, the plot kind of sucks you into the movie. Though it exhibits some severe mistakes here and there due probably to filmmakers' inexperience and budgetary constraints, it is a good product for lovers of the D&D genre that can keep you entertained throughout a rainy day or late night.

I was interested in seeing Dragon Crusaders because the title was one of those titles that immediately makes you want to see it, as this seemed like my kind of movie, and the cover actually made it look fun. I was also dubious though seeing as it was from SyFy/The Asylum, notorious for making bottom-of-the-barrel type movies. Seeing Dragon Crusaders for myself, it is not a good movie. However it could have been worse, you could have been watching something like Battle of Los Angeles, Quantum Apocalypse, Alien vs Hunter or Titanic II. Dragon Crusaders is made tolerable by some nice scenery, the tiny swords-woman(played very well by Cecily Fay) who really did kick ass and some good looking dragons, even if I would have liked to have seen more of them. Conversely, apart from the scenery I could tell Dragon Crusaders was shot on a low budget. The camera shots are haphazard, or at least some of them are, and the costume design while not bad in look were inauthentic in detail, especially with the knights, the heavy red lipstick and the hair extensions, not to mention the sweat pants for the pirates. The dialogue also is never sure whether it wants to be in Old English or in the language of today, this jars with the setting and comes across as stilted. The action has moments where it is spirited, but overall I found it a little too hectic and eager to please particularly with the tumbling, screaming, kick boxing and wire spinning. There are also goofs that are very noticeable, such as the business with the quiver of arrows for two reasons, one that many are used yet the numbers in the quiver don't change and also where it should be empty but in the next scene it's full. The props are just as jarring as the costuming, they look cheap and seem more at home on a Halloween display than a swords and sorcery tale. Story-wise it is disappointing, the idea is good but too much time is spent on the action and when something other than that happens it is rushed, a longer length might've sufficed perhaps, so you don't engage with it. The characters are cardboard thin, the direction is sloppy in some scenes and erratic in others and the acting doesn't fare much better, with Dylan Jones an uncharismatic lead and Simon Lloyd Roberts equally unmemorable. Fay is the sole bright spot. All in all, not a good movie, but if I were to choose between watching this and watching something like Titanic II again, I would pick this easily. 4/10 Bethany Cox