Dragon Sword | A world-weary knight (James Purefoy) returns to England after the first crusade to settle down in a peaceful northern hamlet, but the disappearance of the kindly Princess Lunna (Piper Perabo) makes him take up his sword once more to face down a thousand year-old legend.

Dragon Sword | Hollywood Movie |

Directors Tom Reeve Starring James Purefoy, Piper Perabo, Patrick Swayze Genres Action, Adventure, Comedy Subtitles English [CC]Audio languages English

Dragon Sword | Hollywood Movie |

George and the Dragon has an amazing cast of characters. James Purefoy. Piper Perabo. Patrick Swayze. Val Kilmer. You’d think, with this cast, and with a cool, medieval atmosphere, that it’d be a sure winner.

It is amazing to me that, with these amazing characters, and with a rich storyline to portray, that the movie falls flat. You could say this would be a great movie for kids – but even there I find it highly questionable. Here’s why.

Dragon Sword | Hollywood Movie |

First, the movie has awful writing and acting. I know these actors can do far better. I’ve seen them in other movies where their scenes make your heart swell with emotion. Here it’s as if they’re getting through their lines as quickly as possible to get them over with. Sure, you can point to the dialogue which is about as awful as it come.

Dragon Sword | Hollywood Movie |

The lines are about as cliche and cheezy as has been seen on screen. I imagine that can drag an actor down. But, that being said, I’ve seen movies like Disney’s The Three Musketeers where the writing was atrocious and even so the stellar actors make it work. That’s the job of a talented actor – to bring life into even the most inane sludge. These actors SHOULD have been able to pull it off. Why do they sound so bored? They talk over each other.

Dragon Sword | Hollywood Movie |

They barely respond to each other. Swayze is supposed to be the “bad guy” but you barely feel like he cares at all about what he’s doing. James is supposed to be an experienced knight back from the Crusades but he seems more a bored writer who has only written about these things – not experienced them. Look at James’s acting in Ironclad – which is also about a crusader – to see the difference. James is STUNNING in Ironclad. Here he is barely present.