Over the last decade or so, vampires have infiltrated television and film in a profound way. While audiences have always been fascinated by the fanged blood drinkers, True Blood, the Twilight series and The Vampire Diaries have made our obsession even greater today. The vampires’ fellow in the undead world – the zombie – is also gaining more prominence from the as indicated by 28 Days Later, a remake of Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead and of course, The Walking Dead TV series.
However, the success of Game of Thrones has people talking about dragons nowadays, so let’s take a look at some of the silver screen’s best dragon movies.
The Neverending Story – A three movie set that was begun 1984 and based on the novel by Michael Ende and, despite being a family film, is definitely worth a watch. The dragon Falkor is an important character and is unique in that he is not the typical scaly, reptilian dragon we typically see but is more of an Asian style dragon with fur and canine features. The sequels drop off in quality (as most sequels do) but the original continues to be considered a classic in the fantasy genre.
Did you know? The Neverending Story is twice Oscar-nominated director Wolfgang Peterson’s first English language film.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – The second movie of the Hobbit trilogy and the first where we get to meet the titular Smaug. Cutting edge special effects and expert voicing by Benedict Cumberbatch made the enigmatic Smaug as real as a dragon could possibly seem. The scene where Bilbo (Martin Freeman) first meets Smaug is one of the film’s more entertaining ones with bonus points for the two actors being costars on the critically acclaimed television series, Sherlock.
Did you know? Smaug is technically not a dragon but rather is a creature called a wyvern.
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster – The kaiju (strange beast) films from Japan are must watch for sci-fi/fantasy fans and this is no exception. Another gem from the pen of Shinichi Sekizawa and directed by the legendary Ishiro Honda, this movie introduces a new monster to Earth in the form of a three-headed dragon that shoots lightning bolts and destroys parts of Japan. Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan aren’t cool with the newcomer so they join forces to teach him some manners. Ghidorah would go on to appear in a total of ten films and is a major part of Godzilla canon.
Did you know? Many online gamers have a look here for dragon themed video slots.
Spirited Away – The 2001 Masterpiece from Japanese anime master writer-director Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle) has beautiful storytelling and gorgeous artwork; and the scenes with Haku the dragon are truly stunning.
Did you know? Author Ursula LeGuin initially refused Miyazaki’s requests to adopt her Earthsea book series. Then she saw Spirited Away and allowed it, yet it was Miyazaki’s son Gomo who eventually created Tales From Earthsea.
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