''Age of the Dragons'' is a 2011

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

directed by

Ryan Little Ryan Little (born 28 March 1971) is a Canadian film director, cinematographer and producer. He is perhaps best known for his 2003 film '' Saints and Soldiers.'' His work has a broad range of genres including war films and children's subjects. ...

and starring

Danny Glover Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films include ...

and Vinnie Jones. A

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

-themed reimagining of

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...

's classic 1851 novel, '' Moby Dick'', it was released in the United Kingdom on March 4, 2011.

Plot

Harpooner A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal ...

Ishmael (

Corey Sevier Corey Daniel Sevier (born July 3, 1984) is a Canadian actor. He is perhaps best known for his role on the Fox television series '' North Shore'' as Gabriel McKay and as Timmy Cabot in ''Lassie''. Life and career Sevier was born in Ajax, Ontario, ...

) joins Ahab (

) and his crew on the ''Pequod'', in this instance an armored land

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

that hunts for

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

s. The seven-strong crew ostensibly seeks the precious "vitriol", a highly

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

liquid A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, a ...

substance found inside the fire-breathing

winged A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

creatures, which powers the mythical

realm A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a monarchical or dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the German Empire. Etym ...

they live in. Ishmael joins their

quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...

, and soon learns that in fact, Ahab's mission is one of revenge on a particular great white

that decades ago scarred and injured him, and killed his sister. Forced to hide from the sunlight due to the burn wounds on his body, Ahab now tries to kill all dragons, and especially the white one. Conflict arises through a romantic entanglement between Ishmael and Ahab's adopted daughter Rachel (

Sofia Pernas Sofia Pernas (born July 31, 1989) is an American actress of Moroccan-Spanish descent who currently resides in Los Angeles. She starred in the NBC series '' The Brave'' and currently stars in the Paramount+ action adventure series ''Blood & Trea ...

), which causes hostility from the jealous hothead Flask ( Larry Bagby). In the white dragon's lair, Ahab's secrets are revealed and Rachel must choose between following him on his dark quest or escaping to a new life with Ishmael. She chooses the latter and in a final confrontation, Ahab's spear, which was tied to his foot, becomes entangled in the White Dragon's neck. The creature flies off with a screaming Ahab, until he is slammed against a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

pillar and silenced. The white dragon flies off into the distance, with Ahab's body clinging on to it.

Cast

as Ahab * Vinnie Jones as Stubbs *

as Ishmael *

as Rachel * Larry Bagby as Flask * Kepa Kruse as Queequeg * Nico Valencia as Bingzters * David Morgan as Starbuck

Development

The film was originally going to be called ''Dragon Fire''. On February 3, 2010 it was announced that Danny Glover and Vinnie Jones had joined the cast, and that filming would begin in Utah the following week. The film's budget was around $5 million, and was the first film developed by distribution company Metrodome. A video from the set was revealed on March 5, 2010. Several of the scenes were filmed at Castle Amphitheater in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

behind the

Utah State Hospital The Utah State Hospital (USH) is a mental hospital located in eastern Provo, Utah, United States of America. The current superintendent is Dallas Earnshaw. History The Utah State Hospital began as the Territorial Insane Asylum in 1885 at Pro ...

. Other filming locations included Stone Five Studios in the Riverwoods Business Park. Glover was quoted as saying "This is a great idea ... it's going to be fun." The trailer for the film was released on October 15, 2010. The dragons in the film have back legs only and on the ground use their wings as front legs like pterosaurs did.

Reception

The film received almost universal negative reviews in the British press. '' The Guardian'' (1 star out of 5) wrote: "A textbook lesson in how not to adapt a literary classic – though it's so spectacularly bad, it could well achieve mythical status of its own . . . The deadly serious tone just makes it funnier; there's not a whale in sight but this movie blows." '' The Observer'' stated "This crude picture, shot in snow-covered Utah, where the Pequod becomes a battle engine on large wooden wheels, is unamusingly ridiculous." '' Variety'' added "Generic dialogue and dull incident. Shoddy CGI indicates a production budget that's fatally inadequate for the task at hand." '' Little White Lies'' (1 star out of 5) stated "While ropey CG monsters, half-baked stabs at drama, awkwardly-choreographed action sequences and wooden acting are all part of the fun, neither the script, nor Little's direction revel enough in camp or B-movie thrills to give Age of the Dragons true schlock value . . . This pittance fails to make Age of the Dragons anything more than disposable. Expect to find it wedged among the 'Two for £10' DVDs in a year's time, tantalising you with the promise of a so-bad-it's-good quickie. But beware: here be dragons."

References

External links

* * *
"Danny Glover plays Ahab in Moby Dick with dragons" (filmdrunk.uproxx)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Age Of The Dragons 2011 films 2010s fantasy action films American fantasy action films Films about dragons Films based on Moby-Dick Syfy original films 2010s English-language films Films directed by Ryan Little 2010s American films