''Dragon Storm'' is a

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

made for TV A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

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 ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

written by Patrick Phillips and Sam Wells, and directed by

Stephen Furst Stephen Furst (born Stephen Nelson Feuerstein; May 8, 1954 – June 16, 2017) was an American actor, director and producer. After gaining attention with his featured role as Kent "Flounder" Dorfman in the comedy film ''National Lampoon's An ...

. The film is noted as the

Sci Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...

's most-watched original movie with over 3 million viewers of the premiere broadcast.

Plot

Meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

s falling from the sky during a

meteor shower A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extre ...

act as transportation 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 traveling within. The dragons wreak havoc on the surrounding medieval countryside and two rival monarchs, King Fastrad (

John Rhys-Davies John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor best known for portraying Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. His other roles include Michael Malone in the 1993 series ''The Untoucha ...

) and King Wednesbury (John Hansson) must join forces to face the threat. A messenger arrives to warn King Fastrad who does not believe him, until the dragons make their appearance and destroy his fiefdom. Fastrad and his top aids then head to the fiefdom of King Wednesbury, ostensibly to seek aid, but planning to overthrow him. Along the way they meet Silas (

Maxwell Caulfield Maxwell Caulfield (né Maxwell P.J. Newby; born 23 November 1959) is a British-American film, stage, and television actor and singer. He has appeared in ''Grease 2'' (1982), '' Electric Dreams'' (1984), '' The Boys Next Door'' (1985), ''The Su ...

), a hunter who agrees, for a price, to escort and protect the party from the countryside's other dangers. They reach Wednesbury and Fastrad falsely accuses Silas of being a poacher in order to wiggle out of the debt. Silas is joined by the Mystic Scholar Ling (Woon Young Park), the vengeance-seeking Remmegar (Richard Wharton), and King Wednesbury's warrior daughter Medina (Angel Boris). One of the meteors was damaged when it fell, killing its dragon passenger. Ling studies the dead beast and the party decides to set off to hunt the remaining dragons using a giant ballista. While they are gone, Fastrad continues plotting against Wednesbury, and blackmails Wednesbury's aide to kill Silas.

Cast

as Silas *

Angel Boris Angel Lynn Boris (born August 2, 1974) is an American model and actress sometimes credited as Angel Boris Reed. Career Boris was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After entering the Venus Swimwear international model search in 1994, she was disc ...

as Medina *

Tony Amendola Tony Amendola (born August 24, 1951) is an American actor. He played the Jaffa master Bra'tac in ''Stargate SG-1'' and Pinocchio's creator/father, Geppetto on ABC's ''Once Upon a Time''. He also had a recurring role as revolutionary leader Edou ...

as Theldag *

as King Fastrad * Woon Young Park as Ling * Richard Wharton as Remmegar * Iskra Angelova as Nessa * John Hansson as King Wednesbury * Ivaylo Geraskov as Gelmaro * Tyrone Pinkham as Ulfius

Reception

Stephanie Star Smith of ''Box Office Prophets'' gave high marks to the special effects creating the dragons. She notes that in the past, "Sci-Fi Originals flicks have had some serious issues with CGI beasties", but approved of the realism of these creatures in this film. She found the acting to be "generally pretty good", and made special mention of the work in the film of John Rhys-Davies and Richard Wharton when opining that Maxwell Caulfield seemed to be an unfortunate casting decision. In summarizing the overall film, she offered "just over an hour-and-a-half, Dragon Storm doesn't wear out its welcome, and since the dragons appear from nearly the first scene, you don't have to wait ages for a look at the real stars of the film". ''Dragon Storm'' was chosen by

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

as one of the selections in William Shatner's DVD Club. German

Monsters and Critics Monsters and Critics is an online entertainment news website focusing on TV, movies and celebrities. It publishes news, reviews, recaps, interviews, feature articles, explainers, blogs and commentary. The website has been owned by Digital Minefi ...

said that "some funny dialogue and neatly animated dragons pep it up" and that "the poor direction of the film is entertaining, and marks out that most of the budget went west for the effects." Bargain Bin Review dubbed it "a cautionary tale about thoroughly reading contracts and scripts before signing up to a project." John Rhys-Davies, who had previously played Gimli the Dwarf in Lord of the Rings, said in an interview that "You understand we're not comparing ... Dragon Storm with Lord of the Rings. Stephen directed this in god knows how many days – I think it was only like 21 days. It's a low-budget, rapidly made, and rather delightful little sci-fi squib."

References

External links

''Dragon Storm'' Official site
Syfy) * * *{{cite web , url = http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-sfc.html?2004-01/23/12.15.sfc , title = Furst Helms Dragon Storm , publisher = Sci Fi Wire (Sci Fi Channel) , date = January 22, 2004 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20041210042159/http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-sfc.html?2004-01%2F23%2F12.15.sfc , archivedate = December 10, 2004 , url-status = dead Bulgarian drama films German fantasy films Syfy original films 2004 television films 2004 films Films about dragons English-language Bulgarian films English-language German films Films shot in Bulgaria 2000s English-language films Films directed by Stephen Furst 2000s American films 2000s German films