This movie.........I guess it's good for kids, but if your a parent or adult...........or anyone above the age above 10, I do not recommend this movie at all. First I guess is should talk about the acting. The acting from Lea Thomson & Eric Lutes was good, but everyone else was just corny as holly hell. Lets move on to the storyline of this movie. Although it (thankfully) is not the worst story line of all time, but it just comes off as cliché and predictable. Branded as a 'nerd' and harassed by the school bully, 12-year-old Arthur is rescued by a magical troll who knows that the boy unwittingly holds the secret to defeat an evil dragon. Arthur's loving mom, struggling to keep her devious ex-husband from gaining custody of Arthur, dismisses her son's 'fantasies' until she realizes the all-too-real immediate danger and joins forces with Arthur, the troll, and a dashing but washed up video-game master. Together, they hope to conquer the dragon and the wicked vice-principal who threaten civilization. Special thanks to RA/AL for the synopsis. Now lets talk about what is easily the worst part of the movie, the effects. I know what you might be thinking. "Hey go easy on it it's an Indie film." My answer is that if you have a budget of only $3,250,000 then don't spend it on a fantasy movie. If anything, spend it on a drama or a (special effects-free) comedy movie! I mean the CGI in this movie make Ed Wood props look real! Okay maybe it isn't that bad, but you get what I'm saying! It still might be the worst CGI I have ever seen. So in the end this movie will keep you kids quiet on a winter night, but in the mean time stay away.
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The_Depressed_Star_Wars_fan15 September 2010
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paul_haakonsen24 September 2013Well, this wasn't at all what I had expected it to be. But the fault is entirely mine alone, because I could just have read up on the synopsis, checked the production year and done some research, instead of just being blinded by Lea Thompson's name and the title of the movie.
This is a children's movie, possibly even a family movie, and as such, it should be said that the movie is to be taken lightly for what it is; a light-hearted adventure comedy for the young audience.
The story is about Arthur and his friends who venture into the local sewers, acting as knights of the square table, searching for monsters. And just one day they happen to stumble upon Bart, a blue-skinned troll living in the sewers. With the impeding disaster of an old, evil dragon being awakened, the children and the troll have to seek the help of Shane, a game creator.
Storywise, then it is quite suitable for a young audience, especially those who enjoy the fantasy genre. For the more adult audience, well, then "Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer" doesn't really offer much.
It was nice to sea Lea Thompson and Eric Lutes back together on a screen again. Those who have seen "Caroline in the City" will know what I am talking about here.
"Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer" didn't really captivate me or interest me in a grand way. But of course, I wasn't watching the movie with my family, so that might have been a part of it. And I was utterly annoyed with the way that the troll sounded exactly like Smeagol from "The Lord of the Rings", that was just too much.
I am rating "Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer" a 4 out of 10 stars, because for the younger audience the movie does offer some entertainment. -
Leofwine_draca26 January 2018ADVENTURES OF A TEENAGE DRAGONSLAYER is a lamentable B-movie children's fantasy feature in which a bunch of do-gooding kids come up against all manner of opposition in their daily lives: obnoxious bullies, quirky science teachers, disapproving parents, and, of course, an evil dragon living in the sewers which needs slaying. Despite the odd similarity to IT, this is a very poor production suffering from an unfunny script and mannered performances from the young cast. The story just sort of skips from scene to scene with little continuity and the pacing is really slow despite lots of different ingredients in the plot. BACK TO THE FUTURE's Lea Thompson has the decency to look embarrassed at being cast, but the real problem is that appalling, embarrassingly bad CGI animation.
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capricorn239428 February 2011I am sorry, but this movie is the worst fantasy film ever made. The acting was horrible and the story was so poor that no wonder the dialog was pure torture. I was expecting to be at the least, entertained, and at the most, to be involved. I was neither. The characters were not believable, nor was the plot. Teens will find this laughable. Even young children will be bored. It is unfortunate that it seems that most of the money was spent on very poor special effects. A true disappointment.
The one highlight of the film is the music. At least it was entertaining.
I do not recommend this film to anyone. A total waste of time. -
vchimpanzee24 June 2013A group of kids is running through the secret basement of their middle school, trying to escape a fire-breathing dragon.
Wait, let's back up ...
Arthur, Tim and Natalie are the Knights of the Square Table. They take their fantasy card game way too seriously, but it turns out someone needs to.
Arthur's parents have split up and it's all poor Laura can do to raise him on her own. Arthur's father is now with Officer Annie, who wants very much to be Arthur's mom.
Vice-Principal Metz lets her son Larry get away with bullying Arthur. If Larry did something wrong, it must have been Arthur's fault. So Arthur gets suspended and Laura gets lectured on her inadequate mothering skills.
It's not Laura's fault that Arthur keeps sneaking out and engaging in risky behavior with his friends, including running through the sewers.
But something is definitely going on. Carpet cleaners in Arthur's neighborhood need Hazmat suits. And Arthur and his friends find a blue troll named Bart who talks like Jar-Jar Binks.
That isn't all. Besides Bart, there is someone else who is trying to bring back the evil dragon leader Darksmoke. To get help, the kids go to a convention where Shane, the creator of the fantasy card series, is signing autographs.
At first Shane dismisses the kids as wackos, but he is finally convinced the cards he created are based on reality. There is a reason for this, as he figures out later.
Can Shane and the kids save the world? And will Shane end up with Laura? I think they like each other.
This movie should not be taken too seriously. It's just a live-action cartoon with plenty of laughs, although Wendie Malick does a very good job as the over-the-top tyrant of a vice-principal. Lea Thompson seems frustrated but has her moments.
Bart is adorable in a creepy way.
These kids are brilliant, claiming to be designing a project for the school science fair. But it's much more than that. While the script may not show much intelligence, the kids sure seem to.
The dragon is genuinely scary. This is a family movie but not really for younger kids. And it does have the obligatory potty humor. Violence is mostly cartoonish, but one scene is pretty upsetting.
I'm Wendie Malick's age so you know the so-called music wasn't intended for my generation.
If you're a kid, you'll probably like it. -
jemallory-125 April 2012Where do we even begin? For starters the computer generated dragons didn't even touch the ground of the scene. We're pretty sure the potions were Gatorade. What is a "Carpet Emergency??????" Couldn't they have found a better costume for the troll? I mean really, to make him have three fingers, they just taped together the actor's center two and wrapped the double fingers in blue tape! We're pretty sure that his makeup was done by a clown company and given the fact that they fired the troll designer just prior to filming, maybe a clown was the only replacement they could get! And those black burned bits? Normally they wouldn't move like jello when touched. And by the way, since when does a group of 12 year olds count as being TEENagers???????? The one positive? We laughed like crazy at the STUPIDITY of this movie. We can't think of a movie that we've thought was more stupid than this one. Even Space Jam gets a higher vote.
Save your rental bucks. It isn't worth the investment. -
I picked this up for two dollars out of a bargain bin at the dollar store, and it was worth every penny. This movie is fairly generic and harmless, with one dimensional characters and a predictable plot. If this had a larger budget, it would have been far less entertaining. To start with, it seems like the film has three sets - a local school, somebody's house, and an abandoned building (? Whatever it is, it definitely isn't the sewer it's supposed to be). They also didn't seem to like multiple takes, as the camera is wobbly in spots and the footage sometimes inexplicably sped up. The most memorable thing about this movie (other than its terrible, addicting theme song) is the cgi. They obviously put effort into the creatures, as they don't look half bad, but they fail miserably at everything else (walls don't break into cubes, and don't get me started on the opening credits). All in all, the movie is harmless. I wouldn't particularly recommend it as anything but a time passer. It should entertain kids. It certainly entertained my friends and I, and we're a group of twenty somethings that hunt for bad movies. By no means was this the worst thing I've seen.
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wingthwong20 May 2019Looked this movie up before watching it with my family. Rotten Tomatoes showed it having a 60% fresh rating. I looked no further and turned this horrible mess on. The basic story was fine for a children/family movie. But wow, the acting, the sets, the CGI, and the plot holes killed this through and through. Then I went back to Rotten Tomatoes and found that there were only 5 Critic ratings. Meaning only 3 out of 5 had to give if a fresh rating. And there it was. The 3 fresh ratings were for a documentary with a similar name about skateboarding with no text. The 2 real ratings were nasty. They told it how it was. Then, the viewer ratings were 16% out of over 300. Now we are getting more realistic. This movie is the type of movie that you torture people with, the kind of movie that turns the youth of America into zombies for sub mediocrity.
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PunkPrincess012 April 2010I completely disagree with the previous review, I thought this movie was cute, enjoyable and considering it was low budget, put together very well. The writing is warm and funny, I especially like the Bart, fart scene. The main thing that stood out for me was the music. I thought the bike ride song and 'where is the magic' really set and warmed each scene. The theme tune was uplifting and energetic and I found myself singing it for the rest of the day. I think the music was extremely well thought out and complimented the whole movie. Overall I think there is enough classically derived fun and brilliant music to keep the family happy. WELL DONE!!!
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ShadowGal21 April 2011I think there are two target audiences for this movie: kids, and anyone who's a bit of a fantasy geek. This movie succeeds in catering to those two groups, and quite well, in my opinion.
The acting in the movie is pretty good. It's not quite at the level of some children actors I saw growing up--the Sandlot for instance--but it's better than quite a few of the kids' shows I've seen on television. The plot is basic enough: kid is bullied for being a geek, kid finds out that 'fantasy' stuff is real, kid goes on adventure to beat the evil bad guys. It's also well-executed, and there are a few really good lines in the movie that had me chuckling.
On the down side... The troll in the movie sounds like someone trying (and just barely failing) to do an impersonation of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and that bothered me--but only a little. And the CG in the movie is... Well, it's not horrible. On its own, it's pretty good, especially for such a low-budget film. The "low-budget" part is obvious once you realize that the cg animations have to interact with real backgrounds/places/people, and then it's just... Not as appealing. Not a big issue though, really.
Here's the bottom line: If you're a childless adult who's never been into fantasy games, TCG's, etc., then this probably isn't for you. If you're a parent who doesn't mind watching a slightly cheesy movie with an 80's adventure feel to it, then you'll be okay with the movie--you probably won't love it, but you'll have had worse ways to spend an hour and a half with your kids. Kids will probably love this one--especially younger kids and tweens. Anyone who's fond of fantasy, gaming culture, trading card games, etc. will probably get a kick out of this charming film--a fair amount of the humor and references are aimed at people like us. -
mellenger5 April 2010This is a campy film that is Perfect for children 7-12 and parents of them. It is fun and exciting and brings forth laughter from both age groups.
Young 12 year old Arthur is the class nerd, being bullied in school. This is a very timely thrust, as bulling is become a serious problem in our society. It shows children that underneath a nerd lies someone who can save the world.
At first his mother does not believe his stories that he alone can overcome the dragon, but she finally climbs on board. All the usual suspects come to play: The heroes that save the day by combining forces to deal with the dragon and the "evils" who Must be conquered to save the day.
The dragon is amazing and will bring forth gasps and cheers.
Yes, as I said, it is campy and of course many parts of the plot may seem old hat, but it is the perfect film for the targeted age group (and parents).
This will make for a fun outing at the movies and many replays of the DVD.
This film instills confidence for the younger crowd. A big thumbs up for this Indy film. -
sherbradshaw5 April 2010My favorite character was "Bart" the troll with "Tim" coming in a close second. Everyone did a good job and...I'll be looking for the sequel!!! The children were engaging and smart. The budding romance between the two adults was funny. Lea Thompson falling asleep in her very "odd" breakfast was great. I particularly liked the theme song and noticed the children in the theater left singing it. The game theme was also timely since so many young children play so many games these days. Is this a real game? It should be if it isn't. Maybe the producers will devise and market the game. The dragon was pretty scary but not successful and the golden dragon at the end had the potential of being scary but had such a sweet face!
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MoviePerson5613171718 April 2011This movie is cute and charming. It seems younger kids will almost always like it. Adult reaction is obviously mixed. Our two younger kids, ages 6 & 9 loved it. Two others kids that saw it with us, ages 10 and 13 thought it was good but were not as excited about it as the younger ones. None of them were too scared during any of the more intense parts.
Keep in mind, this is a very low budget movie.
For instance, I know there are over 250 visual effects shots (many of which are invisible) They were all done very quickly within 3 months time by two guys for about the price of your average minivan.
What was Avatar's effects budget? -
cs250127 September 2010As a adult who grew up in the 80's I must say I found this movie to be a lot of fun. It is extremely hokey and retro to say the least. I was expecting this to be about "teenage" dragon slayers, maybe have an element of D&D or something a little bit more edgy than what I got. This movie is a throwback to the 80's but more in the direction of the goonies than the lost boy.s
This movie captures that innocent fun that we all used to have before hormones started kicking in and life seemed to get so darn serious. Anyone who enjoyed the goonies or other "live action cartoon" type film from your child hood you'll get a big kick out of this one. Im giving this a 10 out of 10 because it does a PERFECT job at being it was meant to be. -
bvdnmcdqx20 August 2021This movie is a masterpiece The characters the writing the humor just amazing. The plot has so much depth to it. And don't get me started on the cinematography so good. And the ending was just tremendous I could've never asked for such a better ending so beautiful and the build up to the actual like villain it's just so good. And I do have to admit the animation is a bit bad but what do you expect from such a low budget if this movie had a higher budget I believe the animations would be stunning. This movie is just an all-time classic and so fun to watch and kids and adults can watch and enjoy this movie because there's jokes for the adults and jokes for the kids and it's a brilliantly done. So yeah I'd give this movie to watch because it is truly and I cannot say this enough just a masterpiece that you can just have a good time and laugh cry just an emotional roller coaster of feelings but overall just enjoy this movie. And to those who don't like this movie I have to ask you Who hurt you who just decimated your imagination your your happiness that's all I have to say. Thank you for reading and please watch this movie.
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brandonmullins39814 April 2015This movie is about elixir quest card game. The card game was brought to life in this magical movie! With magical potions and help from his friends, will Arthur be able to defeat the dragon? Find out in the movie. Now for the review: Story: Arthur and his friends realized elixir quest came to life. So they went to the sewers to deal with the evil dragon. But got caught by the principle. The principle found Arthur mom being irresponsible mother as she says that she works late or went dating. So something is suspicious about the principle. And you will find out why in the movie. The story is awesome!. But some parts of the script needs to be rewritten. Because some parts are unnecessary. I rate it 8/10. Dialogue: its OK. I rate it 6/10 Cast: pretty well matched with the characters. I rate it 8/10 Overall: its a great film to watch! May have some unnecessary parts in it. But its great! I rate it 8/10!
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alan-witte4 October 2014OK, so it ain't 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'... Heck, it isn't even 'How to Train Your Dragon' or 'Monster House'!...
What it is, however, despite the awful CGI and campy production (which may actually be a "plus")... This movie is just plain fun for children or any adult who ever played a "Trading Card" game in a previous life.
(I actually was not one of them) ...or any other adult who can suspend dis-believability for the sake of their geek-children.
'Kids, these days! :-)
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