Dragonheart (film)

A knight is sworn to valor.
His heart knows only virtue.
His blade defends the helpless.
His might upholds the weak.
His word speaks only truth.
His wrath undoes the wicked!

—The Old Code

Dragonheart is a 1996 movie starring Dennis Quaid and the voice of Sean Connery.

Quaid is Bowen, a knight in 10th Century Europe who is one of the few left who adhere to the "Old Code" of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Bowen is the teacher and mentor to a young prince named Einon. During a peasant uprising, the King is killed in battle and the prince is horribly injured. Bowen takes the boy to his mother, who strikes a deal with an intelligent dragon (Sean Connery) to perform an ancient ritual, which will give the prince his life back. A few weeks later as Einon assumes his role as the new King, Bowen realizes that Einon is cruel and sadistic, more than the previous King. Disillusioned, Bowen believes that the dragonheart corrupted Einon and sets out to hunt down and kill every last dragon.

After many a year of dragonslaying, Bowen comes across the one who performed the dragonheart ritual, though he doesn't recognize him. They fight to a standstill, and decide to strike a partnership instead of killing each other. The dragon harasses towns and Bowen will pretend to kill him. The dragon doesn't have to worry about actual slayers and Bowen makes a living hustling the villagers.

Bowen eventually gives the dragon a name, Draco, after the dragon constellation. His time with Draco reminds him of how far he has gone away from the Old Code, and he realizes that Einon was always evil. Both Bowen and Draco believed their influence could change him but they were wrong. They then decide to encourage another peasant uprising to bring down Einon. With Bowen as a leader and with Draco as muscle, they believe they can succeed. What no one expected was that Draco and Einon's fates are linked together through the dragonheart.

The movie was one of the first after Jurassic Park to feature such extensive CGI; Draco was a living, breathing character of his own and Sean Connery's voice gave him added weight.

Critics were ho-hum about the film, but the majority of moviegoers enjoyed it. Criticisms seemed to be more on the non-Draco production values, compared to epics like Braveheart, showing a few dozen people fighting a battle in a crowded forest didn't give quite the same spectacle. Also, the humor was somtimes slapstick and at other times anachronistic, with the monk character Gilbert quoting from the 16th century King James Bible.

The head screenwriter, Charles Edward Pough, published a novelization of the story which considerably expanded on the characters, events, and world.

A sequel, Dragonheart: A New Beginning came Direct-to-Video in 2000. Although the new dragon, Drake, was voiced by Robby Benson of Beauty and the Beast fame, it was fairly standard DTV fare. A prequel called Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse was released in 2015, and a second DTV prequel, Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire, was released in 2017.

Tropes used in Dragonheart (film) include:

• A Boy and His X: In this case, a grown man and his dragon.
• Action Girl: Kara, who began as something of a Damsel in Distress and Took a Level in Badass with Bowen's instruction.
• Actually, I Am Him: Apparently, Bowen doesn't figure out Draco is the dragon he swore to kill until they travel to Avalon together.
• American Kirby Is Hardcore: An unusual example where the Japanese poster is more action-filled than the American one.
• An Axe to Grind: Becomes Kara's Weapon of Choice toward the end.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Draco
• As Long as There Is Evil and As Long as There Is One Man: Draco tells Bowen that there is an equalizer in this story, the day cannot be won until Einon is dead. And Einon can't die unless Draco dies.
• Attempted Rape: Einon to Kara, in the scene where she stabs him. In the novelization of the film, it's not an attempt - he actually DOES rape her.
• Badass Creed: See the page quote.
• Beat Still My Heart: The physical heart itself is removed from the dragon and shown onscreen.
• Big Bad: Einon.
• Bittersweet Ending: Due to the bond shared by Draco and Einon, in order for Einon to be beaten, Draco himself must die. Oh, and also he's the last dragon still alive in the entire world.
  • And let's not forget that even though Draco dies, by sacrificing his life in order to stop Einon, he's redeemed himself and earned his place in the Dragons' Heaven, among his brothers again at last.
• Blood From the Mouth: Hewe has some on the corner of his mouth during the battle at the end, though it's not a fatal example.
• Bond One-Liner: Gilbert gets quite a few of these during the battle in the forest.
• Breath Weapon: There are dragons. Need I say more?
  • It's interesting to note, though, that Draco breathes fire from his nostrils, not from his mouth. Most likely, this is to make the stalemate in his battle with Bowen plausible.
• Broken Bird: Kara, to an extent, because of her father's murder. The novelization implies that Queen Aislinn (Einon's mother) may also be one; Einon's father invaded her homeland and slaughtered many of her dragon-loving people, but kept her for his queen because of her beauty.
• Bucket Helmet: Kara wears one toward the start.
• Butt Monkey: Felton in the novelization. He's always picked on by Einon's men (and occasionally Einon himself), partly because he is poor at hunting (to the point that once he left a dead deer out the day before, claiming to shoot it that day, but didn't realize before telling everyone to look at his "kill" that the carcass had been half eaten by a scavenger overnight.) He was caught with his pants down when Draco attacked the village, his house was damaged in the attack, and Bowen stole his money by asking for it in advance and then pretending to have been eaten. He gets his hand cut off by a peasant. Later on, during the battle, Gilbert shoots him in the rear with an arrow, giving a Bond One-Liner to add insult to injury. Immediately after, the girl he had been in bed with attacks him, knocking him out, and then stealing some money and his jeweled cuff (which he had been wearing over his stump) from him. In the end, he is stabbed from behind and killed by the peasants.
• California Doubling: Early medieval England is actually Slovakia.
• Cassandra Truth: No one believes Kara when she tells the townsfolk that Bowen's "in league with the dragon!"
• Cave Behind the Falls: Quite literally, Bowen finds Draco in a... well, a cave. Behind a waterfall.
• Cessation of Existence: Draco says that only certain dragons get to have an afterlife, branded by the stars. The others just...disappear when they die.
• Chekhov's Gun: During Draco's attack on the castle, a big ax is dropped when one of the dragon slayers gets killed. It is later picked up by Kara to defend herself from Brok and afterwards it's used by Bowen to kill Draco.
• Chess Motif: In the novelization, Queen Aislinn is forever playing chess. During Einon's childhood she played it with Bowen, who was the only one who saw any value in it; after Einon becomes King, she plays against herself.
• Coconut Superpowers: Subverted, as the movie took its time to reveal Draco but once he was shown in full they don't cut any corners.
• Con Man: Bowen and Draco form a duo, scamming villagers out of their money by staging dragon kills.
• Covered in Mud: Kara's villagers, in addition to throwing fruits/vegetables at her, throw mud. Bowen taunts her about the mud, and she responds by smearing a smashed watermelon in his face.
• Creator Cameo: Director Rob Cohen is Draco's singing voice. He also makes an appearance in the second con scene (the one where the water is too shallow): he is the villager that walks out and says "Meat!" first.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Brother Gilbert turns out to be one of these, once he has a bow and arrow in his hands; he even follows Bowen into situations so dangerous that the men of the village hesitate.
• Dangerously Genre Savvy: Einon proves to be this when one of his advisors scoffs at the peasant rebellion. Einon refuses to underestimate them, Bowen, or Draco.
• Deceptive Disciple: Einon, to Bowen.
• Disney Death / Disney Villain Death: Einon appears to die by falling off the highest tower of the castle. This fails to kill him, due to the fact that he is bound to life as long as Draco lives.
• Disappears Into Light: Draco.
• A Dog Named "Dog": "Draco" is Latin for "dragon".
• The Dragon: Not Draco, actually -- Einon's general Brok.
• Dual-Wielding: Kara prefers to fight with two axes. Bowen during the forest battle.
• The Evil Prince: Einon, who grows up to become an Evil King.
• Exact Words: "Death should be a release, not a punishment." Einon later uses this to justify killing Kara's father, since she asked him to release him.
• Fallen Hero: Bowen, a once proud and noble knight of the Old Code, turns into a disillusioned mercenary and dragonslayer. (And for a while, a Con Man with a dragon for a partner.)
• Fate Worse Than Death: None in particular, but the trope deserves mention because Einon is a big fan of them. In his words, 'Death should be a release, not a punishment.'
  • Invoked, with this exchange between Kara and Einen: "There are many fates in your realm worse than death!" "I'll have to dream one up for you."
• Forceful Kiss: Einon does this to Kara, not just to mock her about killing her father before, but to reveal his plan to marry her.
• Fridge Brilliance: When Bowen kills Draco in the end, he not only upholds the oath he gave after Einon is healed by the dragonheart (to serve the Dragon whenever he needs him), but also his later oath, the one he made after Einon was revealed as corrupted, to kill the Dragon wherever he goes. Two oaths in a single move.
• Giant Flyer
• The Gift: Parodied with Brother Gilbert, who picks up a bow and arrow pretty quickly.
• God Save Us From the Queen: Averted hard with Einon's mother, Queen Aislinn, whose only crime was loving her son and trying to save him. Between Einon and his father, this movie is a much stronger example of God Save Us From the Kings.
• Hands-On Approach: Bowen gives Kara instruction of how to properly use a battle hatchet.
• Here There Were Dragons: The Arthurian days are behind, the Old Code is almost forgotten about, and dragons have since been nearly hunted to extinction. And at the end, they're all gone.
• Healing Hands: Kara tends to an injury Bowen receives while fighting with Einon; Bowen compliments her on having "a healer's touch."
• Heel Faith Turn: Bowen redeems himself from his Fallen Hero status thanks to King Arthur.
• Heroes Want Redheads: Bowen, to Kara. It's made more explicit in the novelization, where he actually confesses his feelings.
• Heroic Resolve: Bowen at Avalon, citing the Knight's Code in front of a statue of King Arthur.
• Hit Me Dammit: Draco tries to convince Bowen to kill him in order to beat Einon.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Bowen sorely wanted to believe that Einon was better than his father.
• Ink Suit Actor: The FX artists made Draco talk and act with Sean Connery's mannerisms.
• Is That the Best You Can Do?: Draco says this when Bowen first attacks him.
• I Want Them Alive: When Einon realises that he is immortal as long as Draco lives, he orders off the dragonslayers his mother hired, even using the exact words, "I want it alive!".
• I Was Beaten by a Girl: Brok is killed by Kara. His dying lines are even: "A girl?"
• Karmic Transformation
• Kick the Dog: We know Brok is a bad guy because he insults Bowen early on for no reason, calling him a nursemaid.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Bowen, who literally is a knight.
  • And, ironically enough, Draco.
• Large Ham: Einon and Brother Gilbert
  • Bowen, too. Quaid must have been picking bits of the set out of his mouth for a week after shooting some of his scenes.
• Last of His Kind: Literally for Draco; for Bowen, he was the only one who kept to the Old Code.
• Light Is Not Good / Dark Is Not Evil: In a complete reversal of the standard, Einon's wardrobe is almost entirely white, and Bowen's is almost entirely black.
• Literal Change of Heart: Draco gives away half his heart, hoping to redeem the prince.
• The Magic Goes Away
• The Medic: The novelization gives Queen Aislinn this role. It's noted that Einon is annoyed by her frequent forays out into the villages to dispense healing herbs and minister to the sick, but as it doesn't really inconvenience him, he lets her do as she pleases.
• Mexican Standoff: Probably the only way they could do it between a man and a dragon. Draco tried to eat chew Bowen in self-defence, so Bowen grabbed his sword and embedded it in the roof of Draco's mouth. If either tried to make the finishing blow it would be suicide.
• The Middle Ages
• Monster Protection Racket
• My Death Is Just the Beginning
• Never Trust a Trope
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Bowen doesn't want to kill Draco because he's the last of his kind. But whose fault is that, dragonslayer?
  • Not to mention he was only killing dragons in the first place to kill Draco, thinking that it was his heart transplant that made Einon evil. Turns out Einon was a massive prick to begin with and swallowed the teachings of the Old Code just to satisfy him and teach him how to fight.
• No Except Yes
• Offered the Crown: In both the ending narration and the novelization of the film, it's heavily implied that Bowen and Kara are named King and Queen after Einon's death.
• Offing the Offspring: Well, Queen Aislinn tries... that's the reason she hires the dragonslayers. She realizes that Einon will die if Draco does. Unfortunately for her, Einon figures it out too.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Bowen the instructor vs Einon the evil monarch.
• Our Dragons Are Different: They're intelligent, can talk, seem capable of some magic, and though they're commonly hunted by humans, they're still expected to help them in order to ascend to their version of "Heaven." Also, they have tails that act like giant scissors, and they can only breathe fire through their nose (said fire tends to have explosive effects.)
• Palate Propping: Leads to a standoff with Bowen literally inside Draco's mouth.
• Playing Possum:
  • In the novelization, Bowen does this in the training scene at the start, after falling off a wall.
  • In the film, Einon does this briefly after falling down a flight of stairs.
• Produce Pelting: Kara's villagers do this to her when she tries to convince them to fight Einon.
• Promoted to Love Interest: Kara in the novelization.
• Recycled Trailer Music: The main theme has been recycled countless times in other movie trailers. If you don't recognize it right away, go to about 2:28 on that video. If you still don't recognize it, you probably haven't been to a movie theatre since 1996. It is frequently used for montages at the Academy Awards, possibly because the score was not even nominated the year the movie came out.
• Redemption Equals Death: According to Draco, a dragon must earn his place in the Dragons' Heaven. If they don't, then in Draco's own words, "our spirit disappears, as if we never were." By sharing his heart with Einon, he loses his place in the Heavens. But by sacrificing his life to stop Einon, he earns his place back, and becomes the brightest star in the Dragons' Heaven.
• Redemption in the Rain: Bowen renews his knightly vows in the pouring rain, kneeling before King Arthur himself
• Redhead in Green: Kara.
• Requisite Royal Regalia: Our first hint of Einon's true nature is when he steals the crown from his dying father, who tries to hold onto it.
• Reverse Grip: Bowen holds his sword like this a few times.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge
• Rousing Speech
• Same Sex Triplets: Identical girls in Kara's home village.
• Self-Made Orphan: Einon eventually kills his mother.
• Sleep Cute: Draco is made of this trope.
• Scenery Porn
• Starring Special Effects
• The Stoic / Stoic Woobie: Queen Aislinn, in the novelization. She seems to have developed this personality as a result of her forced marriage to a ruffian and the equally brutal kingship of her only child.
• Soul Jar
• Synchronization
• Talking Animal
• Thanks for the Mammary: Brother Gilbert to Kara when he jumps on a horse.
• That Man Is Dead: Kara speaks of a great knight she saw once. Bowen, the knight in question, responds that "that knight died of his wounds long ago".
• This Is My Name on Foreign: Kinda. Draco even replies that Bowen is just calling him "Dragon" in a different tongue instead of his own, but accepts the name because he finds an honor to be named after the constellation.
• Training the Peaceful Villagers
• The Un-Reveal: Draco's real name, which supposedly can't be pronounced by humans anyway. He's about to say it but it devolves into a loud series of roars and him falling onto his back due to Kara stabbing Einon in the shoulder back at his castle.
• Virgin Sacrifice: When the people of Kara's village don't want to pay money to Bowen to drive Draco away, he suggests they offer one of these instead. Of course they pick the loudmouthed redhead who keeps trying to stir up rebellion.
• You Killed My Father: Einon slaughters Kara's father right in front of her, inciting her endless hatred.