History Film / Dragonheart

* EvilAllAlong: Einon. Bowen spends years convinced it was the dragon heart that turned him dark but in a duel, Einon point blank tells him he never believed in the Code and Bowen realizes the man was always going to be a tyrant.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Not only Einon is the evil ruler of England but turns out that he's a quite good swordsman and fighter. He even arrives to almost killing Bowen twice.

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 ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', showing a few dozen people fighting a battle in a crowded forest didn't give quite the same spectacle ([[RealityIsUnrealistic never mind the fact that armies in the dark ages tended to not be much larger than a few dozen men]]). Also, the humor was sometimes slapstick and at other times anachronistic, with the monk character Gilbert quoting from the ''16th'' century King James Bible.

** When Kara stabs Einon in the shoulder, Draco's shoulder glows in response. However, when Einon falls into the cistern at the end of the film, Draco doesn't respond to is. The book rectifies this by having Draco's entire body glowing as he writhes in pain.

A 1996 fantasy movie starring Creator/DennisQuaid, Creator/DavidThewlis, Creator/PetePostlethwaite, Creator/JasonIsaacs and, most famously, the voice of Creator/SeanConnery.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Dennis Quaid (Bowen) and Dina Meyer (Kara) retain their American accents despite playing European characters. Averted with David Thewlis (Einon), who according to [[WordOfGod Patrick Read Johnson]] had to mimic the Northern English accent used by young Einon (Lee Oakes) since his scenes were shot first.

Quaid is Bowen, a knight in 10th Century (Saxon) England who is one of the few left who adhere to the "Old Code" of KingArthur 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.

* RecycledTrailerMusic: Randy Edelman's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTKSUlMbp9A main theme]] for the film 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 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Awards|Ceremonies}}, possibly because the score was not even nominated the year the movie came out. In fact, Edelman's theme is also featured in the film's later sequels.

!!The original film provides examples of:

* BigBad: Einon.

* RecycledTrailerMusic: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTKSUlMbp9A 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 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Awards|Ceremonies}}, possibly because the score was not even nominated the year the movie came out.

!!''Dragonheart: A New Beginning'' provides examples of...

!!''Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse'' provides examples of...
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!!''Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire'' provides examples of...
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[[/folder]]

* BadassPrincess: Lian; see ActionGirl above.

* {{Prequel}}: Takes place before the original film.

* {{Sequel}}: Takes place around 70 years after ''The Sorcerer's Curse''.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Early medieval England is actually UsefulNotes/{{Slovakia}}.

** We know Brok is a bad guy because he insults Bowen early on for no reason, calling him a nursemaid.
** [[BigBad Einon]] also gets a lot of moments when it counts, including shooting Kara's father for sport. In the novelization, [[spoiler: he later rapes Kara after she tried to kill him.]]

A 1996 fantasy movie starring Creator/DennisQuaid, Creator/DavidThewlis, Creator/PetePostlethwaite, Creator/JasonIsaacs and the voice of Creator/SeanConnery.

A 1996 fantasy movie starring Creator/DennisQuaid, Creator/DavidThewlis, Creator/PetePostlethwaite and the voice of Creator/SeanConnery.

A 1996 movie starring Creator/DennisQuaid and the voice of Creator/SeanConnery.

* AllThereInTheManual: The official Facebook page revealed the names of the dragons Drago raised, as they appear on the castle murals: Draco, Siveth, Kinabalux, Basilor, Tatsu, and Vipero.

-->'''Mehgan:''' Just remember that when we set sail, I needed an army. Now, I ''am'' one.

A fourth film titled ''Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire'' was released direct-to-video and on Netflix in June 2017. It's a sequel to ''Dragonheart 3'' and Drago is voiced by {{Creator/Patrick Stewart}}. After Gareth, king of Britannia, passes away, his twin grandchildren, Edric and Meghan, fight each other for the throne using their inherited dragon strength and fire powers. When Vikings led by Thorgrim steal the Heartfire - Drago's source of power - and challenge the siblings' rights to the throne, Edric and Meghan must set aside their sibling rivalry or the kingdom may fall.

* AccidentalMurder: Edric explains to Drago that Meghan's flames got out of control and set the house ablaze when she was mad at her father, and he died in the fire. [[spoiler: Later, Meghan reveals that she set the house on fire only to hide the fact that ''Edric'' accidentally killed their father, when he pushed him onto a sharp spike without realizing it during an argument and stormed out of the house.]]
* ActionGirl: Meghan. In her very first in-person appearance, she led an army of Vikings into battle.
* ArrangedMarriage: Meghan "un-arranges" one for a young woman.

-->'''Meghan:''' Just remember that when we set sail, I needed an army. Now, I ''am'' one.
* BigDamnHeroes: Drago shows up right at the perfect moment to save Edric, and later both of the twins, and then later on [[spoiler:the women that Meghan trained to fight show up to save her.]]
* BittersweetEnding: Even though Drago [[spoiler:has the chance to save himself with the Heartfire, he sacrifices himself so that Edric can use the Heartfire to save Meghan, thus keeping their family together, earning himself a place in the Dragons' Heaven.]]

* BrokenBird: Meghan, to an extent. Having to grow up wearing up hood to hide the dragon scales on her face, and having the ability to control fire, Meghan was constantly accused as being an evil witch, and put down by her father.
* DeathByChildbirth: Edric and Meghan's mother at the beginning of the film.
* DePower: Happens twice: [[spoiler:to Drago when Meghan steals his Heartfire, and to both Meghan and Edric at the end of the film.]]

* DraconicHumanoid: Edric and Meghan, due to their inherited dragonheart: they both have patches of scales on their bodies, and one has SuperStrength while the other has [[PlayingWithFire power over fire]].
* HeirClubForMen: Meghan assumes that Edric refuses to give up the throne to her because she's a woman.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Drago gives up his Heartfire, knowing that he'll die without it, so that Edric can save Meghan's life. This earns him his place in the stars.]]
* HiddenBackupPrince: Edric and Meghan.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Meghan when growing up.

* LineageComesFromTheFather: Edric and Meghan are royalty through their father, Prince Walter.

* MightMakesRight: Meghan fights with Edric over the throne because she is the firstborn twin and the rightful heir.

* MythologyGag: The campfire scene between Drago and Edric acts as a nice throwback to the same scene between Draco and Bowen in the original film, as well as the moment where Drago pins down the twins and shouts at them, similar to how Draco talks to a pinned Bowen after their fight. At the end, [[spoiler:Drago ascending to the stars acts as a lovely callback to Draco's death: as "To the Stars" plays, Drago's body turns into light and rises into the air, an "explosion" gets reflected in the main characters' eyes, and the new star twinkles in the sky.]]

* ParentalSubstitute: Drago to Edric and Meghan.
* PlayingWithFire: Meghan was born with the ability to control fire.

* PutTheirHeadsTogether: Drago does this at one point to Edric and Meghan to end their bickering.
* RagsToRoylty: Edric and Meghan.
* ReallyRoyaltyReveal: Edric and Meghan were raised as villagers before eventually learning of their royal heritage.
* ScreamingBirth: The film starts with one as Edric and Meghan are born.
* SelflessWish: Drago blames himself for King Gareth's family being fractured and Drago fears he will be refused entry into the Dragons' Heaven as the result. When Walter's children Edric and Meghan are discovered, Drago takes it upon himself to heal the rift between them and their family. [[spoiler:This act is what earns him a place in the stars.]]

* SiblingRivalry: Between Edric and Meghan, as they engage in combat over which one of them should have the throne.

* SuperpowerfulGenetics: Edric and Meghan have respectively inherited enhanced strength and the pyrokinesis from their grandparents, King Gareth and Queen Rhonu.

* {{Synchronization}}: This occurs due to the dragonheart, but in an unusual way since it's inherited and split by twins: Drago is bonded to Edric emotionally and to Meghan physically.
* UngratefulBastard: Meghan is angry, rather than thankful, when [[spoiler:Edric saves her from being killed by Sable in her sleep.]]
* UntoUsASonAndDaughterAreBorn: Edric and Meghan.
* WardrobeWound: When Meghan sends fire at him, Edric doesn't seem to notice his burn wounds, only looking down and saying "My shirt!"

-->'''Edric:''' Do you know what, I've never said this, but I really wish you had been a brother.\\
'''Meghan:''' Why's that, Eddy?\\
'''Edric:''' Because I would have done this much sooner. ''(punches her)''

* AccidentalMurder: Edric explains to Drago that Meghan's flames got out of control and set the house ablaze when she was mad at her father, and he died in the fire. [[spoiler: Later, Meghan reveals that she set the house on fire only to hide the fact that ''Edric'' accidentally killed their father, when he pushed him onto a sharp spike without realizing it and stormed out of the house.]]

* BadassBoast: "Just remember that when we set sail, I needed an army. Now, I ''am'' one."

* DePower: Happens twice: [[spoiler:to Drago when Meghan steals his heartfire, and to both Meghan and Edric at the end of the film.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Drago gives up his heartfire, knowing that he'll die without it, so that Edric can save Meghan's life. This earns him his place in the stars.]]

* MacGuffinMelee: The fight for the amulet containing the heartfire.