I first watched 'The Last Dragon' on Animal Planet when I was 12 years old, a brilliant age to be introduced to it. It was the peek of my interest in fantasy, having experienced 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Chronicles of Narnia', and to see a documentary depicting such creatures in a naturalistic context - a kind of mystical 'Walking with Dinosaurs' - that was like a dragon hoard of awesome. But even after ten years, when I watch this video again, it still fills me with great satisfaction knowing that a lot of effort went into creating such a visceral depiction of the creatures.
I love fantasy and mythology, but what makes the film succeed is how it meshes those elements with a certain element of natural history. A lot like the Rankin/Bass cartoon 'The Flight of Dragon', 'The Last Dragon' attempts and ultimately succeeds in creating a scientific explanation for their behavior - how they flew and breathed fire, mating rituals, family dynamics, even explaining the diversity of visual depictions between cultures worldwide.
All of this is depicted in the same way as 'Walking with Dinosaurs', digital creatures displaced against live action backgrounds and they all look spectacular. One particular scene involving two classic European dragons I remember as a teenager actually being on the verge of tears. I dare not give away what the action is specifically but suffice to say that the visual style mixed with a really clever and creative depiction of their natural behavior is what won me over and I was completely immersed in that world.
As a huge fan boy of folklore and mythology, a little bit of me still carries that child-like belief that some kind of creature as a dragon did exist at some time... Hey, if 50% of Icelanders are allowed to believe that elves still exist - and they definitely do - I get to believe these creatures could have feasibly exist. 'The Last Dragon' gave me that sense of possibility and if you're like me or you have kids who are at that age, this documentary will certainly have a similar effect. It has the right balance of sweeping visual adventure mixed with the scientific-ish jargon that appeals to a lot of audiences. It also helps that both narrators provide real gravitas to the script; both the British narration by Ian Holm and the North American track by Patrick Stewart are brilliantly cast. This is a real sweeping tribute to the 'what-if' genre of documentary television and can be enjoyed by families, fantasy lovers or just those people looking for an adventure.
I love fantasy and mythology, but what makes the film succeed is how it meshes those elements with a certain element of natural history. A lot like the Rankin/Bass cartoon 'The Flight of Dragon', 'The Last Dragon' attempts and ultimately succeeds in creating a scientific explanation for their behavior - how they flew and breathed fire, mating rituals, family dynamics, even explaining the diversity of visual depictions between cultures worldwide.
All of this is depicted in the same way as 'Walking with Dinosaurs', digital creatures displaced against live action backgrounds and they all look spectacular. One particular scene involving two classic European dragons I remember as a teenager actually being on the verge of tears. I dare not give away what the action is specifically but suffice to say that the visual style mixed with a really clever and creative depiction of their natural behavior is what won me over and I was completely immersed in that world.
As a huge fan boy of folklore and mythology, a little bit of me still carries that child-like belief that some kind of creature as a dragon did exist at some time... Hey, if 50% of Icelanders are allowed to believe that elves still exist - and they definitely do - I get to believe these creatures could have feasibly exist. 'The Last Dragon' gave me that sense of possibility and if you're like me or you have kids who are at that age, this documentary will certainly have a similar effect. It has the right balance of sweeping visual adventure mixed with the scientific-ish jargon that appeals to a lot of audiences. It also helps that both narrators provide real gravitas to the script; both the British narration by Ian Holm and the North American track by Patrick Stewart are brilliantly cast. This is a real sweeping tribute to the 'what-if' genre of documentary television and can be enjoyed by families, fantasy lovers or just those people looking for an adventure.