Age of the Dragons is a promising idea betrayed by subpar execution—and that's being kind. It
takes a certain type of bravado to translate Herman Melville's Moby Dick to a fantasy realm of
dragons, because the essence of Moby Dick was its grounding of Ahab's mythic struggle with the
White Whale in the nitty-gritty realism of the 19th Century whaling trade. To remake the story for
an imaginary world, a filmmaker would have to imagine that alternate landscape, then bring it to
life, with a degree and depth of detail on the scale of the Harry Potter series or the Lord of the
Rings trilogy. Canadian director Ryan Little did not have anywhere near the budget for such an
endeavor. Judging by what was accomplished with the money he had, there was a deficit of
imagination as well.
The Great White Dragon
In a flashback that will be revisited multiple times, a young Ahab (Raphael Cruz) fails to save his
sister (Yanique Bland) from an attack by a huge white dragon that he christens "Moby Dick".
Ahab himself is horribly maimed by the dragon's fire. Ahab will devote his life to revenge by
becoming a dragon hunter, a dangerous but necessary occupation in this world, because the
secretion that allows dragons to breath fire, known as "vitriol", is a valuable commodity that
lights the world (and apparently has other uses). It's also highly explosive, a property carefully
demonstrated in an elaborately choreographed scene, and then promptly ignored for the rest of the
story. Indeed, many things appear to occur in the film just to pad out the running time, which is
puzzling given the richness of the source material.
Many years later, a boastful youth who calls himself Ishmael (Corey Sevier) arrives at Coffin's
Tavern accompanied by his companion Queequeg (Kepa Kruse) looking for work with Ahab as a
harpooner of dragons. (Coffin, the tavern's propriertor, is played by screenwriter and producer
McKay Daines.) At the tavern Ishmael meets Stubb (Vinnie Jones), who serves on Ahab's
"vessel", the Pequod. I call it a "vessel", because it's made of wood and all of the nautical terms
are preserved, but the Pequod of Age of the Dragons has wheels and travels over land by a means
of a propulsion that is never specified.
After proving his harpooning skill, Ishmael is allowed to join the crew with Queequeg. The
other members are Stubb, Starbuck (David Morgan), Flask (Larry Bagby) and a beautiful but
stern-faced woman named Rachel (Sofia Pernas), who is Ahab's adopted daughter and fights like
a martial arts champ. Ahab himself (Danny Glover) remains out of sight below deck to avoid the
sun, which his burned and scarred skin cannot tolerate.
In Melville's novel, the Pequod became a microcosm of humanity under the harshly judging eye
of an omniscient heaven. Part of that is a matter of perspective, since Melville's Ishmael was an
older man who had seen more of life, had formed an unflattering view of mankind, and
went to sea to escape the company of the mass of humanity whenever he was so fed up "that it requires a
strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically
knocking people's hats off". The Ishmael of Ryan Little's film is a swaggering youth seeking
adventure and, as soon as he spies Rachel, romance. He may write in a journal, as Melville's
wanderer did, but the observations don't have the same critical view of the world, and they can't
possibly have the same gravitas.
Neither does Little's film. He has scenic Utah landscapes for background, but he hasn't figured
out a visual equivalent of what Melville managed to convey through Ishmael's distinctive voice
in Moby Dick: the elemental sense of humanity repeatedly challenging the primal forces of nature
and providence, until the Pequod's destruction leaves a sole man alive to bear witness. The Ahab
of Age of the Dragons is certainly obsessed with his Moby Dick, and he leads his crew to their
doom as a result, but despite Danny Glover's best efforts to give the character scale, this Ahab
has been written as no more than a man haunted by personal demons and motivating his crew by
secrecy, deception, intimidation and, by bringing Rachel along, libido. It's certainly possible to
make an interesting film out of such petty conflicts and venal motivations, but then you aren't
remaking Moby Dick. Maybe The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Age of the Dragons is unique in my reviewing experience or, indeed, viewing experience, for
having no credited cinematographer. Close inspection of the credits reveals that the camera
operator was T.C. Christensen, a member of the A.S.C., who probably supervised the lighting but
declined to take the credit for reasons at which one can only guess (but a review of his biography
at Wikipedia may provide a clue).
According to the commentary, the film was shot with the Red One system, and the image on
ARC Entertainment's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is consistent with other Red One
productions I've reviewed to date. The picture is clean and detailed, with excellent depth of field
and a complete absence of video noise. This doesn't always work to the film's advantage,
because it mercilessly reveals the limits of the production design and constantly draws the eye's
attention to the carefully arranged hair on Ishmael, the obviously machined clothing worn by
Rachel, and the generally faux medieval quality of the entire production. I sometimes felt like I
was watching an episode of the original Star Trek series, in which the crew had beamed down to
a primitive dragon planet. For a "period" piece (as the director describes it in the commentary), a
softer, more film-like look might have created a more appropriate atmosphere, but the Blu-ray
obviously reflects the intended look, for better or worse.
Colors are appropriately strong, and they have been deliberately oversaturated for Ahab's
recollections of his childhood trauma, in keeping with the primal emotions those memories
evoke. Some light banding is occasionally visible, but it is minimal and passes quickly.
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix has numerous interesting surround effects, including the occasional
voice off-screen, the sound of dragon wings flapping from left to right, the sound of harpoons
flying, a flock of bats and various ambient forest sounds. The track's dynamic range, including
its bass extension, is enough to lend credibility to the activity of giant wings and the roar of fiery
breath from the CGI creatures, which are used sparingly but effectively.
The dialogue is always clear, which has the unfortunate effect of drawing attention to how
contemporary a lot of it sounds, if not in substance, then in delivery. This is an instance where a
more artificial, stylized approach might have been more effective, assuming one has the kind of
classically trained actors capable of delivering it, as was often the case in the various Star Trek
series. Here, however, even in the voiceover passages drawn directly from Melville's text, the
intonations are so at odds with the words that they hardly register. Anyone familiar with
Shakespeare spoken by actors who don't really understand the text they're reciting will recognize
the sensation.
The musical score is by J. Bateman, who has worked with Little on several other films. It's a
perfectly serviceable score, but there's only so much a composer can add to a film.
Commentary with Director Ryan Little and Actors Corey Sevier and Sofia Pernas:
This is a lively and jocular commentary but not an informative one. Several topics recur
far too often: the deep cold of the Utah locations; the inability to shoot adequate coverage
due to budget constraints; the admiration of this or that crew member's ability to make
something out of nothing; and the convivial atmosphere during production. Almost no
time is devoted to discussing the film's themes or the thought process behind its
evocation of an alternate world. Little does make interesting references to costumes and
decor being "right for the period", which raises an interesting point, because there is no
period when dragons existed. Tales involving dragons usually borrow substantially from
the Middle Ages, as did the creators of Dragonheart,
but one must go considerably
further if one wishes to erect an entire society on that foundation, like Tolkien, and
especially if one wants visualize it, like Peter Jackson. Melville's saga loses everything
that makes it worthwhile when it's told only in broad outline.
Outtakes (HD, 1080p; 1.78:1; 2:04): Not so much flubs (as in the typical "gag reel") as
on-the-set horsing around.
Behind the Scenes (HD, 1080i; 1.78:1; 9:15): This is a typical "making of" featurette,
with interviews from all of the featured players, the writer and the producer. Notably
missing is director Little.
Visual Effects (HD, 1080p; 1.78:1; 3:21): Matt Hoffman and Ammon Jones of Blufire
Studios discuss creating the dragons for the film.
Trailer (HD, 1080p; 2.35:1; 2:41): Quick cutting and dramatic music can make a film
seem much more exciting than it is.
There is a memorable exchange in Star Trek: First
Contact in which Alfre Woodard's character,
Lily, accuses Captain Picard of behaving like Ahab; Picard is momentarily stunned into silence,
but then begins quoting Moby Dick to Lily, who is embarrassed to have to admit she never
actually read it. One gets that feeling about many of the people involved in Age of the Dragons.
No doubt some of them have read Moby Dick, but far too many seem only to have heard about it
secondhand or seen the movie. They know it's an adventure yarn about whaling (which is how
many of Melville's contemporaries dismissed it); so why not make an adventure yarn about
dragon slaying? Well, the latter has been done, and there's no good reason to bring Ahab and
Ishmael into it unless doing so adds intellectual heft and spiritual depth, which didn't happen
here. The Blu-ray is technically acceptable, but I can't recommend the film.
