Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King (a.k.a. Curse of the Ring)
From producer Volker Engel (visual effects supervisor of Godzilla and Independence Day) comes the story of the young blacksmith Siegfried who, not knowing that he is heir to a conquered kingdom, becomes popular with the Burgunds by slaying their bane, the dragon Fafnir. When the reward seems to be a huge treasure, Siegfried ignores the curse that lies on the hoard--which now endangers his love to beautiful Norse warrior queen Brunhild.
Member Reviews
Cheesy Title... Great Story - no1_film_critic
Set in the time when Christianity had not spread quite everywhere yet. A mini-series made for TV based on the ancient Nibelung saga... A saga that vikings listened to in times of yore... The legend of Sigurd, a blacksmith's son, who is really the son of a dead king, and heir to a conquered kingdom. He meets the woman he was destined to love; Brunnhild, queen of Iceland. He gets his first taste of glory after killing the dragon, Fafnir, then bathes in its blood to become unkillable, but there is always a way to die. He takes the cursed treasure of the Nibelung's and his misfortune is evident, though not to him, throughout the rest of the plot. He becomes close friends with the king of Norway, though sometimes I found myself wishing he'd just kill the king of Norway.
This is an epic tragedy, and you should definately bear witness to it. The story itself is grand enough to carry the film to decency, even if the acting isn't extremely good, the Scandinavian actor who plays Sigurd isn't the best actor, but I really like the Norwegian-American actress who plays Brunnhild.
The production is good, not the same as Lord of the Rings by any means, but good nonetheless. It was made for TV remember, and it was condensed to fit on dvd, which is a little disapointing, but you may appreciate it as trimming it down to a length you can watch all in one sitting. The material they got rid of wasn't nessecary to the plot, anyways.
An emotional story filled with great sword-fighting action and depth. I strongly recommend it.Decent treatment of the Nibelungenlied - Rae1
Good, not great, but certainly enjoyable film version of the ancient German mythology.
Well-grounded in its mythological roots. Nice touch, adding just enough historical/cultural context to draw the viewers in on a human level and to give a more personal connection to the characters who in the mythology exist only as archetypes.
And it's nice for a change to see a legend re-told with pretty much the same storyline that has kept it going for over a thousand years.Good But.... - Sunscream
I really enjoyed this dvd. Dragons, magic, a lost king and a terrible curse... It was very good, but something was bugging me when I watched it. I recalled scenes from the trailer that were not in the dvd version. It turns out that the version that aired on TV is 184 minutes long, while this one is only 132 minutes long. I am disappointed by these editing, but still the movie is worth watching. The effects are well done (mostly) for a TV miniseries, and the storyline is interesting. The acting comes across as wooden in a few character portrayals, but all-in-all, it's better than I expected, but I will be keeping my eye out for complete version in the future.
Member Reviews
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Cheesy Title... Great Story - no1_film_critic
Set in the time when Christianity had not spread quite everywhere yet. A mini-series made for TV based on the ancient Nibelung saga... A saga that vikings listened to in times of yore... The legend of Sigurd, a blacksmith's son, who is really the son of a ...Decent treatment of the Nibelungenlied - Rae1
Good, not great, but certainly enjoyable film version of the ancient German mythology.
Well-grounded in its mythological roots. Nice touch, adding just enough historical/cultural context to draw the viewers in on a human level and to give a more personal ...Good But.... - Sunscream
I really enjoyed this dvd. Dragons, magic, a lost king and a terrible curse... It was very good, but something was bugging me when I watched it. I recalled scenes from the trailer that were not in the dvd version. It turns out that the version that aired on ...