Monster Movie of the Week: Dragon Wars (2007)

Dragon Wars (2007)

aka D-Wars

Director: Shim Hyung-rae

Genre: Fantasy/Kaiju

THE MOVIE

Let’s get one thing out of the way, the story for the recent Korean movie Dragon Wars is undeniably bad and cliché-ridden. At times the movie seems like an Asian flavored Lord of the Rings ripoff. The acting is SyFy channel-movie worthy. But, what is also undeniable is that Dragon Wars is often visionary and beautiful and that the special effects are amazingly good. Once the exposition is out of the way this part of the movie takes over and is quite entertaining. For all of its flaws, Dragon Wars has some of the most breath-taking monster action ever seen on film. There’s something very cool about a mystical dino-mounted army taking on the U.S. military in the streets of LA.

Robert Forster plays an ancient Asian mystic, yet still sounds like he's at a Chicago hot dog stand.

THE MONSTERS/EFFECTS

There are about four different creatures featured in this movie and the effects are awesome through out. The star creatures are the film’s two “imugis” or proto-dragons, which are basically giant snakes. There is a good imugi and and a bad imugi, which is caught trying to eat an elephant early in the movie and later coils itself a building in downtown LA while it fights with some helicopters before disappearing underground. Later, during some mystical mumbo jumbo the good imugi molts into its adult form and takes the shape of a beautiful and serpentine Oriental dragon complete with whiskers and undersized legs.

The transdimensional pride parade.

MONSTERS FEATURED

Other than the two imugis there are:

A whole flock of flying creatures that look like the Fell Beasts from Lord of the Rings or like the creature from Q:The Winged Serpent. They tangle with some military helicopters in a cool sequence.

There is a horned theropod dinosaur that is ridden upon.

And there is an obese two-legged reptile that has cannons mounted to its back.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

My favorite is the kaijugasmic sequence that featured the imugi wrapped around a building and fighting the helicopters.

Okay, you have to admit, this is kind of cool.

DVD AVAILABILITY

Yup.

SEQUELS

None planned.

Actually, most insurance companies will not cover this.

MINORITY REPORT

It’s the return of everyone’s favorite monster movie stock character: The Annoying Foul Mouthed Black Sidekick. Poor Craig Robinson went on to do better parts in The Office, Pineapple Express, and Hot Tub Time Machine.

That and that the fact that all of the Korean characters are reincarnated as Americans to give the movie more international (i.e. American) appeal.

TRAILER