Pendragon: Sword Of His Father - DVD
by Chad Burns
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DVD details
Actor: Aaron Burns, Andy Burns, Erik Dewar, Marilyn Burns, Nicholas BurnsDirector: Chad Burns
Brand: Burns Family Studios
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: NTSC, Widescreen
Running Time: 113 minutes
Published: 2009-02-01
DVD Release Date: 2008-11-03
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Burns Family Studios
Product features:
- Public Performance Rights:Burns Family Studios
- Directed by: Chad Burns
- Run Time: 111 minutes
- Languages: English
- Ratio: Widescreen
DVD Reviews of Pendragon: Sword Of His Father - DVD
DVD Review: From a Fim-maker's Perspective...
Summary: 3 Stars
I gotta say, this movie could have been the best action movie (Hollywood, Independent, whatever) since the days of Ben Hur, Spartacus, etc, and their thousands of extras. As it is, the movie is mostly too painful for the average viewer to watch. There are a few reasons for this, and I will try to explain these below.
ACTING:
Well,I will say that most of the characters really looked the part. The female lead isn't quite your typical drop dead gorgeous actress, and the male lead is a bit too innocent and confused looking. However, the rest of the characters looked great, and the villain looked PERFECT! The attention to detail and historical accuracy in terms of hair style and costumes was spot on perfect. However, the actual acting was pretty painful. It was like watching a big powerful guy stand up and start singing like a girl. The voices just didn't fit. The emotional tones were there, but that was it. This movie fell victim to the classic blunder of independent film-making. That is, of course, that of casting your friends and family as the leads. In rare cases it works (see Facing The Giants), but more often than not it doesn't. With some script changes (see below), there is some real potential for good acting in this movie. There are thousands of good actors out there who are unemployed and in most cases undiscovered. A local casting call(and advertised online) would probably have yielded a hundred or more people. If they had had a casting call with online submissions, they would have gotten thousands of people. This would have allowed the makers of the movie to choose the very best available.
COSTUMES:
As I said above, they were spot on perfect. Unlike a lot of big budget films, these costumes were 100% historically accurate, and the armor and weapons were incredible for such a low budget. In fact, I think they said on their website that most of the spears and axes were made with broom handles, and cardboard covered with foil and spray painted. Seriously though, you would never be able to tell by looking at them. They look like real metal.
SETS:
Again, spot on perfect. The settings were pretty and fit their respective scenes very well. These people even built a hill fort all by themselves on a friend's property! You also see a castle, viking style great hall complete with feast, and a military encampment completely on fire!
MUSIC:
Mostly very good. I think it deserves to be compared to Hollywood level scores.
ACTION/FIGHT SCENES:
These rank from outstanding to absolutely terrible. You have a horse chase through the woods, and some riding through the snow that are pretty well done, with all the riding done by the actual actors (no stunt riders here). The pyrotechnics were also amazing. There is a fortress attack complete with catapult that is quite believable. The shots of the burning walls and such were great. However, most of the action suffers from a lack of epic scale and bad choreography. You have armies of 50 or so people on each side. While this is ok sometimes, it makes an epic battle seem very limp and weak. This is also missing the usual helicopter-style fly-by shots of each army or the battle in progress. Close up hand-held camera shots also limit the action, and don't allow you to really get into it. These close shots only work if you have great fight choreography, and these guys sadly don't. Don't get me wrong the fighting is good, just not good enough to be the driving force of the whole battle. The final battle sequence is pretty good, and the shots of the two leads battling it out through the flaming encampment had a lot of potential. Again though, the voices of the actors and slightly lacking choreography don't allow it to blossom. This scene could have been the best fight scene in recent film history, but instead it is merely very well done.
SCRIPT:
As has been said, the script had a lot of potential, but kinda fell on it's face. With raw actors and a lack of trained fighters, this film needed perfect dialogue, more depth, and more time early on to firmly ground the characters. As it is, the dialogue is passable, but at times very cheesy and the quoting of bible verses is just cringe-worthy. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Christian myself, but the way they did this just didn't work. If they were going to quote verses, they needed to do it in Latin or something. This is a very disappointing oversight. The rest of the film is so accurate historically that this mistake just screams at you. Back then, no one except churches and the very richest people had access to bibles. Bibles were painstakingly copied out by hand by monks and were very precious. Only priests were able to read them, especially as they were in another language (I'm pretty sure it was Latin). So there is NO WAY the main character would have been able to quote scripture, especially not word for word, and ESPECIALLY not in English!! For a film that tried to have the Vikings grunt in some other language, this is is just all wrong.
USE OF BUDGET:
Incredible!! I put this category in here a for a reason. I think what this film does is to prove once and for all that you can make an epic action film on a shoestring budget. All the things involving money (sets, props, costumes, animals, etc) were jaw dropping amazing! In fact, these were the best parts of the whole movie. The only bad parts of it were the parts that could have used a bit more patience, experience, and strategy. With some good actors, more extras, a better script, and better choreography, this movie could have put a lot of Hollywood guys out of business. In fact, I'd love to see these guys do another such film. I bet they could get a professional actor or two to do it for free, more extras, and some professionals on the crew (producer, camera men, etc). If they were to do that and release it in theaters it would probably top the box office for a couple solid weeks.
So to recap:
Acting: 1 Star
(Yes they looked the part, but the voices and acting were NOT as good as the script required, even in a worst case scenario.)
Costumes: 5 Stars
(Rivaled the best of Hollywood productions)
Sets: 5 Stars
(Again, as good as Hollywood)
Music: 4 Stars
(Compares to most Hollywood scores, but like a lot of those scores it could still be better)
Action/Fight Scenes: 3 Stars
(It was lacking, but it looked worse than it was because of camera shots and lack of extras)
Script: 3.5 Stars
(Again, it was lacking but it could have been made up for by better acting and fighting)
Use of Budget: 10 Stars
(Sure, there aren't 10 stars on a scale of 1 to 5. However, these people have revolutionized budgeting, and thus deserve revolutionizing on the scale)
OVERALL: 3 Stars
(Had unlimited potential, but ultimately it is really too painful for most people to watch all the way through. It will appeal to film-makers though, just to show what really is possible and what NOT to do! Imagine what these people could do when teamed with professionals and operating on an Avatar budget!)
Description of Pendragon: Sword Of His Father - DVD
The One who gave the vision still calls..." As the Barbarian fleets descend on the coast, the people of Britain are left to defend themselves... The first independent Christian film of its kind, Burns Family Studios presents Pendragon: Sword Of His Father, an epic adventure set in Britain's Dark Ages. With riveting action, stunning visuals, and a powerful score, Pendragon's message of faith, courage, and vision is sure to inspire your family or generations to come.Bestsellers in DVD
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