Eragon (2006)

Eragon, released on the 15th of December 2006 and directed by Stefen Fangmeier is the story of a poor farm boy called Eragon who finds a dragon egg in the woods and has to learn all about magic and travel across the kingdom to fight the empire ruled by the evil king Galbatorix. Eragon, played by Ed Speleers, does a fantastic job of portraying the character and you really get to understand him and match him to his character in the books, along with Rachel Weisz who plays the dragon saphira and really enhances her strong and sarcastic personality. However, this film is only 1 hour and 44 minuets long so struggles to convey the vast amount of information included in a 600 page book and misses out crucial details that helps you to understand the plot better. When making a film of a book, it is always a struggle to include all the details in 2 hours, but it is these details that can seem insignificant that give a background to the story. This film leaves you feeling confused as it rushes through the major parts and if you had not read the books before hand, you would have no idea what is going on. The inheritance cycle is such a brilliant fantasy series and it is disappointing that it could have ended up similar to other films like 'The hobbit' or 'Lord of the rings' if it had been spread over 2 or 3 films. Eragon has such wonderful special effects of the dragons and magic that make the fantasy world seem so real and pared with the amazing high paced music it really could be a great film if it was not as rushed. Overall, i think this film is a PG film that all audiences can enjoy, sadly i can not recommend this film as it was confusing and left me in the dark to the background of the characters. Many films of books make this mistake, it is disappointing that it happened to such a great book.