Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow (Blu-ray) (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Fantasy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	105:13
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	John Lyde
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	Danielle Chuchran Richard McWilliams Paul D Hunt
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Panu Aaltio

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The Shadow, a secret Cabal, is rising in the west to challenge the ruling Order. Its agents are seeking the vessel containing the ashes of a god which when mixed with blood from the bleeding stone in a ritual at the Well of Demons will awake Goth Azul, the undead god, and bring destruction upon the world.

     When female elf bounty hunter Nemyt (Danielle Chuchran) kills an orc with a price on his head she inadvertently becomes infected by the Mark of the Shadow, which will in time turn her towards the darkness. Imprisoned, she hears information about the ritual at the Well of Demons and is rescued by Keltus (Richard McWilliams), an agent of the Order who serves the Prophetess. He needs the information Nemyt has in order to stop the ritual and they form a reluctant alliance. Journeying into the wild, they come upon Kullimon the Black (Paul D Hunt), an orc raider and leader of the orc horde until he was betrayed and deposed. Man, elf and orc join forces and fight their way through orcs, dwarfs, treacherous mermaids and other creatures as they journey to the rendezvous at the Well of Demons to stop the ritual and exact vengeance on their enemies.

     This film is called Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow here in Australia but it has had numerous titles in other regions including Rise of the Shadow Warrior, Curse of the Dragon Slayer, SAGA – Curse of the Shadow and SAGA – The Shadow Cabal. Although a dragon is killed in the first scene, this is not a film about dragons and they do not appear afterwards. Rather the film is based upon the world created for the video game Saga as that game, and the film, share writers Jason Faller and Kynan Griffith. Some knowledge of the Saga world would be helpful as Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow, after a brief pre-credit text screen, throws us directly into a couple of action sequences and we never really learn any more about the backgrounds or motivations of the three lead characters. Instead, until the climax the film mostly consists of the three walking through the landscape periodically fighting various creatures and opponents.

     Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow obviously had a limited budget. The orc horde is reduced to about a dozen men, there is only one horse and the creature in the river is not really seen. However, the positive is that CGI is limited until the climax and much use is made of prosthetics, especially for the orcs and the dwarf, which look quite good. The film also makes full use of some spectacular Utah landscapes, although the colour tinting of the sky, turning it red and yellow, is a bit excessive. Another issue is an inept script that gives its heroes no character arc and nothing to do except walk and fight diverse creatures, including mermaids, which seem to have been thrown into the script every so often to break up the walking scenes. The acting by all the cast is wooden and the dialogue often quite inane. The fight scenes are mostly ponderous although Danielle Chuchran at least does display some nice moves and athleticism.

     I enjoy fantasy action films and the worlds they create, but I had difficulty getting into Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow. There is just too much about this world of magic, orcs, elves, men, prophetesses, gods and dwarfs (and the odd dragon) that is not adequately introduced or explained and a muddled plot and dodgy acting do not help Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow make much sense.

Video

     Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, which looks to be the original ratio, in 1080p using MPEG-4 AVC code.

     The print is beautiful and crisp, with every line, whisker, blood splotch or orc prosthetic finely detailed. Colours are manipulated and enhanced; greens are vibrant, the desert and rocks are deep browns and yellows while the sky is anything but blue, being yellow, red or lilac at various times. Blacks are excellent, shadow detail fine, brightness and contrast, given the manipulation of the print, consistent.

     The print shows occasional motion blur but there are no marks.

     There are no subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is English DTS-HD MA 5.1.

     The track is loud and enveloping. Dialogue is clear, even the grunted speech of the orcs. The surrounds and rears are frequently in use providing music, ambient sound, clunks and voices during combat. There are occasional directional effects for voices and arrows. The sub-woofer added appropriate bass to the music, explosions, orc roars and general rumbles, and was very loud when the god appeared at the end.

     The score by Panu Aaltio was bombastic and loud. It was well represented in the audio mix.

     Lip synchronisation errors were occasional noticeable.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     Nothing, not even a trailer. The menu offered only “Play Feature”.

     The Blu-ray releases in other regions, under various titles, were the same technically and none had any extras.

    A muddled plot, dodgy acting and ponderous action sequences do not help Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow make much sense so some knowledge of the Saga world would probably be helpful. Fans of fantasy adventure may get something out of this if their expectations are not high.

     The video and audio are very good. There are no extras, but there are none in other regions either.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall