1. Pete’s Dragon (1977): A young troubled boy named Pete and his guardian dragon Elliott elude the abusive Gogan family, who all use Pete as a slave instead of a loved child. When Pete can successfully run away from them with his dragon, he stumbles into the town of Passamaquaddy- an ocean front harbor town filled with superstitious fishermen, drunken hooligans and wary townsfolk. Pete's arrival does not mix well with the citizens, as his dragon Elliott accidentally causes town rioting and gossip among the town drunks about the dragon. Expecting to be an outcast yet again, Pete is taken in by the kind Nora who lives in a lighthouse with her father Lampy. While Pete bonds with Nora and Lampy, the townsfolk have not lowered their guards and suspicions about the dragon. And when Dr. Terminus arrives, a phony con artist posing as a doctor, he sees Elliott the Dragon as the ultimate profit to his fame. With Passamaquaddy filled with superstition, greed and lack of imagination, life will not be easy before the town can ever believe Pete's dragon
2. George and the Dragon (2004): George (James Purefoy), a knight returned from the Crusades, wishes to retire from soldiering, find a wife, and settle on "an acre of land with two head of cattle." To conclude the transaction, he agrees to help the land's owner King Edgaar )Simon Callow), whose daughter Princess Lunna (Piper Perabo) has disappeared. Also in search of the princess are Garth (Patrick Swayze), betrothed of the unwilling princess, and the mercenary El Cabillo, a title which passes through different men, and begins with the (uncredited) Val Kilmer.The princess has been kidnapped by a female dragon, which lays an egg and then seemingly dies a few days later. Rather than escaping, the princess decides to guard the egg, which she believes holds the last dragon on earth, whom she has named Smite. George's father Sir Robert (Paul Freeman), a previous friend of King Edgaar's and an amputee from his own previous run-in with the mother dragon, gives his son George a Dragon Horn, which "sounds a note only a dragon can hear".When George encounters the princess, he attempts to destroy the egg but she knocks him unconscious each time he tries. They then, in company with other companions, transport the egg by wagon back to her father. Along the way they stop at a convent, where Lunna's cousin is a nun, and a friar is an old friend of George's. The princess's betrothed, Garth, catches up with them at the convent, and she says she will not marry him because she does not love him. He then kidnaps her to force her to marry him, as it is part of his plan to take over the kingdom.Mercenaries arrive, led by the El Cabillo, who then reveals himself to the group as Tarik (Michael Clarke Duncan), a Moor who was a close friend of George's seen at the beginning of the film before the two part ways. But El Cabillo's men revolt against him, as they wish to capture the Princess and claim the reward. While they are all fighting, the baby dragon hatches, the monk Elmendorf is killed saving the Princess from a flying spear and King Edgaars men and Sir Robert's men arrive to join the fray. During this fight, Garth and George are fighting, but turn to find themselves facing a mutual enemy: the former second-in-command of El Cabillo, the leader of the mutiny. They fight him off together, while taking shots at each other. This conflagration is interrupted as the wall of the castle keep explodes across the screen. The mother dragon has returned.The combatants all flee. George is last to the door of the keep but debris prevents his escape. In the castle courtyard the former combatants all listen in silence as the dragon makes much noise within the keep. The Princess Lunna fears the worst for both George and the dragon she has named herself.Within the keep the mother dragon seems preoccupied with her child and George is largely frozen lest he attract the mother dragon's attention. George notices a lance protrudes from the mother dragons side. This is the lance of his father still lodged in the beast. George slowly approaches the lance and takes hold. He asks God's forgiveness for what he must do.The scene shifts to the castle courtyard a roar is heard. George emerges from the keep with a bloodied lance. Believing that George has slain the dragon the men are overjoyed. The Princess Lunna however is not and, overcome with sorrow for both the dragon's death and George's betrayal, flees on horseback. George pursues with King Edgaars horse and his blessing to marry his daughter. There is a chase along the shore of a large body of water but George is not alone in the chase. Garth has also pursued. Garth knocks George from his steed and they fight. Garth has the advantage and as he raises his sword for the killing blow the mother dragon leaps from the water and swallows Garth whole.The Princess Lunna realizes that George did not actually kill the dragons. They kiss and presumably live happily ever after
3. Dragonslayer (1981): A medieval kingdom called Urland is being terrorized by a dragon named Vermithrax Pejorative. An expedition led by a young man calling himself Valerian (Clarke) comes to the house of sorcerer Ulrich of Craggenmoor (Richardson), the only remaining wizard alive. They explain to the sorcerer that their king, Casiodorus (Peter Eyre), desperate to assuage the monster, offers it a virgin chosen in a lottery twice a year. The wizard foresaw their arrival and his own death but agrees to help. Before he can do so however, a brutish knight from Urland named Tyrian (Hallam), who has followed the expedition under orders from the king, turns up to intimidate him. Ulrich invites Tyrian to stab him to prove his magical powers, and dies instantly, to the horror of his young apprentice Galen Bradwarden (MacNicol) and elderly servant Hodge (Sydney Bromley). They burn Ulrich's body and place the ashes in a leather pouch.Galen decides to take the job himself when the wizard's magical amulet begins to obey his Latin incantations, and travels to Urland with the villagers and Hodge in tow. On the way, he accidentally discovers Valerian to be a female: her father passed her as a man to spare her the lottery. The poorer villagers suspect that the daughters of wealthy or powerful people are secretly kept out of it as well.In an effort to discourage the expedition, Tyrian kills Hodge from a distance using a bow. Galen witnesses the murder through a vision in water but is not fast enough to intervene.Arriving in Urland, Galen inspects the dragon's lair and attempts to seal its entrance by causing rocks to fall from the cliff. Manipulating the amulet inexpertly he nearly kills the whole delegation and himself but apparently succeeds in entombing the monster. The village celebrates in the evening, and Valerian abandons her manly disguise. However the feast is interrupted by Tyrian who drags Galen to the court of King Casiodorus. After seeing Galen's clumsy efforts at magic tricks, King Casiodorus guesses that he is not a real wizard and complains that his attack may have angered the dragon instead of killing it, as his own brother and predecessor once did. The king then confiscates the amulet and has Galen locked away. His daughter Elspeth (Chloe Salaman) comes to taunt Galen, but is shocked when he informs her of rumours the lottery is rigged. Casiodorus is unable to lie convincingly when she confronts him.Meanwhile the dragon has stormed its way through the rubble and emerges from its lair with a vengeance. An earthquake ensues, and Elspeth releases Galen in the confusion. Galen narrowly escapes on horseback, but without the amulet. The village priest, Brother Jacopus (Ian McDiarmid), leads his congregation to confront the dragon, denouncing it as the Devil, but the dragon kills him and then heads for the village.When Galen returns to the village, he finds that Vermithrax has already begun to retaliate by setting it on fire. Valerian and her father, Simon the blacksmith (Emrys James), conceal Galen from the king's soldiers. Galen still wants to kill the dragon, but must steal back the amulet from the king to do so.When the lottery begins anew, Princess Elspeth rigs the draw so that only her name can be chosen, in reparation. The King is appalled but unable to oppose her decision. When shortly afterwards Galen is caught searching the king's quarters for the amulet, the monarch returns it to him so that he might save Elspeth. Then, with Simon's help, Galen uses the amulet to enchant a heavy spear (dubbed Sicarious Dracorum, or "Dragonslayer") that the blacksmith has forged strong enough to pierce the dragon's armored hide. Meanwhile, Valerian gathers pieces of dragon hide and uses them to make Galen a shield. She makes a discovery while doing so: Vermithrax has a litter of kits.Galen sets out to kill the dragon and rescue the princess. Valerian thinks his plan is suicide, but gives him the shield. They admit to having feelings for each other.As Galen attempts to rescue Princess Elspeth by cutting her chains, he is confronted by Tyrian, who demands that the sacrifice be made to save the kingdom. The knight is considerably more skilled at combat, but Galen surprises him by cutting with the supernaturally sharp Dragonslayer right though a wooden pole, spearing him. The Princess however, instead of fleeing, has descended into the dragon's cave to her death. Galen follows her and finds the young dragons feasting upon her corpse. He kills them with considerable difficulty then finds Vermithrax nesting by an underground lake of fire. He manages to wound the monster but the spear is broken and only Valerian's shield saves him from incineration. Vermithrax loses Galen but finds her children's bodies and flies away to rampage.After his failure to kill Vermithrax, Valerian convinces Galen to leave the village with her, with her father's blessing. Simon believes the time for magic and dragons is over; like other villagers he is turning to the newly arrived religion of Christianity. As the two lovers board a boat together however, the amulet gives Galen a vision that explains his teacher's final wishes. Ulrich had asked that his ashes be spread over "burning water", and Galen realizes that the wizard had planned the whole thing. He was too frail to make the journey himself, so had his servants make the trip for him by carrying his ashes. Galen returns to the cave, spreads the ashes and speaks an incantation, and the wizard is resurrected from the flames of the burning lake. Despite the disappointment of realizing he had no powers after all, but was merely channeling those of his master via the amulet, Galen is overjoyed to have him returned. Ulrich however reveals that he is only back for a short time and that Galen must destroy the amulet when the time is right. The wizard then transports himself to a mountaintop and attracts the dragon's attention. The sun is eclipsed. After a brief battle, the monster grabs the old man and flies away with him. Galen crushes the amulet with a rock, causing the wizard to explode and obliterate the dragon.Inspecting the wreckage, the villagers credit God with the victory, while the king arrives and drives a sword into the dragon's broken carcass to claim the glory for himself. No one thanks Galen or praises the late wizard's sacrifice.As Galen and Valerian leave Urland together, he confesses that he misses both Ulrich and the amulet. But then he says, out loud, "I just wish we had a horse." As if on cue, a white horse appears to take the incredulous lovers away.
4. Dungeons & Dragons (2000): The story concerns an evil wizard named Profion (played by Jeremy Irons) who attempts to control red dragons with a powerful artifact, and overthrow idealistic young Empress Savina of Izmer (Thora Birch). The young heroes destined to stop this cataclysmic event are Marina Pretensa (Zoe McLellan), an eager but inept apprentice wizard, and Ridley Freeborn and Snails (Justin Whalin and Marlon Wayans), two thieves who happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. They are accompanied on their impromptu quest by the hard-drinking and equinophobic dwarf Elwood Gutworthy (Lee Arenberg), and the mysterious dark-skinned elven ranger, Norda (Kristen Wilson) sent by Empress Savina first to stop the heroes, but later to assist them. They are pursued along the way by Damodar (Bruce Payne); Profion's head enforcer, and leader of Izmer's elite fighting unit, the Crimson Brigade. As part of their quest, the heroes are required to recover a magic gemstone from the Master of the Antius City Thieves's Guild, Xilus (Richard O'Brien). Ridley completes a maze to gain the "eye of the dragon".
5. Reign Of Fire (2002): During Underground construction in London around the year 2008, a huge, hibernating dragon is discovered and springs to life, instantly incinerating all construction workers with its fiery breath. The only survivor is 12-year-old Quinn Abercromby, whose mother (Alice Krige) was chief of the construction crew that he was visiting after school. The dragon escapes, and soon thousands of them work their way across Europe and eventually the rest of the world, burning everything and multiplying at an exponential rate. Brief newspaper and TV news accounts reveal that among other things, Paris was burned by the dragons but terrorists were initially suspected, an attack in Kenya kills dozens of people, paleontologists discover dragon fossils in Antarctica during Arctic heating, scientists prove the dragons are a separate species that coexisted with the dinosaurs, and who were responsible for the dinosaurs' extinction. Scientists infer that when the dragons began to starve, they went into hibernation until the Earth could replenish itself. The United Nations calls an emergency session after a large dragon nest is discovered in Pakistan. By late 2010 (as the news accounts also reveal), the world powers begin to use Nuclear weapons which only hastens the destruction of the planet, causing a nuclear holocaust, and soon all semblance of organized government and society falls apart, save for small communities of survivors. Twelve years later, in 2020, the adult Quinn (played by Christian Bale) leads a small community of survivors living in a medieval stone castle in Northumberland. Their hope is to outlast the dragons, wait until they die out again (as they presumably did several times before) and go into hibernation. Unfortunately, the people are beginning to starve while waiting for their crops to ripen. Eddie Stax (David Kennedy) and his children attempt to leave the castle for food, but they actually lure a dragon to them. One of Eddie's children's friends, and one of his children, are killed by the dragon, and most of the crops are burned. Days later, a team of American volunteers arrive, led by Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) and bringing a Chieftain tank and an Agusta A109 helicopter, piloted by Alex Jensen (Izabella Scorupco). Van Zan and his heavily armed band of 200 soldiers have devised an elaborate tracking system to hunt and kill dragons. Mistrusting, but needing each other, Quinn and Van Zan work together and kill the dragon that destroyed the crop. The inhabitants of the castle celebrate the victory, only to be chastised by Van Zan, who is disgusted by their behaviour, having lost three of his men in the battle. Afterwards Van Zan and Alex tell Quinn that all dragons his unit have encountered so far are female. Their hypothesis is that there is only one male worldwide. Alex was said to have discovered this two years before, while working out how they breathe fire (Apparently, and provingly, the dragons secrete two separate chemicals in glands in their mouth, and then emit a flammable gas which sparks a giant explosion). Van Zan orders his soldiers to pick the best of Quinn's men at the castle, pressing them into service in Van Zan's band. This enrages Quinn and he engages Van Zan in a fight; however, Van Zan is a battle-tempered and hardened soldier and he begins to beat Quinn mercilessly until others run to pull him off of Quinn. Made to look weak in front of his community, Quinn becomes angry and shouts at everyone that are now willingly joining Van Zan that the dragon will follow them and then backtrack their trail to find out where they came from. He warns that the castle will be destroyed if this happens. Also Quinn is frightened because he has seen the male dragon before: it was the one that killed his mother and all of the construction workers at the beginning of the movie. Van Zan and his unit go to London to find the single male dragon and discover a road block. Van Zan then sends Alex to find a new way around. The male dragon soon arrives and incinerates nearly the entire number of Van Zan's soldiers, save for Alex, Van Zan, and a wounded soldier. Van Zan realizes the mistake he made in trying to engage the dragon, as it had killed almost everyone in his unit within a few seconds (with just 'one pass'). Quinn's warning is realized, as the male dragon follows their route back to the castle and attacks it. Some castle inhabitants successfully hide in an underground shelter that is designed to survive the intense heat. Quinn's close friend, Creedy (Gerard Butler), attempts to bring more castle inhabitants down to the shelter but is killed by a follow-up attack that also seals the shelter entrance. Defeated, Van Zan returns to the castle, freeing Quinn and the surviving children from the castle's shelter. Quinn tells Van Zan that they and Alex will hunt the male dragon in London. They use the helicopter to follow the River Thames to the city, unnoticed, where they see that the dragons are beginning to starve and are resorting to cannibalism. Van Zan's plan is to fire a magnesium and C4 explosive charge, placed on a crossbow bolt, into the dragon's chest during the brief moment it exposes its chest as it inhales, drawing air to produce fire. During the battle, Van Zan is unable to destroy the dragon using his crossbow and attacks the dragon with no more than his battle-axe in a head-on leap. He is killed when the dragon swallows him in mid-air. Quinn and Alex are able to lure the dragon to street level, and Quinn destroys it with his own crossbow by firing the explosive bolt into the dragon's mouth. At least three months after the male dragon is slain, Quinn and Alex are seen erecting a radio tower and receive a transmission from another group of survivors in France. The sun is shining brightly, and it is said that there have been no dragon sightings for three months. The now hopeful Quinn resolutely dedicates himself to rebuilding civilization, undaunted by the remote possibility of the dragons returning, stating, "They'll burn, and we'll build."
6. The Last Dragon (2004): The story begins 65 million years ago, sometime in the late Cretaceous period. A Tyrannosaurus rex is stalking a creature that has been raiding its territory and food sources. The creature is revealed to be a juvenile Prehistoric dragon. The T. rex had not eaten for days and prepares to attack the young dragon: in an attempt to defend itself, the dragon extends its wings to give the illusion that it is much larger than it really is, but the T. rex is not convinced and continues to advance. The young dragon then tries another tactic: it utters a deafening, piercing scream that carries for miles. Although the screech disorientates the T. rex, hurting its sensitive ears, the attack only goads the dinosaur on. Suddenly, the dragon's mother swoops down from the sky to the rescue and attacks the T. rex, slashing the dinosaur's skull with its talons. During the short fight, both animals cause serious injuries to the other; the T. rex breaks the female dragon's wing and in retaliation, the dragon breathes a jet of fire at the Tyrannosaurus's face. The Tyrannosaurus limps away with fatal burns, while the female dragon is left unable to hunt for herself or her offspring. 65 million years in the future, at the London Museum of Natural History and Science, England. Dr. Jack Tanner, a young palaeontologist, who has been fascinated with dragons since childhood is introduced. Upon discovering talon marks on a skull of a T. rex, Dr. Tanner shares his theory about the creature that caused the damage to the skull with other palaeontologists. He tells them that the damage was caused by a creature unknown to science. However, he says that it was not the talons that killed it; a blast of fire, precisely aimed at the head was the cause of death, as evidenced by carbon deposits discovered down both sides of the skull. Unfortunately, his colleagues aren't convinced and Tanner's academic reputation is left in tatters. In his office Dr. Tanner studies photographs taken of a new discovery at Romania. Several human corpses, dating from the Middle Ages, were found in a cave in the Carpathian Mountains while some straying skiers were being rescued. Along with the bodies, a carcass of an unidentified animal was discovered. The Romanian authorities ask the museum to investigate the find. Most of the professors at the museum want nothing to do with the specimen, but Tanner asks if he can go on behalf of the museum. The museum agrees and Tanner prepares to travel to Romania, under one condition- if it is a hoax, they leave immediately: if it's of interest, the body is shipped back to London. Tanner, along with two associates, arrive to discover that the remains have been moved off the mountain, Tanner wonders what evidence may have been lost in the process. The three scientists enter the shed where the carcass is being housed and begin analysing the specimen. After initial analysis, Tanner notes that the creature has a scaly hide and a tail, suggesting a reptile, but also has wings and foot talons, characteristics of powered flight. When he finds the wings, he wonders if the creature could really fly, as its wingspan is too small to allow flight. After further investigation, Tanner finds that the bones of the creature have a honeycomb structure, which would allow for flight, being hollow but strong. Internal scans of the creature show a huge heart, needed to pump oxygen-rich blood to the chest muscles during hard work, and two bladder-like structures. Tanner suggests that they could be gas bladders: the gas contained inside is hydrogen, which is lighter than air and would give the creature extra lift. He tells his associates that the creature has everything needed for flight but that they don't add up. Back in the Cretaceous, two weeks after the fight with the T. rex, the mother dragon is dead, having succumbed to infection; the starving juvenile must now teach itself how to fly, while evading the scavengers seeking to feed on his mother's body: at present, only pterosaurs, but more dangerous creatures will come. The juvenile begins to eat the only food source available; its mother's carcass. While eating, an aged male dragon arrives to feast on the mother. The juvenile, sensing danger, flees, but the older dragon, seeking fresh meat, gives chase. The juvenile flees into a forest where the adult male cannot fly. Body working overtime, the juvenile begins to make hydrogen, essential for flight, as the adult is gaining on the juvenile, nature kicks in and the juvenile regurgitates the contents of its stomach to remove excessive weight and takes to the air, narrowly escaping the adult male. In the present, Tanner inspects inside the mouth of the creature and declares it a carnivore, but also notices molars and wonders about their purpose in a carnivore. He also notes a fleshy palate at the back of the throat and wonders if it could have been used to prevent backdraft from fire. Noting that the mouth shows no evidence of ever having been exposed to fire, he reconsiders. He theorizes that dragons breathing fire is biologically possible, explaining that the Bombardier beetle can emit liquid at a temperature of 200°C. The prehistoric dragon, now a young adult, is preparing to fight an Alpha male for territory and mates. Before it goes to fight the other adult male it eats rock rich in minerals, which is found at the heart of every dragon territory. The young adult ventures into the territory of an old Alpha male. The two fight and the young male succeeds in winning. Tanner says that to create fire, they need fuel, oxygen and a source of ignition. He then realises that he had already found fuel inside the flight bladders, hydrogen and methane, both combustible and lighter than air. He then takes samples of the crushed rocks found on the molars of the creature to discover they are rich in platinum, which can start a fire in a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. Tanner is now convinced that his theories have been correct and the creature is a dragon. Tanner begins to wonder how dragons survived the K/T Event, when other large land-dwelling creatures like the dinosaurs didn't. The narrator then explains that at the K/T event, a meteor the size of Mount Everest smashed into the Earth, wiping out nearly all life on the planet. Sharks, Coelacanths, Turtles and Crocodiles all survived and all had one thing in common: they were all marine species. Tanner then remembers that crocodiles also have a false palate like the one found in their dragon, and deduces that it is an evolutionary relic passed down from a marine ancestor. The narrator continues to inform us that the land dwelling, Prehistoric dragon was wiped out, but explains that the Prehistoric dragon was not the only dragon species alive at the time of the K/T Event. There was also a Marine dragon, a cousin of the Prehistoric dragon, both descended from a common ancestor. It is explained that the Marine dragon lived in the sea and its the flight bladders became swim bladders allowing extra buoyancy, the wings became vestigial and served as fins, and the large tail became a rudder. As the land recovered from the impact of the meteor, some dragons returned to shallower waters and eventually made the transition back to land. Tanner suggests that the legends of sea serpents were actually recollections of true encounters with Marine dragons. One of his associates discovers that a fossil of a false palate had been found in bamboo forest, in China. Tanner theorizes that the Marine dragon came back onto land and evolved into a new species in the bamboo forests of Asia. The dragons of Chinese mythology are low-slung, elongated and slender; all characteristics of a body recently adapted from water. But Tanner wonders if this would have been suitable for living in a forest. We are taken back 50,000 years to the bamboo forests of China. Here we are shown the newly evolved Forest dragon, adapted to its new environment. We follow the dragon as it stalks its prey, and discover that the dragon has evolved a unique adaptation, mimicry. By controlling the flow of gasses out of its bladder, the dragon is able to mimic animals in distress. The vestigial wings, are too small to allow flight, the dragon only able to glide small distances; but the buoyancy of the gas bladders let it tread less heavily and thus quieter when stalking prey. The dragons also use their natural fire breathing abilities to cook their captured prey, as the fur on some of its prey is not easily digested. The dragon succeeds in dealing with several mammalian intruders to its territory, including wild pigs and tigers, but in the distance, another species watches the dragon's use of fire with inquisitive eyes, a species that will turn the dragon's own weapon on it: humans. In the present, Tanner, after theorising about the Marine and Forest dragons, begins to wonder what other dragon species may have evolved within this family of creature. Tanner's associate shows him something strange on the monitor, bone fragments. He thinks they may be ribs, but the ribs are intact. The three scientists lift the wings of the dragon to discover that it has four legs and two wings. Tanner is amazed saying, "No vertebrate that ever lived had six limbs". They check the DNA, knowing that if it is not a hoax then the limbs will show up in the DNA. The DNA test shows that the dragon has a genetic adaptation in the gene responsible for creating limbs. Tanner tells us that World mythology was correct all the time, all depictions of dragons show them to have six limbs. He cites the different depictions of dragons as evidence of a whole family of dragons existing all over the world. He dubs their carcass the Mountain dragon, and wonders if this is the dragon in European folk history.As the three scientists prepare the dragon carcass to be packed up and shipped to England, they perform one final check to see if they missed anything. They find the tip of a broken sword buried in its heart, Tanner goes to where the Romanian scientists are studying the human corpses and find the sword that the tip came from. The narrator tells us the dragons survived until the emergence of humans, who used the dragon's fire against it. These encounters between humans and dragons are recorded in folklore throughout the world. Tanner discovers that the human bodies show evidence of carbonisation, showing that the bodies were burnt, but their dragon specimen never breathed fire. As the Romanian authorities come for the dragon, Tanner studies x-rays that had been taken, he sees that the ovaries of the dragon show no follicular activity, and concludes that their dragon was a baby. The three scientists travel to the cave, hoping to find a nest. We are taken back over 500 years, to the Carpathian Mountains in the Middle Ages. Dragons have been driven to live in remote places of Europe by encroaching human. A female Mountain dragon is searching for a mate: she marks her territory with her scent. The female is near the end of her season. The scientists arrive at the cave and find rocks that have been scorched in symmetrical lines. They scan inside the cave using echo scanning. As the female returns to her den, a male dragon arrives, having travelled to Romania from his territory in the Atlas Mountains, and the female goes to him. Instinct then takes over as the two begin their courtship ritual, where they fly to a great height then freefall together, only pulling apart at the last instant. Inside the cave, Tanner finds a nest, containing egg shell fragments and one intact egg. Back in the 1400s we see the female dragon, using her fire to incubate the eggs inside the nest. The male returns from hunting, with no food. Instead, he brings another rock for the nest. The female, now being very protective of her nest, allows the male to enter the cave and take care of the nest. As the female takes her turn to hunt, the male enters the nest and places the rock on the nest. But instead of keeping the temperature at a high level, he lowers the temperature of the eggs in order for the eggs to develop into all females, as another male may be a rival for him; the resulting imbalance in sex ratio would have been tolerable in a healthy population but is a severe risk in a species which is now nearly extinct. The female returns from the hunt and finds the male not attending to the eggs. She quickly senses that something isn't right inside the nest. She finds out that the temperature in the nest is dangerously low and attempts to raise it again: one infant dragon has already died, but the other can still be saved. The male senses trouble and makes his escape.The adult female has been stealing livestock from local villages in order to feed her young daughter, despite the risk of provoking the villagers. As the adult female begins to teach her daughter the secret of fire, a pair of local knights arrive to kill the dragon. They find that the young female cannot defend herself because she cannot breathe fire yet, and kill her. The adult female returns to the lair too late and finds her daughter dead. One of the knights is soon killed by the enraged female, while the other narrowly manages to escape. With her daughter now dead, the adult female comes back into heat and begins trying to attract another mate. As winter comes, the female hibernates. More warriors (mercenaries paid by the locals) come to the den and catch her with her gas bladder nearly empty due to hibernation and attack her. She fights bravely, cutting down the mercenaries until only one man is left, badly wounded. As she rears above the man to crush him, he holds a spear upright. As she fatally impales herself on the spear, her toppling corpse crushes the last mercenary beneath her.In the present, Tanner discovers a chamber. He enters it and finds the adult female. Back at the museum in England, Tanner shows the specimens to his colleagues: the legends of dragons were real, but had been twisted
7. The Reluctant Dragon (1941): Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process. Humorist Robert Benchley visits the Disney Studios to sell Walt on the idea of animating the story of The Reluctant Dragon. While evading an officious young studio guide, Benchley stumbles into various studio activities and departments, including an art class, a sound effects session, the multiplane camera studio (at which point he notices the film has switched to Technicolor), the paint lab, a storyboard session for the "Baby Weems" segment, a movieola screening of the Goofy cartoon "How to Ride a Horse", and finally catches up with Walt in a screening room just as he's previewing the studio's latest film... The Reluctant Dragon!
8. Dragon Wars (2007): As a young boy, Ethan Kendrick (Cody Arens) encounters in a shop, owned and operated by antiques dealer Jack (Robert Forster), a mysterious reptilian scale that shines with a blue light. This light projects itself upon Ethan. Seeing this, Jack pretends to suffer a heart attack and sends Ethan's father, who is selling him an antique dagger, to get help. Ethan then listens as Jack narrates a story (largely shown in flashback) explaining the scale. Jack, having told this story, reveals that he is himself Bochun, and that Ethan is Haram, reborn to protect the Yuh-Yi-Joo from Burakai, who is soon to return. Jack gives Ethan a medallion formerly belonging to Haram and reveals that the Yuh-Yi-Joo is a girl named Sarah whom Ethan will find in Los Angeles. Ethan accepts the medallion and the responsibility of caring for the Yuh-Yi-Joo. Nineteen years later, Ethan has become a television news reporter, in which role he discovers that Buraki has returned. He then inquires into the news office's database for the location of a Los Angeles-based girl named Sarah, who is either nineteen or twenty years old and bears a dragon-shaped mark on her shoulder. His friend Bruce, despite his disbelief, helps Ethan search. The Sarah that Ethan wants, one Sarah Daniels, sees Ethan's news report and is terrified by the tracks Buraki has left. She hurries home and surrounds herself with protective symbols, which she does not understand but which she feels are the only tools she has by which to protect herself. Her friend Brandy, concerned but not quite understanding Sarah's problem, takes her to a tavern for a drink, hoping to distract her from fear. Sarah, still afraid, leaves the tavern and is attacked outside by three thugs, who are driven away by Jack. Word of her escape later reaches Ethan through another reporter. Buraki and his army continue to search for Sarah, attracting the attention of the U.S. Government and the notice of at least one civilian. Ethan eventually finds Sarah at a hospital. Although the hospital's receptionist refuses him entry, a doctor later revealed to be Jack in disguise allows him into Sarah's room. Ethan is about to explain the truth of their situation to Sarah when Buraki attacks the hospital, intent on capturing her. Ethan and Sarah flee in a car driven by Bruce, with Buraki in pursuit. They are stopped by a commander of the Atrox Army, but eventually escape him due to another intervention by a disguised Jack. Ethan subsequently explains the story to Sarah, who accepts it as true and Ethan as her protector. He then takes her to a practitioner of hypnotherapy, who helps her revive the memories of her previous life as the unsuccessful Yuh-Yi-Joo. The energy released by her body during the hypnotherapy session attracts Buraki, who destroys the hypnotherapist's house and follows Sarah and Ethan. In a car, Ethan and Sarah flee to a more densely-populated area of the city, where they meet with Bruce in a restaurant. When Bruce has left Ethan alone, Jack warns Ethan that the Yuh-Yi-Joo must fulfill her destiny. Ethan, defiant as a result of his new attachment to Sarah, demands autonomy. Moments later, Buraki finds Ethan and Sarah again. They attempt to escape him, resulting in a chase scene that culminates atop the U.S. Bank Tower. There, Buraki is distracted by several military helicopters, who proceed to attack him. Buraki then summons the Atrox Army to help him. This legion enters the city and advances through the streets, engaging the United States Army and the Los Angeles Police Department in battle. Here, the Atrox Army is shown to consist of black-armored, humanoid warriors; therapod-like cavalry called "Shaconnes"; small, winged western dragons called "Bulcos"; and huge, slow-moving reptiles identified in the dialogue as "Dawdlers", who carry powerful rocket launchers on their backs. The Atrox Army proceeds, crushing the American soldiers and their weapons while suffering moderate casualties. Ethan and Sarah are taken to an empty garage by two FBI Agents. The senior agent reveals that he has researched the legend of the Imoogi, and attempts to kill Sarah so that Buraki and his army would depart for another five centuries. The junior agent then kills his partner and gives the fugitives his car whereby to escape. Ethan and Sarah then enter the rural countryside in the car. Sarah, having given up hope of escape, remarks that wherever she goes, the Imoogi will find her. Ethan, who seems bent on saving her both from Buraki and from the Good Imoogi for whom she is destined, refuses to admit this. Sarah pauses, then tells him that she is now twenty years old, revealing herself to have come into her full power as Yuh-Yi-Joo. Immediately, the Bulcos knock the car over and capture Sarah. When Ethan regains conciousness, he finds himself tied to a pillar which stands before a menacing fortress in the midst of a darkened desert landscape. In front of it lies an altar from which Sarah is to be sacrificed to Buraki. Buraki is about to consume Sarah when Ethan's pendant unleashes a light that destroys all of Buraki's legions, though not the Atrox Leader or Buraki himself.Ethan attempts to retrieve Sarah, but is halted by the Atrox Leader, with whom he engages in combat. The Atrox Leader is killed by Ethan's pendant when he inadvertently strikes it with his sword. A revived Buraki knocks Ethan down and attempts to eat Sarah, but is unexpectedly attacked by the Good Imoogi. Ethan and Sarah then watch as Buraki and the Good Imoogi battle. Ultimately, Buraki wins. He then approaches Sarah, who offers herself to him. Just as Buraki is about to absorb Sarah's power, she redirects it into the open mouth of the Good Imoogi, who is instantly revived and continues to fight Buraki, transforming as he does into a gigantic Korean dragon. The two struggle for a few moments until the Good Imoogi, now the Celestial Dragon, disengages from Buraki, flies to the top of the latter's fortress, and burns him to ashes by firing a fireball down his throat.Having slain Buraki, the Celestial Dragon approaches Ethan, allowing Sarah's spirit to speak with him. Sarah, now a fully fledged Yuh-Yi-Joo, requests Ethan not to be sad, adding that she will love him for all eternity. The Celestial Dragon then takes Sarah back into his body and ascends to the heavens. Jack appears behind Ethan, reminds him that the two of them "have been given a great honor", and dissolves into dust. Ethan, recognizing that he will never see Jack again, whispers "Good-bye, old man". His own fate is undisclosed.
9. Eragon (2006): Eragon is a farm boy who is 17 years of age and lives in a small village named Carvahall in the fictional and magical country of Alagaësia that contains dragons and other fictional creatures. While hunting, he finds a dragon egg the size of a small cat from which hatches a blue dragon named Saphira. Eragon decides to keep Saphira a secret, but a pair of magical creatures, The Razac, are sent by Galbatorix, the King of Alagaesia to find Eragon and the dragon. This causes Ergaon to flee his home but when he returns he finds out his uncle Garrow has been killed by the Razac and so sets out on a journey to avenge him. Accompanied by a wise storyteller named Brom, Eragon and Saphira take up the legacy of legendary Dragon Riders. He learns magic, swordfighting, and dragon-riding to fulfil the legend of the dragon riders and his destiny: to help the Varden overthrow the Empire and its tyrant king, Galbatorix.
10. Dragon Storm (2004): Meteorites falling from the sky during a meteor shower act as transportation for dragons traveling within. The dragons wreak havoc on the surrounding medieval countryside and two rival monarchs, King Fastrad (John Rhys-Davies) and King Wednesbury (John Hansson) must join forces to face the threat. A messenger arrives to warn King Fastrad who does not believe him, until the dragons make their appearance and destroy his fiefdom. Fastrad and his top aids then head to the fiefdom of King Wednesbury, ostensibly to seek aid, but planning to overthrow him. Along the way they meet Silas (Maxwell Caulfield), a hunter who agrees, for a price, to escort and protect the party from the countryside's other dangers. They reach Wednesbury and Fastrad falsely accuses Silas of being a poacher in order to wiggle out of the debt. Silas is joined by the Mystic Scholar Ling (Woon Young Park), the vengence-seeking Remmegar {Richard Wharton), and King Wednesbury's warrior daughter Medina (Angel Boris). One of the meteors was damaged when it fell, killing its dragon passenger. Ling studies the dead beast and the party decides to set off to hunt the remaining dragons using a giant catapult/crossbow. While they are gone, Fastrad continues plotting against Wednesbury, and blackmails Wednesbury's aide to kill Silas.
By Richard Moody
